Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Keith Day (22) leads host Ricky Graham (3) and Alex Jorgensen (44); Graham won his challenge race but crashed in the Expert final. (Above) Chris Carr won the Expert class and fi ni shed second in the challenge race. (Below) The challenge gets underway. Graham,smokes RG Challenge TT By Bill Spencer SALINAS, CA , AP R. 20 After throwing down the gauntlet, Ricky Graham 'p icked it up and won -th e Ricky G raham Challenge; part of the AMA Western Regional TT even t a t th e California Rodeo grounds in Salinas. Chris Ca rr, Wood-Rota x/H-D/Shoei/R S . . . . T b ki T'a i c h i Z l-l i-P'o i n t z' su a I, ca p ped a hea vy cash wee ken d, 18 wi n n in g the Expert portion .o f th e sh ow, co m bi ned with a win th e n ight befo re at th e Lodi Cycl e Bowl Pro-Am short tra ck an d his th ird place at th e Asco t TT Na tional n etted him abo u t $4285 in cas h p urs e money for th e three races. A n ear-perfect da y greeted the estim at ed 4000 fa n s who were ex uberant throughout the da y with 77 riders partici pating in the regular program. The Den ni s P ea r so n -b u ilt tra ck proved a challen ge with tigh t turns a nd .a fas t fro~1t. straight that kept passmg a t a rmrumum . . The start of th e P ro-Am fin al saw Ronnie Da y slip wi de o ff turn o ne , wh ile Kurt Chandler led a nd th en got sideways gi ving up th e lea d to Kenny Netto . But Canadian Ste ve Aseltine wa sted little time in wri ting ou t the bo ys with a few fin e moves to take over and ea sily wi n o ver Netto , wit h Ra ndy Fish er exchanging'fo urth spot with Brad Spencer, bu t being overta ken for third by Craig j ohn son after a slow start. Fis h er he ld o nto fourth wi th Da y fifth over R icky Cremona a nd Dave Ayers. Bryan McDowell got th e j u n io r main start over j i m Harrell on hi s U ke 's H -D , whil e R o b Damro n pushed into third but crashed, bringing th e first red flag of th e day. H arrell claimed the restart over Damron and McDowell, bu t Damron threw h is Bu d Mar rin-Damart-spon so red Rotax away a nd exited stage left. All the whil e, on th e move was Bruce johnson, who got around Mc Dowell fo r seco nd o n th e Team H appy T rials YZ two-stroke, a nd th en ki cked h is wa y past H arrell fo r the lead a nd even tua l easy wi n . Harrell h eld on for seco nd wi th Robert Klum worki ng h is Honda extra h ard fo r third o ver Er ic G reen, who wo n th e sem i, a nd McDowe ll fifth . In th e Expert program Carr had se t th e tone for the day wi th yet a no th er fast qualifying tim e, a tick o ver Randy Green , Steve Eklund a n d D ou g Chandler. Fif th fastest was Scott Pearso n over Aaron Hill , Mi ckey Fa y and Pete H ames eig h th fastest in front o f G ra ha m a nd Keith Day. Ca rr led a ll laps of the first hea t a nd had th e fast est h eat ti me by a seco nd : Hi ll took th e T eam Happ y Trails H-D to second over Fay. Hames worked h is way past Green for th e seco nd heat race win with Pea rso n third o n the Circl e Bell / Shoe i/ Su pe rT rap p / ND/ Kal -Gard H -D. Eklund fo llowed su it in th e third heat winning on th e Gardner El ectric H -D, sta tin g afterward, " My teammate is H am es, and I couldn 't make m yself look bad." Friday night 's TT National wi nner, j o rgen sen, was a close seco nd on the Pio neer Truck/ Hi -Point Wood-Rotax, whi le Day