Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

eN 00 O"l ..... OMRRA officers and support personnel were honored at the awards banquet. Michlitsch, Burgess celebrate Christmas early at Clarks Branch MX By Delbert Longbrake ROSEB URG, OR , DEC. 13 "Your mother wouldn't even like you ," a friend jokingly told T im Michlitsch when he saw how muddy the Kawasaki support rid - -. 22 er was after his mota . It was h ard to see , but there under a thi ck layer of mud was a big smile on Tim's fac e anyway. And for good reason, as he had just posted four first-place rides at the annual $500 Christmas race a t the Clarks Branch motocross. T im turned in his firs t place fin ishes in both the 250 and Open Pro classes, paying little attention to the slick, muddy surface of the track. And while Tim was celebrating his victories in the bi!\" classes , Lance Burgess was busy doing the sam e for his performance in the 125cc cla ss. T he Eu reka , CA Suzuki rider won b oth of those motos . A steady day-long drizzle fa lling over the Clarks Branch track m ade umbrellas and hot buttered rums the ho t set up on rac e day. Ra in gear an d life boats were a lso popular. Still , an occasional slap happy faced rider could be seen wa nderi ng ai mless ly through the pits in the rain. These riders, usu ally shunned , are called mud riders . The more sensible riders were huddled a round fir es or under sh el ter . When asked for his opinion on mud , Bu rgess made his feelings q uite clear, replying emphatically , "I hate the mud!" He then p roceeded to the front of his class a nd led every la p. Afte r riding the first lap in last place on a borrowed machine , Rod Keller moved up and secured second p lace for the remainder of the moto, After a long layoff from racing, Roy Da vis returned to Clarks Branch and placed rhird .: Burgess and Keller repeated their first moto performances in moto two with R ick Sm ith placing th ird . Burgess was quite happy after his second moto , especially when it came to pay off time where he picked up his sha re of the $500 purse. " I don't like th e m ud , but I had fun today," he exclaim ed . Miraculously, T im Michlitsch 's me chanic found d ry d irt to put u nder T im 's wheels on the m ud dy sta rt ing pad . It worked , and T im 's bo rrowed , stoc k Kawasaki litera lly lea ped off the pad and into the mud in first place . Tha t's all she wrote as far as the chapter on firs t, plac e was concerne d . Prov- ing that loggers don't mind th e ra in, Rod Huffman put his Huffman Wright Logging-sponsored scoot into second , even though he had a flat tire . T im Phillis held down third by holding off cha rges made by Steve W illiams. Michlitseh rode even be tter and faster in the second mota , making the win look easy. Huffman's absen ce , due to the fla t tir e , left the door open for Phillis to place second. Mark Mauheisen placed third just a hea d of W illiams. The Mini classes were kind of fu n to watch . Not because the ri ders were having trouble in the mud , but wh en t hey were underway, they wer e go ing very fast . In the Mini Intermediate class , Jeff Daily beat out Matt Ramey for first overa ll. Matt won the first rnoto, but could only manage a third in the second moto, while Daily went on to win. Courtney Schaffer placed third overall. Results OPEN PRO: 1. TIm Michlitsch (!(awl: 2. _Arne Hottman (Hon!. 250 PRO: 1. TIm Michlitsch (!(awl: 2. TIm Phill is . , {Yaml: 3. Steve Williams (Yaml . 