Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~~ " ~ l.!") 00 OJ ~ OJ C'I >- C\l ~ Earl Roloff (13) leads Kenny Kopecky (11) through a tum at Willow Springs. Roloff be at Kopecky in Open StJ?ck and M od Prod cl asses . .- mer (Yam) was a close second, and Jack Azevedo was third for the day'. Res u lts Laurie Fooks (81) stuffs Scott Conawa"y into the weeds in 250cc Pro action at DeAnza Cycle Park. Fooks went on to takethe overall. , ro u nd two. Fooks started o u t nearl y last as Ryan hung o nto fir st. Fooks qu ickl y moved up th rough th e pack a nd was a ro u nd fifth wh en Ryan went down on lap si x. Fook s co nti n ued hi s cha rge to th e front a nd stuffed Scott Con aw a y (Yam) fo r th e lead on the 12th lap , th en o pened up a com fortable lead a nd easily won. Co nawa y held second a nd was th ird overa ll afte r on ly pl aci ng six th in th e first mot o , fin ishing behind Ryan who nailed the seco nd spot wi th a 1 ~ 6 scor e. Results 80 STK BEG: 1. Kenny Sommer (Kawl; 2. Ja son Kaw ell (Kaw) ; 3 . Todd Smi th IKaw). BO STK NOV; 1. Joel Albrech t IKaw); 2 . Guy Deck ert (Kaw); 3 . Ronn ie Martin (Kaw) . 80STK INT: 1. Damon Brad shaw(Yaml ; 2 . Sloan Cooper (Yam); 3 . Doug Hu ston (Yam) . . BO MOO NOV : 1. Jo el Albrech t (Kaw); 2. Guy Deck ert (Kaw) ; 3 . Jerem y Albrecht (Kaw). BO MOD INT; 1. Sloan Cooper (Vam ); 2 . Dou g Huston (Yam); 3 . Ja son M cFarland (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Pat Str eng (Yam ); 2. St even Charles . (Kaw) ; 3 . Rich ard Workman {Suz ). 125 NOV ; 1. Rob Sassen (Cag); 2. Howard M ann es (Kaw); 3. M ike Durbin (Han). 125 INT: 1. B.J . Mill spaugh (Kaw) ; 2. Ch uck Whitmor e (Su zl; 3. J ohnny Clark (Su z). . 125 PRO: 1. Doug Dubach (Kaw); 2. Ron Turner (Cag); 3 . Kurt Henricksen (Kawl. 250 BEG: 1. M ike Palumbo (Han); 2. John Sin gleary (Vam); 3 . Guy Cortner (Han). 250 NOV : 1. Ron Urman (Yam) ; 2, Ulf Johan sson (Han) ; 3 . M ike Simons (Suz) . 250 INT: 1. Kenny Maddux (Yam ); 2. Stev e Piat toni (han) ; 3 . Tom Thomsen (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Laurie Fooks (Suz); 2. Bone s Ryan (Vam); 3. Scan Conaway (Yam). OPEN BEG: 1. Lucky Hoffman (Han): 2. Tom Madsen (Han) ; 3. Bryan Emmons (Suz) . . OPEN NOV: 1. Eric Barr (Han); 2. Bart Hill (M ai): 3 . Don Abdella (M -S). OPEN INT: 1. Jim Lowe (Mai) ; 2. Alan Coats (Vam). OPEN PRO: 1. Keith Williamson (Vam); 2. Dan Paulason (Han). ' VET NOV : 1. Jack M illero (Han); 2. Wayne O' Bleness (Yem); 3 . Jeff Patterson (Han) . VET INT : 1. Alan Kent (Kaw); 2. Dennis Dickers (SUl) . VET EX: 1. Jon Hall (Kawl; 2. Paul Thede (SUl); 3 . John Whi te (Han). ' OT NOV : 1. William Hopkins IKaw); 2. Ralph Dickson (Yam) . . OT INT: 1. Mike Brooks (Suz); 2 . Dan Sanchez (Vam). . OT EX: 1. Bengt Johansson (Hon); 2. Ron Ryer (Vam): 3. Jim Belt nick (Vam), Martin mauls CocaCola Series finale . By Clark Emery PORTERVILLE. CA. MAY 5 44 Nick Martin took home the 125cc Juniordass overall win today a t th e Coca-Cola-sponsored series final , at Porterville . Spiriners MX Ra.s.eway . . In th e firs t moto, Yamaha rider Curt Snyder had the h ol esh o t, with ' All eri Gilbert second. a nd Martin on his KXI25 a close third. Coming into the first wh oop section. Gilbert mov ed up 10 cha lle n ge Snyder. But Gilbert must have bounced o ne tim e too many. as th e top three rid ers eme rged from the back sectio n o f th e track , it was Sn yder in th e lead, with Martin second, an d Gilbert a close third. On lap two Martin p u t h is Kaw asaki 's sus pe