Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ TEn eYEARS AGO Yamaha's Bob Hannah and R ick Bu rg ett sandwiched Suzuki's Steve St ackable in Open class action at the Florida Winter-AMA Mot ocross in Orlando. Jimmy Ellis, Mickey Kessler and R ex Staten finished 1-2-3 in the 250cc class . R on LaMastus a nd his O ssa too k the overall win in th e Motorcycle Riders Activities o f Ft. Cam bell (Kentucky) H a re Scra m bles. Arne Nilsson won th e O pen class o n hi s Husqvarna. At round three of the American Indoor Cha mpio ns hip Seri es, Steve Droste beat Garth Brow a nd Mi ke Gerald in fro nt of over 15,000 peop le in Ri ch field, Ohio. In Nov ice ac tio n, Mi ke Morehead bea t H oward J a mes a nd Ken Peckman. Ka lamazoo , Michigan , was the sight of ice rac ing actio n tha t saw Ban Markel wi n all fiveo f his match races but finish o n ly fifth in the final. Mitch Sugg led home the field in the final that consisted of Ran d y Goss, Ted Bood y and Ganh Brow. Sugg ca me back to win the following round in Washi ngton D.C. to claim the unofficial title of " World indoor ice short track cha m p ion." An 18-year-ol d Larry Roeseler combined wit h A.C. Bakken to win the o vera ll at the SCO RE Parker 400 desert race .·AI Baker a nd Gene Cannady fini shed ni ne mi nu tes beh ind the leading duo to finis h second. Dick Fuller and his Yamaha R5 360 ran aw ay from the O pen P rod uct ion class field at CMC's first roa d race o f th e year a t Wi llow Spri ngs in Rosa mo nd, Ca li forn ia . Da vid Emde beat Tony Murphy in both the 250 and 350cc G P classes. In the O pen G P class it was Whitney Blakeslee beating Wes Cooley for the win. In motocross ac tion from Tucson, Arizona, Dre y Dircks won th e Mini Senior class whi le bro ther Gary Dircks ca me out on top in th e Mi ni Pro class . Gary Dircks also won the 125cc Senior class . Ice raci ng in Port Huron. M ichigan. was fierce. David Robinette (4 3 V) finished third in t he 250CC A class. AMA Miller/Honda Amateur Ncilional Ice Race: Crawford defends title at Port Huron By Joe Mclaughlin PORT H URON , MI , J AN . 25-26 Dan Crawford of Marlette, Michigan, successfu lly defen ded h is 250cc A Natio nal Amateur ice racing crown and added the 1986 Sen ior championship as he scored a dou ble win a board his Ca nAm at th e Port Huron MOLOrcycle Club grounds. Another double winner was the hometow n tea m of Ri ck Kea rn s and Ra ndy Putze, who took both the 360cc and 500cc Rubber Sidecar titles o n Sat u rday. Kea rn s a nd Putze rode a Hodak a to victory in the 360cc class a nd a Yama ha in th e la rger bore race . Last year 's tri pl e-crown Natio na l wi n ner, J eff Fredette, cou ld o nly manage th e 200cc stu dded vic to ry on Su nday. " I have a lot of p ro blem s on Sa turday in th e 125cc class," Fredette sai d. " Arid th ere is no Pro-Am ca tego ry this year, so I'm happy to have wo n on the KDX200." Fredette, a seven- ti me ISD E competitor, is sponsored by Kaw asaki, H allman East/ West . Kal-Gard, Jones Goggles, a nd Metzeler, Many of Saturday's races were run on bar e rubber tires, including a 250cc so lo and four sid ecar " ru bber " classes as well as the studded minibik e and 125cc categories. The unstudded tires still receive som e special treatment as they are " trac tio n ized." This is a process in which th e tir e is run against a spined cylinder which ca uses the surface to be fra yed, adding some additiona l " bite." Sat urday Rain y weather covered th e l-l-inch thick ice pack with an addi tiona I one in ch of water. With temperatures in the mid 30s, it was a da y of hydrop la ni ng - especia lly in the rubber classes - and rooster tai ls and 107 wet riders. " I fell down and was insta nt ly soa ked to the bone,' Fredett e said lat er. Nevert heless, Ted Ar ment (Hon ), wh o came a ll th e way fro m Co lorado Springs to find ice, took th e 250cc Rubber Solo win, relegating last year' s second -p lace rid er, Wilt z Wagner, to runner-up again. Kea rn s a nd P u tze dom ina ted th e two smaller sideca r classes. Mike Randolph a nd Budd y Cope (Hon) took the 750cc Rub ber Si deca r vict ory, while Leo Anthony a nd Den n y Masher rode a H arleyDavid son to the O pen class win. Winners in smaller-bore studded competition o n Saturday included Travis P hel ps (65cc), J oey Phelps (85cc A), J. R. Ste wart (85cc B), and Brad Lowe (125cc O pen ). Sunday After a n overnight freeze, the entire cI u bgr o unds was frozen and the pond was perfectl y smooth . Tem pera tu res o n Sunday were in th e low 20s, with intermittent su n, clouds, a nd snow. After two hours of practice by 215 ri ders, P H MC officia ls moved the q uarter-mile oval 20 yards to provide a fresh raci ng su rface. T his practice was repeated after eac h maj or portio n of the weeke