125 PRO: 1. Lonea Burg... (SOlI: 2. Rod Koller (Suz): 3. Rick Smith {Yaml . MIDGET: I . Cris Renard (Suz): 2. Angelo Ronord (Honl. PEE WEE JR: 1. J ason Jansen (S Ul); 2. Joie DePew IYaml: 3. Chris Ronord ISuzl. PEE WEE INT: I . Jell Daily IYam): 2. Grant Bergstrom (Yaml . M INI JR : 1. M ike Crowell (Yaml : 2. M arc Hamo ker IKaw); 3. Grant Bergstro m (Yam). MI NI INT: 1. J ell Daily (Yam): 2. M alt Ramey {Yaml ; 3. Courtney Shaff er {Yaml . MI NI EX: I . Don Chu rch (Yam): 2. Ant hon y Valenzuela (Yaml. 100 J R: 1. Glenn Hunter ISuz): 2. Carl Renfrow ISuz): 3. Kevin Griffeth (Yaml . 100 INT: 1. Frank Piff erini (Yaml. 125 J R: 1. Bret Gilkison ISuz): 2. Greg Holmberg (Yam 3. Marc Sorenso n (Yaml ); . I 251N T: 1. lonny Sayles (Yaml : 2. Ken. Egli ISuzl: 3. Randy AJliman ISuzl . 250 JA: 1. Jody Lenard (Hon l: 2. M ike Db ie (Yaml: 3. Glenn Hunter (Hon). 250 INT: 1. Rick Huffman ISuzI; 2. W as Roberts tHon). OPEN J A: 1. Sco lt Christ ensen (Yam); 2. Paul Joiner (Hon!. OPEN INT: I . Greg Wiley ISuzl . OT: 1. John Broadwater (Yam): 2. Joe DePew (KTMI. port personnel who m ak e racing possi ble . The faith ful few who can a lways be counted on as tum workers , flagman , score r, announcer and other indispensable workers all receiv ed club jacke ts as well as free club mem bershi ps for nex t yea r . Two high po ints of the awards ce re mony were standing ova tions for Howard Pinkstaff, 60 years you ng , who picked up a . in Open Single.GP ~.i and for Kenny eil, the club president." Pinkstaff has recently purchased the Trac Performance/Trident Design thumper on which Gene Brown won three of his five year end trophies, so rumors of " the old man" retiring from racing seem premature . The Zlock table at the banquet was voted best decorated , since it was adorned by four first place trophies. Dan and Dale each won " his" class, 850 cc Cafe and 250cc Single GP, and both won the next class up. Open Cafe a nd Open Single GP, rid ing th e sm a ller machines. Year end finishing posit ions a re listed below , as well as the top three in overa ll points. Points are awarded for fin ish ing position in ea ch rac e entered du ring th e season , and Gene Brown, by virtue of riding in a t least four class es eac h race day, fin ished well in the lead for nex t yea r's Number One plate . Interestingly, second and third place winners in overall points were a Washington and a Canadian rider, re spectively, clea rl y illustrating the ex tent to which the Oregon club depends on other clubs' racers to fill out the sta rting grid . Results 125 GP: 1. Pete Jaoobson: 2. Todd Dressel 3. J im : Blake . 250 GP: 1. Doug Guthrie; 2. Gene Brown 3. Paul : Pairoli . OPEN GP: 1. Gene Brown: 2. Jim 0awIey; 3. Dale Franklin. 125 GP (SPORTS MAN): 1. Dulnl Gerrard : 2. Deon Zinter. 250 SGL GP: 1. Dale ZIock; 2. John Motlott; 3. Riclt Pope . OPEN SGL GP: 1. Dale ZIod<: 2. Gene Brown; 3. Howerd PinkstafI. 650 CAFE: 1. Joe Rodgers: 2. Jeff Ooan; 3. Rhys Howard. B50 CAFE: 1. Dan Zlock; 2. Mark Hislop: 3 . Gene Brown. OPEN CAFE: 1. Dan Zlock; 2 . Keith Pinkstaff: 3. Pat Mar inacci . 430 PROD: 1. Robert Adams : 2. Larry Buck: 3. Richard Burnham . 550 PROD: I . Robert Adams: 2. Rhys Howard: 3. Rick Winningstad . 750 PROD: 1. Rod Chron ister: 2. Robert Adams: 3. Fredlalud. OPEN PROD: 1. Keith Pinkstaff; 2. W ayne Tanner; 3. Claud e HisloP . OVERALL: 1. Gene Brown 1629): 2. Robert Adams 1 5441:. 3. Rhys Howard (3751. Word heads Pro herd at Grants PassST By Clay Light GRANTS PASS , OR , DEC. 12 Brown tops OMRRA for '8 1, Zlock brothers win four By Russ Cazier PORTLAND . OR, DEC . 