nsio n 10 work o n th e sa me whoop section wh ere G ilbert made hi s a ttem p t to try and pass Sn yder. Mart in 's a ttem pt wa s successfu l, a nd he was soo n long-gone. At th e f in i ~h lin e, it was Martin o u t front , with Snvder seco nd a nd G ilbertr hird. Th e sec~ nd mot a was a lmost a repeat. with th e exception of Ma rt in ge tt ing a lousy start a nd havin g to work up th rough th e pack. O n the fourth lap. Mart in a ga in h ad a co mfo rta ble lead a nd went o n 10 win th e overa ll. Racin g in th e 250cc P ro class was ho t arid heavy as J on Nelso n soon took comma nd. with Yamaha rider Dam on Webb second, an d Pat Sparks third o n hi s H onda CR 250. By th e second lap, smoo th-riding Nelson a lrea d y had a convi ncin g lead, leavin g ' Webb and Sparks to do battle a m o ng th em selves. T h ro ugh th e rough stu ff, Webb wo u ld pull aw a y, but o n ly 10 have Sparks ca tch up on the faster secti ons o f the track. On th e white flag lap, Sparks tri ed to p u ll up alongside of Webb, but a lapped rider gave Webb th e interf eren ce he needed and was gone. Wh en th e chec kered flag fell , it was Nel son in front, with Webb second and Sparks third. T here was a first-turn pileup at the start of the second 250cc Pro bash, with Nelson breaking loose an d Webb again in second, with Sparks third. On the second lap. Nelson got out of . sh ape in th e wh oops, nearl y going down which gave Webb time to ca tch up. At this point. Nelson picked up his pace, trying to lose Webb , but it didn 't work. The rest o f the race was a follow-the-leader situa tion, with Nel-; son going on to tak e th e overall, Webb second , an d Sparks again in third. In th e 250cc Intermed iat e cla ss. T eam Paso Robl es rider Mat Branch took th e over a ll win, putting two impressive rides 'together. Mit ch Far- BO NOV; 1. Chris Kawasaki (Kaw); 2. Allen Clinton (Kaw); 3 . Rafe Barrier (Hon). BO INT: 1. John Culwell (Kaw). BO EX; 1. Mike Bitner (Yam). , 125 NOV: 1. Steve Br iscoe (Kaw); 2. David Haley IKaw); 3 . Cli ffo rd Wright (Kawl. 125 J R: 1. Nick Martin (Kaw) ; 2 . Curt Snyder (Vam); 3 . Alan Gilbert (Kaw) . 125 INT: 1. Mike Bitn er (Yam); 2 . Brett J anzen (Kaw) . 125 PRO: 1. Steve Lucente (Kaw); 2 . Kevin Fiel d (Kaw). 250 NOV; 1. Robert Lee Chew (Vam);2. Ray Chia rati Jr . (Han); 3 . Jim Spacke (Han) . 250JR; 1. Ritchie Haseld on(Sul); 2. Doug Hulsey (Han); 3 . Don Campbell (Kaw). . 250 INT: 1. Mat Branch (Yam); 2. Mitch Farm er (Vam); 3. Jack Alavado (Han). 25 0 PRO; 1. Jon Nelson (Han) ; 2. Dam on Webb (Vaml; 3 . Pat Sparks (Han). 500 NOV: 1. James Culver (Han); 2. Quinton _ Hawkins (Mail. • 500 J R: 1. Ryan Menke (Han) ; 2. Doug Hulsey (Han); 3. Robert Drewery (Mail. 500 INT : 1. Ja ck Azevedo (Ho n); 2 . Ryan Beeir (Han). , 500 PRO: 1. Tim Dias(Hon); 2. Dave Hosaka (Han). OTHG • . NOV: 1. Roger Menke (Kew); 2. Keith Westmorland (Hon) ; 3. Larry Harstand (Hon) . AM : 1. Chuck Holmes (Vam); 2. Claude Wright (Hu s). INT: 1. Ron Clawson (Yeml ; 2. Oscar Sheets (Han); 3. Bill Ol iver (Vam). EX: 1. Carl Nelson (Vam); 2. Sam Holl a nd (Han); 3 . Gary Jones (Hus) . . Roloff rolls at Willow By Lori Tyson . ROSAMOND , CA, MAY 5 Seaweed Kawasaki 's Ea rl Roloff bea t Kenny Kopeck y in the Open Stock Producti on and th e Open Modified Producti on a t th e Am er ican Road Racin g Associa tio n 's Willow Springs meet - but n ot by much , in a day beset with o ver 20 cras he s an d man y in juries. The races were sh ort en ed six laps each because of delays caused wh en