Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Dennis Hawthorne scored two seconds and a third. (Right) Danny Storbeck won Sunday's 125cc race. Rhoten, Storbeck, Spencer trade wins in Texas By Joe Milian Photos by Pat McClure SAN ANTO 10, TX, ocr. 8-9 . Championship Productions accomplished what many considered to be an impossibility by staging a Miller High Life Supercross in Freeman Coliseum in the Alamo City. Normally the site of livestock expositions and wrestling matches, the venerable old facility would be swallowed up by the 12 vast confines of structures such as the Astrodome. Designed and laid out by Kevin Horton and Scott Rollston, with further assistance from motocross star Kent Howerton. the track contained all the standard stadium features on a reduced scale. The course was roundly praised for its challenging yet safe construction, with Howerton's expertise very much in evidence in areas such as those designed to allow slower riders to pull over out of harm's way as they were being passed. Testimony to the care put into course preparation was the fact that only one serious inj ury was registered during the twoday affair. _ With the xception of Nick Cordova and Mark Rakestraw, who are infuied, and Carroll Richardson, who was committed elsewhere, all of the top money riders from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana were on hand to vie for the cash purse being offered. Darren Rhoten, who contested National events on a regular basis this past summer, and whose best finish was a sixth place at Denver, had these thoughts as to the opposition. "At t!:le Nationals I was racing against the best in the country, and while the overall level of competition was better, breaking into the top five spots here is just as tough." Rhoten, riding in both the 125 and 250cc Expert events on both days, emerged as top overall money winner, winning the I25cc clash on Saturday and returning to conquer the 250cc class on Sunday. Only I4 riders were permitted to line up for the fina:l pf each class, necessitating qualifier and semi-final heats to eliminate all but the fastest. Rhoten survived the sometimes rough and tumble jostling for positions unscathed, as did Dennis Hawthorne, the runner-up in the cash won category. Saturday Novice and Intermediate finals were sandwiched between the Expert semis at the beginning of the evening and the Expert finals at the end. Spectators were aHorded a three-hour program of continuous action under thi setup and organization wasthorough and professional. The semis were run off rather routinely, with no surprises in terms of who made the final 14. Amateur racing was fast and spirited, with close finishes the order of the evening. One exception was in the Mini Senior division, where rising young small-bore star Eddie Vreeland's domination was painfully apparent. Vreeland left Tommy Collier and Jason Langford far behind on his way to first place. Paul Chadwich had his hands full with Dennis Elliott and Frank Matz in the 250/0pen Intermediate struggle, managing to come from behind and win under some tight and crowded conditions, since the top five finishers were closely grouped. Darius Gramley was also superb in coming from the rear of the pack to catch and pass Bob Bowden and Lester Munson in the Over 30 contest. Gramley, always at his best under chaotic conditions, proved to all who might have doubts that it was possible to pass on all sections o~ the track and left little doubt as to his prowess. San Antonio's own Danny Storbeck followed Hawthorne for two ~ ~ .. <# . . ••• laps in the I25cc Expert final before executing a crowd-pleasing mid-air pass at the end of a long section of whoops along the north wall. It appeared that Rhoten and Bryan Abernathy were going to be relegated to distant-spectator status by Storbeck, as his high-flying antics put him farther ahead with each lap. Rhoten and Abernathy had gotten by Hawthorne shortly after the pass by Storbeck and were only a few bikelengths apart when the reaction of the crowd alerted them to the fact that Storbeck was in trouble. Anxious to give the assembled throng their money's worth, Storbeck had tried to clear four of the rocker-type jumps at once and was sent into a slow-motion endo. By the time he regained his composure, Rhoten, Abernathy and Hawthorne had sailed past and Storbeck was forced to settle for fourth place ahead of Louisianan Alley Semar. The 250cc Expert final was a flawlessly executed demonstration of headsup money riding by Kirk Spencer. Spencer took the holeshot and then determinedly motored away as a spectacularcrash and burn show went on behind him. David McClain and Darren Rhoten set out in pursuit of Spencer in the early going, with Terry Tinney moving past Rhoten at the mid-way point. Tinney's front brake cable became tangled in his front wheel and he crashed heavily in front of Rhoten, who was unable to avoid him. McClain went flying through the haybales a little later, allowing Roger Brown and Willie Phee into the front-runner spots. When Brown made an untimely excursion from the track, Hawthorne moved into second place ahead of Pheeand Ron Dunfee, who had come a long way through the pack. Meanwhile, Spencer just kept a steady pace in the lead, looking anything but fancy or stylish, but nevertheless well in control. When the fun was over, McClain had retired with an injured ankle, Tinney was in the pits early with cuts and bruises, Brown was penalized a lap for cutting the track, Larry Hughes let his Honda point its front wheel at the sky and bark at the moon, with obvious results, and Kirk Spencer was the winner. . Sunday The walking wlilunded assembled early Sunday morning, since the show was set to get under way at three o'clock in the afternoon, requiring practice and qualifying to be run off at an earlier time than previous day. Popular Waco Imermediatecompetitor Jerry Zucha was an early casualty, leaving the track with a broken right ~ ~ ••• " ••• leg suffered during practice. Once again the Pro qualfiers went smoothly, with only McClain absent from the day before. McClain's ankle was still too sore from the bail-oH and he elected to watch from the stands. Several of the Novice and Intermediate divisions had different winners from the day previus, most notably the 125cc ovices, where only Kevin Adcock returned to crack the top three. Glenn Storbeck repeated hiS winning ways in the Mini Juniors and Paul Chadwick was once again atop the heap in the 250/0pen Intermediate class. Frank Peebles came from so far back to catch Bob Bowden in the Over 30 race that Bowden may have been caught napping. By the time he realized what was occuring it was too late and Peebles won it by a small margin. Vreeland once again demonstrated why he is so highly regarded in Mini bike circles as he breezed to another uncontested victory in the Mini Seniors. Storbeck, taking no chances on Sunday, won his semi by just enough to ensure a place in the final. Abernathy was not as fortunate, as a momentary collision with Storbeck sent him down and out of the main. Roger Brown was involved in a fivebike pile-up at the start of his semi and he was put out of the running also. With Abernathy out, Storbeck was able to breath a little easier in the 125cc final, going wire to wire for the win ahead of Hawthorne, who impressed a lot of people with his showing, since he has long been a mainstay in the Open Expert class. Alley Sernar had a strong outing to place third, with Rhoten finishing an uncustomary fifth behind Mike Clement. It was all Rhoten in the 250cc final, though, with a determined effort by Terry Tinney the only real highlight. Spencer was the victim of a poor start but showed his talent and professionalism by working his way to third at the flag. Semar made his presence felt with consistent lap work to garner the fourth position, and Russell Rogers salvaged some degree of monetary gain for the weekend by placing fifth. • Results Saturday MICRO MINI: 1. Shene McGee (Yem); 2. Dele Rosa (K_); 3. Riclty Gonzel.. (Yem). MINI MINI: 1. Pedro Guillermo (Yem); 2. Derek Hensen (Vern); 3. Shene McGee (Yem). MINIJR: 1. Glen Sto_(yem); 2. Derek Hensen (Vern); 3. "Crispy' Vreelend (Suz). MINI SR: 1. Eddie Vreelend (Kew); 2. Tommy Col· lier (Kew); 3. St.... Tyler (K

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