Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Almost 46,000 spectators filled the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and saw Barnett (9) use consistent 2-2 scores to nail the overall. seco n d-p lace LaPorte. On the fin al circui t, Ward jumped past LaPorte and held secon d to th e finish for th e las t transfer spo t, Finals A red and white-clad L ech ien strea ked to th e front o f th e 20· rider pack as th e firs t moto got underway, a posit ion he would hold for all 12 laps. " I got off clea n o n th e sta rt a n d was o ff a nd running," sa id Lechien . " I tr ied to put on a real good pace that nobody else could mat ch, an d it worked out fin e. I felt rea l com fort a. ble o u t there." O 'M ara , Ba il ey, Barnett , Ward , Kin g a n d Johnson formed a looselykni t pa ck losin g to uc h wi th Lechien in the ea rly laps, whil e Bo wen , H icks a nd Keylo n regained th eir compo" sure after tast ing th e turf in a firs tcorner mishap. Into la p th ree, O 'M ara look a tri p ov er th e ha ybales co ming off a double jump and dropped well back in th e pack. Bailey, with Barn ett for company, ass u med a distant second beh ind Lechien . Sh ad o wing Bailey on lap nine, Barnett ca ugh t an ins ide line through a sweeper and pulled a head, wh ile Ward h ad m ad e up , th e deficit a nd join ed th e Barnett/Bailey feu d . Bar nett h eld fast in hi s lin es th rough t he la s I th ree laps 10 follo w wi n ne r Lechien across th e fin ish lin e - three seconds la ter. Bailey, Ward, O 'M ara , Hannah , Burn worth, Kin g , J ohnson and Gl over ro unde d o u t th e top 10. "It took me a co u p le of races to get used 10 th e new Honda wo rk s bik es," said Lechien , " bu t now I can use all of th e p ower a nd cu t so me fast times." " Bailey made a little mistake an d I managed to get past h im," sai d Bar-' net t. " After I go t arou n d, he didn 't give m e m uc h of a fight. It was easy to hold on from the re on." " i' m back where I sh ou ld be run ning - tow ard the front ," said Bailey. " My preparation over th e past few weeks seem s to be p aying o ff, and it mak es me feel better a bo u t th e rest . of the season.'.'. Lech ien again tore o ff with th e lead in rnoto two , but Gl over - thi s time with a top flight sta rt - was in the th ick of th e chase, alo ng with Barn ett a n d Burn worth . W a r d , O'Mara , J ohnson an d Kirig follow ed th e front fo u r. Thin gs near the front sta yed th e same until lap five, wh en Gl over pulled off a clea n pass o n Lechien j us t before setting for a ju m p, but wa s unable to crea te a ny sort of cush io n. On lap eight, Lechien got out o f sha pe in a st retch . o f whoops a nd bo unded off the trac k, taking a length of ba n ners 10 th e grou nd with h im . In th e few secon ds it too k Lechien 10 get back in the cha se, Barnett , with teammat e Ward in tow , ro m ped p ast into seco n d a nd th ird, respectively. Glover held for an "easy" win , while Barnett led Ward across th e lin e by mer e inc hes 10 lock up th e ov erall wi n . L echi en , Burnworth , Bailey, Johnson a nd O 'M ar a foll ow ed th em home. Ba rn ett , w inn er o f the Atl anta Superc ro ss in 1981 a nd 1983, was kept pl enty bu sy with in terviews a nd sig ing a u tographs in an d arou n d wi n ner's circl e. " I so rt of kn ew if I fin ish ed seco n d in th at las t moto I wou ld be th e overa ll winner," sai d Barnett . " I got a li ttl e too ten se an d Wardy an d th e o ther guys a lmos t ca ugh t me. I shou ld 've just n ot worried a bo u t th em a nd just tried to ca tch G lover. This rea lly break s th e ice for mel" " I had to show every body I co u ld still ride in th at seco nd m o to," said G lover. " I ha d bad starts m os t of th e ni gh t, and mad e a few mis ta kes in th e first moto, I felt I co u ld 've don e p retty we ll in that one if I hadn 't gotten out of sha p e on ce in th e whoops." 125cc Pro-Am Georgia n Keith T urpi n, on h is h om e turf, sq uea ked to the win in the first o f two 125cc P ro- Am h eat s over Kawasak i p ilo t Edd ie Warren a nd Su zuki's Mik e H eal ey, wh ile Ma rk C rozier too k fourt h over C ar roll R ichardson. Kawasak i pi lot Denn is Da ft ra n away from th e rest o f th e field in th e la st h ea t , w h ile Ta ylo r Ma rcell p assed Larry Bro oks on th e fourt h lap and went on to pl ace seco nd . Todd H arrell, G erald Wood an d Bart Sh iflett rounded out th e top five ahead of Brook s. In th e fin al , War ren , hook ed up and left th e pack immed iat ely, a nd a fter th e fir st lap enjoyed a threesecond cus hion . Daft , Brook s and Turpin kept tabs o n eac h o ther while Warren ran away . Warren sailed to th e win in a nofrills m anner , wh ile Brook s got awa y from Daft to finish a distant secon d. Mik e J ones an d H ealey tra iled for fourth an d fifth , respectivel y. For Warren , hi s first ride in th e ser ies couldn ' t have been ni cer. " I' ve only been a ble to race tw ice in th e las t four m onths," sa id Kawasak i rid er Warren . "The snow is real deep bac k home in Mic higan, so it 's h ard 10 train, but I did spe nd th e last few weeks in Fl orid a. Th in gs a re loo king up - th is sur e feels great! " . • Results 250cc: 1. Ma rk Barn ett (Kaw) 2 -2 ; 2 . Ron Lech ie n (Hon) 1-4 ; 3. Je ff Ward (Kaw) 4 ·3 ; 4 . Sroc Glov er (Vam) 10 - 1; 5 . Dav id Bail ey (Hon) 3 -6 ; 6. Scon Burnworth {Su z) 7 -5 ; 7 . J ohnny O'Mara (HonI S-a; 8 . Bob Hannah (Han) 6 ·9; 9 . Rick J oh nson (Yam ) 9 ·7 ; 10. A lan King (Kaw) S-10; 11. A.J . Wh it in g (SUl) 11 · 11; 1 2. J im Holl ey (Vam ) 12 - t 2; 13 , Dan ny St orb eck (Vam ) 15 - 14 ; 14 . J o Jo Kell er (Hon ) 13 - 16 ; Team Tamm's Alan King (10) is still having troubles adapting to Kawasakis. David Bailey (1) won his heat race and went 3-6 in the finals for fifth. (Above) Rick Johnson didn't have a good night - his 7-9 finishes netted him ninth overall . (Below) After the Seattle Supercross, Barnett said he would start winning. (Above) Eddie Warren made his first appearance in the 125cc ProAm class and won. (Below) Suzuki's Scott Burnworth (39) and Ward dice. 15 . Kenny Keylon (Vam)16·15; 16 , Jeff Hicks (Hon) lS·13; 17 , Erik Kehoe (SUl ) 14 -19; IS. Tom Rica (I

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