Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The weather and th e racing were the hottest of the season at the Emerald Racing Association 's next-to-last race of the Quentin Hogen dumps fuel in the pot while chesing Mike Johnson et PIR. .AndersOn, Burgett, Tyler top new . format Washougal MX . By Action OZ WASH OUGA L, WA, APR. 25 Jim Anderson, Rick Burgett and Scott Tyler ushered in the season opener at Washougal MX Park with wins in todav's -. 64 Pro classes h eading p robabl y the largest opener in quite a few seaso ns . Three h undred fift y rid ers turned out to catch and provide the actio n. T he three tra ck series is tryi ng a new for· · mat this year in hopes of gelli ng bet-: ter coverage of th e sport. T he 125cc Pro class was J immy Anderson 's all the way . Anderson, ridin g for Yamhill Yamaha , h ad driven all nigh t from Bo ise, ID , but h e must have been up beca use he didn ' t show a ny fatigue. He fairly rocketed away both rna lO S to tak e the 125cc class goi n g aw ay. Robb Manning (H a n) looked for a time as th ough h e might upset An derson 's pl ans , but three-quarters of th e wa y through , h e fell off th e pace. Manning had a very respectabl e 2-3 day an d second overall. Doug Lange, on a Yam aha , did well both motos for third overall with a 5-4 day. Robby Watilo looked go od o n h is open ing day to post a fourth overa ll. Robby rides for R & W Ra cing o n a Yamaha . Tim Michli tsch (Ka w) really push ed Anderson th e second m oto and wa s impressive. Michlitseh had bad lu ck th e first rno to an d fin ish ed out o f th e money. Mik e McCormick, rid ing a Suzuki, posted a fifth overall. Former National Open Champion Rick Burgett , on a Yamaha , has lost n one of hi s ski ll. H e was able 10 co me from a seco nd th e first 250cc rnot o 10 a firs t the secon d mot a and wi n overall. Anderson wo n th e firs t mot o a nd looked smooth doing it. But he had traffic problem s during th e seco nd moto an d co u ld do not better th an fifth for a th ird overall. . T im Michlitsch was th e show both motos. Riding his gre en machin e, h e absolutely pressured a nyo ne who was in front both rnotos. Last season , Tim usually tired and fell off the pace. Not this year ; he looks to be back with a vengeance. H e flat looks fast. Michlitsch finish ed to Burgett for secon d overall. . Lady Luck struck a blow , an d Burge u was th e loser for it. He DNF in the Open race. H e got the hol esh ot a n d looked to be on h is way for a fa t payda y, but machines will at tim es be machines, and he pulled on in . SCali Tyler (Mai) rode a solid, smooth, fast two motos to make his payday great as he had a 2-1 day . Larry Hooper, riding for Wheels· port on a Maico, won the first rnoto but had to settle for a third the second moto for second overall. John Christian (Yam) rode a 3·2 day for a third overall. The new racing format tried today wa s received with a 50-50 a li itu de. Some lo ved it; some hated it. The idea is to be a ble to develop more motocross fans , speci fica lly in th e specta tor area. So with this in mind, the three series tracks ha ve decided to run th e Pro s from noon until 3:30, the normal time it ta kes 10 watch a football , ba sketba ll or sirnilar ball game. It is hoped th at by doing this, more of th e media people will sprin g loose to cove r o ur sport so th at our riders will ge t 10 be a lit tl e beuer kn own, will ca use more rea ders a n d viewers to co me o u t a nd th en . h o pe full y, stren g th en invo lveme n t with th e sport of motocross. It deserves a fair try, so for a year a t least, this system will be employed. T h'e A riders, who start right aft er th e Pros, are gi ven a cha nce 10 rid e longer al so . Results OPEN PRO: 1. Scan Tyler (Me i); 2. Larry Hooper (Mei); 3. John Christian (Vam). 250 PRO: 1. Rick Burgen (Yam); 2. Tim M ichlitsch (Kawl ; 3. Jim Anderson (Vam). 125 PRO: 1. Jim Anderson (Vam); 2. Robb Man · ning (Han); 3. Doug Lange (VarnI. MIN t INT A: 1. Shane Cameron : 2. Mike Crowell: 3. Mark Baumgarden. MINIINT B: 1. Larry Ward : 2. Mark Semmen; 3. Jamie Munsen. 