Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Northern Calif ornia-Northern Nevada-Or egon-W ashington-Idaho-Ut ah-Alaska- NORTHER DATELINE Open GP winner Rick Mitchell (28) and 900cc 4-stroke GP ace Kevin Peltz. 34 But beh ind th e leaders th ere was a gr eat race betw een 500cc GP com petitor Kevin Peltz and Open GP rider Ri ck Mitch ell , with Mitch ell taki ng the chec kered to win hi s class. The 600cc Box Stock gr oup was th e largest class of the day with 27 entries filling the field. But th e ex tra tra ffic didn't stop San Diego Kawasaki 's Steve Sowden from grabbin g th e lead and holdin g it to ta ke the troph y. There was a real dogfight over second betwee n Joe Bruscell a, SCOll H ar mal a a nd Mark Redmon d. H armal a used the excess traffic 10 his advantage, tra p ping Bruscella and Redmon d beh ind slower riders and taki ng the £lag. After leadi n g th e first two laps of 750 and Open Super Street, Denn is Logreco 's Katana deci ded to get airborne in the na t out tum nin e sweeper, and he was ou t of the race. Logr eco was just a bit sore, but h is poor Suzuki has ri dden its last ride. With Lo greco o u t, Kevin Peltz quickl y sna tched th e lead and went o n 10 a duel with Kevin Bracken . After havin g some sh ifting problems, Peltz had to give up the lead to Brack en , but he still won hi s class. Peltz gra bbed th e h oleshot in 600900cc and Open Four-st rok e Grand Prix and this tim e held on to tak e th e o vera ll win. Meanwhil e, 600cc class co ntender Whitn ey Blak eslee an d 900cc class rider Kevin Bracken dueled for second, wi th Bracken tak ing it a nd Whitney a clos e third to win hi s class. John Ulrich , on hi s GPz550, als o haul ed th e big bik es as he, Tom Chastain and Tom Sh arp went a t it for fourth overall. Ulric h wo n it to ta ke secon d 600cc: Champion Moriwaki 's Wh itney Blakeslee ran aw ay with th e win in 600cc Super Street, but th e race to wa tch was betw een Steve Sowden, SCOll Harmala an d John Ulrich for the number two tro phy. As th e race went on, Ulrich's bike sta rted spitting a lot of smoke, and he just co uld n 't ca tch Sow den. But he did manage to fight off H armal a to ta ke the third pl ace tro phy. The 750 a nd Open Box Stock class was als o a championship race - Lee Flem in g took the victory in th is one wit h a I:38.1 lap time. Bruce Hammer (on a Cycle T u ne-sponso red Suzuki), in his first ever Bo x Stock race, came o u t to give Terry Stat um a run for hi s mon ey but ended up giving up second 10 Stat um . One h undred dollars was the first prize for win ning 250cc Grand Prix, and Mark Homchick, Dave Bu sby and J ohn G lover all wa nted it. With I:34.07 lap times, at the end of the 10 laps, Homchick went ho me the rich man . Busby took th ird , and Glover, o n a borrowed bi ke, ha d to seu le for third. Th e Open Product ion race sho wed Terry Statum again ou t front, chased by Bruce Hammer and Cycle Tune's new super star Bill Maddox . In the en d, Statum took hom e th e trophy with H ammer takin g seco nd. John Ul rich was again figh ting the 750s wi th his GPz550 as he dueled with J oe Bruton an d Vince Walker. Ulrich turned 1:41s as he led the way 10 th e £l ags to take his class easi ly. Possibly th e most exci ting race of th e day was the last - 450cc Pro du ction. Dave Behrendt led the first three laps, followed closely by Ron H lavka, Cli nt Wh iteho use a nd J eff Brauch t. But by lap four, Hl avka h ad snatched the lead and had the other three fig hting for second. While Hl avk a h u ng o n to hi s fir st p lace spot, Whi tehouse, Brau ch t a nd Behre ndt were wheel 10 wh eel the entire race. At the finis h it was Hl avka, wi th Wh it ehouse, Brauch t a nd Behrendt, in that or der, separa ted by inc hes. ARRA race p ro mot er Ea rl Smith is no longer an eligible bach elor, as he and hi s fia nce , Ruth , were ma rr ied a t the track Sa tur day. Ear l in herited Ruth 's three g irls a lso, so he'll have no sho rtage of ga te work ers. T he n ext ARRA race is a fo ur -ho ur endu ra nce race Apr. 3 at Will ow Spri ngs, a regular sp ri n t progra m on th e foll owing da y. • Results 500 GP; 1. Mark Homchick (Yam); 2 . Dave Busby (yam ); 3. Kavin Peltz (Suz). OPEN GP: 1. Rick M itchell (Kaw l; 2. Jim Collins (Kaw); 3. Tom Chastain (Yam). 