Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Northern California-Northern Nevada-Oregon-Washington-Idaho-Utah-Alaska -Canada- Northern California-Northern Nevada-Oregon-Washington-Idaho-Utah-Alask NORTHERN DATELINE Do you believe what you read in th e slick moto-mags? Loren Olson doesn't. "T he re is no doubt ," insisted Olson , th e ........ ........ owner o f Bellevue and E veren Suzuki. " We knew Suzuki had th e bes t Superbike this yea r. a n d we ca me h ere to p rove it." Olson 's cham pagne m ood foll owed wins by h is rid ers in classes many expected th e n ew H onda Intercep to rs to dominat e. Almost 120 racer s £locked to th e Cl aude E. Hammond Enterprises seaso n opener. Rain caused havoc in morning practi ce. but a fte rnoon su n rai sed sp iri ts a nd lowered lap times. Randy Skiver just played a ro u nd in th e qualifier. His Bellevue Suzuki GS-7 50ES needed more break in time. Aft er start in g back of the grid in th e 860cc and Open Mod Prod fin al. he worked hi s way to second by th e ch ica ne on the first lap. Already he 'd pa ssed John Doyle on Skiver's old CS-IIOO monster bi ke . Earl y leader Jeff Morrow succu m bed to Skiver in turn o ne o f th e next lap . While Skiver disappeared in hi s winning wa y, J ohn Do yle took th e O pen Modified lead a nd win from Morro w 's Suzuki. Bell evue Suzuki's T om Nakashima took third o n hi s 1100. Meanwhile in 860cc Mod Pr od. Dan Zl o ck m oved hi s Paul son 's Suzu ki 600 into seco nd a nd Le wis H arruff ch u ffed hi s way to 'th ird o n a n 860 Du cati. Nearest Interceptor was Ra y Segale' s in eig h th . o n stoc k tires. . Dan Zlock 's Yosh-Suzuki 600 got the hol eshot in Superbike. Randy Skiver 's GS -750ES nipped him in th e esses, th en built up a half-second-a lap lead . as Zlock pursued him. grindi g bolt head s off his alterna tor co ver. Kawasaki-mounted Bill Mally di ced furiously with Interceptor pil ot Chris Michak until lap five. Then Mi chak 's shock went south, or th e steering h ead loos en ed. a nd Mally took third for good . Results 450 PROD: 1. Da n Wood (Vam); 2. Ken Wimer (Han) . 860 MOD PROD ; 1. Randy Skiver (SUl) ; 2. Dan Zlock (SUl) ; 3 . Lewis Harr uff (Due). FORMULA 2: 1. M ike Kenyon (Vam); 2. Lee Coch · rane (Yam); 3. Dick Burn ham (Yam ). FORMULA 1: 1. Ray 8aker (SUl ); 2. John Doyl e (SUl) ; 3 . M ike Kenyon (Vam) . 600 MOD PROD: 1. Lee Cochrane (Vam): 2. Bru ce Behal (Kaw); 3 . Dave JaCox (Vam). 600 PROD: I. Rhys Howard (Vam ); 2. Nick Delago ISul); 3. Ken Maeda (Kaw). OPEN MO D PROD : 1. John Doy 'e (SUl); 2. J eff Morrow (Suz); 3 . Tom Nakashima (Suz). 750 PROD : 1. Chuck Wiley (S Ul); 2. Joel Itt ner . (Kaw); 3. Larry Buck (Han). 450 MOD PROD: 1. Wayne Tanner (S Ul ); 2. Tracy Polity (S Ul); 3 . John J oh n son (Yam ). SUPERBIKE : 1. Randy Skiver (SUl); 2. Dan Zlock ISu l); 3 . Bill Matty (Kaw). Green screams to Boise ST win; TT rained out By Marty Gregory BOISE. ID. APR 21-24 The Owyhee Motorcycle Club has one special week end each year. It's supposed to culminate with the Regiona l TT, a pres- 46 tigious event now in its 29th yea r. The weather frowned on TT racing this year, though, and th e big race has been re-schedu led for May 22. It didn't rain on R and y Green' s Thursday night short track parade, however. Green. riding a pumped-up Honda, careened around ' the ni cely prepared track in Caldwell's rodeo arena to take both the 