Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.. Northern California-Northern Nevada-Dregon-Washington-Idaho-Utah-Alaska-( The I25cc A main wasa n exceptiona lly fin e race wi th li on the li n e to go ati t, Wh en th e fla g dropped, Word p ut a Suzu ki wa ter-pumper to th e h ead of the pack ove r Dennis Pool (o n a Float er MX er , as we re man y o f th e 125s), Vic Lil ya (Suz), Rob bie Blagg (Yam) a nd Dave Nordi n (Yam) . Word would la y it ove r farth er th an a nvone else a nd did it to 'em fo r a w ire -to- wire win . Second wen t to Pool wh o held o ff ra dica l adva nces from Li lya , Blagg a nd Nordin . Next wa s th e 200cc A m ain. Word spent litt Ie ti me wasting th e p ack to o u tdis ta nce Jeff McKin ley (Han) a nd Cla y Li ght (L O P/ Ya m), wh o argued ove r seco n d unt il the last lap. Fourth was Doug Blagg foll ow ed by Ro b Izalt (H a n) . T he 250cc A main had Pelk ey pu lveriz e th e pack to th e grou nd. Campbell and Wo rd tri ed to keep h im in sigh t but fell sho rt in th e end. Pelkey was victo rious over Campbell , Word and H arsh a . T he Pro ma in s were next on th e agenda . One wa s the Yo uth Mon ey m ain. w h ich is for 80 to 20 0cc m ach ines. Dave Nordi n (Ya m) had th e pol e p osit ion whi ch he used to grab th e lea d o ver Rob Bixel and Robbie Blagg (Ya m). T h e pack of II soon sp rea d out, a nd Nordin had a cozy lead foll ow ed by a trio of Bixel. Blagg a nd Lig ht. wh o wo rke d from last to p ress u re Blagg . On the last la p , Nordi n ha d it sewed u p as Bixel, Blagg a n d lig h t swapped for seco nd . Light ma de a drive but h it lapped traffic letti ng seco nd slip aw ay. Bixel ended up seco nd. Blagg third , Light fo urth , Stacy Tesch fifth, J oel Di xson sixth and Cha rl ie Mi tch ell (Yam) seven th . T he crowd was a ll read y for the hi ghl ight o f th e eveni ng which was the Pro ma in . Pelk ey p u t h is Ya ma ha to the front followed by Ca mpbell and H ar sh a , but the race was red flagged. Second tr y was a lso flagged. but the th ird was a take . On th e gree n light it was Pelk ey and Ca m p bell shoo ting o u t front ove r Whit in g a n d Brett H owa rd (Han) . Pelkey and Ca mpbell co ntinued to trad e paint, figh tin g for th e big bu cks. Campbell shook off Pelkey a nd o nce free o pe ned up a good lead leaving Pel key to fight o ff H ow a rd . w hich h e did ra th er eas ily a nd effortlessly bein g the fin e ri de r th a t h e is.. Howard soon found th e goi ng rough wh en Wo rd , wh o g ated p o orl y. ca ugh t u p a nd pressured for third. Time ran o u t, a nd Word was aced out by H ow ard's H onda. . Results PRO MONEV 200·0PEN: 1. J eff Campbell (yam); 2. Bar ry Pelk ey (Yam ); 3. Brett Howard (Hon) . VOUTH MONEV 80· 200: 1. Dave Nord in (Vam); 2. Rob 81.el (Su %); 3. Robb ie 81agg (Vam) . OPEN A : 1. Bre n Howa rd (Hon); 2. Robert Horban (Suzl; 3. M ike Huffman (Hon). 250 A : 1. 8arry Palk ey (Va m); 2. Jeff Campbell (Su%); 3. Fran k Wo rd III (Vam). 200 A : 1. Fra nk Word III (Vam) ; 2 . J eff McKin ley (Hon); 3. Clay Light (Yam). 125 A : 1. Fra nk Word III (SUl); 2. Denn is Pool (SulI; 3. Vic Lily a (Suz). 100 A : 1. Wayne Fram pton (Yam) ; 2 . Andy Dixon; 3 . Bria n Sh eets. 80 EX: 1. Wayne Frampton ; 2. Andy Dixon . 80 J R: 1. Robe rt W alker ; 2. Ryan Huffman (Yam) ; 3. Heath HutChi ns (Yam) . 