Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Chuck Sun 110 1forged a path for Tom Carson 11201. Jim Wolfenbarger (721). Rick Sidle (791and Andy Stacy (431 in an Open Pro moto. Scott USA Florida Winter-AMA MX Series: Final Round Jordan, Martin & Sun earn series titles at Orlando Robin son with J eff Surwall , Robert Handy. Kyle La ndru m, Frankie Lamp a nd T im Eal y stru ng o ut behind. J ordan look o ver before the flag stalion . Robinson held second for a la p un til Surwa ll's self-s upported Ya maha blew by o n lap th ree, Fi rs t Ea ly, th en Landrum . H andy, Greg Ma yo a nd SIeve Burd ett e wo rked Su rwall o ver. Ealy's Warren Musselwh ite sponsored Suzu ki closed th e ga p on J ordan . " I was read ing th e boa rd ," sai d J ordan , " it said Ea ly +7, +6, +5. I kn ew Eal y was co m ing a nd had to get o n it." J o rd an kept th e lead, a nd once bac k in th e p it s reta pe d a pai nf u l right fool. " I ch ip p ed the bone last week, bUI it was bea rable." J ordan h ad th e series locked u p , but wanted the fros ting o n h is ca ke a nd led flag- to -flag in mo to IWO o n hi s Ra y H empstead, J oe Wil son a nd Gen e Jordan prepped Griffs/Nip pondenso Yamaha YZ. J ordan mot o red with H a nd y, Frankie Lamp, Landrum , Weak, Burdett e, J eff Wimmer a nd Thomas Meyers in good sha pe . H andy owned second until a last lap setback d rop ped him to seven th, Burde tte hung on to seco nd. but Eal y's third was good enough fo r seco nd overall. Ea ly sa id . " It's about time I pu t two m o to s io ge the r in the series." Bu r d e tt e ' s Jim Pi ca rd. T om Fl eming t u ned Metz el er/W D 40 Suzuki ha s been in th e hum si nce th e opening rnoto a nd th e Ma ssachuse tts na tive sco red runner-up bu ck s for th e series. " I' ve been to Fl orida tw ice,' sai d Bu rdette, "bu t minor Sluff alwa ys kept me o ut of it. T hi s yea r has been a lot bett er. " Maki , who was second in points dropped to fo urt h overall with a bad day . 250ee Pro ... 20 St eve Martin he ld a slim fo ur point lead ov er J o J o Kell er with David Ba il ey a nd Keith Oeler ich being long shots for a possibl e cha m p ionsh ip titl e. Bail ey un veil ed th e n ew sta d iu m vers io n of th e '82 works H onda . th e blue sa fety seat a n d sma ll gas ta n k selli ng it a pa rt from p ro du ct ion mode ls. Ba il ey ch u rned 10 a qu ick lead with H onda tea mmat es Kell er a nd Mart in , H usky's Kris Bigel o w, privateer Oelerich a nd Ka wasaki's Bill y Lil es in Io r rna rio n. Martin swapped places wit h Kell er on lap two, bu t rega in ed th e edge o n la p fo u r. Martin didn 't accept th e si tuat io n a nd p ut h is L orenz O ffn e r wrenc hed C R250R back in second o n la p seven. Bigelo w sq ue lche d th e in fighti ng by put tin g hi s Husk y past both co n lender s by the fin ish . Mart in 's poi n t lead wa s narrow ed 10 IWO. Bigel o w sai d, " I need a nothe r good m or o ." Wi th Da vid Dye's o ne minute sig n up, Kell er loo ked u nder hi s bik e a nd sa w a pool o f oi l. "Th e shock blew a sea l. I tr ied riding in to th e first t u rn, bu t co u ld n' t co ntrol it a nd things got wo rse a fte r th at . I co u ld n ' t ride i t," sai d Keller. Marrin took th e lead with a u thoritv, Bai ley, O el eri ch . Bigel ow , Jim~y Ellis and Dan Wallace scra mbled for second. Bailey said la ter, " Ma rt in got in a g roove a nd he was gone . I kn ew I had 10 get so me lines to gether 10 ca tch hi m ." Martin sa id, " I just wanted 10 ge t o u t o f th er e a nd stay o u t o f trouble." Bai ley a nd Ell is wo rked their wa y pa st Martin , bUI th e title bel on ged to Martin. Mart in 's prett