Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

after arrivi ng at the track Saturday and immedi ately broke two pi stons. Repair tim e cos t him a sh o t at th e opening round of qual ifyin g. H e man ag ed to pu t himself into the third slo t a n d bump G eorge Bryce, n ew 10 th e p ro ranks th is year after ru n n ing stro ng in the sports man d ivision for a long time, into fou rth . Bryce used a Ka wasaki Fu nnybike to make the field. T he 14 rid ers in P ro Co mp were whittl ed dow n to eig h t in IW O qual ifying sessions with Stetson , a t 8.55 / 152.02, easi ly taking th e top spo t. Stetson, the Pro Com p Nat ion al Champ ion th e past two seasons, was fol low ed by th e n um ber two rider in th e class, Reel. Gary Godwi n broke th e ranks with h is Kawasak i in third foll ow ed by Su zuki riders Richard Sm ith, Du ane Wi lso n a n d Steve Molitor. H arleyDa vidson mounted So n ny Mich al owski and Jim McC lure rounded o ut th e field. T he Pro Com p class led o ff th e eli mi na tio ns. Stetso n down ed Wil son easi ly a n d G odw in put Mich al ow ski on th e tra iler. Reel ea rne d hi s way to the sem i with a wi n over Molitor, while it was McClure with th e win o ver a troubled Sm ith. Sam Wills a nd Roland Stuart staged for their run in th e opening round o f Top Fuel eliminations. Wills cu t the ligh t too qu ick, but th e red-light didn 't matter for 30 yards down the strip th e cha in sn ap p ed. Stuart took the win, but in th e process dama ged the engine badly en ough th at h e would be a spectator for th e rest of the day because h e d idn 't have th e p arts to fix it. The. other elimi na tio n run p itted McBride against Br yce. This to o becam e anti-climacti c wh en th e clu tch in Bryce's Star Cycles m ount 'went away on th e burn-out. Frustr at ed beyond wo rds, Bryce wa ved McBride to ru n a so lo pass. "Tha t's three clu tches in two da ys," Bryce would say lat er. " I wish I co ul d h ave a t lea st go tte n th e run in. " T he semis in Pro Camp pi tted Stetso n aga ins t God wi n. Pri or to th e run Stetso n 's crew h ad been making adj us tme n ts o n th e bike. " I ' m not too ha p py a bo u t th e way th e bik e is run ning. We sh ould be going faster." Ste tso n cu t a 8.529/ 151.77 to defeat God win. , On th e other side of th e ladd er, Reel was posting a 8.768/ 147.78 to do wn McClure and ea rn hi s ticket to th e fin al. In the pits prior to the fin al s, McBride was a ll smi les. "I'm really so rr y that Ro land won 't be a ble to mak e the run .- T he fans deserve a show. H ow ever , it 's raci ng and I'll tak e th e win a nd $ 1,500 a ny way I can. T h is has got 10 be o ur year. " Stetso n, with Ed R yan a nd Bill K<;arney wor ki ng o n th e bik e, was also lending a hand. " We wen t faster in round two , but I'm st ill not satisfied. I h ope Reel will sup p ly th e p ush so I ge t down int o th e 8.40s." " I don't wa n t to remember h ow many tim es Ri ck a nd I have co me up aga ins t each other in the pa st yea r o r two a nd h ow man y times I've co me ou t second, " said Reel. "Mayb e th in gs will change." Stetson and Reel did th eir burnouts, staged and took th e gr een light. Stetson was qu icker , faster, stro n ger an d $500 ri ch er whe n th e win light came o n in hi s lan e. "It feels good," said Stetson. " Back to looking for more horsepow er ," said Reel. McBr id e, "S p ide r rna n " 10 friends and fans, didn't let o ff o n hi s solo pass in th e final. " Yo u reall y did go od," sai d sponsor an d former T op Fuel rid er Dann yJ ohnston to McBrid e afterwards. "Th is is the first o f man y wins for us," said McBrid e. " Yo u ca n • count on th at. " .S UPER SERIES NEXT STOP MILLER HIGH LIFE,SUPERCROSS May 7 Arrowhead Stadium Ka~sas - - - - _. -- - (,Oil UNI:'I\'/;'J( 1I/.\S (,()I.lJ/::\ \J.'III:" - - -- - -~~---- soo UI.I.I1I JI()\\/lJJ1 City, MO --_._._.. -------_. III/II /III: ntrt.\ I HR.' Who uses the DeFender? Shouldnt You? . .9"- The Gold Belt tine, Inc. 7045 Darby Avenue, Reseda; CA 9i.33? ( 2i.3) 705-5689 - 11

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