Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

r;:-- -:----- - - - - - - - - - --,.01!i:'- ----, w u z w THE NATIONAL .~ >a: a: PAPERS iW~[}.'~~E ::i By Roxy Rockwood Hail to th e new Champion. Don " Bu bba" Shobert jr. no w takes hi s p lace in the m o to rcycle racing hall o f fa m e (when o ne is crea ted ) as th e 18th r ider to ever w in the coveted G ra n d Nationa l titl e. T he fa st li lli e guy from Lubbo ck , T ex as is an examp le o f the n ew b ree d o f a raci ng pro. No long er do you ng teen a g e hotsh ot s m ov e in to th e National ra n ks a n d cha lle nge im med iat el y, a n d before inj ury, as rookies th eir first year o n th e Nati onal ci rcui t. T hose da ys a re long gone. It is true that Bubba wa s t he dirt tra ck Rookie o f th e Year ba ck in 1980, scoring in six Nat ion al final s with a lo ne fifth p lace for h is best fini sh. But hi s name never a p peared in th e eli te to p 10 um il 1982, when h e ranked eig h th. T he next yea r he m o ved up to fourth a n d was in fa ct a co n ten der for th e titl e for half th e season . For th e past tw o seasons it ha s been stra ig h t u p for a rid er w ho ca me very cl o se to en di ng h is raci ng career before it hardl y got off th e gron nd in the ea r ly 1980s. It happened in a TT race a t Peoria , Ill in ois. T he fu tu re champ was in vol ved in a spi ll th a t found the fo u r fing ers o n o ne h and severed comp letely off the ha nd. As lu c k wo u ld have it, there was a doc tor in Peoria tha t w as w il ling a n d a ble to sew th em bac k o n a n d m ak e th em work. Bubba sta rte d o u t ra cing th e wild a n d wooly indoor co nc re te sh o rt tra ck s in west T ex as; h owever, h is fi rst five National w ins a ll came o n mile tracks: two in 1982 a nd th ree in 1983. So me thing th at n o o ther wi n n ing rider ca n claim. To m ost, the miles a re fast , m agi c a n d h o ld a uniqu e fascin ati on . Sh o bert now is rated by man y to be th e bes t mi ler o f a ll tim e. And he is o n ly 23-years-old. In three-and-a -ha lf sea so ns, Bubba ran g up a reco rd 13 m i le win s. T he total ca m e in less th an h alf th e t im e over a ny o ther previ ous mi le record h ol d er. H e sets a new ma rk o n th e mi les every time he goes to the line. In the last I i mi les h e h as fin ish ed in the to p three places. Th ere is no one else even close to half tha t total. Th e season was off to a rocky start: Bubba crashed at least o nce bo th ni ghts in H o usto n a nd hea d ed west wi th a n eig h th a nd a n 11 th pla ce to open h is drive for the ti tle . Appa renrl y he is a g uy tha t yo u ca n not tell th at a ny thi ng is im possi bl e. A seaso n ago he ca me from cl ose to 100 po ints o u t of th e lead for th e tit le and mi ssed ta king it by o ne poin t. That drive was a no ther m iles tone in ra cing as h e sco red ei ther fir st o r seco n d in th e fin al I I races o n ly to mi ss number o ne by a point a n d perhaps tw o feet o n th e tra ck in th e fi nal even t. . T his year he has ta ken th e tit le ea rlier tha n in ma n y a pas t season. Bu b ba S hobert a n d h is e n g ine bui ld ers, Ro b M uzzy a n d Ray Plumb, p lus h is o n -trac k tuner , S kip Eaken a nd team m an a ger , Gene Rom ero , formed n o t o n ly th e win n ing co m bo th is sea son , but cl os e to the most perfect in severa l yea rs. No t o ne m echan ical failure in o ver 20 times o n th e tpc~ from Ila g -to-Il ag. • (A bov e) The st art, with Team Savannah whee li ng off the line. (A b ove) Tea m Ha mmer 's Suzuki burns as Solmax (4 5) and Speed Boys get upri ght . (Be low) Cycle Performance 's Ro n Ewerth . WERAjWiseco National Championship Endurance Road Race Series: Round 11 Cycle Performance takes Roebling Road Six-Hour By Larry Lawrence FA U LK VILL E, GA. SE PT . 