Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ I" • r Brian Myerscough (9 9 ) chases Jeff Hicks on the way to becoming t op 250cc privateer of the year by beating Jim Holley by two points. brok en fin ger ,' Storbeck fell back to th ird after being passed by O ' Mara, wh o lost a lot of grou nd to lead er Ward . T he n ext few la ps saw th e to p four riders fairly sp read o ut, but a battle for fifth was in top gea r between Myersco u gh , H o ll ey a nd Ba il ey. Myerscough was a head of H olley by one po int in the sta ndi ngs as top privateer, and th e two were ba ngi ng ba rs o n th e tra ck, wh ile Ba iley was h eavil y pressurin g Holley. H o lley snuck by Myerscough a fter a few laps, but Myerscough reta liated two laps la ter when Holley got stuc k in a deep rut. H owever, a la p lat er, Ba iley blew by th em both a n d too k co nt ro l o f fifth , then passed Storbeck, who wa s beginning to fad e. Eventua ll y, Myerscough an d Holley slip pe d by Storbeck . At th e fin ish it was War d by five seco nds over O 'M ar a , th en a lon g ways back fol lo we d H an n ah . the n Ba il ey, Myerscough . H oll ey a nd Storbeck. Lechi en had the ho lesh or a t the sta rt of th e seco nd mota, bu t priva teer Bruce Barn es (H a n) had th e lead en ter ing th e seco nd turn . However, it wa s a short -lived lead as Lech ien blew by Ba rn es a few turns later. Lechi en develo ped a five-second lead during th e first lap over Ward , wh o was foll ow ed by Storbeck. Ho lley, O 'Mar a , Je ff Hicks. and Myerscough . Hannah was in the back o f th e pack as were Bail ey a nd Broker . • Po sit ions rema ine d th e same for the next co u p le o f laps, a nd all Ward had to do was fin ish inside th e to p 20. Kno win g th is, Ward wa s co n te n t wh ere he was and didn 't try to ca tch Lechi en . " I th ought about ca tch ing Lechien ," sai d Ward , " bu t I didn 't have to , a nd th e du st was really bad. Then I started making mi stak es , so I took it eas v." Back in 'seven th was Myerscough , and in fourth was H oll ey; Myer scough kn ew he h ad to a t least pa ss H icks (fourt h ) to m a inta in a tie as top p rivateer in th e ' sta nd in gs. So Myerscough ree led in Hi cks a n d passed him on th e ninth lap," On ly Sto rbeck stood between th e two, but a lap la ter, H o lley's bik e seized. A lap after th at , Myerscough 's Suzuki seized , th en Storbeck 's Yamaha seized a ll from suc ki ng di rt in to th e' en gi ne . Whi le bike s and riders were dro pping ou t like flies, O 'Mara ca ugh t u p to Wa rd a nd pa ssed him . T h is m ad e the top five Lech ien , O ' Mara, 'Nard , . Hi cks and H usqv a rn a ri der Mick y Dvmon d . 'Nearing the t ' I H ! of the ra ce, Lec hiens huge lead d wi nd led down to on ly a few seco n ds over O ' Mara. On th e last la p , O 'Ma ra follo wed with in inch es o f Lechi en, but O 'M ar a got a li ttl e o u t o f shape two turns before the chec kere d flag a nd lost a litt le time; O 'Ma ra reeled-in Lechi en none. th el ess a nd passed him through a sectio n o f whoops abo ut 50 yards - from th e checkered flag, " I was ga ining on h im in wh oops every laps," said O 'M ara, " I had a good lin e a nd stayed close to th e grou nd, ge tt ing a good drive," Wa rd finished nearl y a-q uarter-ofa -lap back in th ird a nd a head of H icks and Dym ond . " I went in to th e race to wi n, I wasn 't th inkin g abou t th e cham pions hip," said O 'M a ra , " beca use I reall y didn ' t ha ve much o f a ch a n ce. J eff's been riding too good lat el y to crash and finish 20th or so. H is bike wou ld ha ve to seize for m e to have a cha n ce, but that wa s unlikely." 