Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Scooter Stafford won the Open Pro class on a Honda and then topped the 250cc Pros on a Suzuki. 1985 Grand National Chamllionshill Stafford and Matiasevich lead the pack in Texas By Paul Carruthers LA KE WH ITNEY, T X, MAR. 9- 10 T he sleepy little town of Whi tney, T exas awoke last weekend to fi nd its pop ula tion nearly doubled by 1010 m otocross 'riders invadin g th e L ake W h i tney Cycle R anch fo r th e '198 5 Grand Natio nal C hampionships, The resulting racing proved that Da yton a Bea ch wasn't the only place to be in early March . Riders representing 21 sta tes co mpe ted in 22 different classes over the wee ken d , but none were more suecessfu l than Louisiana 's Scooter Stafford and California's Jeff Mati asevich . Staffo rd used th ree different bra nd s o f m o tor cycles ove r th e weekend a nd left th e Lo ne Star State with a win in th e 250cc Expert class a nd a second in th e Open Expert. Matia sevich fo und th e Texas su ns h ine to hi s liking a nd ca me away with three wins a nd a s~con d p lace in th e Int ermedia te DiviSIO n . 250cc Expert 36 In mos t of th e class es, a sta rting gate the size o f a city bl ock wou ld h ave been needed to accommodate the n u mero us en tries, so two motos were h eld o n Satu rda y with a fina l moto on Sundav. Such wa s th e case in the 250cc Ex pert, In Satu rday 's openi ng moto, Kawasa ki-mo u nted Ca rroll R ich a rd so n ca pt ured the h ol esh ot while Stafford co m p leted the first lap in seco nd p lace. Stafford's Suzuki wa s followed by Yama ha p ilot s Jeff Schumach er a nd Kirt Spe ncer with Bill y Whi tley trailing in fift h . T he top five positions didn't a lter until la p seven when Stafford powered h is Suzu ki past Richardso n a nd into th e lead. T he Baton Ro uge resi de nt h eld o n to tak e th e win with Richa rdso n , Spen cer, Schumacher an d Whitley fo llow in g . Kaw asa ki-m ounted Tom my Watts a nd Yamaha rid er J erry Su rber pu t togethe r o ne of Sa turday's best races in the seco nd 250cc moto , Surber took the early lead, bu t Wa tts was n' t givi ng in easi ly an d st uck clos e u ntil th e last lap. Watts th en forged ah ead rau rounded out th e top three. Irvin g , T exas, resident Dennis Haw thorne set ' o u t to avenge his to take th e win with Surber right behind in second pl ace. Will ia m Sursevent h -p lace finish in Sa turday's first mota as he grabbed th e h ol eshot in Sunday's fin al. Rich ardso n got off seco nd w hi le Stafford found h im self in sixth place at the end o f the first lap. Hawthorne sta rted to pu ll awa y from th e pa ck on la p two with Ri ch ar d son foll o wing in seco nd. Whitl ey moved up to third o n th e seco nd la p whi le Surratt a nd Stafford cl imbed to fo urth a nd fifth . Staffor d sq ueezed by .Wh itley o n la p th ree to move in to fourth but H a wthorne co nt in ued to dominat e o u t front. La p fo ur had Surra tt m oving in to th ird with Stafford p ress ing h im hard . S urra tt got by Ri ch ardson o n th e fifth lap but tha t pass was short li ved as h e d isappeared on the ' next lap. S taffo rd forged into second pace beh in d H awthorn e a t th e finis h wi th Rich ardso n , Wh itley a nd Schumache r ro unding out th e top five. Sta fford's 1-2 tally took the overa ll wit h R ich ardson 's 7· 1 score taki ng second. Open Expert A less-crowded O pen class required on ly two rno tos, one on Saturday an d the seco nd on Su nday, but crowds or not, Ha wthorne once again put hi s Kaw a sak i o u t front. H e didn 't ge t th e hol esh ot but he didn 't was te any tim e in di sposin g of those in fro nt of h im . Watts a nd Spencer were th e firs t victims as H awthorne surged to th e fro nt o n th e o pe n ing lap. This time Stafford was H onda mounted but it d idn 't help h is sta rt as h e ended la p one in six th pl ace. H awthorne sta rted to stretch hi s lead a nd a ll eyes focused on Sta fford 's climb th rou gh th e pac k. Sta ffo rd moved the H onda int o fourth spot on th e th ird lap. but