14 C ycl e P erformance R acing, a first- time ser ies co m peti tor, too k on many of the nation 's top en d u ran ce teams a n d ca me out the o vera ll win ner in the W E RA Six-Hour h eld a t th e 2. I-mi le Roebling Road Racewa y. The team ro de th eir P art s U n li m i te d / Me tze le r/ Kerker/ Su ncoast/ Wi seco/ Au to Li t re/Multi A i r Sa fe t v/Ts u bakibacked Ya maha FZ750 to vic to ry co mpleting 220 la p s (462 mil es) d u ri ng th e race. A lso co mpleti ng 220 la p s a n d n a bb in g secon d p la ce was T eam Sa va n nah , ridi ng th eir self-sponsored H onda i 50 In tercep to r. Sol m ax Ra cin g USA fi ni s hed third o n th eir Dun l o p /K al -G a r d / Ve t te r I N D -ba ck ed Yamaha Fj 1100 d espi te crashi n g in th e first hour. T he ra ce was m a rr ed by a fi rs thou r ac cident in w h ich 10 bik es.n early a ll in th e lead pa ck , cras hed o ne after anoth er o n an o il-covered track. T he o n ly £Ia g m an in ih e a rea n ever d ispl a yed a n oi l nag. Among th e teams invo lved were Speed Bo ys, T ea m H amm er , So lmax,a n d M&R Ra cin g . After th e red n a g was di spla yed , th e c lea n u p took ~O m inutes. . __ The Speed Bo ys team was able to co n t in ue at a som ew ha t redu ced pace after ex tensive repairs, bu t H am m er 's day ca m e to a n end due to a cracked gas ta n k susta ine d in th e cras h. Cycle Per form an ce team ca p ta in Dean Sw ims pooled together three of th e so u theast's top ro ad racers for th e eve nt .The team co nsis ted o f Ro n Ewerth, w ho has been ver y tough to bea t this yea r in sp r int ra ci n g; M ik e H a rt h , who ha s done qu ite well in severa l Ca me l P ro Superbi ke races this veal': a n d Swims, w h o is W ERA 's d cf end i ug S uperbi ke C ha m pion . Th ese rid ers, com bi n ed wi th Larry Br o wn ' s en g i ne-b u i ld i ng abi l ity, ma d e th e team a co nten der from th e word go. O ne team that di d go pret ty much un noticed u ntil th e green flag dropped was Tea m Sav anna h . Anoth er fir sttim e en d u ra nce en try , T eam Sav an nah co ns is ted o f lo ca l rider s Donni e L ynn a nd Stuart Edenfield: A t th e sta r t o f th e race Harth bolted a way from th e field o n th e C ycl e Perform an ce FZi50 a n d opene d u p a n eig h t-seco nd lea d o n H a m m er 's Do ug T o la nd , w h o was battling with Sav annah's Ed enfield . Th e firs t th ree h eld a s u bs ta ntia l lead o ver th e rest o f th e 3D-bi ke field with Speed Bo ys leading th e second p a ck o f rid er s. About 12 minutes into th e race, T o land turning cons is tent I :20 laps in his fir st rid e a t the tr a ck, caugh t a n d passed H a rt h . Th e lea d was short- lived, Apparent ly o ne o f the mach ines was lea king o il betw een tu rns four a n d six a n d Speed Bo ys' Bob Fr ank a n d j am U ps Ra cin g 's Kevin R e ru zel l both found the o il s im u lta n eo usl v a n d bo th went d o wn . . Ren tze ll ran to th e edge o f th e tr a ck tr