125cc Ka wa saki rider Ricky R yan too k th e holesh ot a t th e sta rt o f th e first 125cc m ot a but was q uickly passed bv Eddi e Warren (Kaw) and Wh iting during th e fi rs t lap. A few seco nds back in fou rt h was Suzu ki's George H olland a nd Kaw asaki rider Bill y Frank.' Warr en 'slead quickl y grew to abo ut 15 bik elen gths over Wh itin g , bu t th e Suzuki rid er CUI that ga p in half o n th e n e~t l ap . A lap la ter, Whitin g was breathing down War ren's back. In th e w hoops, Warren was blocked by a lapped rider " which was all Whiting needed to overtake. From that p o int on, Whi ting wa s unch a llenged , but R ya n started to cha lle nge Warren as Holl and closed in on R yan . R va n slipped by Warren just a fter th e h~lf way ma rk as did Ho lla nd , bu t Kehoe was ga ini ng o n both o f th em. With five laps to go , it was Whiting way ou t in front ( 13 seco nds) ahead o f Rya n , Holland, Warren and Keh oe. Ho lland dov e inside R ya n a lap lat er , wh ile Kehoe did th e sa me . Whiting easi ly took th e win followed by Hoilan d, Kehoe, Ryan , Warren a nd Frank. Mot a two saw Holl and , Frank a nd a co u p le of o the r rid ers go down in the first turn; ro osting away from th e pil ~-u p with. th e lead wa s ag ain R yan , wh ile Whlllng, Warren an d Yam a ha' s Mik e Bei er p urs ued . R yan 's lead o n ly la sted for half- a-lap before Whi ting moved in for the kill. For the next co u p le of laps , thin gs staye d th e same wit h Wh iting co mforta bly' o u t in fro m, fo llo wed by R yan, Warr en , Beier and Keh oe. Keh oe wa s th e o ne to wa tch as he reeled-in a nd passed Beicr.'Rvan drop ped back to fo u rt h posi tio n seven la ps fro m th e fin ish . T his p ut Kehoe in third, on lv a few inches beh in d War ren , wh o ' Kehoe roos ted by IWO la ps lat er. As the rac e nea red th e end . Kehoe was slo wlv gaining on Whitin g an d a t o ne tim~ got to within a wh eel len g th of hi s teammat e. Bu t Kehoe d ro p ped back Local favorite Eric Eaton won the first 500cc moto; took second in round two and went home with his first-ever National w in. off the pace sligh tly, leu in g Whit in g motor ho me with th e wi n . Keh oe fi n ished in seco nd followed by Warren , Beier and Rya n. after Larson , passed him a n d th en set his sig hts on Eaton, With th ree laps to go , Eat on go t ou t o f shape in a deep rutted sect ion, allowing King to get close. If King pa ssed him , Eaton 'wo u ld n ot ge t seco nd overa ll in th e points sta ndings. so Eaton tr ied to keep h is pace. "I kn ew h e was co m ing," said Eat on , ''' but I sta rt ing slowing an d m a kin g a b u nc h o f mi stakes ," Lu ck il v fo r Ea ton . Kin g' s bike sucked u p 'some dirt and started sputtering. wh ich ga ve Eaton a ll h e needed 10 ta ke second in the mot a (a nd second in the fin a l points sta ndi 19 S) to take h is first-ever Na tio na l win. Li les took fourt h for second overa ll. follo wed by L arson , Mik e L ar son a n d Todd Harrell. - 500cc Honda su p port rid er Mike Fish er looked to tak e ea rlv co m m a nd o f th e fi rs t 500cc. moto but ,was p assed by local fa vo rite Ph il La rso n a few tu rn s in to th e race. After Fisher Came Ea ton , Yam ah a ride r Mark Murph y, Honda rider Larr y Dashiell, SCOll Mann in g an ti Li les. Factory -for- a -day rid ers J oJ o Kell er an d Alan Kin g were mid pa ck . For th e n ext four laps, La rson, Fishe r and Eaton wer e involved in a exc it in g baule fo r th e lead , It wasn 't until the fifth lap th a t Fishe r m ad e his m ove an d p assed Larson ; then Eaton went down entering a turn, losing a lot of time to th e two front ru nners . Fish er p ulled aw a y from Larson slightl y, but Ea to n was back on the warpath. H e reeled in an d passed Larson, th en set aft er Fisher. At th is tim e, Liles was pressurin