Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

1I•• M.xlco-CoIol'.do~.,.o.lag-N.Dtaaa·lloI1hDakot.-50DlhD.kot••lleb1'..k ••K.D...·Oldaho...~T...I-Jl_M.xlco·Colol'.do.Wyo..l. . Central. Pipeline Spencer . parkles s at GNC Regional Qualifier· ~ 00 0') ..... By Joe M i lan LAKE WHITN EY, TX, DEC. 19 T h e G ran d National Championship Regional Q ualifier for the South west was h eld here today under n ear p erfect conditions as over 350 riders co nverged on wh at many consider to be Texas' fir st motocross . racing facility. Meticulous track preparation and outstanding or ganization under th e direction of promoter J erry Surber yielded ex citing m otorcycle ra cing action in 20 clas ses in a n impressive spectacle o f com petitio n. Entrants from Lou isiana , Oklah om a a n d Ne w Mex ico lent strong support to a n outs ta nding co ntingent o f Texas riders as the co nt estants O ba ttl ed fo r slots in th e SI I,OO In ternational Fina l to be h eld in th e H ouston Astrodome . With this at sta ke th ere were some nervous th rottle hands as ove r half th e field lin ed up on bikes of I25cc and und er. Th e event also a ttra cted strong dealership su pport, mos t nota bly from Kawasaki as th e gree n mach in es co mpl etely dom in at ed the sma ller displ acem ent classes. Lester Munson , manager o f Big Tex Yamaha in Sa n Ant onio , a nd ow ner Gl en Mu ehlstein were on h and to assist riders with partsand mechan ical h elp 'as was Bill Ka sson of Kasson Yamaha of Au stin. The Col on y's Darren Rh ot en , in his first sp onsored ride for Ka wasaki of Fort Worth, en co unt ered some problems in the Expert inv olv ement, allow ing Kirk Spencer to take home th e money in bo th th e big bore classes. The Carrolton Yamaha representative is rapidly gaining stat u re as one of th e top professi onals in T exas and h e bolstered th at reputation with an excelle nt sho wing toda y. Lak e Whitney' s hi gh speed start stra ight, in to a wid e sweeping left ha nder, h as for years separa ted th e sto u thea rted from th e timid, and Kir k Spencer made h is holeshot heroics hold up for six laps as he held off a determined bid by Rhoten in the opening moto of th e 250cc Expert clash. Only a daring wide-open charge off th e precipitous " Ba nzai Hill" permitted Rhoten to pass and take the win. While Rhoten and Spencer were arguing over first p lace, Pampa's Joe Skinner, on an RM250 Suzuki, was making an incredible charge through the pack to overtake th e leaders. Tenth off the line, Skinner did a remarkable job of carving his way through competition that was not about to give up a foot of ground. Although Skinner did create some interesting new lines in his su rge to the front , he maintained a coo l demeanor and at . the flag had gained a sol id th ird place position. . Anticipation of what Skinner could do with a decent start turned to dis may by the assembled throng as neither he nor R h oten were on the line for the second moto, "I cranked the bike and .started to the line a nd right aw ay I knew something was wrong. We just didn't have time. to get it fixed," a despondent Rhoten lat er stated. That " so me th ing" th at was wrong wa s a lea kin g base gas ke t an d Rhoten wa s left to watch. In hi s remarkable performance in th e first rnoro , Skinner had inj ur ed both hi s leg an d h is bike and h e was al so rele gat ed to the rank o f spectator. What he witnessed in th e seco nd heat was nothi ng short of tot a l domin ation by Spen cer as h e took a n easy win for th e ove ra ll. Steady rid ing by' Nic k Co rdova (Hon ) p ro vid ed hi m an o p portunity to ga rner run n er-u p cas h. In .th e O pen Expert a ffair it was o nce again Spe nce r taking the la u re ls, this tim e with a littl e more brea thi ng room as R h ot en did some unch ar acter istic fall in g an d detouring en route to a n eventua l seco nd spot behind " T h e Doug h boy." To gai n th at p ositi on Rh ot en had to m oun t a n a ll o u t cha rge on th e last lap that brought him into br ief co nfront ation with Abil en e' s fin e veteran Suzuki pilot, Mike Sp arks. " Yea h I guess I blew it," a n unhappy Sparks