Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) 500CC runner-up Chuck Sun and winner Kent Howerton (w ith wife J ill) in trophy presenta tion. (Top right) J im Ellis leads John Finkeldey in the 500s. (Right) Rick Johnson was second 250 and now leads in points. Green 's Billy Liles, Yamaha's Scott Burnworth, Suzuki Canada's Ross Pederson and Martin. Johnson was running mid- field. Hardick sta rted getting radical a nd cras hed, giving seco nd to Martin, who passed when it 's ea siest - earl y in th e race . Whil e Hansen pulled out a safe lead, the next three slots started flopping. Liles passed Martin for second while Johnson moved to th ird a fter a cha rge. T hen Martin regained second, with Johnson passing L iles for third. Johnson diced with Martin and fin all y took seco nd. Bailey came up on th e front runner s a nd glided inside on Martin th rough an uph ill turn . Reid moved to fifth by holding a stro ng pace wh ile others tired. G lover passed Liles for sixth a n d qu ick ly put grou nd on h im , bu t th e ne xt ti me arou n d Brae was o u t of it. sitt in g on th e side of th e co urse trying to kick h is dead engine back to life. It d idn ' t respond a n d h e was out of the poin ts . Glo ver ' s mecha n i c , Jon Rosen st iel, didn 't tear the bik e down and didn 't kn ow wh at th e p roblem was. Hansen crossed th e line with 19 seco n ds on Johnson. Ba iley held third Martin a nd Reid, wi th Liles back in sixth. Keylon wa s seventh, Martin eigh th. " I like this break from Supercross," said H ansen , who is leadin g that series . "This san dy stu ff really wears yo u o u t." H ansen refused a ki ss from the tr op hy gi rl in the winner 's circle an d opted to spe n d the time with h is wife, Lisa. 500cc N ation al A lar ge field o f 99 entered th e 500cc class and many of those sti ll needed time to get used to th eir bik es. All but the top 10 riders in th e 500cc cl ass in 'SI h ad to qualify fo r th e po ints payin g mOlOS , wh ich made preliminary racing exci ting. Darrell Shultz bailed off twi ce in his qualifier but retained a top placing. Howerton plowed h is bike's front end int o th e soft stuff and Iell, bu t was up quickly for a not he r top finish. Su n a nd Jimmy Ellis motored o ff to lead rnoto one . Ellis, a vetera n in both New En gland and National racing, brought th e crowd to life as h e matched his production based Honda CR4S0R up against Sun's Honda works machine. Two top contenders , Shultz and Yam aha 's Mik e Bell , were left on th e gro u nd in turn one. Bell spe d away quickly, but Shultz pitted to stra igh ten hi s bike's co ntro ls. By lap two it was Sun, Ell is a nd J ohn Finkeldey, an othe r New En gland Sports Committee star, out front. Honda Ca na da's Pierr e Cou ture a n d Honda su pported J eff Ell ens were 4-5 in th e ea rly go ing. Ellis hounded Sun lap after la p. and whi le most eyes were glued on th a t battle- H owert on moved into th ird on h is Suzuki RN500. Honda supported Phil Larson, on a works bik e wi th a produc tion engi ne , took fourth a n d was grouped with KelIer and Suzuki' s Alan Kin g . Sun put a bit o f turf on Ell is, w ho was n ow o n ly feet ahead o f H owerton . Kell er a nd Kin g went o u t in front o f Larson a n d rearranged th e 4-5-6 slots. T hrough the closi ng la ps Ell is and How ert on closed th e gap on Sun, the two works bik es of Sun and H owerton sandwichi ng th e prod uction bike o f Ell is. T he n H ow ert on threw h is o wn adrena line swi tch . He pa ssed Ellis within a half a lap and th en went insid e o n Su n to lead . He pul led away with a ut hority through th e fina l two la ps, putting n in e secon ds on Sun a t th e fin ish . Su n, Kin g and Ell is crossed the finish line withi n a 20 yard stre tch , Kin g h a ving saved h is moves for th ird u ntil lat e in the ra ce. Larson and Finkeld ey were 5-6, followed by BelI and Shultz, both ride rs push in g hard aft er th eir first turn misfort une. Kell er was ou t o f th e points a fter h is bik e's shock left its oil behind. " In th e beginning I was runn in g as fast as I co u ld , a nd ' a lmos t pas sed OUl," sa id H ow erton as h e tri ed to catch his br eath. '" was so ti red I didn ' t even kn ow wh o wa s leading. I wasn ' t even positive tha t I won." Sun, King and Howerton headed lap one of rnoto two foll ow ed by Kell er, first year Pro J eff Spreem an on a Yamaha and Ellis. King sa w th e right lin es a nd used th em to lead by lap