Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(A bov e) Garth Brow and Dan Ingram battle in a f ive-lap match race. (Bel ow) Chuck Springsteen leads Scott Adams in Ft. Wayne. T H E I LT1\1 HI I' "'iTR E'(.TH 1 In"iu.' Constructed w i1h ultr a ·l ight. indestructi ble (l,P.C .) pane ls and III 1 018 UV un iti zed 11ef1 tram e & ch a SSIS. far s uperio r 10 1 fibergl... or alum inum trai ler • . 12"045' standard & 5t t1 wh eel . , Eact11r.i1er CUllom- ma d e to your needl, Pl.... send . 1 tor broct1ur. I ' T.P.D. T,.i..,., 815 18 Frun:ridge Rd.• Sun:. E. Sacrllmen10, CA 9158215 . (91 8) 381 ·015 32 Florida Winter AMA Motocross Series Woody Kyle W ill Be At Track To Do Boring & Porting Parts & Accessories Also Available At Track AMA Professional Indoor Ice Race Series: Round One see Honda/Yamaha Iceman Brow - ak es t Fort Wayne ofSrandon ForCR Models, Parts & Service 1B09 W. Brandon Blvd . Brandon . FL 33511 813 /6B5 ·4535 By Joe Mclaughlin cnm~ ---READERS--':the first to know! FORT WAYN E. IN , J AN . 3 Garth Brow, the -five-tirne indoor National champ io n on ice, proved once again tha t h e is still the man to beat as th e 1986 series opened a t Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum. Respl enden t in new red , white a nd blue leathers with a large number one on th e back. Brow won eac h of five h eat ra ces. hi s If'RACINO ~P~~ik:rts ~ For SlDc & Modified MX Racing 813/756-5762 60 27 Hwy, 301 • Bradent on , FL 34 20 3 26 L... Part s & Accessories UPS Daily 1395 Church 5 1. Ext ., Ma r iena. GA 3005 9 404/42 9-1 8 0 0 ..I mat ch ra ce, an d th e main even t for a perfect n ight. " Fast" Eddy Morr is and 1985 Series Rookie o f th e Yea r Mike Rh oads fin ished 2-3 behi nd Brow in th e main a n d dup licated tha t order in firstnigh t poi nt sta ndi ngs . All th ree Mich igan riders rode motorcycles hui lt a n d tuned bv Bvron Moll osca u, wh o put four hik es 0 ; 1 th e frontl in e for th e m ain even t, The fourth mach in e wa s ridden by Brya n Hard in . a lso from Michi gan , who was sent to the pe na lty lin e a t th e sta rt, ye t man aged to thread his wa y th roug h th e fiel d 10 fin ish fourth a fter eigh t la ps. Brow, who has won the series crown th e last five co nsecu tive years ( 198 15), vowed th a t h e'd just keep on doing the same thing, a nd he was a s good a s hi s word. T he cha m p io n's on ly serio us cha llenge came from Dan In gr am - seco nd overa ll in th e 1985 series - du ring th eir two-bike mat ch race, and fro m Morri s dur in g th e fin al. T he five-lap match races ar e str ictly heads- up co m peririo n for mrm ey no series po in ts ar e a wa rded - a nd a re usuall y run betwee n hea ts lO keep th e cro wd .eru erra in ed . In the h eat races th ems elves - als o five laps - , rider s ar e mixed a nd mat ch ed in gro u ps of four until a ll have co m peted aga inst o ne a no the r, 20 even ts in a ll. Points are a wa rded 3-2- 1-0 in o rder o f finish . In gram , a n In d iana n a ti ve a nd cro wd Ia vorite, kep t goi ng down throug hou t the early pa n o f th e n ight a nd had lO lim it h is usua lly aggressive rid in g style. He la ter a ttr ibu ted h is pr oblems lO tire size. "T h e rea r tire I was ru nning wa s jus t too wid e. \\' hen l'vl'r I'd get reall y la id over, I'd go o ff the studs a nd o nto th e side wa ll - then I'd hit the ice." Ingram fin ally go t it toget her a nd had th e Coliseum cro wd o n it s feet as h e led seve ra l o f th e five laps in the h ead- to-h ead match wi th Bro w. BUI th e tough Flint , Mich iga n , na tive co u ldn' t be den ied , a nd moved int o th e lead just as th e pa ir cros sed the fin ish lin e. Bro w . 