250cc and Open Expert classes. Green. last year's Bo ise TT Junior winner,looked like a good bet to repeat his feat as an Expert if his short track perfor ma nce was any indicati on. He simp ly smoked 'em! The firs t-yea r Ex pert from La ke Stevens, Wash.. wasn 't with o u t some co mpetitio n. th ough. Cra fty veterans BradH urst (C-A) a nd Mickey " T he Blonde Berzerk o " Fa y (H o n) got in th ei r lick s. Fay a nd H urst ran 2-3 to G ree n in th e 250cc class and Hurst took seco nd a head of a comebac kbo u nd Dan Atkinson (H a n) in the O pen. Wi th blea ch ers fi lled with spe cta tors braving blustey winds. more th an 160 sto ked racers pu t on an exci ting show which literall y sh u t do wn th e poor ba seball game going on in a n a djacearu ballpark . Bo ise 's R ick y H enson did a Iiu le hard tim e in Ad va nc ed Elbow .Rubbing 101. H en so n ca me o ut co o ki n ' in hi s Open Ex pert heat race a nd held o ff Hurst and Dann y Atkinson for several .laps before being passed by both - o n ei the r side - with a bo u t 5m m cleara nce a p iece! U ta h Ex pert Kim Best (Ya m) lik ewi se put o n a dandy show in hi s Open h eat. Best ca rved hi s wa y through th e pack to ma ke th e prog ra m, leaving his shi fter stuck in a haybale in th e process. The en tire tra ck wa s u sed i n Caldwell th is Thursda y ni ght! And no o ne used m ore o f th e tra ck. o r in a more spectac u la r fa shi on. th an Randy Green. Most folks a ren' t accus to me d to seeing so me o ne go a rou nd a sh ort track up agai ns t th e bal es with th e front wheel eleva ted a nd crossed-up; but that 's how Ran d y Green rid es. This guy is fast ! Results PEE WEE : 1. Shane Butchart ; 2. Keegan Graves; 3. Lesl ie Cook . MICRO: 1. Rich ie Reyno lds; 2 . J .P. Simonsen ; 3. Shane Butchard. MINI B: 1. Troy Hedge; 2. ChadWaymenc 3 . Mark Tapp. 125 B: 1. M ike Enderson; 2. Chad Wayment; 3 . Roger Sto ne . 250 B: 1. Mike Enderson; 2. Dav id Johnson; 3 . Jim Warers. OPEN B: 1. Mall Holm; 2. Bob Best; 3 . Dave H utchinson. 3 ·WHEELERS STK: 1. Steve M an in . 3-WHEELER S M OD: 1. Roger Chomwell. MINI X: 1. Toby A sh ley; 2. Cha d watluwork. 3 . Troy Norr is. 125 X: 1. St eve A selt ine; 2. Sean Hart; 3. Pete Keller. 250 X: 1. Randy Green; 2 . M ickey Faye; 3. Brad Hurst. . OPEN X: 1. Randy Green; 2. Brad Hu rst ; 3 . Dan Atk in son . Walker cleans up Drift Creek dabber By Russ Cazier PORTLAND. OR. APR. 24 Vance Walker , fresh from his triple win a t th e National in T ex as, ended a n era by dethroning Brad Skreen a t th e Colu m bia Obser ved T ria ls Associa ti on ev e nt at Drift Creek , n car Po rtl and. Also competing in th e Masters bracket . th e top ca tegory of Pacifi c Northwest Trial s Associ ation ra n kings, was Jud Schaefer, who took a third behind Skreen, Both Walker a nd Scha efer are lfi-year-olds. The veteran Skreen had tw o co m ments: " I rode in these local tri al s for severa l years wi thout an y real co m pe titi on. but I guess those days are over. It's hard to believe how good these kid s a re. Bett er equipm ent is part of it , but it' s mainly the effo rt a nd co ncen tra tio n they 're putting into it." The tri als , set up and run by Tom Young of Mon tesa Wes t in Portland, had the Novices. Intermediate and Enduro classes running a loop in the morning, wi th Advanced, Expert and Masters run ni ng a much tougher loop in th e a fternoon. One unusu