Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126601
Darrell Shultz (20) rode inspired races. especially Sunday. getting two seconds. David Bailey (23) was 14th Saturday and 13th Sunday. last year, as the series moves to Atlanta on February 27. Saturday Preliminaries Honda-mounted Robb Manning took th e lead from Ka wasa ki support rider Bill " Kawboy" Li les on th e last lap to wi n th e alternate mot o over Maico 's SCOll Joh nson, early leader Doug Taylor on a Yama ha and Honda rider Pat Wi lson, , Barnell, Hansen and H a n na h were a tig ht 1-2-3 in the first heat wi th Hon da support rider JoJo Keller fourth 10 gain a direct transfer to th e final. Yamaha Pro Support rider Rick Johnson and team rider SC Bu rnOll worth went a t it in heat two until Johnson went down halfwa y through the IO-lap race, giving Burnworth the lead. Johnson quickl y reel ed Bu rn worth back in but co u ld n ' t repass. Honda support riders fill ed the nex t spots as Larry Wosick cruised 10 thi rd. Ron Turner displaced Ken n y Keylon o n the last lap for fourth . Glover zap ped th e thi rd heat in th e fastest ti me of the n igh t by leading from sta rt 10 finish. Kawasaki 's Goat Breker held Johnny 0 ' off for second while Suz u ki's Denny Ben tley raced to fourth. J ~ ) I J)' f J) J II I ,1 \1 I t l t . Shultztook command ofthe fourth heat from the start. and despite stalling when he hit a lapped rider, he was un touch a ble. Suzuki's Warren Reid p layed the 01' switcheroo with Ho nda 's David Ba iley on the last lap for second. Ji m Gibson moved to fourth . " Final Keylo n led the first semi u nt il lap four whe n he dropped OUI. Canada Suzu ki 's Ross Pederson, who had worked u p from an opening lap fifth , roo k over from there 10 th e check ered . Kawa saki's J eff Ward came from mid-pa ck to second 10 earn a start in th e fina l. Kaw a saki 's T om Benolkin held off Honda 's Chuck Sun for four laps in th e secon d sem i unti l going down for a moment. T ha t's a ll Sun needed, th ough, and Suzuki's Kent Hower .', ton bothered him to the fini sh. Third in th at semi wasn 't good enough for Ho n da support rider Jim Ellis, and he jumped 10 the fore in th e consolation race. Yamaha Pro Support rider Eri c McKenna took over on lap four , though , holding it to the finish easily over SCOll Johnson , HiPoint Kawasaki rider Da n Turner, Suzuki's Alan King and Highland Honda's Bob Bu ffa loe. .,1 i) ~ ~ -. ,Jl ยทยท.J -~ : , )f When the one-minute board went sideways for the final , Howerton dropped back from the gate, his engine lifeless, Before attempting to bump start the bike. though , he noti ced th e circlip fo r h is co un tershaft sprocket was missing , and he could o nly wa tch as Glover, Hansen , Barnell and Sh u ltz rocketed to the first turn in fro nt, Han nah an d O ' Mara not fa r behin d. Shultz pulled Ba rn ell in and after four laps was looking for a wa y a ro u nd. " He was makin g a lot of mistakes in a ll the gr ooves." Shultz said lat er , "an d Donnie and Brae wer e just pull in g away from us. Finall y, I th in k his chai n came o ff or someth in g , an d I pulled righ t back on th ose guys . I saw h im cras h a fter th at . I don 't kn ow wha t WdS wron g with him; he see med reall y ra til ed or something." Barnell was not pleased with hi s performance which resulted in an eventua l 15th . Afterwards, h e would onl y ad m it tersel y, "T he ch a in fell off ; musr've got a roc k in it a nd fell off. That's th e way it goes ." . Gloverand Hansen still headed th e pack out front when Barnell fell back on lap seven. Shultz, H annah, O 'Mara and Reid moved up a slot apiece. E ... , I - ; I - I I During the last half of the race, Shultz and Hannah grouped up behind Hansen with Glover still in sight ahead. Glover got the white flag several bi kelengths ahead of H ansen , and it loo ked like a sure bet he'd wi n. After a ll, he'd spent the p revious 191aps in front. However, going into th e wh oops after the main straight, Glover got a bit out of sh ape and suddenly went down . Quickly, he picked his bike up a n d started to hop on th ough he was pointe d across the track. Hansen zipped past, bu t H annah wasn 't as fortunate. He h it Gl over broad sid e, knoc king h is team mate to th e ground a nd sta ll ing h is ow n mot or, Hannah qu ickl y relit the fire, but Sh u ltz and O 'Mara were a lready pas t a n d h om e free as th e Honda ca m p er u p ted in ation a n d back wh oops of celebr sla ppin g. "I was kinda su rp rised tha t he did get off on the las t lap 'cause I don' t think that's like Broc," Hansen said late r. " I don't think I'v e see n him do th at many times. , "I was reall y close to him so I think if I hadn 't have seen him start to fall over, I would've hit him and maybe caused myself to crash." I -I ''''1 . ' -'' 9