Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

best individ ual score honors away from Ed Lojak. Terry Cunni ngham turned on in the finallM X) test to take AM A One Day~ualifier Series: Round 4 Cunningham's la st lap dash wins A la ba ", a One Day By Gary Van Voorh is Photo s by Tom Muel ler and Van Voorh is MAPL ESVIL LE. AL, APR. 4 Ter ry Cun ning ham , ridi ng a Hus qvar na 250X C for Tea m Hus ky, post ed the best indi vidu al score in the Perry Mou ntai n One lifie r or aniz ed b the Perr y Moun tain M.C . Cunn ingha m was n ot assure d of the LOp spot u ntil the final lap of the final test, a four lap MX style affair. Cunnin gham erased a three point (seconds ) deficit to Husky 's Ed Lojak and added three points to that to top Lojak 1256 to 1259. " I cou ld look back and see Eddie," said Cunni ngham afterwa rds, " bu t I couldn 't tell how close he was. I just kept the gas on. I had butterflies in my sto mach before the final test because everyo ne kept telling me Eddie was th ree second s ahead. That was bad enoug h, but when we ended up in th e same heat , I got a bit more nervou s than I should have ." " I blew it. It should have been easy, but I tried too hard, " said Lojak. " My lu ck isn't worth a darn . I tried too hard at th e end a nd slid o u t. In fact, I went down twice trying to close the gap. I'm not very happy with th e outcom e." Ro u nd in g out th e top five individual scorers were Fritz Kadlec (1276) and Drew Smith ( 1278.5), who took third and fourth in the 250cc Intent class behind Cunnin gham and Lojak, plu s I75cc Intent class winner john Martin of Team Can-A m. Husqv arna's Mike Melton won the I25cc Intent class while KTM's Kevin LaVoie took the Open Intent class win. Bobby Pearce won the 500cc 4Stroke Intent class on a Can-Am . Frank Stacy, winner of the previou s week's One Day in Tennessee, was not on hand. Stacy had crashed hard in Tennes see and bruised his shoulde r. "He appare ntly hurt the should er worse than he though t, " said Maico team manag er Dick France. " H e opted to sit this one out and be really ready for the Ohio round (Apri l 18)." The woods and rolling hills of cen tral Alabam a were th e site of the Perry Mount ain O ne Day. The promoting club had laid out a course of 134.1 miles with everyth ing from tight woods to fast paved sections con necting the woods portion s of the event. " T he time schedu le kept yo u on your toes," said Kawas aki's jack Penton . " T hey always run some of the same trails each time, but then they throw in a bit of new trai l here and there to keep you awake. You had to work for everyth i ng you got. " The grass track specia l test, a serpentine course of two miles in length run in an active pasture -they ha d to chase a cow off the course during the second runnin g, was run twice durin g the day with a shorter one mile version makin g up the final (MX ) test. T here have been two additio ns to the Intent classes this year, an 80cc class and a 500cc 4-strok e class . CanAm 's Bobby Pearce has been the only steady entry in the 500cc ranks . Until Alabam a, no rider had opted for an 80cc ride. Clay Stucke y showed up wit h a modified Kawasaki KX80 sporting a gas tank off a KX250, lightin g off a KDX250 and some suspen sion modifi cations . " T ea m Green' s Steve Ra nsbo tham did the work o n the bike, " said Stucke y before th e start. Stucke y, who is an active SE&TR A Enduro Series compe titor, gave it hell for about 60 miles before the en gi ne seized for the final time. "I had a great time, " said Stucke y after his ride was cut short. "T he bike was fun to ride and I wish I could have finis hed. I found out q uickly that if you don 't keep yo u r weight forwar d all the time you can loop th e bike very easi ly." Stucke y turned in a reason able special test time and had droppe d only one route point before the bi ke's demise . Burton Huff was the lucky rider with the first startin g n u m ber and he hit the trail at 7 a.m. , followe d by 178 others in quick success ion. The first grass track special test was just two miles into the course. Some riders had warme d up and gotten into their rhythm by then, some hadn 't. Eddie Lojak and Cunni ngham turned in the fastest times -- 245 points (second s ). Melton was the fastest in the 125cc Intent class with a 251 followe d by I75cc Intent rider john Martin and Open Intent ride r Mark Hyde, the class win ner in Tennessee ,

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