125 B: 1. M ike Hauskins; 2. Darrell Woddle . 125 EX: 1. Denny Fenne ll; 2. David Frembli; 3. Mark S immen. PEEWEE A: 1. Grant Bergstrom; 2. Jeff Daily; 3. Travis Wh itaken. PEEWEE B: 1. Brad Lswe s. PEEWEE C: 1. Stave Mayer. 250 EX: 1. Scon Ze,,; 2. Kyle Fast; 3. S,an Lund . OPEN EX: 1. Gard Holl inge r; 2. Mark EllYOlsan; 3. Lance Marshall. 100 A : 1. Denn is Fennell . 100 B: 1. Rick Celorie; 2. Steve Jone s. 100 C: 1. Jeff Miles . MINIC JR : 1. Grant Bergstrom; 2. Gran t Funner; 3 . M ike Finch. 30-40 A: 1. Jim Richardon; 2. Jon English. 30-40 B: 1. Jeff Vow; 2. Glenn Lock.palle; 3. Steve Castle. 30.-40 C: 1. A I Harvey; 2 . OiMd Sm ith; 3. Ronn ie Kemp. 125 B INT: 1. John Woodl ey: 2. Scan W illiams: 3. Kevin Hofenbreal. OT: 1. 31A: 2. Larry Sause: 3. Roben Knox. OPEN B INT: 1. Doug Mundell; 2. Ron Long; 3. Alan Hinkley. 125 C JR: 1. Doug Eichne r; 2. O.J. Warner: 3. Brad Wakef ield. 125 INT B: 1. Rick Wielde n; 2. Kun Giggars . 250 B INT: 1. Jenny Eben; 2. Kyle Hall ; 3. Scon Isfell. 125 JR: 1. Cliff Theissen; 2. Bill Roller; 3. Karry 0.011. 250 JR C: 1. Mike Hess; 2. Ste.e Spaece; 3. Don Robinson. OPEN JR C: 1. Jeff Vounce ; 2. Rick Fandrey; 3. Greg Wilson. Rost, Spangler collect dusty Eugene MX wins By Clay Light EUGENE, OR, APR. 25 _ . .. _ 1981-82 season. The big money winners in the Pro classes were Gary Rost (He rb's Cycles Yam), who aced both 250cc Pro rn o to s, a nd J oe Spangler (Kaw support ), who made a mad dash 10 th e flag in rnoto two to tak e th e 125cc overall with his 3-1 tally. A good turnout of riders a nd spectators were tre ated to some exceptionall y fine racing and fine weather to boot. Only problem - the dust. The southern Oregon soil gets rniserab ly dry without water, and the water truck went DNF so track operator Roger Campbell elected to run anywa y. Besides, what's a lillie dust when you are used tosloppy muddy co nd itions!, Race number one was the 125cc Pro class. National number 888 Spangler shot off the line like a ro cket and had Jimmy Wiant (Yam of Springfield) hot on his heels appl ying early pressure. Wayne Church ( Ka w ), "Radical" Rodney Keller (Zeroni ne/ Eugene Suz ), Clay Light (LO P/ Su per Seer /Bosch Yam) and Mik e Sommerville (Kaw) gave chase. The d us t was so thick on th e opening lap th at you co u ld cu t it with a knife a n d still not see th e light. Spangler h ad the adv antage. wi th th e lead, spraying a silty roos t di rectl y at Wiant, w ho was attempting to stea l the lead. Wiant got his cha nce when Spangl er sli d out in th e slick corners a nd went to first spot unti l Kell er co llected en ough steam to make a move throu gh the wh oo ps. wh ich were slick as ice beca use of th e th ree inc hes o f dust which mad e co nd itions dangerous. Kell er pulled away from Wia nt by th e hal f as Ch urch came up 10 p ut a pass o n Spang ler for third. Kell er had a su pe r II -second lead on Wiant, but th rew a chai n, resultin g in Wiant re ta kin g the lead leaving Church in second, Spangler th ird when thewhite £lag came ou t. Wiant would soo n lose hi s lead as well when h e go t o u t of sha pe handing Church th e win. Wiant got roilin g Iast en oug h for seco n d a n d Spa ngler third. Keller wo rked through traffic like a madman to swoop up fourth a t th e fin ish . ' Mo to two saw S pa ng le r agai n smoke th e tro ops with Wiant, Somm erville, Kell er a nd Ch urch hold in g down th e top five spots a t th e completion o f a lap . Kell er moved by Sommerville to nab th ird , bu t Wiant and Spa n gl er we re p u lli ng away ra pi dly from th e so u thern O regon spee ds ter, the dust making it hard 10 see where the tra ck ended. Spangler da zzled th e crowd with his amazing dis play o f speed an d to tal co ntrol. Wiant was down seven seco nds, an d Keller was cl icki ng o ff abou t th ree seco nds a lap tryin g 10 catch Wiant, w hich he did by holding it open through th e barrel turn . Kell er closed