g Murph y for fourth and even tua lly zapped him, wh ile Ma n n in g felt Keller closin g in in seventh. With four laps to go .all eyes focused o n homet own-favorite Eaton. Eat on closed the gap o n Fisher to a couple o f bik elengths, then roosted by. L iles also m ad e a pass, but hi s vict im wa s ~, rso n for third. With two laps to go . Fish er dropped to fourth as Larson moved into third. Eaton to ok th e win follow ed by Lil es, La rson , Fish er , Murphy, Mannin g , King a nd Kell er. Mot o two was do m in at ed by Kel ler after passin g Eaton in th e w hoops on th e third lap. Once into the lead , Kell er was un touch ab le. He ope n ed up h is lead to 12 seco n ds by th e h alfway poi nt o f th e race . Murphy h eld thi rd for th e first two la ps before getIllig pa ssed by Lar son, After fall ing back , Murph y ma de up rhar lost time ' whe n Lar son sta rted fadin g . Murphy p ressu red the Kaw asak i rider before go ing down and dro p pi ng back to sixt h. After a poor start, Kin g was o n th e m ove a n d h ad wo rked hi s wa v into . fifth eig h t laps into th e ra ce.' After passi ng L iles a nd Murph y, Kin g set Resu lts t 125: 1. A.J . Wh il in g (Suz) 1-1 ; 2. Er ik Kehoe (Suz) 3·2 ; 3. Eddie W arren (Kaw) 5-3; 4. Rick Ryan (Kaw ) 4-5 ; 5 . George Holland (Suz) 2 -9 ; 6 . M ike Beier (Vam) 7 -4; 7. G uy Cooper (Hon) 9·7; B. Bill y Frank (Kaw ) 6-12; 9. Edd ie Hicks (Yam l 13 -6; 10. Jim Ande rson (Yam) 11-10; 11. Larry Brooks IHon ) B14; 12. Ray Sommo (KawI 16-B; 13. Tim Buchelli (Vam) 14 - 11; 14. Jeff FrislIHon); 15. Craig Canoy (Kaw) 12·33; 16. Carlo Caen (Hon) 6-13; 17. Denn is OSl r iem lS uz) 17- 17; ia S,acy Cook 19-1 6; 19. Eric Hall (Hon ) 15-DNF; 20 . David Hett inga 35 -1B. 250: 1. Johnny O'Mara (Hon) 2·1 ; 2. Jeff W ard (Kaw ) 1-3; 3. Ron Lechien (Hon) 9-2 ; 4. J eff Hicks (Hon) B-4; 5. M icky Dymond IHus) 11-5; 6. John Shay (Yam) 13 -6; 7. Ter ry Fow ler (Hon) 14·B; B. Bob Hannah IHon) 3 -DNF; 9. D a ~id Bailey IHoI1l 4-DNF; 10 . Da nn y Storbeck (Yam ) 7·0NF; 11. Brian M yerscough (Suz) 5·DNF: 12 . Steve Burdette {Yaml 17- 10; 13. Tony Dubo ski (Hon) 16·11 ; 14 . J im Holley (Vam) 6-DNF; 15 . Loch Names (Hon) DNF-7; 16. Robert Bu rkha rt (Yam) 30 -9; 17. Tom Carson (Hon) 19· 12; ia. Goa' Breker (Kaw) 10 -30; 19. William M usgrave 20 -13; 20 . Gary Kuest (Vam) l B-1 5. 500: 1. Eric Eato n (Yam ) 1-2; 2. Billy Liles (Kaw l 2·4 ; 3. JoJo Kell er (Hon) B- 1; 4. Ph il Larson (Kaw) 3· 6; 5. A lan Kin g (Kew ) 7-3; 6. Mark M urphy (Yam) 5·5 ; 7. Mi ke Fisher (Hon) 4 ·11 ; 8. Mike Dunfee (Hon) 9 ·9; 9. Todd Harr ell (Hon ) l l -B; 10. Scon Ma nning (Yam )6- 16; 11 . Ted Holt 13 -10; 12 . Kevin Foley (Vam) 10 -13; 13. Mike LarsonlKaw) 35 -7; 14. And y Slacy (Hus) 37 - I 2; 15. Seen Johnson (Vern) 15 -1 B; 16. Greg Zillerkopf (Hon) 12-31 ; 17. Larry Dashiell (Hon ) 00· 14; lB. Gene Genlsch (Hon ) 143B; 19. Richard Sands (Hus) 32 -15 ; 20 . Grayson Hart IKTM ). FINAL POINT STAND INGS 125: 1. Ron Lechien (417); 2. Erik Kehoe (3 7B); 3. George Holl and (362) ; 4. A.J . Whiling (2BB); 5. Rick Ryan 1271); 6. Eddie W err en (25 7); 7. Keith Bow en 20 (2 50 1; B. Guy Coopr (2351; 9. Larry Brooks 1 7); 10. Mark Barn ell (I B7). 250; 1. Jeff Ward (44 6); 2. John ny O'M ara (4 2B); 3. Rick Jo hnson (3Bl); 4 . Bob Hannah f3 59); 5. Bri an Myerscough (2 53); 6. J im Holley (251 ); 7. Jeff Hicks (247); B. Danny Storbeck (227 ); 9. Steve Burdette (166); 10 . Scott 8 urn w orth (147 ). 500: 1. Broe Glover (37 9); 2. Eric Eaton (31 6); 3. David Bailey (314); 4.JoJo Kell er (244); 5. Billy Ules (22BI; 6. Mi ke Fish er (223 ); 7. Ma rk Murph y (22 2); a. Scon M anning (217); 9. .Alan King (204); 10. Kevi n Foley 11 9B). 9

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