Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ o G<') .... Q.) ..0 o ..... u o John Kocinski, Fred Merke l and J immy Filice in the Winner's Circle. the track like clockwork to open a lead of l l -seconds by th e sixth lap. O ne la p lat er, Bru nso n was brushing d irt of f his lea thers after rnak in gu " d u m b mista ke" by run n ing off th e, track a n d cras hi ng . . Brunson's ex it cha n ged th e co m pl ex ion o f th e ra ce, turn in g what wa s a kn ock -down, d rag-out ba tt le for seco n d in to o ne for th e lead. L ong a nd H eino spen t most of the ir time trading th e lead aro u nd th e tra ck a nd tryin g to determine how much th e other was holding in reserve in th e long high-speed run from the ch icane to th e fin ish line. Meanwhile, Green e, despite " being down o n power ," was closing in to make it a true three-way battle. Stephen s then began to mak e hi s pres-· ence really known as he co ntin ua lly closed up th e gap in th e infield,onl y to be mot ored a wav from o nce th e four exi ted th e infield o nto th e bankin g. Stephen s closed th e ga p eac h tim e at th e end o f the run from the ch ica ne. T he fin al two laps saw th e four running together th e fu ll di stance a ro u nd th e track as they set up th e final cha rge to th e flag. L ong led -the fou r th rough th e infi eld wi th H ein o , Green e and Stephen s in clo se com pa n y. H eino took over th e lea d on a d raft- a nd - pass maneuver heading down th e back stra ig h t into the ch ica ne . H eino led a from the ch ic ne with Long in his draft. Green e d ro p ped Iow an the track to set up hi s mo ve, wh ile Stephens stayed in lin e with H eino a nd Long. Long moved o u t o f th e dra ft and sh ot past Hein o for th e win as they ca me to the finish line. " T hat was a bo u t as much fun as yo u can have racing ," sai d Long. "When yo u've go t four rider s g oing for it ri ght to th e fini sh line yo u kn ow vou 've been in a race. My secre t? i ran 16-in ch wh eels so , cou ld get close r to the g ro und . I a lso went in for st rea m li ning ," joked Long , who at o ver si x-foot tall fin d s it h ar d to keep everyth in g beh ind th e fairing. " I squeezed my size 10 feet into size n ine bo o ts." • Results 1. J oh n Long (Yam ); 2. J eff He i no (Ho n); 3 . Do n Green e {Honl; 4 . J am es Steph en s (Rtx); 5 . David Cu rti s (Hon); 6 . J ohn Fra nc e (Hon); 7 . Ste ve Tayl er (C· A ); 8 . Garr y Griffith (Hon); 9 : Paul S m it h (A rm) ; 10. Andy Edward s {Rtx ); 1 1. David M omll (Ya m); 12. 3 67 ; 13 . Dav e Busby (Atx ); 14 . Kevi n Brunson (Yam ); 15 . James W oosle y (Yam); lB: A ndre w Pri ce (Yam ): 17. Gr egg Esser (Yam ); 18. J am es Law ren ce (Yam); 19 . Br ad Holm an (Hon ), FINAL POINT STAN DINGS: 1. Don Green e (16 0); 2. Richard Schlach ter (13 9); 3 . Wayne Rainey (10 3 ); 4 . Jeff Heino (8 5 ); 5. Miles Baldwin (7 7); 6. J am e s Stephen s (7 1); 7. (TIE) Brad Ho lm an / Do ug Brau neck (48); 9 . Dave Sado wski (74); 10 . Robert ' JI ' L\Jgha ni (4 5t. J t I .. : '. ~ J ) A st ream of water f rom Joh n Bettencourt 's Hond a (5 0) sp rays o nto the t rack i,:, front_ crashing John ~sh mead's of front wheel. (Bel ow) M alcolme Tunstall (2 6 6) leads Ge ne Chuch and Dave Kieffer In Battle of the TWin S. Battle of The Twins Tunstallrolls to Twins win DAYTONA BEACH , FL, ocr. 20 Malcolme Tunstall played riverboat gambler in th e Twins final and never showed his hand to Gene Church un til Church had bet all he had. The o u tco me was winner Tuns tall had so me aces u p hi s sleeve in th e form of horsepow er a n d runn er-up Chu rch co u ldn' t co un tel' th e bet. '" kn ew I had h orsepower o n Gene," said Crane Racin g 's T u nsta ll . " I never let h im kn ow just ho w much I had in reserve so he never rea lly kne w wh en to make hi s moves. \Ve ra n rig h t together for a long time, but I kept the upper hand without g iving a ny thi ng away," concl uded Du cati rid er Tunstall. Ch urch , a boa rd th e Ha rley-Da vidson Owners G rou p Ha rley, ra n rig ht with Tunstall unt il , the last la ps w he n Tunst all o pened up some brea thi ng roo m. " Ma lcolme