Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 00 ~ ...... ~ ~ ...... ...... • .-4 lo-< 0.. < - One of the 250cc classes gets off the line at Aztec Raceway. Double Expert class winner Kirk Spencer cuts under a slower rider. Bryan Abernathy flies to the 125cc Pro win. Spencer takes tvvo at Texas MX Series opener By Joe Milian WHITNEY, TX, MAR . 27 Over 500 riders gathered at Jerry Surber's Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch today to contest the lIth annual running of the five-race' Texas Series. In the early days of motocross in the Lone Star State this set of races attracted top national . T d h competitors. 0 ay t e names are Spencer, Cordova, Rake- 58 straw, Prado, Abernathy, Ri chardson , Bea vers and Whitley. They, a nd a host of others, represent the finest mo torcycle racing talent T exas, Okl ahoma , a nd L ouisiana have to offer. Ageless Yamaha p ilot Bill Kasson of Au stin clai med a unique honor a t the end of the da y's acti vities. OUI of all those assem bled, Kasson was the on ly p~rson who co uld say he w!?n money In both th e Inau gu ral event In 1972 and th e 1983 version as well. Bill y Whitley, the young Kawasaki sensa tion from Lufkin, mad e the lon g trip from th e p in ey wood s worthwh ile. He scored imp ressive victor ies in three classes to mak e him top', Ama teur of the da y. Whitley was virtually unstoppable as he led every lap of all six rnotos he contested. Fin ishing second to Whitley in the Mini, bik e Senior class , whi ch found Kawasakis in the fir st five position s, was SCOll Ch esser. Runner-up in th e Minibike 105s was J ason L angford , a nd Scott Thomas followed Whitley home in th e Mini Stockers. In o the r minibike act ion, Jack Ricks, J ason Schultz, SCOll Ch esser , SCOll Thom as, Brian McGary, J ason Upshaw , and J ason Langford eac h finished in th e top five in two classes. Crowded confro nta tions were th e ru le in the Novicejousting as A and B divi sions were necessa ry in both th e 125s a nd th e 250s. T y Caner ca p tured wi ns in both cl a sses with Bill y "Rocketrnan " Richard winning a divisio n of the 125s a nd Danny Ri ch ardson ea rni ng th e first slot in th e othe r 250cc division. Ri chardson earn ed his reward the hard way, com ing · fro m beh ind to wi n o n th e last lap in . . both motos. Suzuki sta lwa rt Kevin Rivers had a sp ir ited tu ssle with Big T ex Yamaha of San Antonio representative Gl en Mu ehl stein and Brian Darnell before he cou ld claim first pl ace a top the Open Novice group. Kit Vick went from Minibikes to the 125cc Interm ed iat e class wit h no appa rent problem as he turn ed a pair of seconds into a firs t in th e A pan of that ca tego ry. Rob ert Felix acco mplish ed th e same fea t in th e B d ivision . Just prior to th e stan of th e 250cc Interm ed ia te A affair Feli x was op timistic. " I g uess Bill H ow e a nd Sh an e Beaver will be my closest compet ition. I feel go od, it just depends on wha t kind of sta rts I ge t." Although Beavers a nd H owe did indeed give th e Ok lahoma H onda rider a run for hi s money, it was J eff Rhodes who came closest to beating h im by taking th e fir st mo to a nd pl acin g thi rd in the second. Felix's three po int total edged Rhodes by o ne to allow him h is seco nd big trophy in as many tries. The o ther Beavers brother , Skipper , scored som ewh at of a m ild upset by halting the win streak of Nederland , Texas ace Jerry LeBlanc, in their portion of the 250cc Intermediate cla ss. G alvest onian David Hubbard's hopes for the big money in th e Over 30 Expert clas s were da shed o n th e th ird la p of th