Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Holland for fifth near the 35-m in u te mark. H e the n tried to make a run at Gibson but found th e goi ng tough without goggles, so he sett led for fifth. Su rwa ll sold iered a lo ng in sevent h wh ile Ron Turner, La ndrum a nd Blak e followed h im in . As the one -min u te board wen t up for th e start of th e second rno to, Gibson was still on his wa y to the line. He reached up to pull his goggles into position and dis covered th ey wer en 't on his helmet. In a state of controlled panic, he dashed back to the Honda pits, found them , sprinted back to the line while pulling his goggles on and jumped on his bike as the board went sideways. H e got th e hol eshot. Ward, O 'Mara a nd Barnett formed a tigh t trio behind him with Holland a short distance in arrears of them. Suzuki su p port rider Gary Denton, Dan Turner and Yamaha Support rider Erik Kehoe occupied the 6-8 slots. Up front, the leaders sh uffled an d reshuffled places seemingly a couple of times each lap. O 'Mara moved into th e lead after about five minutes a s Barnett got by Ward for third. Hannah had gotten a mid-pack sta rt abo ut 18th. About 15 minutes into th e race, he was at the side of th e track, push ing h is lifeless bik e back to th e pits. Before 20 minutes were up, Barnett had fini sh ed hi s work on th e leaders - he wa s the lea der af ter sli pping a wh eel beside O 'Mara, a nd both held positions to th e end. " At least we leav e th e race, and me a nd Mark are tied (in points)," O 'M ar a sai d after ward. " It sh ould be an interesting seri es; I'm lo oking forward to it. " Gibson broke awa y . from Ward h alfwa y through th e race for a th ird. Wa rd ca ug h t a ro ck with his eye a fter pulling hi s goggles off a nd had trouble seei ng but held onto fou rt h eas ily over Hollan d. Barnett ended up lappin g up to six th -p lace fini she r Ron Turner wh o was followed by Denton, Kehoe, Dan Turner a nd Gary Dircks; 250cc National Honda Support rider Kenny Keylon got th e chance to ride the injured Darrell Shultz's works bik e in the 250cc class in stead of a prod uctio n machine in th e l25s. H e made th e mo st of it with a holeshot, Ri ck j ohnson stalked him in seco nd for th e first h alf of the race. As h e in ched slo wly u p on th e Honda rider, the ga p o n third-place Warren Reid grew. johnson finall y ca ug h t and passed Keylon just before th e 30minute mark. H is mechanic, Bob Ol iver, flashed him a message " Keep cool" - and j ohnson did just th at. When he took the ch eckered flag with both hands ra ised in vict or y, he was 46 seconds ahead of Keylo n, wh o fell momentarily in th e late goi n g. Sti ll , Keylon had a good buffer on Honda Su pport rider Larry Wosick wh o broke awa y from Reid an d Scott Burnworth. T he Yamaha rider passed Reid a few lap s from the end but co uldn ' t sh ake him. Reid was determi ne d to get back arou nd so mehow. Burnworth wasn't making mistak es, though , so as the two headed into th e fin al tight right-hander befor e th e finish li ne, Reid tri ed to stuff in side o f Burnworth. Both en ded up on the ground. Bu rn worth scra m bled and restarted hi s bike th e quickest, so he kept fourth . Reid was follow ed by H onda Sup port riders Steve Martin an d jim T ar antin o, works H onda pilot Donn ie Hansen , H usky's Kris Bigelow a nd Suzuki Support rider Clint H ard ick . Yamaha 's Bro c Gl over - wh o went down in a large fir st turn p ileup, ."Va s used for traction and got goin g near the en d - worked up to 11th. " I was reall y mad a t m yself after that first moto, sta rti ng third and ' dropping to fifth ," Reid said later shaking h is head. To atone for that, he blasted his jon Sle n za k- tu ne d RH250 