450 BOX STOCK: 1. John Thornton (Yam); 2. Doug Booth (Hon); 3. Tracy Weed (Kaw). 600 BOX STOCK: 1. Steve Sowd en (Kaw l; 2. Scon Harmala (Kaw ); 3. Joe Bruscell a (Kaw). OPEN SUPERSTREET 1. Kevin Bracken (Ducl; 2. : John W ells (Hon); 3. Donnie Staman (M-G). 50 GP: 1. John Wells (Hen). 100 GP: 1. Or. Richard Trask (Hen). 250 PRODUCTION: 1. SCott Stevans (Yam); 2. Don Nelson (C-AI; 3. Robert Pritch ard (Yaml . CLASSICS 1(0-700): 1. Ross Klatt (Nor); 2. John Benson (BSAI. CLASSICS II (701· 0 l'EN): 1. Ely Schiess (Tri); 2. Glenn Hobbs (Nor); 3. Eric Dodd (Nor). VINTAGE I (0- 550): 1. David Fior elli (BSA); 2. Ma rc Johnson (Vin ). VINTAGE II (551· 0 PEN): 1. David Breetwor (Vin); 2. Bill Burd811 (Nor). 450 SUPER STREET 1. Ken Stack (Yam); 2. Jay : Tanner (Yam); 3. Randy Drusen (Yam). 600 SUPERSTEET 1. Wh itn ey Blakaslee (Kaw); : 2. Steve Sowden (Kaw); 3. Jo hn Ul ric h (Kaw). 750 BOX STOCK: 1. Earl Roloff (Kawl; 2. Brian Stulbaum IHon ); 3. Brian Savage (Kaw) . OPEN BOX STOCK: 1. Lee Flemin g (Kaw); 2. Terry Statum (Suz); 3. Bruc e Hammer (Suz). 125 GP: 1. Len Gamba (Hon); 2. Tom DeW itt (Honl; 3. Jim Mitchell (Hon). 200 GP: 1. Mike Fleming (Yaml; 2. Scott Wate rs; 3. M ike Gallaghar (Yam). 250 SUPER STREET 1. Scott Stevens (Yam); 2. : Robert Pritchard (Yam); 3. A.J . Park s (e-A) . 600 4·STROKE GP: 1. Whitn ey Blakeslae(Kaw ): 2. Jo hn Ulr ic h (Kaw ); 3. Mark Redmond (Kaw ). 900 4 ·STROKE GP: 1. Kevin Peltz (Suz); 2. Kevin Bracken (Ducl ; 3. Tom Chas ta in (Yaml. OPEN 4 -STROKE GP: 1. Ely Sch iess (Tri); 2. Gle nn Hobb s (Nor); 3. J im Colli n s (Kaw). 250 GP: 1. Mark Homchick (Yaml; 2. Dave Busby (Yam); 3. John Glover (Yam). 600 PROD: 1. Joh n Ulri ch (Kaw); 2. Mark Radmond (Kaw); 3. Scan Harmala (Kawl. 750 PROD: 1. Oenn y Fryer (Hon); 2. Earl Roloff (Kaw); 3. Brian St ulb aum (Han). OPEN PROD: 1. Terry Stat um (Suzl; 2. Bruce Hammer (Suz); 3. Bill Maddox (Suz). 450 PROD: 1. Ron Hlavka (Yam); 2. Clin t White· hou se (yam); 3. Jeff Braucht (Yam). J im Ellis (2) and J oey Schlag fly. Vlahos, Holmes, Schlag top Sand Hill's weekend of • winners By Bill Spencer BRENTWOOD, CA, MAR. 20-21 Dick Brandt's Concord Yamaha a nd Tom Anderson 's Sand Hill Ranch got together to make a great Weekend of Champions event that may mark a new co ncept in motocross raci ng for the area. All da y Saturday for th e Am ateu rs and all day Su nday for Pro s with the Go lde n State Clas sic concep t mak es for lots of great racing, a nd tha t was th e key for the Sunday show with light entries but tremendous levels of competition. . Je ff Verlin came o ff the fir st cha mpion of th e weekend, winn in g the 250cc Inter medi at e class with a swa p moto win over George Hoover. Verlin led th e entire second moto , winni ng with a 2- I to Hoover wh ile th ird went to Frank Val adao (4-4) a nd fou rt h to Mik e Petrunt with a 3-7. T he min i battl e wa s fast a n d fur .. ious with Chri s Stewart winning th e first ro u nd o f Intermediates an d th en swapping the second ro u nd with Steve G il ber t. Both are nearl y ou t of th e ra n ge of little kids, a nd th e long uphill cliff run mak es the m look a . little awkward, but the added weight for downside runnin g kept Mik e Pascarella at ba y. Gil bert led ear ly in th e seco n d moto o n h is Iron Horse Yam aha but got passed by Stewart a t the to p of the hill a n d th en spe nt a lap o r so regaining and taking the chec kered. Stewart took the overa ll an d ex tra goodies supp lied by Super Seer with Gilbert seco nd. Kevin Maas was to p Jun ior mi n i kid o ver Scott Sto ne a nd Terry Bastard. J ohn Powers p u lled a 1-2 for the Open Jun ior win over SCOll Bak er who had so me troubles in th e fir st ro u nd but wo n the second fo r a 5-1 combo a n d second over Sco tt Kinsma and Tom Schroer. Former mi