y lady Randy Ro berts wa s th ere 10 help cele bra te. Bailey, who won th e fina l five motos in the series, sa id, " Act ua lly it 's m y sec re t tra ining aid. The P ac Man machine a t the Cycle Barn in Vir ginia keeps my thro ttl e hand in shape." Ell is. who took th ird o vera ll for th e da y. sa id, " I couldn 't r id e out of a paper bag in th e first moto . I'm glad 10 ge t it together ." Open Pro Sun left the fir st tight turn w ith T eam Dyna m ics' Jim Wolfenbarger , Mai co'sGary Pustela k, H onda 's J oh n Reinh olt, Maico 's Andy Stacy a nd privat eer J oe Ba ker in hi s wake. Wh ile Su n look ed in co m p le te co n tro l of h is dest iny , Bill y Grossi sliced through th e from runner s. ca tch ing Rein ho lt o n la p eig h t, Sun began to wr estle h is bik e from side to side 10 ge l fuel 10 the ca rb as h is tank developed a lea k. " I suppose I sho uld have pitted him a nd a dde d gas," sa id Cr ippa. " Bu t I wa s afraid ~.h·uck wa s going 1 ca tch o n 0 fir e a nd-d id n' t li ke the id ea. I thought: Billy Grossi was all grins after his Open Pro overall at Orlando. th e press ure was off, bUI here we go agai n ." G ro ssi p ut rh e m oto o n ice w ith Pust cl ak , S tacy, Bak er, Wolfenbarger and Mick ey Boon e in th e top five. In thefin a l mOIO Sun , Reinholt a nd Pu stela k do ve into tu rn o ne in unison. Su n e merged first wi th R einb ol t. Pu stel a k, Gross i a nd S tacy behind. As Su n danced a way, Gross i won' down Reinh olt a nd rook second o n lap five to a ssu re h is o vera ll win a board his Mark Do dd tuned Husq varna . " Ma rk d id a hell of a job o n rh e bik e," said Gross i, " the suspens io n was perIec t this wee k. " Su n's fi nal mot o w in was a fi lli ng end 10 a se nsa tio na l Winter-AM A pe rfor ma nce . Pustel ak, wh o finishe d third for th e day a nd fourth in th e series, sa id, " T he Wint er-AMA beal s being back in Pennsyl van ia . I' d be shoveli ng snow a nd freezin g t o d eath th ere." . • Results 125cc: 1. Ka~ Jon:tan IVaml l ·1; 2. TIm Ealv ISuzl 2· 3; 3. SIeve Burdett. ISuzI 6·2; 4. Robert Handy ISuzl 47; 5. Fred Vertucci ISuzI 84; 6. Jeff Wimmer lSuzl 7 ~' 7. Greg Mayo ISuzI 5-8; 8. David Weak C SuzI 10-5; 9: Kyle Landrum IKawI 3.Q; 10. Mark BUller ISuzl 16-9. 250= 1. David Bailey IHon) 1·1; 2. SIeve Mart in [Hanl 4·3; 3. J immy EUis lHan) 8·2; 4. Keith OeIerich IVaml 5-4; 5. Billv Liles IKawl 6·7; 6 _Jimmy BenoIkin IKawl 9-5; 7. J ell Hope IHonl 12-8; 8. Kris Bigelow tHusl 2-DNF; 9_ Jo Jo Keller IHanl 3-DNF; 10. David Batson IHonl17~. OPEN: 1. 8;IIV Grossi IHusl 1 2; 2. John Reinholt (Honl 3·3; 3. Garv PusI. lak IMail 2·5; 4. And v Stacy IM atl 44 ; 5. MIckey Boone lM aH 7 6; 6_Joe 8aker IM aH 5-8; 7. Joitn Finkeldav IKTM I 9 7; 8. Chuck Sun IHonl DNF·l ; 9. Mike Harnden (Yam) 8 10' 10 David Rudnicki (Suz) 10·13. • W1nte , -AMA Final serle. Standing . 125cc: 1. Karl Jordan (Yam); 2. Steve Burdett e !S uzl; 3. Tim Ealy ISuzl: 4. Eric Maki (Kaw); S. Kenny Keylon IHonl; 6. 80b Handv (Suzl; 7. Fred Verticci ISuz); 8. Jell Surwall (Yam); 9. Doug Hoover (Yaml; 10. Frank Lamp IVam). 250cc: 1. Steve M artin (Hen); 2. David Bailey (Hanl ; 3. Jo J o Keller (Hon); 4. Keith Oeler ich (Yam); 5. J immy EII!s 11:400); 6. BiIIV Liles IKawl : 7. Jeff HoPe IHont: 8. Krts Bigelow tHus); 9. J immy Benolk in tKawl : 10. Ooug LongwelllSuzl. OPEN: 1. Chuck Sun IHon); 2. Billv Grossi (Husl; 3. John Reinholt IHan); 4. Gary P\l$leIak lMa i); 5_ AAdr Stacy IMao ; 6. John Finkeldev IKTM); 7. Mickey Boone 1 l Mal1;.8. Tom.e-on.lMail; 9. Ji m Mi teheiI IM ai); 10. M ichael Harndon IYam). - - -

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