three. Keller foll owed the ac tio n a nd moved to seco n d, wh ile Su n h eld third. H owert on wa s h old in g o ff Shu ltz fo r fourth . Ellis and Fin keldey were 6-7. "The Machine Gun Shoots Again ," read the ban ner posted a lo ng the front jump. Kell er took his NESC nickname 10 heart a nd began rapid fire moves on Kin g , finally movi ng into the lead near m id- race. Kin g had a close encou nter with a lapped rider and fell. H e returned to th e race in fourth bu t fell agai n a nd dro p ped to eight h. Kell er retai ned a safe lead to th e fin ish just as he had done in the final 250cc moto last year a t So uthwick. H e was ai ded by th o usa n ds of fans who cheered h im on a ll th e wa y. H o wert on ro lled across the line in seco nd to lo ck u p th e overa ll win, wi th Su n third. Sh u ltz was fo urt h a nd Con necticut r iders E llis a nd Fin kelde y were fifth and sixth. Breker was sti ll so rti ngou t his works Kaw asa ki and took seventh trailed by Larso n in eigh th . " Fou r years (overa ll wins ) in a row, what ca n I say I" sa id H owert o n in the winner 's circl e. Like H ansen, H owert o n wa ite d for his wife, J ill , to join him in the winner's circle befo re th e kissin g started. " Yo u guys have a rough tra ck here," sai d Sun to the crowd. Un like H ansen an d H owert on , Sun too k h is sh are of kisses f ro m the trophy gi rl. '" wo u ld have liked to have won it, but it's a long series a nd I' ll ge t 'em a t th e next ra ce. " For Kell er it wa s ti me to cele bra te in the pi ts wi th h is New England fri ends. H e wa s mobbed by hundreds of local fan s. " I feel prett y go od abo u t th is," sai d Kell er. " My eyes are a little so re. The second mo to wa sn 't as bad as th e fir st. The dust went right in • between m y tear-offs." Results 250 NATIONAL: 1. Donn ie Hansen IHon ) 2·1 ; 2. Rick Joh nson (Yam) 1-2; 3. David Bailey (Han) 4 ·3 ; 4 . Kenny Kaylo n (Han) 3·7; 5. Steve Manin (Han) S-4; 6. Warren Reid (Suz) 7·5 ; 7. Silly Liles (Kaw) 14· 6; S. Clint Hardick (SUl ) 11· 9; 9. Scon Sur nwo n h (Yam) 10- 10; 10. Dave Holl is (SUl) 6· 14; 11. Jim Tara ntino (Hon, 9- 12; 12. Ma rk Murphy (Yam) 13·11 ; 13. Kris Sigelow (Hus) 12·1 3; 14 . Sroc Glover (Yam) 5·'; 15 . Ross Pederson (SUl ) S-S; 16. Dan Wallace (Han) 16-16 ; 17. Bob Suffa loe (Han) IS- I S; I S. Fred Venucci (SUl) 15· S; 19. Chris Bovill e (Yam) 19- 1S; 20. J . Mitche ll (Sul) S·17; 21. Scan Jo hnon (Hon ) 17 ·21 ; 22. Harold Robinson (Hus) S- 19; 23 . Dan Saker (Han) S-20. • Denotes placing out of top 20. 500cc NATIONAL : 1. Kent Howe n on (SUl ) 1-2; 2. Chuck Sun (Han) 2·3; 3. Jimmv Ell is (Han) 4-5; 4 . Alan King (SUl) 3·7 ; 5. Darrell Shu ltz (Han) S-4; 6. John Finkeldey IKTM) 6- 6; 7. Phil Larson (HonI 5· S; S. Jo J o Kaller (Han) S-I ; 9. Mike Ball (Yam) 7 -13 ; 10. Mickey Kessler (Ma i) 11- 10; I I . Andy StaeY(M ai) 10- 11; 12. Goat Sreker (Kaw ) 16- 7; 13. Gary Puste tak (Mai) 13- 12; 14. Herine Geuberger (12· 16); 15. Eric McKenna (Yam) 15-14; 16. Jeff Hicks (Yam) 7· ' ; 17. Greg Mayo (SUl) 17·1 5; 18. Sill y Gross i (Hus) 14. ' ; 19. Ji m Holl ey (Yam) S· 17; 20. Pierre Coutu re (Hon) 17 · - ; 2 1. Donnie Cantal oupi {KTM } I S· ' ; 22 . Tom Carson (Ma i) · ·I S; 23 . Jeff Spreeman (Yam) ' - 19; 24. Joe Saker (Han) 20- ' ; 25 . Duane Skofi eld (Han) ' -20 . AMA 250 NATIONAL CHAM PIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. RickJohnson (197); 2. Kenny KeyIon (1 7 3); 3. Broc Gloye r (1 70); 4 . Con nie Hans en (165); 5. Wa rre n Reid (14 6); 6. Steve Manin (141); 7. Scan Burnworth ( 133); a.J im Tara ntino( 126) ; 9 . David Saile y (120); 10. Clint Hardick (S7); 11. Larry Wos ick ISS); 12. Ross Pederson (69 ); 13. Denny Sentley (66); 14. Kri. Sigelow (65); 15 . Silly Liles (54 ); 16. Mark Mu rphy (53); 17. Tom Senolkin (46); I S. Dave Holli s (42); 19. Sobby Handy (29); 20 . Juan Senav idal (25). AMA 500 NATIONAL CHA MPIONSHIP MX POINT STANDINGS: 1. Kent Howerton (47); 2. Chuck Sun (4 2); 3. J immy Ellis( 34); 4 . Alan King (32); 5. Oarrell Shu ltz (31 ); 6. J ohn Fink eldey (30); 7. Phil Larson (29); S. Jo Jo Kell er (25); 9. M ike Sell (22); 10. (TIE) M ickey Kessler /Andy Stacy (21 ); 12 . Goat Breker n (19); 13. Gary Puste lak (I 14. J erome Heiberger (14); 15. Eric McKenna (13); 16. J eff Hicks(12); 17. Greg Ma yo IS); 18. Silly Grossi (n 19. m E) Jim Holl ey/ Pierre Coutoure (4); 20 . m E) Donnie CantaloupilTom Carson (3). 7

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