al sec tio n th a t everyon e en joyed w as a n out-and-out h ill climb up a so ft slope. w ith po ints assigne d by h o w far yo u go t up th e hill . Onl y th ree ride rs rea ch ed the "clean " sig n. Results MASTERS: 1. Va nce Walker ISW M); 2. Brad Skreen (M an); 3 . Jud Scnaeter (M on) . EX: 1. Terry Fristad (Vam). ADVANCED: t , Larry Drewhom (Fan); 2. Dave Padgen ( Fa n~ 3 . M ike Remington (Bu l). INT: 1. Jason Dahn er (M on ); 2. Dave Rowley (M on); 3. Bruce Chr istensen (Yam). NOV A : 1. Jay Kud licka (Yam); 2. Keith Roper (Vam); 3 . Eric Dahlin (Vam). NOV B: 1. Harold Smiley (Han); 2. Jeff Dahner (y am); 3 . Tom Marlow (Han). ENDURO : 1. Jay Terry (Vam ); 2. .Jean -Ctaude _ Morin (Yam); 3. Rod Parrish (Yam). Wilkison wheelies to wild win By Bruce Scholten MONROE, W A. AP R. 22 Everyone had a good time f rida y under the lights at Evergreen Sp eedway. The Washington Road Ra cing Association put o n a stad iu m -type exh ibitio n road ra ce in co nj unc tio n w ith th e Sk y Valley Racing Association 's regularl y sched u led ca r ra ces. H onda r id er Ma rt y Wilkison wowed th e ca r folks with impressive wh eeli es - a nd wins - wh ile a n nou nce r Lane Campbell talked up th e ac tio n . Afte r a co up le of open practi ces on th e th ree-eights-m ile asphalt o val, W ilkison led th e four laps of th e trophy dash o n hi s supe r- trick Honda H a w k. Dan Haug's WASCO H onda gra bbed seco nd from Rh ys Howard. Th en - oops - H aug o vers ho t th e left hand dogleg going in a nd o u t of th e figure eig h t (wh ich made th e motorcycle co urse a kidney-sh aped half-mile). H aug was docked a lap and Howard got second. Shadows and a sh arp left fooled H oward in the h eat ra ce. Th e " bo rin g" Mr. Wilkison ran aw ay with all 10 laps, H oward held second. as Haug di ced w ith H onda-mounted Jay Pringl e. On la p three, Ho w ar ds Yamaha Vision missed the dogleg a nd th is time he h anded second place to H aug. Wilkison sto r me d to th e first-place troph y in the 24- la p main event : H aug trophied seco n d a nd H oward o u t w restl ed Pringle farther back . Two more for Michlitsch at PIR By Brian Barnes PORTLAND. OR. APR. 2\ Tim Michlitsch just keeps on winning. The T eam Green l DG/Bel-Rav/Eastside Kawasa k i- s p o nso re d rid er has a massed 10 stra ig h t moto wins and it looks like Mi chlitsch will put up quite a fight 10 defend hi s back-toback 125 a nd 250cc cha m p io n sh ips from last year's Portland International Ra cewa y su m mer series. In th e 125cc class Mi chlitsch had no problems outdistancing the six riders entered in both motos. Mike Klenke and Denny Fennel put on a good battle for second and third in th e first rnoto, with Klett ke taking second ahead of Fennel. Mi chlitsch holeshot moto two and was long gone while an o the r Fennell Klen ke duel started up, then ended when both riders went down on the second lap. Suzuki-mounted Randy Crisman took over the second spot a head o f the Ka w a sa ki o f H art and held on for second . H art w as third a nd Klenke reco vered for fourth. Yamhill Yam aha 's j on Buyas found h im self in the lead as th e fir st 250cc Pro mot o hit turn o ne but by lap two l\Ii chl itsch had ass u me d hi s spo t in th e lead w ith Bu ya s, Kevin J ansen a n d R ob Burkhart chasing. The fir st th ree spo ts stayed th e sa me fo r th e remaind er o f th e race. whil e Bob Bu ffaloe m