was brak in g ea rly for so me turns and hanging ba ck so me," sa id Church . " I th ought I co u ld ge t arou nd him , but he held o rr m y cha lle n ges . I was content to foll ow him in th e infield and mak e m y moves o n th e banking , bu t I didn't have eno ug h mo tor to get the job done." Wh ile th e titles in a ll four BoT T divisions were wrapped up before thi s fin a l round , the overa ll seri es ti tle a nd nu mber one plate were stil l up for grabs. Dave McCl u re, th e Hea vyweig ht Modi fied class cha m p io n , went into the fin al wi th a o ne poi nt lead o ver Stock clas s rirlis; a nd defe nd in g ser ies n um ber one Will Roed er. McClure came away wi th th e seri es t it le while Roeder co u ld o n ly wat ch the outcom e o f the race . Roed er had problems a ll weekend sta rt ing with engine p roblems on his Stock class Harley-Davidson. He ente red a no ther bik e in the H ea vyweight Modified class and scratched h is Stock en try. T he n, the new entry's engine . d eveloped p roblems an d Roeder tried to swi tch ba ck to runnin g th e Stock class j us t before th e stan; but th a t was aga ins t th e ru les a nd Roeder was left witho u t a ride. Since McClure fin ish ed seco n d in class-wit h a p ro test hang in g o n the wi nning bike in orogress a t press tim e - th ere were a lot o f people asking, "What if?" in relation to Roeder changing classes sinee a win in th e Stock cla ss wh ich he h ad dom in at ed wo u ld have given h im th e titl e. T he start saw the cha nces of former ser ies cha m p io n .Jimmy Adamo go away as he ended up runnin g o ff th e track while in traffic. Tunstall quickl y ass u med com ma nd with Church righ t behind a nd th e II -lap/43- m ile chase was 0 11. Gregg Sm rz, a board th e Dr. J ohn 's T eam Mot o Guzzi mo unt whic h he had ridden in a six-hour end ura nce ra ce o n Friday , held third over th e H arl ey-Davidson of Roger Reima n with th e Sports Racing Du cat i of Dave Kieffer fo llowin g a hea d of Amol Precision Duca ri rider Kurt Li ebman n . McClure, in seventh, led th e Heavyweight Mod ified class . Th e top four rem ained in posi tion to the finis h with Tuns ta ll and Church di cing unt il the la st laps. Smrz a nd Reiman had a good ha ttie befo re Smrz mo ved awav in the closing la ps. Ada mo, la st a;' th e start ? f , tl1eJ £irst -la p , ch arg ed .rhro ugh .tra ffic to move into fifth near the end o n his .Te-am Leoni Cagiva and bump Keiffer and Leibmann 10 six th and seventh o veral l. McClure, on hi s Ha rley-Davidson backed Ha rl ey ran stro ng in th e openi ng laps before slow ing while pl a ying it safe wi th the cha m p io nsh ip so clos e at hand. McCl ure slo wed a bit too much and go t n ipped on th e final lap by Dennis Li ebrecht. T he Ligh tweight Modified class win went to Harley-Davidson rider Eren o Lewis over Bob Crawford with George Roeder, Will 's father rid ing Will's bike, tak ing third. It was a Ducati battle in th e Stock ranks with Hilton Van Staden edgin g Roger Sea rs with Yama ha rider Dean J oas in thi rd. • Results GP: 1. M a lcolme Tun stall (Duc): 2. Gen e Church (H- D); 3 . Gr egg Sm rz (M·G ); 4 . Ro,ger Reiman (H-U); 5 . J imm y Ad amo(Cag); 6. Dave Kieffer (Duel; 7. Klft Li ebman n IDuc); 8. D. Evan Castle (H- Dl ; 9. Doug Shwoler IH- D); 10 . Ken Stephens (D ue). H/W MOO: 1. Denn is Lie brech t (Due); 2. Dave M cClure (H- D); 3. Tim Ben der (Due); 4. Be rt St uc kert (BM W); 5. Sherr y Fr idu ss (M-G); 6, Chr is Helland ID uc); 7 . Eric Phi ll ippe IM · G); 8. Bobby Yoho (H· D); 9 . Robert Ron ch ett o (H· D); 10. Robert Steinbugler (M · G). L/W MOD: 1. Hilton Van St aden (Due); 2. Roger Sears (Due); 3. Dean J oas (Yam) ; 4. Stan ford Crane (D ue); 5. Rick Herndon (Nor ); 6. M ar k Sturtevant IKaw) ; 7 . Frank Sh ockl ey (Tri) ; B. Char les Lan g (Du e); 9 . Jim M cLean (Kaw) ; 10 . M ike Sm it h (Nor). STOC K: 1. Ereno Lewis (H· D); 2. Bob Crawford (H· D); 3 . Geo rge Roeder (H·D ); 4 , Denny Turnbull (M·G); 5 . Edward Thompson (BM W); 6. #12B; 7 . Gerry A ld en (Ho n); 8 . Ron Jarvis (H· D); 9 . # 17; 10 . _Robert Eagan 1M-OJ.:.. ... t l I l I '- J " , 4 .7

• Cover