e second mot o, . T ireless Ti m McCask ill gained the o vera ll victory by virture of his back to back fir sts a nd took hom e $75 for h is efforts . Troy Rapp fended off th e adva nces of Jim Sm ith a nd Dennis Fish er to give h im the premi er ranking a hea d of the other Over 30 Intermediat es. With Darren Rhoten vying for money in th e Sacramento round of the Wrangler Super Seri es today. Kirk Spe ncer seemed set to hav e a little easier time in hi s bid for material gai n in all three of th e Expert cla sses. Sure enough, th e su pe rla tive Carrollt on Yamah a rider took a so lid founh in th e smallest di splacem ent cont est and won both the big bike meetings. Roger Brown, Ni ck Cordova, and Denn is Hawthorne contributed some determined efforts in tryin g to unseat Spe ncer bu t none ma tched hi s consis ten cy and once aga in he took horn e., th e better pan of the $3000 up for grab s in th ese three classes. " Brown su ffered th e most fru stration as he co nt in ued to have prob" Iems with Whitney's backward fallin g sta rting ga te. By the tim e he ex trica ted h im self from th e clu tches of th e ga te, 36 other 250cc riders were well in to the fir st rnoto. Hi s relentless p ur su it of Spe ncer event ua lly yielded a ninth pl ace standi ng, meaning he had passed 28 bikes in on ly eig ht laps. Wary of th e tubular men ace in th e seco nd rnoto , Brown go t o n ly a mediocr e jump off th e iron a nd finish ed.a wh eel beh ind Spence r a t th e end for fourth overa ll. Promoter Surber surprised the 13 Open Expert comba tan ts by pa ying th e full $1000 purse, even though th e ligh t tu rn out did not cons titu te a com p lete class as stip ula ted in th e rules. Spen cer was, of course, delighted with th is exhibition of generosity and resp onded by grabbing th e lion's sha re of th e dough. Nick Cord ova finall y bested Spencer in th e second moto by pa ssing him two lap s from th e end of th e race. " I had a real good line th rough th e do uble jump and Spen cer took it a liule too far tow ard the middle. I'just gassed it and went on by. That gave me second money overall ," Cordova wearily assessed over a cold cu p of Gatorad e. Brown would have fin ished second, but for Cordova' s II -hour heroi cs. Results MIN IBIKE BEG: 1. Tyler Larson (Kaw); 2. Charl ie Farrar (Hon ); 3 . Lance Friend (Yam); 4. Scon Smith (Hon); 5. Scott Moffitt (Kaw) . MINI MIN I: t . Jason Sch ultz (Kaw) ; 2. Charl ie Winn (Kaw) ; 3 . Jack Ricks (Hon); 4 . Colin Edwards (Kaw); 5 . Dennis Richards (Kaw) . MINIBIKE JR : 1. Chr is Gullaksen (Kaw); 2. Jack Ricks (Hon); 3 . John Grandstaff (Kaw) ; 4. Jason Schultz (Kaw) ; 5. Steve Hogg (Yam). MINIBIKE SR: 1. Billy Whitley (Kaw); 2. Scott Chesse r (Kaw) ; 3. Jason Langford (Kaw) ; 4. Scott Thomas (Kaw) ; 5. Michael Merlo (Kaw) . MINIBIKE 105 : L Bill y Wh itley (Kaw); 2. Jason Langford (Kaw) ; 3 . Br ian McGary (Suz); 4 . Jason Upshaw (Yam); 5 , Jerry Brenner (Suz). MINI STK: 1. BillyWhitley(Kaw); 2. Scott Thomas (Kaw); 3 . Br ian McGary (Suz); 4. Scott Chesser IKaw) ; 5 . Jason Upshaw (Yam). M OTORCYCLE BEG: 1. Richard Coker (Hon): 2. Todd Julich (Yam); 3. Jim Joplin (Kaw); 4 . Perry Lowery (Suz); 5. Dan Dodson (Yam). 12 5 NOV A : 1. Ty Carter (Kaw) ; 2. Mike Morgan ISuz); 3 . Dav id Siayed (Han); 4 . Melvin Dunn (Han); 5 . Br ian McGarv (Suz). . 125 NOV B: 1. Billy Richard (Kawl; 2. Tim Rotan (Hon); 3 . Rocky Can er (Kaw); 4. Jaff Arnold (Kaw) ; 5 . Jay Jostrand (Kaw) . . 250 NOV A : 1. Danny Richardson (Suz); 2. Doug Robens (Yam); 3 . Tarry Dutton (KTM); 4 . Kurt Land

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