Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-- .. ; .: ~ C(") 00 ~ ~ 0 C(") ~ u ... ~ :E (Left) Kirk Spencer took money home in all three Expe rt classes. Spencer had the most t rouble in the 1 2 5cc class. He was giving t he other riders a considerable weig ht advantage. (Right) Da rren Rhoten took the 250cc Expe rt win, but could not equal last year's three-class sweep. . Rhoten, Spencer cop Grand National laurels at Whitney, . By Joe M ilian Photos by Pat McClu re WHITNEY, TX, MAR. 12-13 What can you say about "Whisperin" Smith, the pride of Midwest City, O kla.? One thing that can be said in his behalf is that he won the IOOcc class and garnered a solid third in a tough 125cc Intermediate outing. Monty Blank took second over -Lexa, Ark ., pilot Ray Dawson in the century class and Doug Harrington topped Kurt Henricksen of EI Toro, Calif. in the 125cc Intermediates. The rider traveling the longest dis tance to participate in the weekend's All went smoothly, however, and activities, Larry Ward of Redmond, with the exception of a few bruised Wash ., did manage to win a Texasegos , no serious injuries were sussized souvenir for his efforts as he tained. combined an opening day third with No sooner had the last rider exited a Sunday-hard-luck 14th to achieve th e track on Saturday than the ardu10th overall in the Minibike Seniors. ous task of p reparing the course for Billy Whitley, Scott Brown, and Kit the next da y's onslaught was begun. Vick were first, second, and third in When the sun came up over Coon this class which saw Kawasakis in 12 Creek , all was in readiness. of the first 15 placings. No ride r at the track Sunday morning had morereason to be optimistic Junior Jackson of East Moline,lll., was a happy lad at the end of his two than Gl enn North of Whitehouse, day ordeal as he probably needed to Texas. Having led every q ualifying rent a U-Haul trailer just to carry his lap of th e 125 and 250cc Novi ce trophies back to the land of Lincoln. classes, North was in high spirits. A Jackson collected a second in the brisk pr actic e session with two strong Minibike Jun ior s, a second in Mini Kawasakis a t his di sposal had North Mini Sen iors, and a fourth in Mini realistically cons idering the pos sibilStock (7-11 ), for the top hardware ity of taking two of th e seven-foo t haul of the da y. No other amateur trophies back to an admiring throng was able to place in the top five in of homefolks. three divisions as Jackson did. True to form, North was o ut front , Another notable fini sher among a nd breezing, on ly two laps from his th e amateurs was Texan Colin Edfirst tall tribute, when he crashed. . Too much throttle? Overconfidence? wards, who swept to wins in both the Teeny Mini affair and Mini Mini A momentary loss of co ncen tra tion? Whatever the answer, it is o ne Glenn Junior as wel l. Chad Hubbard finished behind Edwards in the tiny North will not soon erase from his bores and the amazin' " Crisp y" Vreememory. Ty Carter, who went on to land took runner-up in the Mini win th e 125cc Novice class, was stunned. "I was third when North Mini Junior shakeou t. Shay " Mea n Man " Manney, after a daylong bout went out and it really pumped me up. I got on the gas and just blew by with adversity, managed to make a number 53 (Bill y Boi Richard of New placing for himself by racing to 10th Iberia, La.) like I was in a dream. I'm in the Teeny Mini class . sorry for Glenn but th is is a real Another competitor who made his thrill," Carter explained after the race. presence felt was Lufkin, Texas, ace Billy Whitley who managed impresFor North the day was over. Unable sive wins in both the Minibike Seniors to ride in the 250cc Novice affray, North sadl y loaded his gear and preand the Mini Stock class for participants 12 to 15 years of age. William pared for the long ride home. Dallett Maddux took the big iron back to Surratt, a Valencia, Calif ., charger Mooreland, Ok la . with a narrow vicgave Whitley all he could handle for five laps in the Stockers, but Whitley tory over Kent Spencer in this class , finally arranged to have his way and with consistent Ty Carter third. Tennessee rider Terry Brasher was the Surratt settled for second in style by hard luck participant in thisclass as - - - treating the fans to one of the more his second place finish