Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(advertisement ) Season-opener New San Diego - date All-new track design Supercross blasts San Diego, January 26 T he MI L LE R HIGH L IFE SUPERCROSS KICKOFF cran ks open the 1985 AMA-sanction ed supercross series with th e first race on the INSPORT tour a t San Diego J ack Murphy Stadium on Saturday night, J an uary 261 Back by popular demand, the MILLE R HIG H "LI F E SUPER CROSS is th e first time for San Diego fans to have th e season premier on th eir own turf - th e most exciting ra ce of the year! A new race format, a spectac u lar track design, new bik e models, new numbers, new racers, and new teams will launch th e new 1985INSPORT Supercross Series into ac tio n; and J anuary 26 is yo ur ch ance to see them firs t! Can O 'Mara defend his numberone pl at e in '85? Or will he lose it to Hannah , Bailey, Ward, Barnett .... a full field of p ros are hungry for th e 1985 Su percros s championship tit le. See the su perstars of Teams Yamaha, Honda , Suzuki, Kawasaki , and Tamm; watch the top guns-of team San Di ego - Johnson , Glover, Lechien, and Burnworth - as they go for th e glory at th e MILLER HIGH LIFE S UPERCROSS. New race format The San Diego season-opener marks the beginning of a brand new race format. This year , a more challenging series of races has been designed for the riders; creating mu ch more excitement and acti on for fan s. The two major revisions to the program a re the addition of a 125cc Support class whi ch will be o pen to Pro-Am and Junior Professionals; and the changes in th e 250cc Pro class of dropping the quarter final heat races and modifying the former 20-lap main event to two 10-lap main event.rnotos. In the 250cc Pro class, the 'sa me 60-rider field will co m pe te in four qualifying heats , two semi-fina ls, and a Last Chance Qualifier. Instead of one long 20-lap main , the riders must compete in two final motos of only 10 . laps each . Th e supe rcro ss even t winner and overall rider finishing positions will be determined by fastest times in the main event motos. This change from one 20-lap final to two 1O-lapmain motos will heighten th e exciteme nt for both riders and bench racers ! Each main moto features a full20 -rider lin e-up; en abling specta to rs to cheer for th eir favorite racer o ne ex tra time, or twi ce in th e crucial cash and points-payin g ma in mot os. Riders, o n th e o ther hand, will have to ra ce agai ns t th e " best o f th e best " two times to earn th e cham pagne, g lory, and go ld! In th e I25cc Su p port class, 40 riderswill compete in two six-Iap q ualifying heat ra ces of 20 riders each ; a n d one 10-lap main event fin al of 20 rid ers. The addition of th e I25cc cla ss to the supercross circui t allows Junior an d Pro-Am rid ers th e opportunity to contest stadi u m racing - a cha nce the y have never had before. Th e 125cc-c1ass rid ers will ha ve black number plates with white letters, and th e 250cc-c1ass riders will have white number plates with black letters on their motocross bikes. Rider roster The su percros s season -opene r a t the home of the Chargers, Padres, and Aztecs boast s a sta r-studded rider line-up. The MILLER HIGH LIFE SUPERC ROSS is more than just the first race o f the year. It is th e on ly time when each and every supercrosser has the same opportunity to win. Last year's point standings are history a nd the slate has been wiped clean. There are 100 chances for the checkered flag - 60 in th e 250cc class and 40 in the I25cc class. The legendary Bob " H urr ica ne" Hannah, who is hungrier than ever , is anxious to take th e title on the last year of his contract with Team Honda. Fully-recovered from injuries sustained last season , th e Hurricane is ready to rock San Diego Stadium in what could be hi s last a p pearance th ere before rumored retirement next year. Often compared to Hannah is teammate Ron " T he Machine" Lechien, who will be going a fter his second San Diego victory in front o f his hometown crowd on J anuary 26. Current supercross cha m pion, Johnny O'Mara ; a n d 500cc National MX Ch ampion David Bailey, will be po uring on the power for Team Honda at the season-opener. Team Yam aha 's popular San Diego riders, BrocGloverand 250cc National' MX Champion Rick Johnson, ar e both primed for wins a t the MILLER HIGH LIFE SUPERCROSS. " I look forward to th e San Diego race every year ," exp lains Gl over. " It 's rea lly exciting to rid e in front o f you r hometown; an d I'd like to sta rt the supercross year with a win here." G lover' s biggest com pe tition co mes from hi s own neighborhood - Ri ck J ohnson a nd Ron Lech ien from EI Cajon, and T eam Suzuki 's Scott Burnworth from Jamul - a fearless foursome who ride in th e traditional spirit of team Sa n Diego ! In a d d i t io n to current 125cc National MX Champion J eff Ward, Team Kawasaki has con trac ted multichampion Mark Barnett for th eir team effo r ts; so watc h for " T he Bomber" in green a t San Diego . Other hot co ntende rs for th e win ner 's ci rcle a re Team Suzuki's Ge or ge H olland, . T eam Kawasaki 's Goat Breker , T eam T amm's Alan Kin g; plus favorites like Warren Reid , J im H oll ey, J eff Hi cks, and more -they're all pumped to win ! " "l T ra l e r s b u r ied In awesome trackl Th e M I L L E R HI G H L IF E SU PE R CR OSS co u rse is th e first track to be bu ilt in baseball configura tio n at San Diego J ack Murph y Stadi u m . For th e first time ever , stadiu m o ffic ia ls h a ve a llowe d th e Su pe rcross track to cross over the football field. H ow ever, to p ro tect the h ome of th e Char gers, spec ia l precautions have been tak en to prevent any damage to th e field. A spe cial geo -text ile ma teri a l - resernbling quar ter -in ch fell carpe ti ng - is unrolled and pos itio ned overthe gr ass areas to prevent co ntam ina tio n a nd compaction. Four th ousand sh eets o f pl ywood are laid on top o f th e geotextile material and th en covered with plastic sheeting before 6000 cubic ya rds of dirt a re molded a nd shaped into the man-mad e supercross track. Besid es popular obstacl es like th e infam ous Mill er Mountain and the .SUPERCROSS ~ ~ "/-,'0' ~ ....