out o f th e gate with every one behind him through the first turn. He never lost the lead after that, although he was under heavy pressure from Johnson from the 15-minute point to th e fini sh . " I was waiting for h im to mak e a m istake so I could get h im ," johnson said later, "but I co u ldn' t manage to take adva ntage or find a mistake. " Nevertheless, johnso n's secon d ass ured him o f th e overa ll win - hi s first in Na tio na l co mpet it ion - an d th e two leaders' battle carried th em over 70 seconds ahead of Burnworth in third. Bentley mov ed in to th e fourth posit ion near th e 35-minute point with Gl over com ing back from a bad start for fifth. Wosi ck latched o nto six th a head o f Mart in , H ansen (p lagued by sp ills, a bent shifter an d a .run of hard lu ck ), H ard ick an d Keylon. Han gt own traditionall y sets the pa ce fo r the year's Nat ionals. If tradi tion holds true aga in this year, Barnett co u ld become th e first four-time 125cc National MX cha m p . And if Joh ns on's performances co nt in ue producing si m ilar results, he co u ld find himself on a full-on wor ks bike this time next year. • Results 125 : 1. Mark Barnen (Suz) 2-1 ; 2.Joh nny O'Mara (Hon) 1-2: 3. J im Gibson (Hon) 4-3: 4 . Jell Ward (Kaw) 5-4; 5. George Holland (Suz) 6·5 : 6. Ron Turner (Hon) 8·6; 7. Gary Denton (Suz) 13·7; 8. Daniel Turner (Suz) 12 -9; 9. Jell Surwall (Hon) 714; 10. Bob Hannah (Yam) 3 -" : 11. Michael Preston (Suz) 11 ·15; 12. Kyle Landrum (Kaw) 9 -17 ; 13 . Erik Kehoe (Vam) 19-8; 14. RustY Wageman (Suz) 16- I\IIark Barnett (top) went 2-1 for the 125cc overall. (Above) Warren Reid (16) and Scott Burnworth clashed then aashed in the last turn of the first moto. 11: 15 . Troy 81ake (Vam) 10-19; 16. Jell Schum acher (Vam) 17- 13; 17. Gary Dircks (Suz) -·10: 18. Dean Cates (Hon) 21 -12 ; 19. Randy Blair (Hon) 1429; 20. Eric Hall (Yam) 15-21 . 250: 1. Rick Johnson (Yam) 1-2; 2. War ren Reid (Suz) 5·1 ; 3. Scon Burnworth (Vam) 4-3; 4 . Larry Wos ick (Hon) 3-6; 5. Kenny Keylon (Hon); 2-10; 6. Steve Martin (Han) 6-7 ; 7. Denny Bentley (Suz) 12 -4 ; 8 . Broc Glover (Yam) 11 -5 ; 9 . Donnie Hansen (Hon) 8-8 : 10. J im Taranti n o (Han) 7-11 ; 11 . Clint Hardick(Suz) 10 -9; t 2. Kris Bigelow(Hus) 9-12; 13. Bill Liles (Kaw ) 14 -13 : 14. Rodney Sm ith (Suz) 15 14; 15 . Mark Murphy (Vam) 13-18: 16. Juan Benavidez (Yam) 25 -15; 17. Tom Benolkin (Kaw) - ·16; 1B. Robert Handy (Hon) 16··; 19. Scon Rebuck ' (Hon) - ·17; 20 . Johnny Spaw (Hon) 17-21 . • Denotes DNF. FOUR-STROKEEXHIBIT10N: 1. Jerom e Heiberger (Vam); 2. Steven Gall (Yam); 3. Cloyse Holland (Kew ); 4. Buzz Presser (Hon); 5. Eric McKenna . (Vam); 6. Alan Berhrtti (Hon);}. John Volk (Kaw); B. Russ Delafuente; 9. Ken Sisler (Yam). AMA NATIONAL MOTOCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS; 125: 1. (TIE) Mark Barnett/Johnny O'Mara (47); 3. J im Gibson (38); 4 . Jell Ward (34); 5. George Holland (31) ; 6. Ron Turner (28) ; 7 . Gary Denton (22); 8. (TIE) Daniel Turner/Jell Surwall(21); 10. Bob Hannah (20); 11. (TIE) M ichael Preston /Kyle Landrum (16); 13 . Eri k Kehoe /Rusty Wageman (15 ); 15. Troy Blake (13); 16 . Jell Schumac her (12); 17 . Gary Dircks (11); 1B. Dean Cates (9); 19. Randy Blair (7); 20. Er ic Hall (6). 250; 1. Rick Johnson (47): 2. Warran Reid(41); 3. Scott Burnworth (38); 4 . Larry Wos ick (35); 5. Kenny Kaylon (33); 6. Steve Martin (29 ); 7 Denny Bentley (27); 8. (TIE) Broc Glover / Donnia Hansen (2 6); 10. Jim Tarantino (24); 11. Clint Hardick (23); 12. Kris Bigelow(2 1); 13. Bill Liles(15); 14. Rodney Smith (13); 15. Mark Murphy (11); 16. Juan Bena videz (6); 17. (TIE)Tom Benolkin /Robert Handy (5); 19. (TIE)Scott Rebuck/Johnny Spaw (4). 11

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