yin g to sig na l th e o ther ri de rs o f th e da nger. Ro n n ie Bo wen o n So lm ax lo st co nt ro l a n d Re n tzell act ua lly had to j u m p ove r th e slid ing So lm ax Yamah a . T ol an d crash ed just a fte r Sol ma x, Ren tzcl l aga in h a ving to si des te p th e tumblin g H a m m e r m ou nt. Mo st o f th e team s esc a ped wit h o n ly mi nor dam ag e a nd, a m a zingly, no r id ers were injured . A t th e restart , i t was C ycl e Perfo rma nce a n d Sav a n na h a g a in pull in g out la rge leads o ver the field . By ha lf w a y, leader s Cycl e P erform a nce a n d T eam Savann ah bo t h had 94 la ps. j am -Ups Raci n g had m oved th eir Yamaha Fj 600 into th ird with 90 la p s. So lmax, Speed Bo ys a n d Team Acme wer e Iigh u n g for fourth - a ll wi th 89 laps. Donnie L yn n m ov ed the Sava n na h Interceptor into the lea d i n th e fourth hour as it became o bvious that Sav annah a n d Cycl e Per fo rm a nce were go ing to race closely a ll th e wa y to th e en d barring a ny problems. Durin g th e fifth h o u r , R entze ll took o ver th e j am-Ups Fj600 . As a result o f Ren rzell's effo rt, j am -U ps m oved a hea d o f So lm ax for th ird and cl o sed to w ith in tw o la ps o f th e lea d ers . T eam H orizon was a lso m aking a m ov e on th eir Intercep tor 500, m ov ing in to Iifth a t o ne point and ge ll in g o n th e sa me la p wi th fourth-pla ce So lm ax . So lm a x wa s lo sin g g ro u n d d ue to tire wear. It 's unusual for a tea m to cha n ge a t ire in a six- hou r ra ce, but Ro ebli n g 's extre me ly a bras ive s u rface co m bi ned with the h ig h h o rsepower o f th e So lm ax Fjl 100 ca use d Sol m a x to cha nge th e rear rubber. Aft er the tire cha nge, So lmax began m a k in g up lost lime, pulling awa y from Team H o rizon a n d rep assin g j a m- U ps Ra ci n g , n o w slowi ng with ti re wear of their own. S wims got o n the Cycle Performa nce machi ne for the last hour a n d grad ua lly began to p u ll away from T ea m Sava n na h. A t th e e n d, C ycl e Per fo rm a n ce was less th a n a lap' up o n r u n ner- u p Tea m Sava n n a h . W h en as ked if Cycle Perf ormance mi ght be a regular nex t yea r o n the en d u ra nce scen e, S wims re p lied, " My m ain co ncern is ge lli ng th e FZ ready for Camel P ro ra cin g next yea r. We ' ll p robabl y show up for th e Grand Nati onal Final s to see how we ca n do. " • ~ O"l .... Q.) ..0 o -o u Resu lts EN DU RANCE OVERALL: 1. Cycle Perf or mance Racing (Dean Swim s/Aon Ew erth /Mi ke Hart h) Yam FZ750. 220 la ps; 2. Tea m Savannah (Do nnie lynn/Stuart Enfield) Han VF750 220 lap s; 3. Sol ma x Racing USA (Ronnie Bowen /Terry Bailey /Chris Chandler I Dw ayn e Pal m er) Yam FJ1 100. 21 3 lap s; 4 . Jam Ups Raci n g (Kevin Rentzell /Tommy SloanlTom St ea von s) Yam FJ600. 211 laps; 5. Speed Boys j 8 0b Frank/Mar k Heiser /Larry Bu rkholder) Vam FZ750. 209 lap s; 6 . Team Hor izon (Su e Br ightbill / ' Dan Reil /Tom Runkle/Ed Run kle ) Han VF500. 209 la ps; 7. Gene ric Racing (Vern Ever ett e/Mike Stevenson/ John W il ken ing ) Yam FJ600. 207 laps: 8. Team Tan k Siap per (Eric Anderson /Dayid Harman) Yam FZ750. 205 la ps: 9. Team St. l ouis (DanHayes / Gain es Desloge ) Yam FJ600. 204 laps; 10 . Royal e Raci ng (J i m Henry /Doug Henry/Joh n Clayton / • Dave Smith) Yam FJ600. 201 laps . 19

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