\ S koal Sandi'S S r. rtfine Phoeni. S tartbt o8 /(e, Burman -Castrol Cur'lfl Toyota Truck Trip/tis M,II., M ou ntai n Finish Line Coc ..CoIa Catapult Whet. house Wll dride KGf Roell efs Radi SSOn Ho tel Hurdles Nlpponden50 Slind Trap Coca-Cola Cat apult, the best factory Pros and p rivateer riders will wrestle wi th three 25-foot sem i tra ilers buried in the dirt! Partiall y co ncea led from sight, th ese eigh t-fo o t-wide tra ilers will be pl aced side- by-side to cr ea te the a weso me 18-Wh eel er Screamer ! T esting t he a bilities of even th e mo st co ura geo us of riders , daredevil s will j u m p like Evel Knievel ove r th is spec tac u la r track obstacle! The rem odeled San Diego Stad iurn features 7000 additional sea ts in th e endzo ne area, which allows gr ea t spectator viewin g from any seat in th e stad iu m. Easy stadium access Stadium Motorsports Corp., producers of the MILLER HIGH LIFE SUPERCROSS, has eased the traffic jam a nd congestion problems for race fans going to San Diego Stadium ! Th ey are working with the City o f San Diego and the California Highway Patrol to have extra offi cers directing traffic in th e stad iu m vicinity on J anuary 26 to help spectators in a nd o u t of the area quickly . They are even lookin g into hiring a Sikor sky Sky Crane Heli copter to patrol th e freeways an d li terally p ick-up a nd remove any veh icle that might be jamming or block in g th e freeway due to acci dents or mech anical problems ! To further ease yo ur ride to th e su percross, th e San Diego Tran si t is opera ting special bu s services to and fro m the stadiu m o n Sat u rday, J an uary 26. T he bu s serv ice locations are (I) Down tow n Sa n Diego , (2) Coll ege Grove Shopp ing Center, (3) Grossmom Sh oppin g Ce nter, a nd (4) E1 Cajon Trans it Center, The far e for race fans is $2.00 o ne wa y, $3.50 round trip ; and must be in exact coin . You can ca tch th is priority lan e sh u ttIe service a n d elimina te driving and parking yourse lf - a great way to go for party gr oups I For th ose wh o want to get to th e su percros s ahead of th e crowd , a free Toyota Ea rly Entry Pass let s you avoid the traffi c and. watch th e Pr os practice before th e race begins. Along with your regular supercross adm ission ticket, a T oyot a Early Entry Pass lets yo u in th e ga te at 4 pm on ra ce da y. Sim p ly stop by any San Diego area Toyota dea ler and get a Toyota (advertisemen t) JACK MU RPHY STADIUII XETV Plateau A M/PM Min i Ma'''e t Mog vl s Yama ha Wrecil'e fl Superticket , which gives yo u five supercross bonus coupons: a free ND Spark Plug ga p gauge o ffer, a $2.00 di scount on a 12-pack of regular or di et Cok e, a $3.00 di scount on a so uvenir jersey, a $1.00 d isco u n t on a souvenir p ro gram, a n entry in the a rn-p rn Min i Market Sweepstakes, and yo u r Toyota Early Entry Pass! Spectator specials Sign-u p at San Diego are a am-pm Min i Markets , T oyota deal ers, or a t the stadiu m on race da y for yo ur cha nce to win a prize in the am-pm Mini Market Sweepstakes! One lu cky race fan will win the gr and prize of a Toyota 4x4 SR5 Xtracab Sport T ruck! But that's not a ll ! You can be one of the many winners to receive a prize. T en , one-year sup plies of music from Wh ereh o use Entertainment, 10, oneyear supplies of Coca-Cola, 10 Nippondenso Spark Plug cap gauges, and o ne- year su bscrip tions to Dirt Bike, Motocross Action, an d MOTOcros s magazines will be given aw ay in th e am- p m Min i Market Sweep stakes. There a re lots o f cha nces to win , so be sure to en ter. Th e Radisson H ot el is the officia l race headquarters for th e MILLER HIGH LIFE SUPERCROSS. Conveniently located at 1433 Camino del Ri o South, th e Rad isson H otel is o fferi ng a special reduced ra te o f $59 fo r single o r double ro o m to su percross fans . Ca1l 6l 9/ 260-0111 to make your reserva tio ns. See the popula r Sue Dela n y o f KGB radio dri ve the Toyota Pace T ruck a t the su percross . . . get free samples o f Skoal Bandi ts a t the ga te before th e race . .. a nd cheer for Banz ai, th e world's greatest motomutt, during intermissio n! P lan to be a t San Di eg o J a ck Murphy Stad iu m on Sat u rday ni ght, J anu ar y 26 for the sp ec tac u l a r MILLER HIGH LIFE S UP ER CROSSI Tickets ar e ava ilable at all T eleseat locations, Super Sh ops, an d Ticket ron ; a nd are priced a t $6, $10, $12, $15 an d $18 - ch ildren 10 and under a re h alf-price. You ca n a lso purch ase tickets by calling th e charge line at619/283-SEAT. Bring the entire family for th is one -n igh t-on ly seaso nopener ! T oyot a Early ' Entry ga tes o pen a t 4 pm; regu lar gates ope n at 6 p m; and raci ng sta rts a t 8 pm. 5

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