Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) With temperatures nearing 100 degrees, Broe Glover and David Bailey dice in the 500s. (Below) 125cc class winner, Ron lechien. O'Mara won the first 250cc moto, took third the second time out and captured second overall. He 's third in points, four behind Johnson . a ct ion short ly into moto two. " A lot of th e riders ove rshot th e firs t co rner," sa id Lech ien , " an d 1 stuck to th e inside and was leading fro m th at p oint o n . " Ba rn ell foll o w ed in second ahead of Warren , H olla n d . R yan an d Bo wen . By th e end o f lap five, Bo wen was kn ockin g o n th e rea r fen der o f th irdpla ce Warren, th en motored aroun d . " I was n ' t rea lly too worried a bo u t Keith pa ssing m e," sa id Warren . " I was p aci n g m yself a nd just looki n g fo r a good fin ish. 1was ha p p y to be in fo u rt h ." Winner Le ch ien ma intained a sixto seve n -se co n d a d va n ta g e ove r second-p lace finish er Barnell n earl y a ll th e wa y. with Bowen , Warr en . Holland a n d Ryan co m ing in for third th rough si xth - th e sa me spo ts th ey held from lap six o n . H onda Support rider Guy Coo pe r, Bei er, Su zuk i rid er C la y H o en sh ell a n d Suzuki 's A.J . Whiting rou nde d o ut th e to p 10. " Ba rn ell picked u p th e pace a bou t four la ps fro m the end ," sa id Lechien , " bu t 1 a lso p ick ed i t u p a n d kept m y di stance. I'm p re tty ha p p y to have th e po int lead back." ' 'I'm pl eased wi th m y ri de, " sa id Ba rnell , who m issed th e Mt . Morris race du e to a knee inj ury . " I wo re a knee brace to kee p m y left knee fro m o vere xtendi ng, a n d d idn 't ha ve a n y problems ." 250ee As the gate fell for the first mo to, the pac k thun de red o rr w it h ou t defendi ng cha m p ion Ri ck Jo hnso n .. " T he mo to r wou ldn 't start up ," said Jo hnson . " a nd .we think it was a pro blem wi th the lo wer uni t in the ignit io n . It was just a frea k thing th at happened once to Keith Bowen. Wh en that happen s, yo u ca n 't kick start i t but you ca n bump start. " Wi th th e a id of tuner C liff Let t, th e bi ke wa s p u lled a way fro m th e line a nd pushed u ntil it fir ed . By th a t time, lea der Joh n ny O 'M a ra a nd th e rest o f th e p ac k h ad a lread y exi ted the fir st co rner; J ohnson entered the co u rse i n la st. . O 'M ara co o ked to a four-second margin over Suzu ki 's SCOtl Burnworth, Yamaha Support rider Danny Sto rbeck , j eff Ward a nd Bob H annah th rough th e fir st th ree laps. " J o h n n y wa s a ble to cruise th e first six o r seve n laps by h imself ," said Ward. "a nd 1 had to rea lly work to ge t arou nd Burnworth a nd Sto rbec k a nd into seco nd . 1 was havin g p roblems w ith dust; it j u st seemed to hang th ere." As th e ra ce en te re d la p eight, O 'M ara had a th ree-second edge o n Wa rd , .w hile H annah was a stro ng third over Burn wo rth , Myer scough Racing 's Bria n Myerscough , Kawasa ki's G oat Breker a nd Sto rbeck . By lap II , J ohnson 's charge th rough th e p ack h ad carri ed h im a ll the wa y into sixth behi nd Myerscough. During th e fin al two o f th e 16la p s. J ohnson wedged his wa y pa st Myersco ugh . a nd a t th e fin ish th e order was O 'Mara, Ward, Han nah , Burn wo rt h , J ohnson . Myerscoug h , Breker , Storbeck , H a nnah Ra ci n g P roducts ' j eff H ick s a n d Yama ha Support rider J im H olley. J o hnson bro ke a way clean in the seco nd moto, but a half lap la ter fo u nd h imself o n th e grou nd. "The back end washed o u t, " said Jo h nson . " a n d 1 we nt down . We used · the wron g rear ti re ; i t was ha rd to pick th e right one sin ce th e tr ack was rea l hard in p la ces whi le it was ver y soft in o thers. " The lead fell int o th e lap of Storbeck, bu t o n ly for a half lap: firs t Ha n na h . th en Ward. stormed pa st, and Storbeck " 'a s t h ir d a head of Burnworth. Myersco ug h , O 'M ara an d Husky 's Mi ck y Dym ond. J ohnson fell back to mid-p ack . On la p th ree, Burnwort h cra shed a nd reti red