Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

bu(NeefeYw~sri'i ~61ii~iy ~fia-wen t ..... l-< 0. < Amateurs seem rather tentative (above). Kevin Schwartz (Below) led Open Expert until sliding out. Grand National Championship Finale Pitts, Burke, Knupp ace amateurs at the IDome By Usa Milcich Photos by David Milcich HOUSTON, T X, MAR. 21 This marked the sixth year the Grand National Championship Series has hosted an Astrodome final , drawing the largest amateur crowd in the world. They received over 2,000 entries of which 1 020 riders made it to the 'Dome after 1 · fvi qua 11 ymg e sew here on Texas area tracks. O f these 1,020 rid- 18 ers, only 413 wou ld ma ke it to the grand finale; therefore, a process of elimina tion took-p lace for seven lon g hours. Practice sta rted brig ht and early a t 7 a. rn., an d there was even a sem i-fina l q ualifier a t 9 a.m., th en the three sets of eli mi nat ors sta rted a t 10 a.m. Out of the top five riders in all the events of the grand finale, 43% were from I'exas, b% California, 15% Louisiana , 8,!? Oklahoma and 28%.fro m other vanous states. Of these riders, 46% rode Yamaha 25% Kawasaki 13% Honda and S~zuki, 2% Maic~ and 1% H usqvarna. T he grand finales started and had some gra n d action. The trac k had gotten p retty rough by this time and wa s lik e co ncret in spots. T he 250cc Expert cla ss h ad a major pile- u p in th e first co rner off th e starting lin e, but Joe Burke (Dona ld's Su z), Rickey Glaser and Kyle Landrum (Kaw) saw daylight first through th e pack and were followed closely by All ey Semar (Acadia n Hon ) and Billy Liles (Kaw support). Liles gassed by Semar on the second lap only to be repa ssed soon afterward. Glaser co m ma n ded the lead after going over the large hill bu t dropped th e bike in a deepl y cut groove o n the in side of a co rn er. Burke was th ere to pi ck up on h is mistak e as Liles had come up beh ind h im still pursued by Sem ar. Landrum was in fourth, Guy Co oper (Cooper Cycle Center) in fifth a nd Gl aser go t back up for six th. G rabbing first place honor s was Burke, wh o had Li les chom pin g at the bi t beh ind h im most o f the race till th e last lap whe n he d ropped the bi ke an d lost severa l spots in the p rocess, claiming fifth ove ra ll right behind Robert Kin g (KMC Bell Road Ka w). Kathy Ho lman (JT Racin g/Pasadena Hon / American Hon) won the Women 's division for the third year in a row . Machelle Madrid (Ho use of Kaw ) led th e women off th e gate and through the sets of jumps till Homan passed her in the sweeper before the large jump. Debbie McAllister (Big G Racing) and Patti Summerall (Yam of En n is) were next in line. McAll ister bo bbl ed in a turn and let Summera ll by. Holman quickly removed herself from a ll her competition and took an easy win . McAll ister never did regain her old position and had to sett le for fourth overall. Second went to Madri d and th ird to Summerall. T he Open Intermediate race saw Jeff Ell is (Northwest H on ) a nd Do ug Herrington (Herrington Enterprises, Inc.) as fro nt-runner partners while Chris Cunningham (Ajax Cycle) a nd Gera ld Tims (Bucks H on ) jockie d to co me up on th em , wh ich th ey both acco mpl ished on the third lap, sending Ell is back down the li ne to third and Herrin gto n to fourth. Ellis tried to sq ueeze by Tims in the corners, bu t Tims hel d h im off nicely to the en d claiming second behind C u n n ingham's Husky. Ellis settled for th ird , and He rrington stayed in fou rth. Lea di ng to the first corner in the Open Expert class was Kevin Schwartz (Hurst Yam), Robert Neeley (Yam of Columbia ), Ji m Mitchell (Precisio n Cycle) and Rick French. French got passed by Jim Thomas (Ho n), bu t h e quickly passed him back. T homas bai led off after the double ju m ps . Schwa rtz was sti ll holding th e fort up o n lap three wh en he slid o u t in a sweeper an d retu rned in th e fourth spot as Neeley took over the lead. Mit chell had co me up to second place as Mike Knupp (Cen tra l Yam ) geared into third. Mit chell got by Neeley, down in th e process, still able