60 A : 1. Ryan Huff man (Yam ); 2. J ason Froeb e (Vam): 3. Dav id Barg er (Va m). Sun, Cropper, Swenson smoke Sand Lake GP By Suanne Light SAN D LA KE, O R. FE B. 15 Ro n Sun topped the 250cc class a t th e seventh a n n ua l Sand Lake GP. which is a once-ayear event held right on the beach . J eff Cropper co llected the I25cc wi n o n a Suzu ki a nd th e Open class went to Al Swe nson, who fin ish ed seco nd to Su n in the 250cc class. C lasses weren't ru n li ke an MX event wh ere yo u ha ve Pro and Novice classes: ra the r, a ll ride rs ran toget her in disp lace men t classes. Ron Su n (Hon suppo rt) led the sta rt of th e 250cc class over Rand y T hom pson (Yam) and Swenso n. T he rain was co m ing down in bu ck et s. a nd th e sa nd turned soup y as it ha s a lmost every year th e even t has run . Su n wa sted littl e time a nd withs tood th e lon g vigorous mo to to top th e pack as Swe nso n h ad enough laps to fi nish seco n d. T h i rd went to Ve r no n La mp ing. fourt h to Suzuki rider Chris Selness (Gresham Suz) a nd fifth to Thom p son , w ho ro de th ree classes in th e downpour. T he 125cc class sa w Cropper crush the pack a nd use hi s professional MX ski lls to run a way with th e win, besti ng second p lace rider Thompson. Cro pper is a n exce lle nt sa nd ri der a nd has pa id hi s dues co m ing u p th rou gh th e min i ra n ks to p lace 12th in - moto o ne a t th e Wa sh ou gal Nati onal. T hi rd in the class went to Steve McCall wh il e Bru ce Burns a nd Ross Schu ltz gave chase. . Open machi nes h ad li ttl e tro uble ta cklin g th e h ill s. T he " big bowl " is a lways u sed . a n d the b ig bor es motored effo rt less ly. Swenson did the destruction and ca me out on top for first. Seco nd was T hom pson , th ird to Karl Berkhar t. "Even-Break" Motocross Gate .. o ~ .' In use at 65 of the nations lead ing tracks, inc lud ing Daytona International Speedway, th is AMA and FIM approved start ing gate feat ures: Easy temporary or permanent inst all at io n e Simp le mechan ical or hyd rauli c (o pti o nal) actuator and reset . e No vis ible " t ip-o ff" mechan ical movement o f any part s • Eli m ina t io n o f need fo r start ing li ne refe rees e A pen alty only t o t he riders w ho ge t ca ug ht j umpi ng th_e gat e • Hot dip gal vani zed pa rts fo r year s of t ro ubl e fr ee use e Results , 25: 1. J eff Cropper (S ulI; 2. Rand y Thomp son (Vam ); 3. St eve McCa ll . 250: 1. Ron Sun (Hon); 2 . AI Swen son; 3 . Vernon For illustrat ed brochure. tu ll deta ils and prices write or ca ll : Lamping. OPEN: 1. AI Swenso n; 2. Randy Thompson (Yam l; 3. Karl Berkhart . Supe rio r Meta l Product s, Inc . 75 Christi an Lane New Brit ain. CT 0605 1 (203) 225-7654 Awards presented at OMRA banquet By Larry Ulrich BEND. OR, FEB. 6 T h is year's an n ua l OMRA a wa rds ba nquet was held a t th e .Riverh ou se Resta uran t. one of Bend 's fin est ea tin g esta blish m ents. H a p p y h our sta rte d at 6;30 p .m. as rid ers go t re-aquairued , th is tim e wi t ho u t sh oulder pa ds a n d h elmets. For th eir entertai n ment, Husqvarna rep G lenn Wright p ro vided a video ta pe o f Dick Burleson th at played continous ly durin g th e happy hour. T he ta pe. a Peter Starr p rod ucti on, was fantasti c. Dinner was served to 77 people at 7:30 a nd was a n excelle n t boneless brea st o f ch icken . Afte r din ner, Billy T o ma n, OM RA Director, sta rte d th e awards part o f th e eveni ng by ta lking abou t what the O MR A is. what th ey'v e done a nd where th ey'r e go in g . He ex p la ined that the riders ga thered were getting a wards fo r th eir effo rts in riding six desert events nea r Bend a nd Va le and two reli ability trial s near Bend a nd Medford. They are a ll very accomplished riders, man y of the Am a teurs m oving u p to Expert th is year. As th e top three rider s in th eir respective classes ca me forward. professiona l phot ographer David Ov er holser took pi ctu res, and each of the top th ree wi ll get an 8x 10 co lo r p icture to hang o n th e wall next to th eir OM RA a wa rd . After Toma n finished . Wright ca lled severa l H usky riders up to th e front an d presented them wi th trick new jerseys. Results TRAIL BIKE: 1. 8ren t Ol.on; 2. Dav id Test er; 3. 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