th e a m bu la nces had to leave th e tra ck. In Modified Production Kopecky . led off the sta rt , with Roloff sha dowing him . Curtis Adams followed . leading a freight train battling for th ird . Kopecky continued in the lead, Roloff unable to get by. Until the last lap, whenRoloff managed to outbrake Kopecky into turn one to take the lead . Roloff held on to take th e win. Kopecky still on his tail. The Open Stock Production race showed Roloff leading from the start, but unable to shake off th e det ermined Kopecky. At th e end Roloff had a slig h t lead , Kopecky settling for second aga in . Nigel G ale took one more victory o n his FJ600. adding the 600cc Superstreet trophy to his collectio n. But he had 10 fight Tony Math ews first, fina ll y sha king him o ff on the last lap. Mathews went on 10 do battle with David Morris befor e endin g up with second, • Gale took h is o ther FJ600 out in 600cc Modified Production. and after . a heck of a race, managed to steal the win from ch arging Steve Cardillo. Roloff took his new toy , a brand new Baby Ninj a (600R), out in the Mod Prod. his first ride on th e new machine. Roloff finished a decent third. (When asked if the bike was stable in the turns, Roloff replied, "Hey, you just don't roll-off the ga s in the turns,") The 450cc Stock Production race was a battle of attrition. Bill DeBere -led the first part of the race, which was red-fl agged on th e third lap when three riders crashed in turn nine. On the restart, J am es Leo led Don Warren, DeBere a nd Mar cello Guidice until th e next lap. wh en DeBere tried a daring pass in uphill turn three. It didn 't quite ·w ork. Both DeBere and Jeff Brown crashed .- That left Guidice to inh erit th e top spot, foll owed by Warren. The order was unchanged a t the end. , ' In 750cc Stoc k Producti on Steve Cardill o led th e pack flag- to-flag, but seco nd place was hard-fought among Sco tt J ohnson an d Ch ri s Cro well, on the ir new FZ750s, Chr is McN ellis a nd J ohn H arte. After a hard race , Crowell ended up with th e secondpl ace troph y. :Joh nson lost a bolt from his brak e ca liper. leaving his brak es just hanging o ff th e bike. " I d idn 't kn ow wh at happened wh en th e bolt flew o ff and hi t me in the facesh ield ," said Crow ell. R ye H efley a nd Bob Cobb put on o ne o f th e best sh ows of th e day in th e Formula Three (125cc GP ) race. It was a pass-repass mat ch th e entire six laps. some o f th e passes a tad clos e. In th e last lap, Hefley found his opportunity to sna tch th e lead .. " I sneezed a nd m issed a shift." said a dej ected Cobb. That wa s just the break Hefley needed, a nd he went on to tak e th e clos e win .. John Thornton was ecsta tic after ~inning th e 450cc Superstreet event. In a class that is becoming one of the best to watch, Thornton took the victory by a two-second margin over Charles Morton a nd Matt H all. Missing from the fra cus wa s tough competitor Frank Callin icos, whose bike seized in practice. After winning the 450cc Modi fied Production, Alex White fini shed fourth thi s tim e ar ound. "I wasn 't going to let this one get away from me ," said Johnson emphat ically aft er winning 750cc Modified P roduction . After his problems in th e Stock Production. Johnson wanted th e win badly. He got it, too, taking it by a healthy margin over C rowell a n d Dwight Fuller , who fought race-long. . J eff Stern won the Open Superstreet 'ra ce by a huge distance over

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