for th e da v. "He had th e wind kn ocked out o f him ." said team manager Pat Alexander. "He wasn 't injured i n the fa ll." Tha t mad e the o rder H annah . W a rd . S to r be c k , O 'M ar a a n d M yer scoug h , th en O'Mara p u lled up behind Storbeck on lap five and went arou nd into third. T he to p four remai ned co ns ta nt th rough la p 12. with Ward keeping a three- to four-second di stance behind H an nah . " I d idn ' t rea lly try to catch Hannah in th e early la ps," sa id Ward, " bu t j u st rode a t a pace 1kn ew 1co u ld _ho ld a ll the wa y. H e rode o u t h ard in the fir st la p s. a n d 1 though t h e m ight . wear do w n - an d he did a Ii u le bi t. 1 closed in (o n la p 13 ) a nd h e fel l. 1 passed hi m , an d 1 kn ew th at in this heat whe n a g uy fa lls. that 's it." Ward pressed o n fo r the win over Hannah , wh ile O ' Mara stole th ird. J o hnson ma ne uvered h is way into fo urth in th e fi nal laps and fi nished the re a h ead o f Dym ond, Storbeck , Hicks an d H o lle y. "Th is was much hotter th an the Las Vegas race. " sa id Ward. " T he re was no a ir do wn in th e trees. St ill, I' m h appy and feel rea ll y co n fide nt wit h m y po int lead ." " I got a good feel ing lead ing th e fir st rno to. " sa id O'Ma ra , " an d 1 j ust wa nted to do it aga in in th e seco n d moto but it j us t didn' t work. 1co u ld n ' t • get into th e pace 1 needed. " Res ult s 50 Occ: 1. David Bailey (Hon) ' -1 ; 2 . Broc Gl over (Vom) 2· 2; 3. Eric Eaton (Vam) 3-3; 4. Dan ny laPorte (Hus) 5-4 ; 5. Mark Murphy (Vam) 6-5; 6. BiliV Liles (Kaw) 4·B; 7. Ron Dun fee (Hon) 7 -6 ; B. Todd Harrell (HonI9-7 ; 9. Kevin Foley (VamI8-11 ; 10. David McLean (Honl 14·9; 11. Mike Fisher (Hon) 12· 12; 12. John Coll ins (Han) 15-10; 13. Gene Gentsch (Hon) 16-13; 14 . Greg Zinerkopf (Han) 10-DNF; 15. Phil Larson (Kaw) 11-DNF; 16. David McCla in (Varni 13 ·DNS ; 17. Tim Dohm (Vam) 21-14. 18. Terry Hobbs (Han) DNS·15; 19. Jon Ortner (VamI 2D-16; 20 . Shannon Ivev (Hon) 24 ·17. 126cc: 1. Ron Lech ian (Hon) ' - ' ; 2. Mark Barnett (Kaw) 2-2 ; 3. George Holland (Suz) 4-5; 4. Eddie Warren (Kaw) 7·4; 5. Rick Rvan (Kaw) 5· 6; 6. M ike Beier (Kaw ) 6-8; 7. A.J. Whiting (SuzI 8· 10; 8. Guy Cooper (Honl 14 ·7 ; 9. Clav Hoens hell (Suz) 12-9; 10. 80bbV Moore (Suzl 9-12; 11. Keith Bowen (Vom) DNF·3 ; 12. Erik Kehoe (Suz) 3-DNS; 13. Jeff Frisz (Hon) 10-13; 14. Mark Mclaren (Ka w) 11 -8 ; 15 . Keith Turp in (Hon) ONS - 11 ; 16 . Brian McElroy (Varni 18 -14; 17. M ike Healey (Suzl 13- 2 1; . 18. Ter ry Tin ney ISuz) DNF-15 ; 19. Carlo Coen (Hon) 20 -16 ; 20 . Fred Andrew s (Han) 15-DNF. 25Occ; 1. JeH W.rd (Kaw) 2-1; 2. J ohnnv O'Mara (Honl 1-3; 3. Bob Hannah (Hon) 3·2; 4. Rick Johnson (Varni 5-4; 5. Dannv Storbeck (Vam) 8·6 ; 6. J eff Hicks (HonI 9·7; 7. Brian M verscough (Suz)6- 10; 8. Ji m Hollev (Varni 10·8; 9. Jeff Schumacher (Yom) 11· 11; 10 . Scon Burn w orth (Suz)4- DNF; 11. M ickV Dymo nd (Husl DNF-5; 12. M ickeVKessler (Han) 13· 13; 13 . Steve Burdette (Yam) 12· 16; 14 . Go. t Braker IKawI 7-2 5; 15. Alley Semar (YamI 20- 9; 16. Joh n Shav (Vam) 15- 14; 17. Scooter Stafford (Vam) DNF-12; 18. Steve Hendr icks (Vam) 18·17; 19. Tom Carson (Han) 14- DNF; 20 . Gary DePilio (Vam) DNS- 15. 500cc POINT STANDINGS; 1. Brae Glover (229); 2. David BaIley (2 19); 3. Er ic Eaton (128 1 4. BiliV : LilesI105); 5. Kevin FoleYl l 02); 6. J o J o Kelle r 199); 7. David Mc Lean (94); 8. (TIE)Danny LoPorte l Mark Mur phv (921; 10 . Scan Man ning (891. 125cc POINT STANDINGS; 1. Ron Lechien (2 17); 2. Er ik Kehoe (194); 3. George Holl and (1 64); 4 . Eddie Warren (126); 5. Koith Bow en (124); 6. Mark Barn en (122); 7. Rick Ryan (1 19); 8. mEl M ike Beier l Guy Cooper (116 ); 10. A.J . Whiting (1 101 . 250cc POINT STANDINGS; 1. Je ff Ward (236); 2. Rick J ohnson (20 9); 3. Johnny O'Mara (205); 4 . Bob Hannah (186); 5. Scott Bur nwo rth 11 47); 6. J im Honey (131 ); 7. J eff Hicks (1271 8. Brian M vers· ; cough 11 12); 9. Ross Pederson (82 1 10. Dan nv ; Storb eck (81) . 9

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