in on Spangl er , but time ran out. Wh oever won th e mota wo u ld tak e t he o ve ra ll as well. Spa n gler took th e win, bUI it wa sn 't easy. holding off Kell er by mere feet. In 250cc Pro ac tio n , it was Gary Rost roosting th e pa ck off th e lin e a nd wh en th e dust .had settled, he had a co m ma ndin g lead over Mitch Kirk patri ck (MOIO ' X Fox/Bend Suz ), Light and SIeve Williams (He rb' s.' Yam support ). Rost a lso used th e dust 10 shut h is competition o ff a nd held a firm lead at th e end of three laps. Williams mov ed by Light and th en Kirkpatrick to take hold of second, but th a t would be as far as th e Pro-Am n umber o ne would get as Rost had a su per lead over Williams, who was trying in vai n 10 get a rhythrnn built up. Rost took the win over Williams and Kirkpatrick. Moto two had Rost rally to turn one wi th a healthy holeshot over Wil· Iiams and Kirkpatrick. Williams made a move for fi rs t go in g through th e whoops and got th e lead, but exi tin g was a problem without a sh ift lever. Kirkpatrick took over the second spot, but Rost had th e race pretty much wrapped up an d could feel the cash bulging in his wallet. Rost took the mota win for a double mota blitz over Kirkpatrick who went 3-2, Williams (2-3), Light (4-4) and Sommerville (5·5 ). Results OPEN PRO: 1. Rodney Keller (Ma i). 250 PRO: 1. Gary Rost (Yam); 2. Mitch Kirkpatrick (Suz); 3. Steve Williams (VarnI. 125 PRO: 1. Joe Spangler(Kew); 2. JimmyWiant (Yam); 3. Wayne Church (Kaw). OPEN INT: 1. Mike Smother. (Vam): 2. Derek Louvring (Yam~ 3. Jim Wiser (Suz). OPEN NOV: 1. Rocky Jawed (Yam). 30 ·40: 1. Bill Row (Yam ~ 2. Jim Dena.an(Mei); 3. Vic Church (Yam). 250 INT: 1. Chell Campbell (Kaw): 2. Bill Row • (yam); 3. Lindsay Wurn (Yam). 250 NOV: 1. Scan Avery (Vam); 2. Tom Wood (Yam); 3. Troy Likans(Kaw). 1251NT: 1. DwayneTaylor(Hon ~ 2. Lonny Sayles (Yam); 3. Rick Gunderson (Yam). 125 NOV: 1. Bret Gilkeson (Suz): 2. Mark Wiley (Suzl; 3. Mark Williams (Suz). 100 NOV: 1. Troy McPike (Suzl. MIN I INT: 1. Man Ramey (Vam); 2. Anthony Valenzuela (Yam). MINI NOV: 1. Damon Schaffe r (Yam): 2. Gary Wills (Kaw l: 3. Brad Cox (Kaw). Oregon road racers run In rain By Russ Cazier Photo by Dick Blocksma PORTLAND , OR, APR. 18 The Oregon Motorcycle Ro ad Racing Associat ion held its first ra ce of th e season at Portland International Raceway in all too typi cal April weather, wh ich a lternated betw een hard rain , light ra in, hail and even su nsh in e. A major surp rise occurred when , for th e first tim e in over two years, so meone besid e Keith Pinkstaff won O pen Production. Jim Dawley won it , on a 550 Seca from Steve's Yamaha , wit h pl acin gs of first in th e first heat an d fourth in th seco nd . Pinkstaff low-sided ge nt ly in th e fir st heat a nd fin ish ed last, but returned to form in th e seco n d h eat and won. Pinkstaf f wo n O pen GP and Open Ca fe o n his well wo rn but still effect ive 1980 GS II 00 Suzuki. He was su p posed to have been rid in g a kill er Kaw asaki superbi ke wh ich Dan Freeman is p u rring together , bu t it bent a valve durin g a cylin de r leak age test Sat urday n ight. Wh eelsport. Pinkstaff's new sponsor, shou ld be sa tisfied wi th his perf orm an ce o n th e . stock machine. Th e other raci ng Pinkstaff, Howard, was treated 10 a hard rain for his fir st ride on slicks on hi s newl y acquired Yamaha thumper. He took it ver y easy a n d staye d upright for a third in th e fir st h eat, but h ad a dry track and th e win in the second heat. His placings o f 3-1 were good enough for the overall win in Open Single G P. Keith, hi s son, said, "Now I suppose I'll hav e to listen 10 th e old man tell m e how 10 race in the rain, especiall y since I fell down ." T on y How ard, in hi s seco nd year o f road racing, won the fir st hea t of Open Ca fe. Howard had ridden th e bik e 250 miles in th e rain on th e No Wimps Road Rall y th e pr evious weekend, and took to the wet track like an

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