from the preunique wheelies of the day at the end vious day was added to a 16th spot of his ride. scoring to give him l Sth overall. The amateurs -provided the Cake, One th ousand, one h u ndred and twenty-three riders fr om 21 sta tes co n verged on Lake Whitney Cycle R anch this weekend to contest th e G rant National Championship In ternational Motocross Final for 1983. The record number of entries made it the largest outdoor event 18 'in Texas motocross history and one of the largest of its type in the United States as well. The pastoral setting on . . the banks of th e beautiful Brazos River was transformed into a co mmunity of motorhomes of every pos sible make and description. Thousands of spectators lined the track .fences, providing th e ideal backdrop for th e talent a nd determination on display. Promoter Jerry Surber and his staff, faced wi th th e monumental task of minist ering to th e need s of this assembled throng, carri ed it off with effortless finesse. First aid and more serious injury support was prov ided by Daniel Emergen cy Medical Service of Addi son , th e sta te's largest privat ely-owned ambulance service. Evidence of their professionalism was demonstrated in th e second moto of the I 25cc Stock class. Lloyd Clayton was carving hi s way through the pack aft er a poor start wh en hi s progress was tragicall y halted on the fifth lap. A momentary miscalculation at the top of th e infamous " Banzai H ill" left young Clayton with multiple fractures of the left leg. After the personnel at Whitney Hospital determined the severity of his injury, the courageous Kawasak i pilot was taken aboard a Daniel airplane and flown to Houston. Only three and one half hours after he was taken from the track, Clayton was in the care of his personal orthopedic surgeon in Houston, some 300 miles distant. A tribute to the Daniel EMS staff and to promoter Surber as well. With over 1100riders signed in and only 700 spots on the grid forthe main, qualifiers and consolation races were necessary Saturday before the first series of motos could be run. but the Pros furnished the icing. Closely contested conflagrances and fiercely fought flare -ups were the order of the day in the money races. Danny Storbeck, after months of laying waste to the No vice and Intermediate classes received his official welcome to the ranks of the Experts and did nothing to dispel the belief that many hold concerning his future in professional motocross by taking creditable seventh overall in the 125cc Expert confrontation. After being shunted into oblivion on lap one of the first moto, Storbeck languished in 20th position while he collected his wits. Only in the final two circuits was the Yamaha representative able to regain his composure and move into a 12th placing at the flag. Sunday found Storbeck somewhat more successful at avoiding the debris in turn one as he locked into second place behind the Yamaha of Bryan Abernathy. Much to the dismay of those assembled, not only was Storbeck unable to close the gap immediately, but by the sixth lap Aber nathy was actually beginning to pull away from him. But alas! With only two loo ps remaining, and overall victor y almost certain, Abernathy made one of the more prominent mistakes of his fledg ling career and it was all over. Storbeck went on to finish first . . When all the pyrotechnics had sub- . sided, however, stead y performances by Tim Butler and Tim Aston allowed these two stellar Pros to divvy up the dough and return home as the real victors. Roger Brown, after months of success in his latest return to racing, finally witnessed the agony of defeat as he was unceremoniously riven to the turf at the start of the second moto of the 250cc Expert class . With a fourCh place finish on Saturday , Brown contemplated the second tour of the Whitney loam with some optimism. "I have a harder time with this tyPe of -gate. It 's just something I have to work on. It's better to get a poor jump than to get your front wheel hung up. And if you get knocked down with 35 riders, you might as well forget it," Brown said just prior to the start of the second heat. Well , knocked down was what Br own got. Knocked down and stepped on. Stepped on so badly that he was finished for the day. But while a

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