it was to no avai l whe n he fell o n th e back sect io n a nd dropped to seven th. Watts co nt in ued to foll ow H a wthorne whi le Spe nce r, Ya maha -m ount ed J ef£ Sta nton and Kawasak i's Doug Fellers rounded o ut th e top five. Staffor d go t back into th e fray and charged by C lay H oen sh ell to tak e sixth on lap five. H e co n tin ued 10 pick up spots in the closi ng stage s a nd event ua lly ended up fo urth a t the fini sh . No o ne. how ever. co u ld s ta n d in H awth o rn e 's wa v as h e cruised 10 th e first mot o win'. Watts, Spe ncer, Staffo rd a nd Doug Fell ers filed in aft er Hawthorne. Just as H awth orne had domina ted Satu rda y's race. Sta fford p rov ed to be un stoppabl e on Sunda y. For a wh ile, how ever , it look ed to be a re-run of Saturda v as Haw th orn e sto le th e hol eshot a n d p u lle d a way fro m th e pack. Wa tts h eld on to seco nd with Staffo rd a n d Spence r ho t o n hi s heels. Stafford moved by Watts and set hi s sig h ts on H awthorne d uring lap two as th e du o left th e rest o f th e pack behind. By la p four Stafford was pushing H a wt h orn e hard and o n la p five he went by o n th e o u tside in a right hand sweeper in fro nt o f th e sta rt ing tower. Mea n wh ile, Spen cer had go tten bv Watts to tak e over thi rd but Walt~ co nti n ue d to pressure th e Kawasaki pi lot. Stafford gained a seven -seco nd adva nt ag e after seven la ps wi th H awthorn e a safe seco nd . T h e ba tt le for third co nt in ued with Spencer event ua lly pu lli ng clear o n th e last lap. Wa u s took the chec kered flag for. fourth with Hoen shell a nd Stant on foll owin g in fifth a nd sixth . respectivel y. Haw thorne's 1-2 tall y ea rned him th e overa ll wi th Stafford tak ing seco n d a nd Spencer end ing up th ird. Stafford 's first a nd seco nd in the Open a nd 250cc Expert brough t a sm ile 10 hi s face a nd a n in crease to hi s wall et, but th e I25cc class d idn 't treat him as kindl v. "If I wou ldn' t hav e crash ed in th at first O pen rnot o I might have won them both," Stafford said. " I borrowed th e Open bike (H o nda) , I rode the Suzuki (250cc) beca use they p ay the money an d the Ka wa sa ki (125cc) was just sitting in th e garage, bu t it was too slow . I j us t rode it to mak e so me more money; it's o ne of last year's bi kes." 1 25cc Expert Ka wasaki-mounted Bader Manneh gra bbed th e ho lesh o t in Sat urday's o pe ni ng l 25cc mo ro, b u t T eam G reen's Carroll Richardson and Eddi e Warren co ns tan tly swa p ped positi on s ea rlv. Warren and Rich ar d son both got' by Manneh a nd he su dd en ly dropped o ff th e pace a nd into fifth pl ace. Warren held o n for the win with Richa rdson following in seco nd . Ma n ne h fin ish ed sevent h . T he seco nd m or o o n Satu rday sa w Stafford making h is th ird appea ra nce, but it was n' t a s successfu l as th e p revious two . At the end o f the first lap. Dennis Daft led Ya maha- mounted Bill y Whitley wi th Hawthorne close behi nd. Yamaha 's Eddie H icks found h im self in a n u nfamiliar ni nth pl ace goi ng into the seco nd la p. Four laps lat er, H awthorne moved p ast bo th Whi tley a nd Daft to tak e ove r th e lead . H awth orne increased h is lead a nd went o n to take th e win with Daft ta king seco nd a nd Sur ra tt moving p ast Wh itl ey for third place. Stafford finish ed sixth a nd Hi cks rode in for eigh th. On Sunday th e best 125cc riders from Sa tu rday got togethe r to do ba ttle in o ne mot o a nd wh en it was over Eddie Warren stood -abo ve th e rest. It wa s Richa rdso n , however, wi th th e holesh ot as Manneh and Warren fol low ed closely. Warren wasn ' t hol d. in g back an d he shot by Manneh a nd set h is sig h ts on Richardson. On th e third lap, Wa rren blasted arou nd the o uts ide of Richa rdso n in tu rn one to take th e lead . Manneh was all a lo ne in third but Su rrau ., Whi tley, H icks an d Ya ma h a-m ounted Kit Vick were d ra win g a ttention to th eir race for (Co ntin ued to p_ag~ 38)

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