Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

For the second ti m e in a row. Keith Turpin (above) won t he 125cc Pro -Am , J eff W ard (1 I. Bailey and J oh ns on [below): 3 -2- 1 in t he standings. Glover (4 ) leads. while Bailey. J im Holley (1 21. Joh nson (51. Keith Bo wen (9 1and Micky Dymond (4 31 battle close behind . fo ur from ea ch sem i earned a bert h in the m ain. Yamaha rider Mark Murph y p u t h is Florida sa nd experie nce to wo rk a nd wo n sem i two . Ya maha 's SCali Burnworth fell in th e first turn a nd ca me from la st to a commendab le second. Kawasak i' s Eddi e Wa rren held o n to third a fter Burnworth slip ped by, a nd th e last transfer spot in th e sem i we nt to H onda rider Joe Wa ddington, th e initial seco nd-p lace rid er. " I recentl y had m y a n kle operated o n , a nd th at mad e a big differenc e. N ow, m y rid in g style isn ' t h indered an ymore." sa id Murph y. Last Chance Qua lifier Onl y four slo ts wer e left fo r th e main event , and H onda rider Tom Carson made sure he was headed for the final by leading th e consol ation race from gate to ch eckered Ilag, Russ Wageman kept h is Yamaha in second th e en tire ra ce. Kawasaki rider Mark McLaren and Yamaha pilot Doug Dubach were the last two riders to lin e up for the 40-rider main, "I th in k I'll know this tr ack pretty well in the main; I have abo u t three times as man y laps on th e course as th e riders who qualified o u t o f their he at s," said Carson. Main Bailey wa s th e man with th e moves off th e stan of the two-wave start in the 12-lap main. Bailey used a n outside line through th e righ t hand first turn , carried th e line through the next straight, then went to the inside through the following left-bander. That proved to be Bailey's undoi ng, as h e was bumped through th e bales and had to re-enter the rac e mid-p ack. Hicks and H ea ley tangled a nd went down in the first turn , and had to start their ch arge from last. When the pack started to string out on lap o ne it was Glover and H o lley o ne-two , J o h n so n and Dym o nd a close three-four, then Bowen, Ward , Rya n a n d King. Dymond wa s picking up th e pa ce wh en he crashe d in th e front whoop section. H e broke three bones in his left foot , which put him out of the race. By lap three Johnson had closed to second behind Glover, while Ward was shadowing Johnson 's mo ves from third! HOlley hblditigoff Bm-ten wa for fo urth . a n d Ba iley popped into si x th as h e p assed Kin g ove r the finish lin e j u mp. Jus t when Bowen see med to ha ve set his pace, he crashed a nd packed it in . " I was dizzy a fte r tak in g a hard fa ll. a n d 1 d idn 't eve n kn ow wh ere 1 was ," sa id Bo wen. " I wou ld n ' t have ga ine d a ny points ri di n g aro u nd in back, so 1 pu lled o ut." Jo h nson set up Glover th rough th e smoo th sec tio n of the fro nt stra ig h t, but d idn ' t get by until he found a lin e o n th e rough back section of whoops , J ohnson was q ui ck ly awa y, lea vin g Gl o ver an d Ward to figh t ove r seco nd . Ba iley, H oll ey a n d H o lland we re ru n ni ng fo ur th , fifth a nd sixth a t the end of th e lap six. Ward, th en Bail ey got by Gl overon lap seven , and when th e leaders ca me aro u nd to th e front sect io n it wa s Johnson a n d Bailey in front. Ward was left pi cking him self up in a turn, th en took alm ost a lap before he got hi s bike going again, " I don't have bike problems, 1hav e Bailey probl ems," said Ward. " David center- p u nc h ed me in th e co rner, and he hit me so hard th a t it bent my bike's sw inga r m and kn ocked th e cha in ofL " With Ward out of th e chase Gl over regained third. Holley, Pederson a nd Kin g were running in formation in fourth , fifth and sixth. J ohnson sta yed in control to th e checkered flag , wh ere h e threw both hands into th e air off th e fin a l jump. Bail ey had closed a bit through the la st two laps, but had to settle for second, Glover wa s back in third, fourth went to Holley, and King kept the pressure on to pass Pederso n for fifth , earning th e top privateer honors. "I've been down in Florida for two weeks practicing in th e sand, and you can see how it paid o ff," said Johnson. " T he tra ck here today was more like a n o u tdoo r MX than ' a supercross, and 1 liked that. " Tve been racing for quite a while; 1sta rt ed riding when 1was three, a nd now I'm in th e winner's ci rcle a t Day tona. Th is rac e is one I'll a lways rem ember: ' " 1'\0 one can catch R icky when h e gets a good stan," said Bailey. " I went wide in turn one to go for th e lead, because 1 wanted to win. That move' worked for me in~riC h'ea'i i'aCtJ, ; but n ot in the ma in. Wh en th e ga te d ropped tod ay I wasn 't out to make fri ends, 1 was trying to ge t to th e checker ed flag fir st:' " T h is was my best fini sh a t Da ytona ," sa id factory veteran Gl over. " I should have he ld up better . but I was m aking mistakes. 1 just sta rted ge tting back up with th e top riders, a n d 1 need more confidence. Maybe if 1 keep pushing I'll be able 10 s to p this strea k o f red." " So me tim es 1 think I'm too nice of a gu y," sa id fourth-place Holley. " It lo oks bad when 1 start a race in second a n d drop to fourth . 1 n eed to put m y nose to the grindstone, race hard, work towards winning , a n d still promote th e sport l" 1 25cc Pro-Am G eorgia 's Kei th Turpin kept his win streak alive by wi nning th e l25cc Pro-Am main event. Turpin had aced the fi nal at the Atla nta Supercross two weeks ago, and he was back for more of the same at Dayto na . A m ass pile-up off the start o f th e main p u t some top riders out o f co n tention, incl udi ng Pro-Am Champion Rod ney Barr. Turpin, however, wa s clear o f the trou ble and was away with th e lead on h is fact o ry-support Honda. Honda rid er Mark Melton, Kawasaki's Ronn ie Tich enor, a nd Kawasaki rider s T im Baill a nd Mike J ones were running behind Turp in in seco nd through fifth , T ich enor set up Melton with an inside lin e, th en passed to th e outside to tak e seco nd . Honda-moun ted Mike Bia s worked past Bai ll for third, but then landed o n J o n es off the finish lin e j u m p . Bias was shaken up bu t? uninj ured , while J ones wa s rra nsported to Halifax H osp ital Medi cal Center in Da ytona Beach . He was treated for a broken sca p u la (shou lder blade) an d released . Turpin fini shed wi th a n 18-second lead on Tichenor; T ichenor had a 28-second gap o n third place Bail!. Florida rider Bria n McClacy moved his Yamaha to fourth by race's end, ah ead of Melton. " I dislocated my right shoulder at Gainesville (Natio na l MX ) last weeken d. and 1 still ca me back strong today ," said Turpin. " T he sh o u lder didn't reallv bother me that much , I've dis locaied m y right sh o ulder five times and m y left one four times, so 1 know what to expect. 1just took a lot of vitamins this past week and 1 was ready to ride: ' • Results 250cc MAIN: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon); 2. David Bailey (Hon); 3. Brae Glover (Yem); 4. Ji m Holley (Yam); 5. Ala n King (Kew); 6. Ross Peder son (y arn); 7. George Holland (Suz); B. John ny O'Ma ra (Hon); 9. Ma rk Murph y (Yam); 10. Billy Lues (Kaw); 1 1. JoJo Keller (Yam); 12. AJ . Wh it ing (Suzl; 13. Guy Cooper (Hon ); 14. M ike Healey (Sun ; 15. Scott Bur nwon h (Yam); 16 . Jeff Ward (Kaw); 17. Larry Brooks (Hon); 1B. Dan ny Storbeck (Yam); 19. Rick Ryan (Kaw); 20. M ike Beier (Yam). 125 cc PRO-AM: 1. Keith Tur pin (Hon); 2. Ronnie Tichenor (Kaw ); 3. Tim 8aill jKaw): 4 . Brian McCla cy (Yam); 5. Mark M e ~on (Hon ); 6. Barry Casten (Yam); 7. Joe Zamper in i (Yam); 8 . M ike Rot h (Yam); 9 . Jason Ups haw (Hon) : 10 . Ste ven Hendricks; 11. M ike Barna (Hon); 12. Billy Whitley (Yam); 13. Roben Haves (Kaw l; 14 . M ark Crozier IHon); 15. Bob Pet rick (Hon); 16 . Terry Ti nn ev (Kew); 17 . Jo hn Grea ves (S uz); 18. Gerald W ood (Yam); 19. Rod ney Phillips (Yam): 20. Lore n M acRae IKaw). POINTS STANDINGS: 1. Rick Jo hn son (164); 2. David Bailey (141): 3. Je ll Ward (11 9); 4 . Johnny O' M ara (I IB); 5. Brae Glover (105); 6. Kei th Bowen (9 6); 7. J im Holley (B6); B. (Tie) George HollandlRon Lechien (6B); 10. Rick Ryan (61); 11. M icky Dymond (59); 12. Ross Pederson (54); 13. Erik Kehoe (45); 14. Dann y Storbeck (44); 15. (Tie) Bill y Uf es/ Alan King (43): 17 . A.J. Wh it ing (34); l B. Scan Burnwo nh (30); 19. J tj>Jo Keller (2 ); 20. (Tie) l-Brry Brooks lGlr t'Cd0p8r 122~ J " , I I ', .. .. 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