Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

i s ~ \ E 1"""4 00 0') 1"""4 1"""4 ..... .... ~ ~ < Brent Wellingaford (ebove) C8tChft hla breeth lifter puahlng ecroa the finlah. AI Beker (top) ahuta It down. (Top to bottom right! Bob Belentlne flew down the hlghwey. Scott. Kurt end Kent Pfeiffer. wlnnera ell. The Don Teeter/Ron WIlaon Vemehe ateya cIoae to Steve Szculle. Jim F1ahbeck preperea for hla tuck while cIreftIng the Andrede Vemehe. SCORE Mexicali 250 Baker and Balentine thump 'em BV Mark Kariya MEXICALI, B.C., MEXICO, MAR. 21 Al Baker (who hasn't ridden a SCORE race in many a year) and Bob Balentine (who's never won a SCORE race overall) teamed up on a Mugen/Honda XR500 thumper, capitalized on some bad luck that befell the earlier leaders and roared home the Class 22 and overall winners .. . of the SCORE Mexlcah 250 10 4:23:32.67. 14 Second overall, surprisingly, went to Kent and Scott Pfeiffer on a Premier Yamaha YZ2JO. At the finish, many felt that the brothers might have gotten the overall ~n elaPsed time a:' the 2505 started behind the Open bikes. The official results and times posted later, however, showed them finishing 25.86 seconds behind Baker and Balentine. Their 4:25:58.55 easily gave them the CI_ 21 victory. Balentine rode the thumper from though, the tire came apart, whipping the start to the halfway point - Check· his lower back and gouging a large pohlt 2 at El Chinero - before handing It over in fifth place to Baker. The only thin, that seemed to bother the lead·off nder was the dust. "I came to where it (the course) comes along the pavement, and I'm just idling down there; I couldn't see'" said Balentine. When Baker came into the finish, he held his left shoulder, alternately grimacing and grinning at the thought they might have won. "I bailed bad; I hit a rock so hard, man! The front wheel hit it one way, the rear wheel hit it the other way and, man, 1 went three times in the air, over," Baker said about the only real problem he had during his ride. A hospital check later revealed that the shoulder was badly bruised and not dislocated. "There were two Huskys in front of me, and they were taking some lines I hadn't seen before, and I followed 'em," Baker said. One of the Huskys was rid· den by Brent Wallingsford who got the lead on time before Tres Pozos. "Truthfully, Wallingsford should have won," admitted Baker. The reason Wallingsford didn't win was a flat which led to a rough get·off on the pavement and a dramatic finish. The rear tire went flat about 12 miles from the finish, but Wallingsford kept going, confident he could protect the two·minute lead he had. When he got onto the pavement for the last couple of miles to the finish. chunk of the seat. "Well, the tire locked up the rear wheel and threw me off on the pave· ment. It was like a road racer. I was just s1idin' - the bike was right next to me - I bet I slid for.a hundred feet." The crash destroyed the bike's rear wheel. All the spokes were bent and broken, the rim crumpled and the chain had worn in half in one spot where it slid along the pavement. Wal· lingsford's jersey was tom in many places and his forearms bled. He was still determined to salvage whatever he could get, however, and literally pushed the wrecked bike the final half mile to the finish for a 4:55:50.. 56, second in Class 22 and fourth bike (fifth vehicle) overall on elapsed time. Another of the early leading contend· ers struck by bad luck was the Up-Tite Husky entry ridden by Jim Fishback and Steve Bauer. Fishback reported, "I seized it right off the start, but got it going. I just cruised to the gun club; I kept getting tired. Then after that, I started riding harder and I had a good ride through the sand. It handled real good." On the long paved section (the San Felipe Highway) after Checkpoint I, Fishback demonstrated an unusual riding style. Instead of tucking in like a half-miler or road racer, he elected to lay prone on the seat with his feet stretched out, dangling behind the rear fender. "You gain a 10t.Qf..apeeci .

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