oved in to the fourth spot ahead o f Burkhart . Buffal oe hol esh ot moro two with l\Ii chlitsch not far behind and agai n th e T eam Green ride r mad e hi s m ove during lap IWO . tak in g away Buffaloe 's lead. Mi chlitsch sta rted to build up a su bs ta nt ia l lead . but with t w o laps rem aining . sta rted 10 slow. H e managed to keep a hea d o f seco nd place Buffal oe until th e checkered flag . findin g o u t lat er that his rear brake shoe had shattered. Jansen . Buyas and Burkhart rounded o u t th e to p five. Results POWD ER PUFF: 1. Lor i Howard (Suz); 2. Patr icia lyons (Yaml ; 3. Julie Hier sche (Hon). WEE PEE WEE : 1. Matthew Schweitzer (Han ); 2 . Jenny Wood , ing (Yem). PEE WEE JR : 1. Jeson McCormick (Vam) . PEE WEE EX: 1. Br ill Woodr ing (Han ); 2 . Geoff Goldspink (Hon); 3. Chr is Flem ing (Yam). MINI C: 1. Paul Winn (Kaw ); 2. James Price (Hon); 3. Tyler Waddington (Yam). MINI B: 1. Darren Rogers (Vam) ; 2 . Mike Bell (Yam ); 3 . Jon Dav idson (Kaw) . 1OOJR: 1. Martin Hensen(Yaml; 2. Dav id Ingwood (Yam ); 3. Sean Riestcher (Suz). 125 C DIV 1: 1. Del Lathum (SUl); 2. Dan Cook (Yam ); 3. Tress Belcher (Kaw). 12 5 C DIV 2 : 1. Todd Lusk (Yam); 2. Kenny Olsen (Yam ); 3. Bill Ph inney (Yam ). 1251NT: 1. Rich ie Lee (Han); 2. Mike Lee (Han ); 3 . M ike Lee (Han );; 3. M,ke Crowell (Han) . 125 PRO: 1. Tim Michlitsch (Kaw); 2. Mike Klettke (Kaw) ; 3. Randy Crisman (SUl). 250C DIV 1: 1. Todd Lusk (Han ); 2. Bob Ham ilton (Han); 3 . Mark Bennett (Han ). 250 C DIV 2 : 1. Troy Bang s (Han); 2. Bill Leck ing ton (Han) ; 3 . John Foeck ler (SUl) . 2501NT: 1. Deve Eekin (Han); 2. Kyle Hall (Han); 3 . Mark Bell (Han ). 250 PRO: 1. Tim Michlitsch (Kaw); 2 . Bob Buff aloe (Honl; 3. Kevin Jansen (Han I. OPEN INT: 1. Mike Hickman (Han ); 2 . Dave Coner (Yam); 3. Greg Wilson (Ma i), OPEN PRO: 1. Arne Hettman (Han) . OPEN JR : 1. Jeff Spark (Yam); 2. Sonny Ham mack (Yam); 3 . Bill Crenshaw (Hon) . OTH NOV : 1. Rich ard Dunca n (Kaw) ; 2 . GaryVinsonha ler (Hon); 3 . William Jaworski (Yam). OTH INT: 1. Jack Monteith (Vam): 2. Jerry Fair · child (Han); 3 . Wes Botche lar (Han). OTH EX: 1. Dave Eakin (Han); 2. M ike Hickman (Han) ; 3 : Ron Long (Yem) . OT NOV : 1. Rage, W add in gt on (Vam) ; 2 . Tom Har mon (Yam); 3.. Charles Burchinal(Hon ). OT INT: 1. Tom Rogerson (OMS) . OT EX: 1. Bob I$nox (Varni . Larson lassoes 250 wins at Yakima By Susan Brown YAKIMA , WA. APR. 17 It was n ear perfect weather for racing a t th e Yakima County OR V Park as 170 riders and almost as m an y sp ec ta to rs peel ed o ff th eir winter coa ts a nd ba sked in th e su ns h ine o f eastern Wa shington. In 250cc Pro m ot a o ne Yam aha m ounted Denn is Dolqu ist took th e earlv lead but co u ld n' t hold o n to it with H onda Support rider Mike Lar- . son flying by. Robb Manningwason th e move a nd shot past Larson to tak e over first. The action was happening fast with And y Tudor working up to fourth and Joe Wright sett ling into third. Th e fini sh read the same. . In moto two Larson holeshot with Manning in hot pu rsuit. Manning went down on the second corner and stayed down as Larson began pulling away from the pa ck . Tudor was c harging but co u ld n ' t make up enough ground a rid took a second with Wright in third. Larson claimed overall honors, Tudor took second place and Wright was third for the day.

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