Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

,- . Lucerne Valley - Red Mountain - Plaster City - Searchlight - Sidewinder Roae Desert Hotline C(') 00 O"l ...... Andy Ellis leads the 125cc Pro charge at a CRC Indian Dunes motocross. Dan Smith (left) and Dan Ashcraft f inished 1-2 at the Sled Riders H80.H. Smith, Ashcraft duel at Sled Riders HS By Shirley Upp LUCE RNE VALLEY. CA, JAN. 9 Dan Smith (Hus) and Dan Ashcraft (H us) pushed each other to the limit in the first D-37 desert race of the year. with .L. 18 Sm ith co m ing out on top to take th e well earned overall win. Near perfect weather for desert racing brought out some of the very best for this 10th annual Larry Pfutzenreuter Memorial and fifth annual Dave Doney Memorial event. Two miles past the bomb it was Smith in the lead with Ashcraft one seco nd behind. This is th e wa y these two pushed each other for the next two hours. Chuck Stearns (Hon ) was third with Lee Scheffers (Hon ) fourth . Chris Crandall (KT M) at this point was fifth and wa s start ing to ask a little more of his big KTM . T he Nov ice/Beginner race was held up until a ll th e casual ties were off th e co u rse. At the end ofthe sandwash , it was #213 in the lead with Steve G il dea (O pe n) second. Rodger McCabe was holding third position. Jolene Payne was leading the gals and running first Expert. As th e leaders came through home check it was Smith just seconds in front of Ashcraft. The pressure was showing as these two super aces were pitting at the same time. each rider putting their pit crews to the test. Smith was out of the pits first followed by Ashcraft. For another 45 miles these two Husky riders would push their bikes to the max i Stearns came through th ird but would end his ride for the day after having a bad get -off. Larry Roeseler (Hus) had moved up to fourth. Chuck Miller (H o n) was cruising today and in at fifth. Bill Saltzman led the Open Vet class once again. Oren Beck II was first C bike with Bret H owell second. Another race going on was between 250cc Experts Steve Zollinger and Steve Web b. First 250cc Amateur was Steve Kna pp. Art Knapp was leading the O pen Seniors. This course would tak e its toll on riders with many going down and getting hurt. Bill Mattox went down and broke his leg . Lee Scheffers went down and was out of it for a whi le as Roesel er stopped to help. Excitement and anxiety filled th e air at th e finish line as word ca me in thai-Smith (riding 'with a .Ila tfro n t tire, even) and Ashcraft were both going strong and still wit hin a second of each o ther _Coming down through the pits these ri ders were side by side at times. giving every spectator a thrill. At the finish the cheering started as Smith took the win with Ashcraft slightly off the trail trying to make his move on Smith, who had no more than a second's lead. The cheers were for both riders, since it 's not often that we see a finish like this in desert racing and it was exciting. In for third was Crandall who had a good ride today. despite three getoffs. Fourth was Oren Beck II after one super ride on his C bik e. Next bik e in was Bill Saltzman who took a first in the Open Vet class at a well earned fifth overall. With a front flat tire , Chuck Miller took sixth. Seventh was A.C. Bakken wi th anot her C bike rider Bret Ho well taking eighth. Ninth was first 250cc rider Steve Webb who finall y managed to move in front of Steve Zollinger for th e win. Zollinger rounded out the top 10 with second in class. In the Open Amateur cla ss it was Ro n Shuler who turned it loo se to