Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Southern California-Arizona-Southern Nevada- Southern Callfornla-Arlzona;.southern Nevada- Southern Calilornia-Arizon Western hotline (Left) Willow Springs 600cc class riders get low in AFM action. (Above) John Cook goes outside of Dennis Signalos and Alan Christian at Saddleback Speedway. OPEN EX: 1. Gary Dirc ks (Han); 2. Court Guer in (Vam); 3. Shannon Drape "" (Han). Cook cooks at Saddleback Speedway By Scott Daloisio ORANGE, CA , FE B. 20 J oh n Cook made.th e long trek do wn from Sacramen to and walked off with the $1,000 firs t place prize money in the Bud- 18 weiser Sp ri ng Sh oo tou t Speedway C ha m pions h ips a t Sadd leback Pa rk th is af ternoon. Cook (Hi -Poin t/Bell Wes) started o ff the firs t half o f th e program, which was run o n th e small eighth of . a mi le track, with a wi n in event one over Dubb Ferr ell (Ara i/ Vera 's J aw ), wh o led the fir st thr ee circui ts. Den nis Sigalos (O ra nge County Food Service/ O a kley Jaw ) led wire to wire to wi n ra ce th ree over Lance King (PJ I/ JT Raci ng Wes) who out-dueled Greg Ayers (Wes) for the run ner-up spot. Alan Christia n (STP/ Super Seer G od d ) looked very im pressiv e as he closed o u t ro u nd one with a n easy win over Keith Larsen (Jones G og g les/Tsu ba ki Wes). Coven tr y bo u n d R ic k M ill e r (Ecl ip se/ Be l-Ra y Wes) sta rted off ro u nd two with a win over the " Master," Mike Bast (J ustice Broth ers/ Simpson J aw ), and Joh n Sa ndona (Art s Furni tu re/Chas e-Harper Jaw ). Christia n agai n looked unbeatable when he ran away from the pack in race six, leavi ng Cook to fin ish seco nd while Sigalos came hom e last and sco red n o poi nts. After two restarts, Sha wn McConnell (Vans/ R .E.S.S. Jaw ) slip pe d p ast a stu bborn Ron Bla nton (Ca stroll H a ir By Bev Godd ) to wi n one-of th e bes t races o f th e day in event seven . Cook had a n easy ti me of it in winning race 10 while Ferrell scored the win in ra ce II after' a see-saw battle with Kin g . Mill er proved that winn in g th e 1982 Rookie of th e Yea r aw a rd wa s no fluke when h e eas ily dis posed of Siga lo s and McConnell to close ou t the firs t half of th e program . After Bruce Penhall made the fans rem ember h is" style with a few p ractice lap s at Interm ission and Ken ny Benc heck esia blish ed h im self as a mud wres tling great, Cook p icked u p right wh ere h e left off by downi ng Mill er in a very im portant ra ce 14. Sigalos th en show ed everyone who wa s boss on th e qua rter mi le when h e cap tu red race 15 with Rob P fetzin g (Valvo line/ Kal-Gard Wes) scoring an u pset wi n over King in ra ce 16. Sigalos took a n eas y wi n in race 17 ove r G en e Woods (7-U p / L a n cer Godd) . Cook and Kin g had a rem at ch of the ir wars at th e Ca lifornia State Championsh ip in race 18. Kin g had th e pole with Cook co m ing from two . It was even un til turn two of the opene r whe n Cook eased in to th e lead . T he " C low n P rince of Speedway" h eld th e top spot unt il Kin g crowded h is wa y by a t the end o f th e seco nd revo lution. Coo k kept th e pressure on , bu t came 'u p a few feet short as both riders wh eel ied pa st the chec kered f1 a ~. Race 23 pitted Miller a n d Cook together fo r the seco n d ti me o f th e a fternoon. Miller had to fi ni sh two spo ts a head of Cook to cla im th e title a nd one spo t a he ad fo r a tie a nd a run-o ff. Unfortunately for Miller, he wa s co m ing fro m fou r with " Cookie" o n th e pole. Coo k too k th e ga te with Mi ller en d in g u p in a battle for seco nd with McConnell . McCo n nell was getti ng trem endous dr ive a nd q u ickly pu lled away from Mill er a nd, a ma zin g ly, ch o p p ed do wn Cook 's ' h u ge lead only to fall in ch es short a t th e line. T he win sewed u p th e win a nd the bi g pi le o f cas h for Cook. Siga los closed th e show with a win , he wa s undefea ted on the big track , in the field race, g iving h im seco nd overa ll , one poi nt a hea d of Mi ller. Results POINTS: 1. Joh n Cook (Hi); 2. Den nis Sigal os (14); 3. Rick M iller (13): 4 , (TIE) Shawn M cConn ell / Dubb Ferre ll (12); 6. Lance King (11); 7. (TIE) John Sandona / Al an Chri st ian (9); 9 . Rob P1etting (BI; 10. m E) Keith larsen /Shane McDonald/Mike Bas tl Gene Woods /Bob 011 (6); 15. Ron Blanton (5); 16. SIeve Lucero (2); 17 . [TIE) Greg Ay ers /Rendy Beddon(1). J R MAIN: 1. Greg Hancock; 2. Ryan Evans; 3. Trinon Cirello; 4 . Scott Correy . ~ Beingesser smokes at Corona MX By Kit Palmer CO R ONA, CA, FE B. 18 H onda-mounted Ri ck Bein gesser won a close ba ttl e in th e 250cc Interm edia te class after com bi n ing a 1-2 score to ni gh t a t Corona Ra ceway. At the start of moto one it wa s Rusty T a fli nger (H on) who roc keted in to th e lead w hi le Bein gesser , Eddie Kenned y (Yam ) and James McG ee (H on ) followed. By th e m id-po int o f the mo to Tafli nger had stre tched hi s lead, bu t Bein gesser bega n to shrin k th at distance with in a few laps. With on ly two laps remain in g , Bein gesser sn uck by Taflinger for the lead. Th e win went to Bein gesser follow ed by .T a flinger, Tom Bro wn (H on ) and McGee. Wh en the gro up ex ited th e first turn a t th e sta rt of th e second moto , T a fli nger had fought h is way into the lead. However, d u ri ng the .same lap th ro ugh th e su pe rcro ss 'whoops, Brown a nd Beingesser both h eld th e ' th ro ttl e wide-open and took the lead away from Tafli nger. Brown extended his lead over Bein gesser to tak e th e win . Bein gesser took secon d followed by McG ee a nd Kennedy. Sixteen riders lined the sta rt in g gate for th e Min i No vice clas s, and, a fter the completion of bo th moros, Pa sadena Suzu ki 's Todd H ayes rode away with th e victory. Ha yes cru ised to I- I tally w hi le seco n d went to Larry Sayeg (Yam) wit h a 2-2 combina tion. T hird, with a 4-3 sco re, was Bill ie Pa ugh (Kaw). In th e Min i Expert class To m Com bs of Pomona Va lley Kaw a sa ki co ntin ued h is domi na tion. Results HIGH SCHOOL MINI NOV; 1. Ron J orden (Vam); 2.J im Darron; 3. Greg Wh ite. LAD IES: t . Bobbie Brich tel; 2. Robin M izokami (Su z). 100: 1. Doug Heine (Yam ); 2. Bill W arnic k (Yam ); 3. Paul Chacon (Yam). 125 NOV : 1. Rick Lane (Kaw); 2. M ike Dondel (Yam); 3. Mike Diss (Kaw) . 1251NT: 1. Vatter Elicker (Yam ); 2. Wayne Reasn er (Kaw); 3. Ron Chacon (Yam). 