Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126760
(Above) Riding the bike he sold last year, Terry Vance opened the season with a win. (Below left) Charlie Gressman (far lane) defeated Dave Schultz to meet Vance. (Below right) Top qualifier Randy Mason. NMRA National Cham~ionshi~ Series: Round 1 Vance dusts Gressman at Gainesville Photos by George Hoffmar'! GAINESVILLE, FL, MAR. 17-18 Terry Vance cut the quickest elapsed time of eliminations and downed Charlie Gressman in the final round for the Pro Stock victory at Gainesville Raceway. The two Suzukithe Natio~al M<;>LOrcy Ie Ra .ing AssoClauon s National ChamplOnhlP Senes was ru'n In conjunction with the National Hot Rod A so iation's 15th Annual Gatornational . LO Gressman's losing 8.82/149.75. Qualifying for the eight slots open .19~ ?p~f}~n$, Pro _.tock round.?~. •. i!: ~he'pro_gram was a tight affair with moun led compelitors faced off before a capacily crowd wilh . d Vance cumng an 8.631-secon pass al 152.02 mph for lhe win l~ some well known names watching from the sidelines after il was over. Randy Mason set the pits buzzing when he turned in the best numbers on a Kawasaki and earned the number one qualifying position withan 8.537/ 154.10 run aboard his MTC-sponsored mount. The figures for eighth quali· fier, john Mafara and his Pizza john Performance Suzuki, were 8.67/152.02. "Superbike Mike" Keyte was one rider who was.watching from the side· lines after qualifying. He debuted a new Suzuki after runnjng a Kawasaki for many years and hadn't had enough time to'dial in the machine, only dipping into the 8.80- econd range which wasn't good enough. On the bright side, Keyte and his crew LOok the Fab rge Best Appearing Crew award for the third straight year over the best the four-wheelers had to offer. Mason met Cres man in the first run of the quarterfinals. Mason bogged his bike's engine coming off the line, leaving the race wide open. In contrast, Gressman cut a perfect .400 reaction time - any less and he would have !:~.!i!l'hted away his chances - and scooted to the win. Gressman receives the majority of his help from Vance Be Hines Racing. Mason is still running last year's bike and has taken ad.vantage of new weight rules for Kawasaki machines. Dave SChultz, on the MRE/Fast by Gast/MTC·sponsored Kawasaki, was running the olde t bike in the field and the only two-stroke. His machine started life as a 1972 H2R. Schultz faced Number One plate holder Bob Carpenter on the Carpenter Racing Suzuki, but Carpenter gambled on the start and red-lighted. Schultz never looked back. The t.hird run matched defending champ Vance against Rick Stetson, a former Pro Comp competitor who is . now running Pro Stock. Stetson had turned a 155.44 mph pass in qualifying for lOp speed of the meet, but was having trouble getting his elapsed time down on the Harry's Machinesponsored Suzuki. Stetson had a short' circuit in the ignition as the two staged for their run, the fire went out in the engine and Vance had a solo run. Vance had his rear tire go flat as he coasted to a halt at ttie end of the pas. Mafaro turned in a trong perform· ance off the line against john Sachs, jr. in the last quarterfinals run and had an edge on Sa hs LO the one-third mark. Unfortunately, his transmis· sion broke at halfway and he coasted across the finish line. Sachs and his father make up the only same class father/son duo in NMRA competition. The two run a Kawasakimounted privateer effort. The riders on the sidelines at the end of the quarterfinals could have run their own show with non·quali· fiers Keyte and joe Folgore joined by Mason, Carpenter, Stetson and Mafaro. Gre sman and Shultz met in the first of two semis with Gres man cutting a .401 reaction time LO leap off the line on the green light. Schultz's crew had changed motors between run.s because they felt the other motor wasn't broken in enough and had some design differences from their tried and true one. The change helped, but it wasn't enough as Gressman's 8.820/149.25 cut the win light on. Schultz turned in an 8.839/144.92 losing effort. Sachs almost'pulled the upset of 'the day in the second semi as he ran heads· up with Vance for nearly the entire 1,320 feet. It looked as if Sachs would pull it off, but Vance reached down for some top end power and took the win with an 8.748/152.28 pass to Sachs' losing 8.765/149.25. Vance was aJI smiles before the final. "I can't lose," said Vance. "Both bikes in the final were built by Vance Be Hones Racing which should say something." Gressman was counting on his reaction time to give him the edge against Vance. It wasn't to be. Gressman's .459 was better than Vance's .481, but it wasn't good enough as Vance turned on the afterburner for the win - his second straight at the Gatornationals. Vance later explained he was rid· ing the bike he had sold late last year to Butch Spencer as a favor to Spencer. Gary Watters, according LO Spencer, had gotten tangled up in a paperwork snafu, but would be back riding the bike "for as long as he wants." Vance is waiting on a factory sponsorship deal before committing to a racing program this year. He aid the closest he has gotten to a deal was with Yamaha, but that is now stalled because the factory in japan backed out. If he doesn't get the package he wants, Vance will only compete at the IDBA round in Gulfport, Mississippi, where he will ride for promotional purposes. •