nd 's events. Heat raci ng got u nd erway at noon under clear, su n ny skies, a lt ho ugh cond itions lat er deteriorated. " It's a little different from goi ng through the woods," Fredette said a fter winning both hi s heat and the final in the 200cc studd ed class. " T he number three and four corn ers were bumpy. Bu t I'm glad th e weather got colder - it was better for ice racing." "T he traction on ice is better than o n dirt," Dan Crawford firmly maintains. Crawford took bo th th e250ccA a nd the Senior studded classes, finishing first in every rac e except his 250cc A heat. " Engine disp lacement doesn 't ma ke a lot of difference o n a tra ck this size," the d iminutive ice expert said as he discussed his wi n on the same bike in I he Senior class. R ust y Hendersh ot wasn' t as happy as might hav e been expected a fter his 500cc B studded win . " Mike Neilson is m y frie nd, and it wo u ld ha ve been n ice if we cou ld ha ve fin ish ed first and second together," said Hendershot, who is sponsored by Team Burton and Ya mah a Flint. H e had been tra iling h is buddy in th e fin al when they came upon a back mark er. " We had to sp lit," H end ersh o t sai d lat er. " I went in side a nd Mike went outside. H e go t o ver til the soft stu tt a nd went down ." As the first of th e studded Sid ecar finals was pushed off, several hundred specta tors stood a nd cro wded against th e snowfen ce surro u nd ing the pond. The sta rt and first lap of these even ts is usually most exci ting as eight vehicles try to ~et through th e tight firs t turn. Michiganers Ed Kisch nick and Greg LaPonsey teamed up on their Yamah a two-stroker to win the Lightweigh t title over H onda-mounted Bob Willis a nd Gerry Grou ix. In the Mediumweight studded sidecar class, Keith Root andJ im Murray p iloted their beautifu lly prepared YZ490 Ya maha to th e win. " Keith is th e driver, and I'm the passen ger," said Murray, whoalso rides a chai r in AMA roadraci ng d uri ng the su m mer mo nt hs. " We've been working for eig ht years to wi n th is first National o n ice," Root said af ter accepti ng th e team's tro p hies . Currently lead in g Distr ict 14 in points, the Mt. Cl eme ns, Mich iga n , d uo a re spo nsored by T win K Sport Cen ter, Denny's Lexin gt on Sh ell, and North Sh ore Lawn Care. T he H eavyweigh t studded sideca r class had a wide variety of mach inery entered, includi ng a H ar ley-Davidson Sportster a nd a gigant ic, six-cyli nder H onda CBX l Nevertheless, it was a sma lle r cha ir which won as David Scofield and Scott Harper ra n -away fro m th e pack on their bo red-out Yamah a 750cc tw in . Rega rded as th e L ind/Hart o f ice, th e team originally ran a BMW in the Open class and won the Nati onal cha m pionship three o f th e last five years, finishing fourt h in 1985. • Results SATURDAY 0 ·65: 1. Travia Phelpa ( Kaw~ 2. Man Schoonover (Kaw); 3. Leo Wiseman (Yem). o-B5 A 11-15: 1. Joe y Phelp s (Kawl; 2. Bre nt A rm bruster (Yam~ 3. Rob McGee tKawl. 0· B5 B 7 -11: 1. J.R. Stewan (Hon): 2. M ike W arner (Yaml; 3. Scot Stoda n (Kaw) . 125 OPEN: 1. Brad Lowe (Kaw); 2. Kirby Rayment (Honl; 3. Bren t A rmb ruste r (Yam). 250 RUBBER SOLO: 1. Ted Arment ( Ho n ~ 2. Wiltz Wag ner (Yam); 3. Leo An thony J r. (H· D). 0- 360 RUBBER SIDECAR; 1. Randy Putge /R ich Kear ns (Hod); 2. Bill Bauman/Marilyn Bauman (Ho n~ 3. Je rald ShanklC.J. Nugent (Han). 500 RUBBER SIDECAR: 1. Rich Keams/Randy Putze (Ya m ~ 2. Bill Bauma n/Mari lyn Ba uma n ( Hon ~ 3. AI Eveningred/Larry Tack (Hon). 750 RUBBER SIDECAR: 1. Mike Randolph / Buddy Cope (Hon); 2. Jam es Foyed/Oon Slaght (H- D); 3 . Fred Grimby /Paul Toth CTri). OPEN RUBBER SIDECAR: 1. Lao Anthony/D· enny Mos her (H· D); 2. Dan Kota /Bob Bailey (H-D); 3. Ji m Sm iht /Oennis Klorland (H-D). SUNDAY 200 OPEN: 1. Jeff Fredene tKaw); 2. Cunis Stapen (Kaw ); 3. Paul Baer tBull . 25 0 B: 1. Ron Kimmel (Hon); 2. Gera ld Foor( Hon); 3. Rodney Page (Hon). 25O A : 1. Dan Crawford (C·A); 2. Tom Brenrager (Hon); 3. David Robinene (Suz). 500 A : 1. Rusty Hendershot (Yam); 2. Raben Knapp (Yam); 3. Steven Charle s (M ai). 50 1 OPEN: 1. Dan iel Watson (Yam); 2. Jeff Armbruster (Han); 3. J ohn Ziever ican (Han). 500 A: 1. Tim Lowe (Hon); 2. J ohn Sha rpe (Hon); 3. Bryan Pankey (Hon). . SR: 1. Dan Crawford (C·A); 2.Jo hn W arren (Hon); 3. Richard Bunnell (Han). LTWT STUDDED SIDECAR: 1. Ed Kisch nicklGrllll LaPonsey (yam ); 2. Roben Willis/ J erry Groul x (Hon); 3. Rober Keelar / Cunis M cM ann (Bul l. M ED WT STUDDED SIDECAR: 1. Keith Robt/ Ja mes Murray (y am); 2. Grllll LaPonsey / Ed Kirsch · niclt (Hon); 3. M ark Ruggl es/ Scon Ruggles. HVY WT STUDDED SIDECAR: 1. David Scof ield/ Scon Harper (Vern); 2. Tom Bren rager /Oarr ell . Weber (Kaw ); 3. Daniel Sams lTim Sams (Hon). ~ ~

• Cover