Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

g' ~ m 00 0) CN ... GJ ~ e ... c:l.. GJ 4J en Bnld Hellek 138' I. Robert Dellvuk 1901 and Wayne Stevanjal8271 blelt down a ItrIIlght In 2!iOcc: lnarmedlete II racing. 6th Annual NMA Grand National Cham~ionship_ MXSeries 2,OOG-plus enter Ponca City final, champions crowned By Tom Mueller PONCA CITY, OK, AUG. 11-16 Over 2,000 entries were received from 46 states for the final showdown in the 1981 Yamaha National Motosport Association Grand National Championship MX Series. Nine thousand two hundred and fony ride~ between the .. f ages o. fiIve and 18 quahfied 10 18 regions throughout the sea- 10 son, with only the top ten percent making the cut for Ponca City. Tuesday and Wednesday were used for parking the hundreds of motor homes that arrived, teCh inspection and practice. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 67 class program was run through twice, which decided overall champions in classes where divisions weren't needed. On Sunday, the larger classes had run-offs with top riden from each class division combining for a third moto that was averaged into the final score. In all, 156 motos were run. Approximately 7,000 people came ~hrough the gate and a mini-city was Instantly constructed. The event was held in cooperation with the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce and was sponsored by the Ponca City Ambucs, a business group. A S!l,OOO purse was up for grabs for 125cc Stock, 125cc Modified and 250cc Expert contenders, with an additional S!l,OOO in contingencies supplied for all classes from product sponsors. Yamaha Motor Corporation gave new bikes to ten champions in selected classes, and Kawasaki Motor Corporation got into the act with S10,OOO in awards to selected class champions. The event was, for the most part, a mini program which was serious and Team Yamaha had intense. competition support personnel on hand with a special pit area for their six "in house" riders. Kawasakis Team Green, headed' by Dave Jordan, had all their riders in one huge pit area where top notch mechanical assistance was offered. Their area was easy to find -- a huge green fISt floated in the air over the pit entrance. "The place has been wide open since we opened up," said Jordan concerning the mechanical assistance area. "I gave out over 100 tires the first day. It feels great'" U.S. Suzuki R&D Racing was also present, but brought hand built machines instead of the 'S2 SUcc Full Floaters which were expected_ "We're still sorting out the new stock Floater," said Dean Dickinson of R&D Racing. "Suzuki said if we didn't race them they didn't want them here, so we left them home." As a whole the affair ran off in smooth fashion under the direction of Ron Henricksen. Numerous injuries did occur (95 children were reported to have broken bones as of Saturday night) but medical assistance was quick and efficient. I With, tilt I djre,pt ~,~veme~~ p~, 7,000 persons at Ponca City the stage was set for a spectacle that is hard to describe. Motos ran back to back for hours on end, and when the day's activities were over, entertainment was provided. Buses to nearby lakes and a water-slide facility were avail.able, and one night a country singer ran through some tunes. The course itself was dry, hard and fast, at least until the final motas on Sunday when rain orenched the area and turned conditions around. Bridges over parts of the course gave spectators access to many different sections. It would be impossible to give credit to all the riders and crews who excelled at Ponca City. M.any dollars were invested by hundreds of families to get their riders through the Grand National Championship, and during the course of the week we tried to focus on some of the more exciting races. In the first S!lcc Stock Intermediate (through 11) moto California Team Green rider Scott Brown took holeshot honors on an 'S2 model Kawasaki. Yamaha team rider Ronnie Tichenor from Florida locked into the second spot on lap one, but California's Mouse McCpy set Tichenor up over a jump and stuffed into second through the next turn. Brown, who calls himself "Lizzard" smoothed out an pulled a comfortable lead while McCoy and Tichenor ran close the entire race. In the end Brown won with McCoy over Tichenor by only a few feet. McCoy is also a Team Yamaha rider. Washington's Larry Ward was up front most of the race and carded fourth on his Kawasaki. In moto two Brown was a~in flawless and took the win. Tichenor and McCoy reversed their positions with Tichenor taking second and second in class, with Brown emerging the class champion. In the 250cc Expert class two divisions needed. In Division 1 California's Curt McCuistion put his 'S2 Team Green Kawasaki to the test for wins in both motos. In moto one McCuistion hit a jump wrong and almost looped it, but straightened things out for the next tum. In mota two McCuistion was unchallenged and made few mistakes. Ricky Glaser from Texas used two founhs to grab second overall in the division on his Yamaha. In 250cc Expert Division 2 Georgia's -Billy Liles was the king. Liles blitzed from third to first on lap one to lead moto one for good. Like McCuistion, Liles was riding an 'S2 Kawasaki under the Team Green program. In mota swo Tommy Watts from Texas was the frontrunner for two laps" but Liles finally worked by Watts' Yamaha. The race was far from over, however, as Watts dogged Liles heavily to the ftnish. A 2-2 score put Watts second in Division 2. It looked to be an East versus West battle between Liles and McCuistion in the run-off on Sunday, but when heavy rain was mixed into the program it was Liles all the way with his mud riding experience. Billy took the holeshot and was gone while McCuistion came round in back covered in mud. By lap three Liles was lapping riden and increased his lead to the flag. Suzuki bound Rick Hemme from California landed the first moto win in the S!lcc Stock Expen (12 and over) Division 1 class with fellow Californian Todd Campbell picking up second on a Yamaha. In mota two it was Team Yamaha's Troy Blake, Missouri's Robbie Peters on a Kawasaki and Kawasaki rider Derrick Latham out of Oklahoma setting the hot pace. Blake took off to lead for good and Latham worked by Peters after a dice. Peters then contended with Utah's Snell Johnson on a Kawasaki but Robbie r

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