Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Top) Randy Goss (6) and Terry Poovey (18) played tight in the final. (Above) Ronnie Jones (16). Bubba Shobert (67) and Rookie Pete Hames. (Top) Jay Springsteen rode hard both nights. (Above) Randy Green in his stellar first Pro ride. He led the fina l and f inished third. tu rn s three and four, Grah am made his move 10 the inside a nd got pa st - with Cannon wi ndi ng up on th e tu rf. There was so me protest from Cannon, but no ruling that Graham had done anything illega l. Barry Pelkey (Yam ) wound up third. The third heat wa s a battle of northern California riders. Bill y Scott go t out of the hole firs t on his Knight Frames/Simpson-sponsored Yam ah a, followed by Eklund on the Gardner/ Castrol!Ara ilEspri t/Koni Yamaha. Scott led for two la ps before Eklund used h is experience 10 get by and go on to wi n . Scott stayed in second with Rick Hocking (Ya m), in his first race since coming out o f retirement. holding down third. Three-time 500cc World Road Racing Champ Kenny Roberts rode in the third heat, but despite a good dice with Garth Brow and Dave Bradley, could not advance past fifth . The fourth heat required two starts, a nd wh en they got off theIine for real , Goss and Jimmy Fil ice (Yam) were battling for the lead. Fil ice took it for good on the second lap. While Fil ice was leading, Goss had to repel the charges of tea mmate J ay Springsteen , and he did, although Springer did a lo t of trying for little result. The fifth heat was another two man battle, this time involving Honda's Mi ckey Fay and Harley's Scott Parker . Parker was into the first turn first , but Fay too k the lead away befor e lap two began. The order of th e top two was again good for th e durati on, with J ohn Burnett (Yam) filling th e third slot, The final heat expanded to incl ude three combatants co ntend ing for th e two transfers. Ronnie Jones (Kaw) led Pete Hames (Harry Foster/Bill's Pipes/Knight .Kaw ) and Bubba Shobert (Mega cycle/ K. Parker/Wiseco/ Bik e Shop Hon ) had a ticket to the Nat iona l, and Hames had his th ird conse cu tive fin ish one position away from a transfer. Diamond Kaw ) into the fra y. With in two laps, Hames had gone from first 10 third and back again. Jones went on 10 lead the rest of the ra ce for th e win, wh ile Hames and Shobert swa pped second every lap for the first half of the race. Finally the more-experienced Shobert put a lock on th e final direct transfer, and at the end of the race , Alex Jorgensen (C-A) had advanced to third. Sem is Back in the first sem i with h is brake fixed , Poovey tra iled T im Mertens (H on) for a lap, then set sail for the win. Mert ens stayed in seco nd, followed by Ted Boody and Rick Hocking. Eddie Lawson made his first Yamaha appearance this evening and finished fifth , two positions up on Roberts. The second semi began with Alex Jorgensen (Pioneer Trucking/Coors Babka Dist.lHi-Point/Jorgy 's CoAl getting an initial advantage on the Rookie Hames. That only lasted th ree laps before Hames slipped in front and ran there for the next four laps. Jorgensen , however, made th e final move going down th e back straightaway on lap seven and kept himself up front to tak e the checkered flag first. Last Chance Qualifier Tim Mertens made his way 10 th e front in the final chance of th e evening. He was quickly joined by John Burnett, and they went at in an intense battle th at lasted past th e halfway point, with Hames lurking in third. But suddenly Mertens fell in turn three, and the resultant shuffle as the riders tried to avoi d him found Ted Boody in the lead and Hames in seco nd. Burnett ran third for a lap .befo re he too took so il samples (turn two). At the finish Boody (College Jun ior Invitational T exas ' own Charlie Orr (Hon) had the best read on the starter and bolted into th e lead ahead of J eff Harsha (Kaw) and Team Honda's Doug Ch an dler. Chandler quickly moved to seco nd, took the lead on lap four , but then coa sted to a halt on lap seven with mechanicals. Orr regained th e lead over Honda riders Mark Hartley and Dan Bennett, and when Bennett had his o wn troubles two laps later, Rick Weir (H o n) moved up 10 complete the to p three. National Scott Pearson had the pole, but an upset was in the making when Ra ndy Green hit turn one first, followed by Mickey Fay and Pearson. At the end of a lap the first three held their positions ahead of Rick y Graham, Ste ve Eklund a nd Randy Goss. Green was turning in a da zzling ride and by the end of five laps he cont in ued to run in front of Pearson, Go ss, Fay, Graham and Ronnie Jones. Poovey was beginning to make th e outside line wo rk and had climbed to fifth behind Jones. Goss and Poove y continued to work upward, while Graham started to slide ba ck as a gearing change d idn 't work. Scott Parker was out of the rac e a fter a n early lap shunt with Ronnie J ones , and BillScott and Mickey Fay were o u t o f the race with mechanical ills. By th e 10th lap Green was still leading. Goss and Poovey, however , had broken clear of traffic and were in hot pursuit. Poovey passed th e Washington yo u ngster first, a nd Goss went by a lap later. Once out front , Poovey and Goss sta ged a n excit ing con fro nta tion o f sty les as Poovey worked th e outsid e a nd Goss hugged the pole. At one point Goss got into a tanksl apper and feared that he would take Poovey out, only 10 dis cover that Poovey had gone to the inside and gotten by. With two laps to go, Poovey had the lead, and coming 'th ro ugh the final two corners, he held it low and th en out accelerated Goss off the final one to take a narrow win. It was a lso a very popular win - only the th ird ti me a Texan has taken a National under th e 'Dome roof. Behind Goss, Green rode a co ntrolled race 10 tak e third ahead of Jones and Boody. Eklund was sixth, trailed by Alex Jorgensen and Bubba Shobert. Scott Pearson and Jim Filice rounded out th e top 10. Goss, quiet as usual , said after the race, " O ur bikes weren 't making the big horsepower of some of th e others, but they handle really well and I thought I could make the in sid e line work." Green, on the other hand, was literally flying. " Pearson got a little sideways coming out of the seco nd corner and that gave me a little space on th e pack. I couldn't believe I led it as long as I did , but once they got past I concentrated on riding a smart rac e a nd getting a good finish . I reall y wa n t 10 put in a word o r thanks 10 m y dad - he's ecstatic right nowl " • Results 25 -LA P NATIONAL: 1. Terry Poovey (Han); 2. Rendy Gass (H· D); 3, Randy Green (Han); 4, Ronnie Jones (Kaw); 5, Ted Boody (Han); 6. Sleye Eklund (Yam); 7. Alex Jogensen (C·A) ; B. Bubba Shoben (Kaw); 9. Sean Pearson (Han); 10 . Jim Filice (Yam); 11. Ricky Graham (H· D); 12. Peter Hook (Yam); 13 . M ickey Fay (Han); 14 . Billy Scan (Yam ~ 15 . Scan Parker (H· D). • 12· LAP JUNIOR INVITATIONAL: 1. Charlie Orr (Han); 2. Mark Hanley (Han); 3. Rick We ir (Han); 4 . Jeff Harsha IKaw); 5. Rusty M iskovsl

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