said aft er the race. " He never shou ld have been able to pass me where he did. With on ly a third of a lap to go I should hav e been able to keep him away, but I got a little too much throttle coming out of that big hol e and both o f us almost went down. One thing a bo u t it though, I sure as h ell don't give u p! " th e unflappabl e Sparks lat er offered as explanation. . In th e meeting of l25 cc Professiona ls th e outcome was never even remotel y in doubt as Carroll Richardson o f Fort Worth turned in 18 flawl ess laps o ut front a nd a ll al one. Rich ardso n left a pack of scra m blin g sm a ll bores in h is wa ke which provided th e crowd so me serious dicing for th e remaining cash. When th e loam had cleared, T erry Tinney overcame th e efforts of Steve Gauthier and Greg Fouts. T erry Thomas had literally an up and down da y and showed so me fin e spirit in pressing on to a fifth place finish . Kent Spencer took up where brother Kirk left off with two first place p erforman ces in the highly competitive 250cc Nov ice class . Spencer sta ved off a second moto bid by Ron Odom on a KTM. Only a first moto mishap kept Odom out of the top five, and he turned in a skillfu l de monstra tion of come from behind riding. Crowded fields were the order of the day and the largest of these came ove r the gate in the 125cc Novice affray as 36 machines screamed in unison when the card went sideways. Tiger Foytik was at the head of this wave of humanity, and after a bri ef ' tussle with Jeff Arnold, got stronger with each passing la p to score an Da nny Storbeck made the jump to 1255 and dominated the GNC 125cc In termediate class. impressive first place showing in thi s most combative aggrega tion of riders . Foy ti k also turned in the number one pl acing in th e 100cc class and was seco nd in 125cc Stock to round o u t a su ccessful da y at the ra ces by th e unperturbabl e youn g lad fr o m Mesquite. Eddi e Vreeland also mad e his efforts co u n t in three cla sses as - he took Kawa sakis to th e winning chec kers in bo th th e Minibike Seniors a nd th e Min ibike 105cc clas s. Vreeland pl aced fourth in Mini Stoc k for riders 12 to 15 while h is more famous a nd bett er look ing brother " Crispy" ran seco nd run ner- up in th e Mini Min i J un iors. All in a ll a rewardin g day for th e Vreela nd family. Results TEENIE M INI: 1. Colin Edward s (Kaw): 2. Ross Dhayer (SUl): 3. Chad Hubbard (Kaw); 4 . Richard • Ibison (Yam); 5 . Ter ry Richards (Yam). M IN IBI KE JR : 1. Ch ris Gu llaks en (Yam); 2 . " St umpy" Akins IKaw ); 3. Brian Mercer (Yam ); 4 . Br ad Lewis (Kaw); 5. James Presifka (Yam). MINIBI KE SR: 1. Eddie Vr eeland (Kaw ): 2. Bill W h itley IKawl; 3 . Br ent Freed (Kaw) ; 4 . Tommy cctlie r (Kaw); 5. Br andyn Ready (Kaw) . MINI STK 7· 11 veers: 1. Chris Gullaksen IKaw): 2. Roy Schellenberger (Yam) ; 3 . " Stu mpy" Ak ins (Kaw); 4 . James Prasif ka (Yam); 5. Cliff Schmitt IKaw). M INI STK 12 -1 5 ve ers : 1. Kit Vick (Kaw): 2. Bill Whitley (Kaw); 3. Br ent Freed (Kaw); 4 . Eddie Vree land (Kaw); 5 . Mike Wilson (Kaw). MIN I MINI JR: 1. Colin Edwar ds (Kaw): 2. Chuck Hall (Kaw ); 3. " Cr ispy" Vreeland (Kaw); 4. Ross Dhayer (Yam); 5. M icha el Mercer (Kaw). MINI M INI SR: 1. Ja son Schu ltz (Kaw); 2. Denn is Richards (Ka w) ; 3 . J ames Fuller (Ka wl; 4. Dwa in Cart er (Kaw); 5. Dav id Fletcher (Kaw). 100 : 1. Tiger Foytik (Vem): 2. Monty Bland (Kaw): 3 . Brian Bro w n (Yam); 4 . Vernon Davis (Kaw); 5 . M ar c Baker (Yam) . MINI BIKE 105 : 1. Eddie Vreeland (Kaw); 2. Bill Whitley (Kaw ); 3 . Kit Vick (Kawl; 4 . Jaso n langford (Kaw); 5 . Scott Thomas (Kaw). 125 STK : 1. Bren t Carrizales (Ka w); 2. Tiger Foy tik (Suz ); 3 . M arvin Skinner (Suzl; 4 . W end ell Tr igg (Kawl: 5. Glenn North (Kaw). 250 STK: 1.' Skipper Beavers (SUl); 2. Shane Beavers (Suz); 3 . Kent Ell iff (Suzl; 4 . Steven Franks (SUl); 5. Delbert Mc Dona ld (Yam). OVER 30 ; 1. Tom Joh nson (Suz ); 2 . Jimmy Moore (S uz); 3. Jack Sieg r ist (Suz ); 4 . Ken Tucker (Yam); 5. Don Croolt (Yam). 125 NOV; 1. roger Foytik (SUl); 2. Jeff Arnold (Kaw ): 3. Rod

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