Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

With his Buffalo win Johnny O'Mara (above) extends his points lead to a comfonable mergin with four events left. (Below) O'Mara holeshot the fi.rd haat but soon crashed. Bob Hannah' (6) won the moto. Insport/Wrang1er Supercross Series: Round 11 O'Mara heads Buffalo stampede By Tom Kolnowski BUFFALO, NY, JULY 14 While Honda's Johnny O'Mara may be a resident of Simi Valley, California, few would hesitate to say he was at home in the 20-lap final at the Miller High Life Super cross in Buffalo's Rich Stadium after watching him lead every millimeter of every lap to pocket the win. O'Mara's teammates, David Bailey and Ron Lechioen, sLTeaked across the finish line within a second of O'Mara to put the finishing touches on a Honda sweep. Yamaha's Ricky Johnson and Suzuki's Mark Barnett rounded out the top five. As O'Mara went about his business of putting his fifth Supercross win of the year in the record books, Bailey waited - less' than a bikelength behind - for a bobble by O'Mara that never came on a LTack where passing was, at best, difficult. Many riders had harsh words for the layout. "It's one of the worst tracks I've ever seen," said Honda's Bob Hannah, who finished 11th. "It's simply not technical enough - it was a one-line pit." Nevertheless, points were awarded and it's still O'Mara far and away on top of the heap in the Wrangler Supercross Series chase. O'Mara pulled to a 54-point lead over Kawasaki's Jeff Ward, who finished seventh, 44~ to ~89. Johnson at ~80 and Bailey one mark back at ~79 follow with four rounds left. The first Supercross in Rich Stadium (the home of the Buffalo Bills football team) and the first in Buffalo attracted over 22,400 spectators, according to the promoter. Heats Lechien and Hannah cruised away from Team Tamm's A.J. Whiting as the first heat of the evening was unleashed, while O'Mara unloaded and began to play catch-up. After the first three of six laps Lechien, too, found himself pn the ground, but he remounted soon enough to keep his lead over Hannah. O'Mara was back with a bang for a dose third. Hannah hounded Lechien and finally broke around on lap four and pressed on to win. Lechien and O'Mara came through a second later over Suzuki's George Holland, Whiting and Floridian Kevin Foley in what would tum out to be the slowest heat of the night. Kawasaki's Billy Liles Led Yamaha's Broc Glover through the first two Laps in the next heat, with Keith Bowen aild Ward in dose company for third and fourth. Glover unloaded on lap three, then Ward picked up the pace and passed Bowen and then leade.r Liles on the last lap to net the win. Liles took a secure second over Bowen, Suzuki's Scott Burnworth, Yamaha Support rider Kenny Keylon and Glover. Johnson and Barnett engaged in a fierce battle all the way in the next heat, with Johnson leading through lap three and Barnett finally wedging past on lap four-after many thwarted attempts-in a sweeper heading onto the lengthy starting grid straightaway. The pair went wheel-to-wheel right to the finish, often knocking together in the corners, with Barnett a happy winner by the slimmest of margins. Goat Breker held on for third over Suzuki Canada's Ross Pederson and Yamaha Support rider Jim Holley. "Johnson had a few bad Lines and I took advantage of that," said BarnetL "But it's difficult to pass in most places." At five minutes, 19.32 seconds, it was the fastest heat of the evening, with lap times in rhe 52 second range. The final heat was Bailey's all the way, and with no traffic in his path for most of the way he also set a quick time - less than a half second behind Barnett's time. Kent Howerton stayed close for a few laps and finished a distant second, with Alan King and Yamaha Support rider Rodney Smith challenging Howerton for several laps but finishing third and fourth, respectively. Quarter-finals Camas, Washington's Eric Hall and his Beaverton Honda were the class act of the first quarter-final, as Hall edged away from Hondamounted Carlo Coen and Yamaha rider Steve Johnson in sure-footed style. Hall scored the win over Coen, Johnson and Sam Dell Kawasaki-supported Tom Rice. Another Washington rider, Orange C.ounty Cycle-backed Jim Anderson, ran away in a march to the checkered flag over Yamaha-supported Pete Snorteland and Dan Bolle Racing's Ed Arnet. Suzuki's Rick Ryan placed fourth over Honda rider Don Turk. Semis Ward and Hannah broke cleanly away from the pack in semi one as Lechien, Glover and O'Mara mixed it up behind. Hannah crashed halfway into lap two and got back oil board in 10th as Ward proceeded to add to his leading margin. Glover, in a heated debate with Lechien through the first four laps, finally settled the argument on lap . five and held to finish second behind Ward by nearly five seconds. Lechien, O'Mara and Liles nabbed the next thtee spots with Whiting and Husqvarna's Micky Dymond, on a prototype single-shock 25OCR, taking sixth and seventh. Holland and Hannah grabbed the last two transfer spots to the final. As he had done in his heat, Bailey was in com plete conLTol ofthe second semi and pulled free of Pederson, King and Smith with apparent ease. Breker was .left sitting only a few . yards off ~he start line after his rear brake rod came apart, jamming the wheel to an abrupt halt, and he was out for the night. Barnett was suffering from early lap LTaffic and found himself at the rear of the pack. Bailey cruised on ahead of Pederson, with Rick Johnson up to third by lap five after starting eighth. Barnett hustled through the pack after going down once more, and finally passed Anderson on the last lap to pull into eighth. Bailey easily won over Pederson, Johnson, King, HolLey, Howerton and Dan Bolle Racing's Erik Kehoe. Barnett held eighth over Anderson. "With the track like it is," said Bailey, "the guy out front has a definite advantage. It's nearly impossible to pass and everybody seems to get held up. I've been getting good starts so it hasn't been a problem for me as much." .Last Chance Qualifier Rodney Smith handily won the LCQ, while a lot of bar-banging went on behind him. Burnworth, while he finished second and locked up the last LTansfer to the final, was forced to fend off Northgate Honda's Tom Carson early on after the two tangled. Ryan, who said he "crashed in the middle of all of the traffic," finished 10th and "wasn't able to make up the ground." Bowen was in the same situation and finished ninth, seven spots too far back to make the final.

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