to fin ish fourth , though. Knupp took over the lead and first place honors on the last lap, leaving Mitchell in second and Kevin Foley (Kaw) in third. The Over 30 race proved they weren't " over the hill," giving the spectators a close race to watch. John Couvillion took off first with Bill y Click (Co nroe MX Park) on his heels. Click had to contend with Darius Gramley (Dan ner 's Cycle Sales ) and Earl Benus (Louisiana Suz/Hon). Couvillion dropped back to third by the second lap as Click was the new leader with Gramley's aggressive Kawasaki behind him. Gramley ran into the back of Click but didn ' t fall. These two were wa y out in front of the others and were inches apart the whole way, Gramley pressuring Click in every corner. H e tried to pass Click on th e double jumps on lap four but couldn't quite make it. He did get by on the inside of a right-hand turn immediately a fterward , though. Click stole first away again on the white £lag on the inside of a turn. Gramley tried desperately to get his front tire in front of Click for the remaining lap, but Click held him off until th e tu rn a few feet in fron t of th e ch eckered £lag a n d stalled it, lettin g Gramley slide by for the win. Cli ck got it going and crossed over for second place. Phil He ss (Ya m) was third, a nd Kenny Butler (Bu tler Auto Servi ce) cr u ised in for fourth. T he l2 5cc Experts were led by Carroll Ri chardson (WRW/ Pro Trac), whose closest adv ersaries were Aaron Pitts (LO P) a nd Wendell Simmons (Du b's Kaw). Tim Butl er (WRW) was in fourth and Keith Eldred (Texas Ya m ) was a ways back in fifth. Pi tts was really putting the heat on Rich ardson an d wou ld al mos t ease by in the corners. Bu tler conti n ued to dog Simmons. Pius finally got h is way one j ump before the fin ish line and too k away Richards's first. Tracy Meeks set his assault out on the 125cc Intermediate class as Russell Brown (WRW/ Mu££ler Magic), Ken Fox (Team Green), Mark Dawson (Da wson Pest Control) and Brian Stanley (Kaw) tried to ru in his chances. Meeks pulled away from Bro wn as Stanley got by Dawson and aimed for Fox, sliding by on the third lap a t th e same place he passed Dawson , but he soon dropped back agai n. Meeks hadagood lead whi le Brown a nd Fox dueled for second . Fo x made it by Bro wn as Dawson an d Stanley were sti ll in fourth a nd fift h, runn in g side by side d o wn th e s tarti ng straigh taway as Sta n ley go t to the corner first for the pass. Meeks ra n an impressive firs t p lace ride alo ng with secon d place Fox. • Results LACIES : 1. Kathy Hol man (Han); 2. Mac helle Madr id (Kawl; 3. Pan i Summerall (Yam). TEENY MIN I: 1. Colin Edwards (Yam); 2. Crispy Vre eland (Yaml; 3. Bill y Sch lag (Suz). MINI M INI: 1. Junior Jack son (y am); 2. nav e Shade . Jr . (Yam); 3. Cody Mar ek (Yam). MINI STOCK; 1. W ill ia m Sura n (Kaw ); 2. Eddie Vreeland {Ya ml; 3 . Steve Stewart (Kaw) . MINIBIK E JR: 1. Rob Hanson (Kaw); 2. Stephen Tyler (Yam); 3. Scon Thomas (Kawl. MINIBIKE SR: 1. Todd Campbell; 2. Roben Maso n; 3 . W illiam Surran (Kaw) . JR 3·WH EELER: 1. Ray Prothro (Su z); 2. Jack Ricks (Yam); 3. M icael Walling . OPEN 3-WH EELER: 1. J immy C. Wh ite (Suz); 2. Tony Willi ams (Han); 3. Scan Bucsanyi (Yam). 100 : 1. Greg Tho mas (Yam); 2. Will Gro sjean (Yam); 3 . Dari n W ill iam s (Yaml. 125 NOV: 1. Kelly Foutch (Yam); 2. Raben Nei· heiser (Yam); 3. M ike Sickles (S uz). 125 INT; 1. Tracy M eeks; 2. Ken Fox (Kaw l; 3. Brian Stanl ey (Kaw l. 125 EX: 1. Aa ron Pitts (Han); 2. Carroll Richardson (Yam); 3. Wend ell Simmons (Kaw). OVER 30 : 1. Car ius Graml ey (Kaw l; 2. Billy Click (Hon l; 3. Phil Hess (Yaml. 250 NOV : 1. Randy Smith (Yam); 2. Donnie M ar graves (Kaw ); 3 . Eric Straughan (Suz). . 250 INT: 1. Brian Stanley(Kaw); 2. Jody Doescher (Suz); 3. Bobby Lowman (Kaw). 25C EX: 1. Joe Burke (Suz); 2. Guy Cooper (Kaw ); 3. Kyle Landrum (Kaw ). OPEN INT: 1. Chr is Cunningham (Hus); 2. Gerald Tims (Hon t 3. Jeff Ellis (Han). OPEN EX; 1. Mike Knupp (Yam); 2. Jim Mitchell (M ai); 3. Kevin Foley (Yam).

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