Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kirk Spencer (485) leads the 125cc Expert class. Serie's w inner Carroll Richardson (4) is seen turning his gas on. Series winner Roger Brown (292) leads Willie Phee . R icha rdson, Brow n, Bates take Texas Series overalls Photos by Tinker Mayfield and Milian TYLER. T X, AP R. 24 The II th annual Texas Series came to an exciting close today at Swan Motocross Raceway as overall winners in more than half of the 18 classes were determined in the fin al two m otos of th is fiveweek affair. Veteran track opera tor Bill Law spared no expe nse in preparing for th e fin al e an d p ark -like selling co m bined with professional co u rse m ainten ance dr ew praise from rid ers and spectators a like. " 34 -. ". Alt hough h edid not co mpete in the Rio Bravo meeting , Carter Yama ha o f Da llas rider Kirk Spe nce r still managed a to p 10 fi nis h in a ll three money classes. H is wheel-to-w hee l d uels with Roger Bro wn in th e 250cc clas s were o ne o f th e high ligh ts of th e series . Kawasaki sensation Bill y Whi tley was the big winner in small bore racing as h e ca p tured overall wins in Minibi ke Senior, Mini Stock, and Min ib ike 105cc d ivision s. Kawasa ki's extensive su pport efforts paid off handsomel y in th e Min ib ik e Sen io r class as th e green mach in es swe p t a ll 10 series pl acings. At the Ri o Bravo ro u nd T eam Green rid ers took 30 o f th e 35 top fin ish es for bikes I25ccs and under , a n im p ressive displ ay o f migh t by th e " Big K." One of the m ore spectacu lar cras hes occu rred a t Conroe as Ty Carter 's grou nd-s ha king en do kn ocked him o u t of th e series lead in th e 125cc No vice class a n d put h im o ut o f ac tio n for a t least two months. Mini Min i star Jason Sch u ltz emerged as one of th ree riders to p lace first in fou r o ut of five races with Mi n i Juni or Chris G u lla ksen and O pen Intermedia te Troy Ra pp a lso doing the sa me. At th e fin al trophy p rese ntation Dennis Hawtho rne jo kin gl y sent o ut a p lea to Husq varna 's Ma rk Blackwell to send h im so me h orsep ow er. H a w rh o rne 's-Swedish m ount was n ot iceably not as responsive as h is co m peti tors' mach in ery, but determined effo rt n etted h im hi gh overall sta ndin g in two Pro classes. Nowh ere was th ere a mor e even ma tch up th an in th e 125cc Novi ce class a s Chad P arker a nd Rock y Carter went into th e fin al co n test separated by on ly a single p oin t. Two q ua lifying heat s a nd a co nsola tio n were needed fo r th e crowded field an d both Parker and Ca rter survived th eir respective clashes un scath ed to set u p the ru n for a ll the gold in the fin al and decidi ng h eat. Bot h riders go t ca u tio us sta rts a n d were q u ickly swa llowed up by traffi c. By th e en d o f th e seco n d lap , Parker had tak en the lead with Carter well back. At the en d Parker h eld a co m man di ng leading, a nd Carter cou ld do n o bett er th an to work hi s way up to fifth in th e 36-r ide r field . Th e win en a bled Park er to win the series overa ll by 10 point s over Ca rter. Open Novice pil ot Brian Darnell co u ld on ly muster a n eigh th pl ace finis h today, bu t steady pe rfor ma nces in th e first four fracases a llowed him to ret u rn home as Texas ' top big bike Novice as h e sha ded Kevin River s by th ree points for th e titl e. Ri vers needed desperat ely to win th e seco nd moto, but Scott Spe nce repeat ed hi s fir st moto victory, a nd th e T yler Suzu ki representative wound up third beh ind J oe G eorge. T h e j u bi la nt Darnell h eld th e bi g tro phy aloft at th e award ceremony a n d sta ted that " I thought I h ad blown the whole deal in th e seco nd moto. I got th e lead and th en ease d u p . Th e n ext th in g I kn ew I was on th e g ro u nd . I fin ish ed dead last, but I guess tha t was enoug h. " It was enough by three slim points. H oltan Honda of Ty ler , one of th e area's stronger motocro ss su p porte rs, sent two of th eir team members into the fray tod a y and both acquitted the mse lves well. Jo vial Jack Ricks preven ted a five-race sweep by Jason Schultz in th e Mini Minis as h e gained a fir st there and a fifth in th e Minibike Juni ors. J ohn Britts put in two solid outings in th e 250cc Novice class to secure the runner-up slot behind more ex pe rie n ced Dann y R ichardson. Rich ardson held off a strong bid by Stewart Gain es in th e final lap to keep seco n d. A pass by G aines