175 NOV: 1. Rick Lane (Kaw ); 2. Mike Neff (Yam); 3. Billy Cruch (Kaw) . • 175 1 NT: 1. Wayne Ressner (Kaw); 2. Cun Norda l (Vam); 3. Louie Knoche (yam) . 250 NOV: 1. Shaun Hanson (Yam); 2. Marl< Neff (Yam); 3. Joe Picch iotlino (Kaw ). 250 SR; 1. Craig Wells (Han); 2. Will ie Musly (Suz); 3. Kevin Valentin (Yaml. UNATIACHED 60 PEE WEE; 1. Shane Good (Yam); 2. Dan iel Balon (Kaw) . 60 JR eve. 1. Jason Coll ier (Han); 2. Joe l Tokarsky (Kaw); 3. Brandon Sperl ing (Kaw) . MINI BEG: 1. Bill Wa rn ick (Vam); 2. Shaun Slay Ion (Kaw ); 3. Derek Parsons (Kaw ). MIN I BEG: 1. Mark Rainaud (Kaw); 2. Jeff cerecrUB (Su z); 3 . Jerry Litt eral (Yam). MINI NOV; 1. Todd Hayes (Suz); 2. Larry Sayeg (Vam); 3. Bill ie Paugh (Kaw) . MINIINT: 1. SIeve Gamble (Vam); 2. Bryan Petrie (Kaw); 3. Gene Baldwin (Vaml. MINI EX: 1. Tom Combs ( Ka w ~ 2. Scott Brown (Kaw); 3. Leo Sau l (Vam). 125 BEG: 1. Tom Opovich J r. (Han ); 2. And y Sl i. (Vam); 3. Dan Endres (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Tod Schaeffer (Han); 2. Nick Ramirez (Vam); 3. J im Williams (Vam). 125 NOV: 1. SCOll Map es (Kaw); 2. SIeve And re (Vam); 3. Al e. M ansf ield (Kaw ). 125 NOV; 1. Mark Lopera (yam); 2. Greg Wa ll (Han); 3. Brad Fay (Han). 125 1 NT: 1. Mike Fedorow(Vam); 2. SIeve Cardillo (Vam); 3. Greg Bender (Vam). 125 PRO; 1. Brent Blo unt (Suz); 2. Chris Lance (Vam); 3. Paul M cla in (Yam). 2 50 INT; 1. Rick Beingesser (Han); 2. Tom Brown (Han); 3. James McGee (Han). 2 50 PRO: 1. Pat Weber (Kaw ); 2. Dale Dondel (Vam); 3. Jorge Bautisla (Hon). SOD INT: 1. Ron Rehnqu ist (Vam); 2. Ed Cavanaugh (Han); 3. Maxwell Smart . SODPRO; t . Stephen Gall (Vam); 2. Robert Tippil (Suz); 3. Mar k Ellis (Vam). Howard, Richichi just peachy at AFMRR By Lori Tyson ROSAMO ND , CA, FE B. 13 Forme r AMA Rookie of the Year Nick R ichichi battled Canadian Rh ys H oward and Cha mp io n Moriwaki's Lee Fleming in a Fo rmu la One mat ch a t th e American Federa tion o f Mot o rcycl ists' first race of th e 1983 sea so n a t Willow Springs Int ern a tional Raceway . The three way fight was hot a nd h ea vy un til lap five wh en Flem in g dropped o u t th in ki ng hi s tir e was going bad o n h im , leavin g the two Yama ha p ilo ts to fight it out. After a lot o f rea lly close racing it was a side by side fi nish wi th H ow ard ta king it. Bu t, since bo th were riding for no poi nts, th ird place H onda of Garden a 's J ohn Wells, who rod e a good co nsis tent race, too k the fir st pl ace trophy . At the sa me time, Bern ie Koegl er an d Chris Steward d iced it up for F2 ho no rs and rea lly p ut on a sh ow. Steward was a nother n on-p oints rider, so even th ou gh h e fi ni s h ed j u st sligh tly ahea d, Koegler got the trop hy. Dave Zirkle and Las Vegas racer Mi ke Wi llia ms d ueled over second FI wi th Zir kle taking th e hon ors. S tew a rd , H oward a n d R ich ich i went a t it aga in in the Fo rm ula T hree and, wit h lo ts of lead swa p p in g, Howa rd was th e victor over R ich ichi by an o h -so-slig h t mar gin . In the 600cd75OcdOpen Modi fied Production ra ce, O pen clas ser Bru ce McFarla nd fought 750cc runner J eff G eh rs for th e overall wi n with MeFarland ta king it. G ehrs was close behind, wi nning the 750cc class.

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