contin ued h is h ard charging and took the last di rect hea t transfer on the Do n 's Pl umbing / Shoeil Kal-Gard/Lillie/Megacycle H onda. This was to make for an interesting semi, as failing to ma ke the transfer was G raham , who had a terrible sta rt and th en a hard -fought race with Chandler. Chandler a nd G raham put o n qui te a display in the sem i wi th RG winning, much to th e pleasure of th e crowd along with Cha ndler close behind. Dan McDonnell completed th e main event sheet. It co nri uucd 10 be Carrs day a s tlu~I't'en was shown; Can outdragged R an d y Green into th e IlI rit over H am es a n d Chand k-r. Hi ll ba iled , whi le Eklu nd took O W l' fifth over Dav, j o rgensen a nd Fa y. On Iht' se('OIid la p . Pearso n bailed a nd t hen had l\I('Donnellta~ him wJtHe.l ~e_;~s ~!,~\~I~. _. Carr oo n rin ued to lead. wh ih- Cr u h am was on the m o ve from 12th at th e start. H e took o ver fift h o n lap three and was challenging H a m es for fo u rt h when Graham flew high over th e j u mp and had too m uch speed for th e tight ri gh t handel' th at followed a nd slid do wn . - Chand ler went to work on th e Freddie Spencer/SuperTrap p /Den nis Towne H onda , ta ki ng seco nd and · then, all by h im self, Green was do wn with H ames no w third over Eklund and Day. Pearson 's da y ended wi th a flat tire, wh ile Graham got ba ck up and challenged for seventh beh ind j o rgen sen . T h e order remained the sa me to th e checkers wi th Carr th e bi g wi n ner by four bikel en gths o ver Chandl er a nd H ames. The fu n rea ll y' got going at the wave of th e gr een with $4000 up for grabs a nd j orgensen leading Day., Ca rr and G raham into th e first co rner. The o rder h eld ' for o ne la p with Graham moving to third i n the fi rst two co rners of la p two wi th a good battle wit h Carr. jorgense n slid wi de , allowing Day to tak e the lead. Graham the n got by both Carr and Day for the lead but wham-bam , th e fro nt five were on th e ground in the right handel' after the jump a nd th e o nl y other red flag of th e da y ca me out. The in -line restart sho wed Carr over Day a nd Graham . G reen held j o rgensen a t bay, wh ile Ekl und and H ames were playi ng hard wit h jorgensen and Cha ndler. Carr a nd G raham exhanged the lead a bo u t fo ur times each la p fo r the next three la ps wi th Graham fina lly eeking out a bi kelength to win h is own challenge ri ding th e Ara ilTsu baki/ Sparky Edm on ston p r i vateer H onda with yo unger broth er Troy doing th e daily tuning . • Results PRO AM : 1. Steve Aseltine (H-D); 2. Ken Netto (H·D); 3. Croig Johnson (Rtx); 4 . Rondy Fisher (Rtx); 5. Ron Doy (Rtx); 6. Ricky Cremono (Yom); 7. Dove Av-ra(Rtx); 8. Brod Spencer (Yom); 9. Kurt Chondler (Hon); 10. Andy Tressor (Yom). JR : 1. Bruce Johnson (Yom); 2. Jim Horroll (Rtx); 3. Robert Klum (Han); 4. Eric Green (H-D); 5. Bryon McDowell (H·D); 6. Tim Stufts(Hon); 7. Bob McDon nell (H-D); 8 . Scott Scherb (Han); 9. Fronk ie Gorcio (Hon); 10. Rob Domron (Rtx). EX: 1. Chr is Corr (Rtx); 2, Doug Chondlor (Hon); 3. Pete Homes (H·D) ; 4. Steve Eklund (H-D); 5. Koith Doy (Hon); 6. Al ex Jorgonoen (W-R); 7. Ricky Grohom (Hon); B. M ickey Foy(Hon); 9. Rondy Green (Hon); 10. Aoron Hill (C-A); 11. Don McDonnell (Hanl; 12. Scon Peerson (W·R). RG CHALELNGE: 1. Rict

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