ni whizzer Eric Liddell has moved up a nd took the 125cc Int erm edi ate opera tio n wi th a 3-1 over Joh n Cook (2·2) a nd Kell y Mano (1-3) who had troubl e wi th th e start in the seco nd round a nd cou ld n 't make it up in time. T he 125cc J un ior class was the biggie with ove r 30 en tries. At th e end, it was SCOll Cummings off the minis and a doubl e win ner on th e Ha yward Yamaha YZ. Kevin Snider took second with a 2-3 over Marty Cooper and his R M (3-4) with fourt h to Jimmy Barnett and Ro n Verlin fifth over Phil G ri sn a u. Su n day broke j us t lik e spring is su pposed 10 wi th fluffy clouds and fas tly wa rm ing weather for the Pro s. R icky R yan an d th e R &D Suzu ki were no match for the l25cc crowd with a runaway first moto effort. T he IO-year competitor will turn 16 on Ju ne 6 and will join the National tour for the last hal f o r the ligh tweight wars . Steve Vla hos was the closest in the firs t 30-mi nute event o ver Mik e Wh a len a nd SCOll Cas ta neda whi le the second round go t u nderway with the sa me sort of o perat io n, but o n ly for th e first two laps. The Pro course com bined th e cross co u nt ry a n d mar athon pl aces with Godzill a Hill, th at is a thrill er if you haven 't seen it. Rick flattened th e bottom part of the rear tir e som ewh ere on th e co u rse, a nd within two laps, he had given up first to Vlahos but wasn 't a bou t to give up the ride. Despite th e lack of go od con trol, he continued and ga ve it his best sh ot, even o n th e downhill th at had him flyin g over 40 feet. It was quite a show. Vlahos took th e secon d round with a good win a nd th e overall' bu cks wh ile Wh al en kept coo l for seco n d a nd tha t overa ll spot as well. Bret Steve ns too k third with a 6-3 co u nt, an d Steve Ri ch ards was a high flyin g fourth wi th a 5-4. Rya n came in for fifth wit h a 1-9 a n d a ro u nd of sta ndi ng applause a t the truck. An interm ission bet ween eac h Pro ro und saw Pete Dill keep h is recent Na tio nal Vet wins unblem ish ed, ta king marvelous Mik e Yarn to the clea ne rs. Mauri Sa tola chase d Ken Klein 10 the payoff window for the Junior tro p h ies, whi le Tony Flor es p roved to be unbeata ble in th e Mini Ex pert po rtion . T he 250cc Pro show was a real thri ller throughout a nd kept one and a ll attent ive for both of the 30-mi n u te motes. Mike Holmes never look ed bett er in hi s career a nd took both wins on hi s new So u th Bay Suzuki RM2 50Z. H e was chased th roughout by Lance Burgess fro m Eureka on a very fast KX250. It was Alex J orgen sen o u t 10 thrill th e pack in the earl y laps ridin g a no the r RM wi th lot s of Hi-Point clot hes and maybe a new lo ok for th e Ascot TT. Holmes, workin g o n the flat tracker who stays in shape by MXing, took over pa st th e halfway mar k. He had a gr eat Iine off th e high flyin g Godzilla H ill th at was a major attraction to the cro wd who stoo d mostl y with th eir ja ws hanging. The sigh t of two and three abreas t dropping o ff this cliff to a nea rly 100-foot j u m p followed by another very fast j u mp an d a mi le stra ig h t was too much . Holmes pulled his ND-sparkedl Tsu ba ki-ehained mo u nt off to a good sized lead wit h Bu rgess coming on strong towa rd the end to gr asp second from Jorgensen with Brian Jodry han gin g in for fourth over Doug McR ae. In th e second round, Burgess got a good start a nd di ced with Holmes for a few laps until Mik e made a little bo o boo and wo u nd up being the cha ser. T he two were almos t one for a number of laps until Holmes did a h andstand o n the bar s but saved a sure get-off wi th strength and an act of God. H e th en pa id a lot of a lle n tio n to smoothness and picked the pace up, catchi ng and pas sing Bur- ' gess in a low berm shot corner that was pr ime. As the laps wo und down, he went up and won by a wide mar gin of a t least two seconds. T ha t was as far a part as the two had been a ll th e second ro und . McR ae broug-ht in

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