tak e a first in class. In the 250cc Amateur class Steve Knapp brought it in for the first. And Ray Wat ers took first honors in the C bike Amateur class . Cory Bonham moved up to take the overall Novice win. First 250cc Novice was speedster J eff Sloan. Rick Lundin, riding his very first race, took the overall Begi n ner win. Open Sen ior Begi n ner Phil Marsik rode a great race and took first with Bill Bennington a close second. • Unofficial Results OP EX: t. D. Smith (Hus); 2. D. Ashcroft (Hus); 3. C. Crandall (KTM). OPEN AM ; 1. R. Shuler (Yamt 2. M . Molina. OP NOV; 1. C. Bonham; 2. #213; 3. T. Turner. 250 EX; r . S. Webb; 2. S. Zoll inger; 3. R. Kur isu . 250 AM: 1. S. Knapp; 2. D. Seagondoll ar; 3. T. Sw aff ord. 125 EX; r. O. Back III (yam); 2. B. Howell (Hon). 125 AM: 1. R. Waters; 2. M . Monterone. 125 NOV: 1. W . Koslty. 125 BEG: 1. #25c: 2. M . Burroughs; 3. L Stotts. VET OP EX: 1. B. Saltzm an (Husk 2. R. Jackso n (Hus); 3. Ernie M nois n. VET OP AM : 1. 7; 2. R. Nelson ; 3. S. Martin. VET OP NOV: 1. C. BOfdenave; 2. R. Pattars on; 3. C. Wri ght. VET OP BEG: 1. W. Sandara. VET 250 EX: 1. J. Br inghurst; 2. J. Vaughn; 3. R. Hall . VET 25 0 AM : 1. J. Sheehy; 2. C. Loosloot; 3. L. Stiffle r. SR OP EX: 1. R. Surber; 2. W. Cooper; 3. B. Torge rson. SR OP AM : 1. G. Gibbo ns; 2. B. Burch; 3. B. Morris (Hus). SR OP NOV: 1. B. Bullington; 2. B. Kraft . SR OP BEG: 1. P. M arsik; 2. B. Bennington. SR 250 EX: 1. A. Guzman; 2. C. Goodman ; 3. D. Whitehorn. SR 25 0 AM : 1. S. Varner; 2. B. Healy; 3. J . Braasch Sr. SR C EX; 1. #032c; 2. D. Kersting: 3. M . Teney . SR CAM: 1. J. Collister . SR C BEG: 1. C. Henderson. WOMEN EX: 1. J. Payne. WOMEN AM : 1. D. Engstrom. WOMEN NOV: i . S. Dietz. OTMaster, McGraw shines at Sunrise By Bob Alloy ADELANTO . CA, JAN. 9 Summer-like weather with temperatures in the 80's and a challengi ng motocross track are almost everything an Old Timer could want and those were the prevailing conditions they had at Sunrise Valley Cycle Pa rk. There were 45 OTs out there having the greatest of times with the double stadium jumps and one long stretch of about a dozen little jumps all in a row . Master's Ron Mill er, riding a Kawasa ki, got things rolling by taking the lead inmoto one and maintaining it until Lynn McGraw bla sted by and took it a wa y. Lynn took his lead to the checkered . Dennis Ro senberg ca me speed ing in with a fast second place. MOIO two began with Miller again taking th e lead for two laps. Then Rosenberg took over for a la p until McGraw once again ca p tured the lead, and [our laps lat er he wa s th e one to cross over in first place. Junior Mas ters winner Don Mer ritt loomed a bo u t and won with a 1-I. Expert Dick Burley is a tough man to beat. H e ha s won most o f th e races since he moved up to th e Expert's d ivision. a nd toda y was no excep tion. Two holeshots and two w in s - Burley makes it a ll seem so simple. Don Young, who started mid-pack in both races, quickl y moved up. pa ssing severa l riders for h is seco nd place win. racing. Ellis was after An ker and waiting for h im to ma ke a mistake, a .mistake that came as Anker went high on a bow l section. Ellis too k the inside lin e and came out ahead. Ellis took his Suzuki of Van Nuys machi ne 10 the lea d in the final moto ahead of Danny Kudrave, Anker and Darry l Werner. Both Kudrave and Werner dropped back right away a nd it fast became a n Ellis versus An ker rally till the checkered came out. Ellis took th e top cash and Anker placed second over Jim Sendelbach. H onda was the winning machine in the 250cc