Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

stilI leading, but Ogilvie was closing in. Whisenant had now moved into the third spot, with Balter in fourth. Bill Saluman had moved up into the fifth slot. During the next two laps a lot of uggling occurred, with Ogilvie taking over the lead. The last [pur laP.' were relatively un· eventful, with Ogilvie welI-entrenched in the lead, Balentine in the second spot, followed by Whisenant, Saluman, and Dan Ayers. Ogilvie celebrated his 28th birthday with this race win. .... Sunday morning I-< 0.. < lAbovel Deaplte • aore wri8t Bob Balentine took MCOnCIln the Saturday Sportsman race. (Balowl The Viewfinders had • good mudhole. Sunday moming dawned much wanner than Saturday. It was going to be a real scorcher of a day. Only the brisk. breeze would save it from being unbearable. The breeze also managed to move the dust on the course around a bit, so it wasn't quite as thick as the day before. The first race of tbe day would in· clude alI 250cc and Open Beginner and Novice riders. This group is always considered the wildest and most unpredictable. The mudhole jump became a source of concern as the wild riders tumbled off the end of it because of lack of speed. Others came off too fast, losing control in the soft soil and careening into the crowd. At one point it looked like the migration of lemmings, plunging off the cliff and into the sea (of mud). Rescue !l once more had their job cut out for them as they kept vigilant for downed riders. The leader off the first lap was Steve Mudd folIowed by R.W. Thornburg, B. Thompson, Ralph MendenhaII and John Stapleton. By the second lap, with Mudd still in the lead, Thompson had moved to second, with Stapleton now in third. Thornburg had dropped into fourth while Ed BickeII had moved up from a fifth line start to the fifth overalI spot. By the third loop BickeII was now in fourth with Eric Ewalt moving into fifth. Stapleton had moved into the second spot behind Mudd by the fourth lap, with Thornburg in third and Jeff Aeck, moving up from the fifth start line, to fourth overalI. Mudd and 'Stapleton now began a battle that lasted the rest of the race. Stapleton had the lead on the fifth lap, with Mudd taking it again in the sixth and seventh. Stapleton finalIy got the upper hand in the eighth lap and retained it to the finish. Aeck had taken over the third spot folIowed by Tim Howard. Aeck then moved into the second spot shortly before the finish. Sunday afternoon 20 Final race of the weekend included the 250cc and Open Amateurs and Expens (MX and desert), plus the side· hacks, who always put on a good show. Chuck Miller had a bit of luck when he bought a late entry on the first row. It was his first ride for his new sponsor. Up·Tite Husky. Missing from the front row was Bob Balentine, whOle wrist was too sore to ride another race on this weekend. Off the start line two riders colIided. One was high on the banked track and dropped down, clipping another's front wheel. Russ Kurisu was the rider on the second machine. As Kurisu's wheel twisted, ,he looked down at the pavement speeding beneath him and de· cided it would be better to try to save it than to bite the concrete. He shot up tOwards the wall arid finally regained control of his machine. The lead was taken by the familiarly brown-clad Craig Adams. By the time he came into view on the last grassy outfield section he had built up a tre· mendous lead. As he came off of a small jump near the end of the section, his chain broke, ending his bid for what possibly could have been an awesome win. Miller took over and was in the lead as the riders began coming past the pits. Jim Fishback was close behind, folIowed by Bill Saluman, Kevin Davis, and Ed Whisenant. By the second lap Davis, who had started on the third line, was now running second overalI. The third lap was still led by Husky· mounted Miller, folIowed by Davis and Saltzman. The fourth spot was now held by long-time desert ace and MXer, Terry Clark who had started back on the fourth line. Howard Mc Casland had moved into fifth . On the fourth lap Mike Sixbery, who had been dicing it out with Dan Ashcraft, had moved from a seventh line start into the third spot. Ashcraft, meanwhile, was down in the pits for two and a half minutes when his dump can failed to function and gas had to be transferred into a standard can before he could get gas. Sixbery was really pushing, riding hard, taking the shortest line on every corner. He was out to win this race without a doubt. By the fifth lap he was in the second overaII slot behind MilIer. Saluman was behind Sixbery, followed by Clark and McCasland. Sixbery's bid was cut short, however, when he got a flat tire and DNF. Clark was now in the second spot, followed by McCasland and Rob Carpenter, who was also a seventh row starter. Dave Hornbeck was in the fifth overalI slot. The fmal lap ended with Miller taking the checkered flag with Clark unofficially only one second behind in time. Carpenter was third with Mc Casland in fourth. When the final computer finish is printed, a big turnover may occur in this race as there were inany riders moving well ahead of their start line peers. Huskys seemed to dominate this race once again for a change, with the first three overall aboard these machines. The sidehacks had a great race. One hack chose to take the jump at the mudhole because of a bet. They made it, but never came back around again. The Mesa, AZ team of Mike Curtis and Clyde Stewart took over the lead from the start and held it past the checkered for the fuII six laps required for the haclts. The Mike Abbott/Don Whittirston team was in the second spot on the first lap, folIowed by the Islanders team of Ron Whittaker and Gordon MacLean. Several hack teams had little isolated battles going among themselves. One driver almost lost his passenger as they bounced along the trail to the waterhole seconds ahead of another team. As he forcefu1ly plunged ,into the water the "monkey" was alrriost knocked from his precarious perch by the force of the water. The second hack plunged in after them and was almost drowned out, but, once clear of the water. the battle continued. The San Gabriel Valley M.e. team of Dale and Randy Jordan had their bad time too. This team is relatively new at hack racing. They've partici· pated in a few 50·mile desert races only. The continual twisting and turn· ing of the demanding GP course almost did the "monkey" (Randy) in. He had to be helped off the hack at the end of the race, because his frogers were clamped to the railing of the side hack! The sun finally set on an encamp' ment of Viewfinden who were all ex· ccediJ1l(1y exhausted, but fairly satisfied that tlie events they had worked so hard on turned out to be a success. Now it will only be three more months before they will have to start plans on ne;ct year's eventl •

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