27 (A ra i/ Fo x/ Lec t ro n / Ml'ga cy cl l'lSu p er Tra pp /W iseco / , Ba rt o w H onda Flor ida /A me ri ca n H onda ) pulled no punch es in th e main even t. C hara cteristica lly leapin g into th e ho le - a n d d ispl a ying coo l nerv es d u ring three resta ns Bro w's biggest task was holdin g o ff th e ha rd-chargin g Mo rris. who wa s mounted o n a nearl y id en tica lly pr e• . par ed Moll oseau bik e, " Eddy was • 'com ing, wasn 't h e?" Brow joked lat er whi le signing autographs for a horde o f youngsters wh o h ad been invited over th e wall s o nto the hockey-rink floor. " I might h ave won it," Morris sai d. " Bu t m y gearshift lever hit th e lire o n th e co rn er a nd go t moved up into thi rd right o n th e fin al turn o f th e last lap. I lost all m y pow er, a nd h e gOI a way from me." (T h e ins ide limits of th e tr ack a re marked by tir es lying o n th eir sides. ) Never th eless. Morris remained en co uraged. " T h is is th e first year I've had a good bike under me ," he sa id. Morris' growing co n fidence seeme d to be jus tified : a review of th e sco reca rd shows that Ill' won four o u t o f five hea ts and fini shed th ird o nce. Rhoads, wh o rod e vel another of Moll oseau 's flashy bikes, was happy wit h h is th ird p lace overa ll. " I was a li llie u pt ig ht o ver the Iirst race o f th e yea r," h e ad mi tted. " My back brak e was a litt le tou ch y, too . We had a bi g 12-in ch ro tor mounted o n it , and we need to go do wn 10 lO-in ch so I don 't lock up th e rear wheel so eas ily." Neverth eless. Rh oa ds was a lso o ne o f th e most co nsistent performers, win n in g two h eat s a nd fini shin g seco nd in th ree ot h ers. Althou gh h ard -ch arging Bryan Ha rd in won three heat races, scoring nine points, h e crashed or fini sh ed last in two o thers , C h uck Springste en o verca me a broken tran sm ission by bo rrowing a var iety o f motorcycles 10 rid e 10 four co nsecu ti ve second-p lace fini sh es in th e heats and a sixth in th e main even t. Lance Sulat y won two h eat s a nd fin ished fifth in th e fin al. Other hea l winners in cl uded In gram (two), Dave Hebb, a nd Dave Knapp. Mat ch race winners were COl', Hebh, Brow, Sulary, Mayer . Rh oads, Knapp, and Springsteen . G OOd m ech an ical devel opment seem's to be im porta n t in suc cessful ice-racing. Last sea son 's Tuner of th e Year, Dan T hom pson, has expanded h is co m m itm ent to three motorcycl es thi s yea r, a lt hough two rookies Scou Adams and Brian Atherton repl aced vetera ns Steve Mor ehead and SCOtl Drak e in th e saddles. Thompso n 's other rid er was Hebh, an experien ced icer who sco red nine points on th e night. One of the maj or factors in th e series co nt in ues to be Michigan tuner/ bui ld er Bvron Mo lloseau. who built nearly a ll 'lhe tires for eigh teen r iders, sponsored seven bik es, built six ot h ers, and spe nt th e even in g helping everyo ne. "I was really nerv ou s tonight," Moll os eau sa id lat er. " T h is was sha kedo wn night. We didn 't gel a good tri al o u tdoors, a nd I was afra id a n ythi n g m ight happen. " Moll oseau gave h im self plent y o f time to prepare h is beaut ifull y cra fted red , wh ite , bl ue. a nd chro me bi kes. " I sta rted a lmost four mo nths befor e th e Iirst race thi s yea r," he admit ted . "Each u n it is worth near lv 6000, and I go over the m every week d ur ing th e series lO ma ke sure noth in g will brea k. I' m rea lly p ro ud to say th at Garth has never had a m ech anical Iailur« dur in g a po ints race." Th e seven-race ser ies fea tu res a 3500 co nt ingency purse from Ameriea n H onda as well as a wards from Esprit , Arai Helm ets, Hi -P oint Racing Prod ucts, Cars lis le Ti res, and Ko ld Kutter Ice Studs. The 1986 races ca n a lso be seen o n two ca ble network s: Ted T urn er's \\'TBS " Superstati on " ca rries Mororweek Illustrated, which is visit ed each race o n th e circu it; Morow orld , shown on th e USA cha n ne l, will co ver th e fin al s a n d o the r selected races. • Results FINAL: 1. Gart h Brow (Han) ; 2, Ed Morris IHon); 3 . Mike Rhoads (Han) ; 4. Br yan Hardin (Han); 5. Lance Sulaty (Hon ): 6. Chuck Springsteen (Hon); 7. Dan Ingram (Han); 8 . Dave Hebb (Ha n) .

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