Pro cla ss as Willy Simons a nd Kelly Pugmire outdistanced the rest . Simons took the holeshot in the lead moto a nd Pugmire couldn't find a gap 10 squeeze by. He took second over Darren Sharuga. Pugmire proved that he kn ew how to tak e off from th e line and took the holeshot in the final moto. John Biffle on a Honda was in th e second pl ace spot being hounded by Willy Simons. On the bend before the tower, Simons exec u ted a pass that put him into second pl ace. Simons zapped Pugmire wh en th ey ca me to a ditch section and took th e lead. Biffle was demoted to fourth as Sharuga too k over third. Simi Honda's Simons took a fin e ove ra ll win over O 'Neall Arco sponsored Pu gmire and Sharu ga . . Results Big money was offered up north for the Pro riders. yet an ample line-u p of 125 and 250cc P ros participated with the California 60 NOV: 1. Greg Wine (Yaml; 2. Joey Tokarsky (Kaw); 3. Damon Huff man (Kaw). 60 INT: 1. Eddy Gaumond (Vam). 60 EX: 1. Bubba Erickson (Yam). BO STK BEG DIY 1: t . Ronnie Rosales (Suz); 2. Joey AblOnant i (Hon); 3. Jody Tapia (Kaw). BO STK BEG DIY 2: 1. Jimmy Lew is (Kaw); 2. David Hubert (Kaw t 3. Curt Carpenter (Yam). BOSTK NOV: 1. Robert Hopkins (Kaw); 2. Robert Forest (Suzl: 3. Bryan Petr ie (Kaw). BO STK INT: 1. Scott Murphy (Yamk 2. Bryan Nelson (Kaw); 3. Doug Fisher (Kaw). BOSTK EX: 1. Jeff Barbecovi (Yam). BOMOD BEG: i . Sean Blanchard (Vam); 2. David Mercada lYam k 3. Marvin Gaye (Kaw). BOMOD NOV: t . Paul Matthews (Kaw ); 2. Robert Forest (Suzt 3. Jell David (Yam). BO MO D INT: 1. Doug Fisher (Kaw ); 2. Scott Murphy (Yam); 3. Pal Beckley (Yam). BOMOD EX: 1. Jell Barbacovi (yam ). 100 BEG: 1. Mike Cagle (Yam). 100 NOV: t . Eddie Tanner (Yamk 2. Nala Amesbury (Suz). 125 BEG: 1. Brian Felix (Yaml; 2. Robert Mak imoto (Yam); 3. Vietor Preslar (Suz). 125 NOV: t , Tony Alessi (Yam); 2. Warren Heath (Honl; 3. Jon Barr ick (Honl. 125 NOV: 1. Cort Farrar (Yamk 2. Jim Wardell (Yam); 3. Denn is Iverson (Yam). 125 INT: 1. M ike Knapp (Suzt 2. Joe Hopkins (Kaw); 3. Rich Truchinski (Hon). 125 PRO: 1. Andy Ell is (Suz); 2. Jerry Anker (Yam); 3. Jim Sendelbach (Suzl. 250 BEG: 1. Steven Jennings (C-A): 2. David Warn jes (Yam); 3. Todd Anders (Yaml . 25 0 NOV: 1. Pete DeGrandis (Suz); 2. Eugene Borgia (Suz); 3. Eric Marnach (Hon). 25 0 INT: 1. M ike Raschke (Honl ; 2. Kevin Brown (Suz); 3. Chris Morton (Suz). Raci ng Club on the Ind ia n Dunes International track. Andy Elli s fought Jerry Anker for th e 125cc Pro win nings whil e H onda rid er s Will y Simo ns a nd Kell y Pugm ire ended up 1-2 in 250cc Pro com pe titio n . Anker became.a n or ange str eak at th e fro nt of the pack in first ' moto (Honl; 3. Darren Sharuga (YamI. 500 BEG: 1. Ed Tashj ian (Suz); 2. Brad Shaw (Mai); 3. Jim Lichlyter (Hon). 500 NOV: 1. Wade Whi te (Suz); 2. Dan Sti lw ell (Yamt 3. Kent Wilson (M ai). 500 INT: 1. Ruben Falcon (Hon); 2. Jere Mason (Me i); 3. Alan Skiles (Honl. 500 PRO: 1. Mike McM illen (Hon). VET.JR : 1. Tir:n Fitzp,triCk(Suz); 2. Robert Cooke (yam ); 3. Gilbert zavaja,(SllZ~ • , , _ < ,.1' I I VET INT: t , Kent Shepard (Yam); 2. NedJoy (Ma i). Results MASTER: 1. Lynn McGraw (Honk 2. Denn is Rosenberg (Hon). JR MASTER: 1. Don Merritt (Hus). EX: 1. Dick Bur ley (Honk 2. Don Voung (Suz). AM : 1. Jim Learnihan (KTM); 2. AI Smith (Yam); 3. Gilles Valliancoun (Han). NOV: 1. Fred Maynard (Hon)1 2. Richard Townsend (Yam); 3. Dick Doyle (M ai). Ellis ekes out CRC Pro win By Tom Corley VALENCIA, CA, JAN. 16 250 PRO: 1. Willy Simons (Han) ; 2. Ke lly Pugm ire

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