5 The Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association held its an nual awards cere m ony a t the Hi Hat restaura nt in southwest Portlan d tonight. T he club had a pros p nus year, swelling its coffers and a llowi ng the presentation of grandiose trophies to the season's top fin ishers in each road raci ng class, and also m aking possible the presentation of ric hly deserved tokens of gratitude to th e su p ' Over 150 racers packed the Josephine County Fairgrounds Arena for the indoor short track tonight. Another three inches of ra in overnight brought many motocrossers out of th e woodwork. The track is rough due to sh aring ac tivities with horses, and fair offi cials d ecl in ed to let tra ck o pera tor Rich Word smooth it ou t, making for some semi ro ugh raci ng. The even ing's winners were 125cc ace Lance Burgess (Suz) , Br ett How ard in O pen class and Frank Word (Yam Sports Center) in 25 0cc a nd Pro Money A mains. In 125cc A ra cing , Burgess once aga in swe pt the field with his co nsistency and speed ove r Dave Nordin , Ted Perreard a nd Pet e Liles. Bu rgess to ok th e main with No rdi n and Perrerred giving chase . The 25 0cc A m a in was a wa r be tween Gra nts Pass riders Jeff Campbell (Ya m) and Frank Word (Yam), who have bo th seen action in m any Nationals as bo th travel the AMA circuit. Word blazed a pa th to the hea d of the pack a t the start of the main . Cam pb ell stuck to W ord , though , a nd neither rider let off. Campbell tried everything in th e AMA Class C Professional b ook to get by W ord , who was a top 100 P ro in 1980 -81. Campbell , National number 70 , stayed with in a wheel's len gth , but Word defi nitely had the adva ntage (the lead!). Bobby Ingle and Da ve Whiting argued over who would take the third spot; Ingle took the spot , but it was Word who racked up another victory followed soooo closely by Campbell. Everyone then prepared themselves for the event of th e evening , the Pro money main . Word shot out fro nt of the pack of hungry wol ves. Kirk Howard was in second and Jeff Campbell was buried in th e pack. Br ett Howa rd was in third as Campbell work ed qu ick ly throu gh th e pack to third , but tim e was ticking away for th e AM A speeds ter as Word had a hu ge lead and was pulling away from the pa ck . As th e spectat ors watched a nother slaughtering by Word , Howard motored on to second and Br ett Howa rd held Campbell at bay for thi rd . Brett Howa rd led th e Open A main over Word , who wasn 't as lu cky as in previous pe rformances and was in a place that wasn 't to h is liking (second). Kirk Howard held down third and Rich Word (Suz), brother of Frank Word and also an AMA Pro, was in fourth . It seemed like a battle of the brothers as Frank Word and Brett Howard swapped for first and Kirk Howard and Rich Word fought for third. The Howards won with Brett taking the win over F. Word , K. Howard and R . Word . Rich hasn't seen much racing lately since his wife presented him with twins . In th e Youth Money main . it was Burgess wh o too k his Su zuki to an unchallen ged win . Ted -Perrea rd , Californi a n Donnie Church (Yam) and Rob ert Hor b an (Yam) followed, b ut that's a bout a ll they d id as Bu rgess became once again " Lo ng Gon e Lance ," d isa ppearing into th e night. T he ot hers? W ell, you co u ld say they ca me up wit h th e short end of the stick. Results 60 A MAIN: 1. Rayan Huffman; 2. David Borger; 3. Kenny Cra ig . 80 JR : 1. Paul Lewis: 2. Dennis Reading : 3. Ryan Huffma n. 80 EX A: 1. Donni e Church; 2. Andy Dixson; 3. S teve Drake . 100 A:. 1. Donnte Church : 2. Brian Sheets; 3. Steve Drake. 125 A:. 1. Lance Burgess: 2. Dave Nordin; 3. Ted Peneard. 200 A: 1. Robert Ho

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