would ha ve moved him into that sp o t. " Su re h e beat me four out of five races, but tal ent prevailed today. Eat your h eart out Troy Rapp, yo u 're too o ld for m otocross." Those were th e m od est musings of a grinnin g Denni s Fi sh er as h e notifi ed any a nd a ll wh o would listen to hi s stirr in g co me from-behind victory in th e Over 30 In termedia tes. . Fisher 's fini shing first fixed Canadian /Texan Jim Sm ith in th e number two pos it ion for th e fifth consecu tive week. Rapp fin ished an uncharacteristic third but claimed th at h e was laughing so hard a t Fisher's antics th at h e could not concentrate. " Den ni s was bre athing some rare a ir up th ere in firs t pl ace an d it was m aking him diuy.1 wanted to stay far eno ugh aw a y so th at I wo u ld n't hit any of the p ieces from th e cras h," Rap p claimed. Skippe r Beavers wo n th e race an d the series today in th e 250cc Intermed ia te class as he traded mo to wins w it h Ned erl and 's J erry LeBl an c. Cousin Sh ane was not so fort u na te as h e landed h eavil y a fter a particularl y a lti tudinous skys ho t a nd blew o u t h is rear tire. Mats Haag turned in a fin e fourth in th e seco nd m oto a fter a first round mi sh ap an d was fifth overall for the da y. Kir k Spencer di d nothing to di spel th e cla im made by ma n y th at he is Texas' to p a ll-a ro u nd rider as he swapped heat win s with Bryan Abernath y in the 125cc Expert class a nd fi n ish ed secon d to Mark Rakestra w in th e 250s. Spencer's first m oto perform ance wa s noth ing short of a ma zing as he found himself a di stant last after bein g sh u nted to th e loam in th e fir st turn . Spen cer pi cked o ff 21 Pro rid er s o n the way to fourth a t th e flag and , j ust a few bik elen gths behind th e H onda o f Lar ry H u ghes. " I had m y h ead so mew here else and I go t ca ught in th e mob. I'll get o ff faster th e n ex t time," was Spe ncer's lacon ic co m ment o n h is first round od yssey. Spe nce r's th oughts were in pe rfect' orde r in heat two as h e charged o ver th e ga te and in to a lead that got bigger with every lap. Mark Rakestra w, wh o was to lose first overall in th e series by fou r poin ts to Roger Brown , kn ew h e had th e da y's win secu re ly in hand and was co n tent to follow Spen cer at a distance. Hughes, Brown , and Honda's Mark Witt co m . pl eted th e first five. Spencer wo n the first mot o of th e 125cc Expert class h andil y but co u ld o n ly wat ch from behind as Steve G authi er a nd Bryan Abernathy ran a way wit h th e lead . Gauthi er had th e h ol esh ot a nd led for four laps before Abernath y reeled him in . Abernath y sho t by Ga uthier o n th e pr ecarious do wnhill sect io n and had th e crowd gas p ing in disbel ief. Coach and ch ief mech anic Tommy Connors was asto u nded . " I didn ' t th ink any bo dy co u ld p ass in th at section. Bryan is a very gu tsy yo u ng man." Once h e p assed Gauthier he was set to cru ise but co lla psed fro n t forks two laps from th e end allowed G authier to reco ver so me of the d istance. Carroll Richardson, the T exas Seri es wi n ner in th is cla ss, placed fourth in both turns an d was fourth for the da y. T h e downhill sectio n wh ere Abern athy staged hi s h eroi cs lat er claimed Mike Cl em ent in the 250cc Experts as a m iscu e sent him to the pits with a badly injured wrist. Yet another piece of dr ama unfolded in th is ar ea as Dennis " Hard Luck" Hawthorne's ch ain broke as he was only three turns from the overall cash in th e Open Expert di vision. "Scooter" Bates and Russell Miksch cashed in on Hawthorne's mi sfortune and came home first and second. Hawthorne pushed home third with Mike Farmer fourth and Brooks Toland fifth. • Results MINI MINI: 1. Jack Ricks (Hon): 2. Jason Schu ltz (Kaw); 3 . Col in Edwards (Kow) ; 4 . Cho rlio Winn (Kow); 5. Chuck Holl (Kaw). MINIBKE JR: 1. Cody Morek (Kaw); 2. Chris Gul · laksen (Kaw) ; 3. Sean Cook (Yam); 4 . Jason Schultz (Kow) ; 5. Jock Ricks (Hon). MINIBIKE SR: 1. Stocy Marok (Kow) ; 2. BillyWhi lIey (Kow) ; 3. Joson Longford (Kaw) ; 4 . Shone LoB· lone (Kow) ; 5. Scon Thomos (Kow) . MINI STK: 1. Billy Wh itley (Kow ); 2 . Joson Lang· ford (Kaw) ; 3. Seo« Chesser (Kaw); 4 . Shane LeBlanc (Kow) ; 5. Scon Thomos (Kow). MINIBIKE 10 5: 1. Billy W hilley (Kow) ; 2. Stocy Marek (Kow); 3 . J oson Longford (Kow) ; 4 . Stove Hill .1 11 I. /0 ..' I·' ,', ' ' . .. " , ' ! ~! '.

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