Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

,..---------::----------, ... :I: Cl ::::i ~ u > III g o :I: l>. • Scratch main winJler John Sandona leads Handicap main winner Alan Christian in Costa Mesa. C~lifornia speedway action. Randy Rudisil ran away from hardcharging Troy Coons while scoring wins in both motos of the 250cc A class. Coons was keeping his Suzuki close behind Rudisils' Yamaha until lap eight of the first moto. He accelerated a touch LOO much coming off a berm and his bike slid to the ground. He lost a place before getting back in the chase, and finished third. In the second moto, Coons was again hanging close to Rudisil, but again fell while pushing hard. His seventh-lap faU didn't effect his standings as he was back up and underway in short order. He spent the remainder of the race wheeling out of turns and whittling away at Rudisils' lead. William Runkles and his Suzuki had a clean ride to third place. Results 60: 1. Willy Zimmerman (Yam); 2. Shelby Reitz (Yam); 3. Justin Witmer (Yam). 60; 1. Jonetho Lloyd (Kawl; 2. Pierron Reasner (kew); 3. Jason Miller (Kaw). 80 JR: 1. David Arnett (Hon). 80 SR A; 1. GarySnively(Hon); 2. JeNrey Yentzer (Kawl. 80 SR B: 1. Keith Bente (Suz); 2. Matthew Bond (Hon); 3. Bill Adamski (Kaw). 125 A: 1. Andy Fleck (Kaw); 2. Kenneth Fleck (Kaw); 3. Merk Gibson (Hon). 125 B: 1. Rodney Yentzer (Kaw); 2. Larry Keyser (Kawl; 3. JeN Wagas IKawl. 125 C: 1. Chris Lykens (Kawl; 2. Nick Nudy (Kaw); 3. Pierson Reasner (Kaw). 250 A: 1. Randy Rudisill (Yam I; 2. Troy Coons (Suzl; 3. William Runkels (Suz). 250 B: 1. Dennis Kousentino (Kaw); 2. Kevin Steinbrenner (Kaw); 3. Michael Hendrix (5U2), 250 C: 1. Jay Harshmen (Kew); 2. Fernando Lopez (Kew); 3. Jody Neuling (Cegf. OPEN A: 1. Rob Houston (KTM); 2. Greg Lykens (M-S); 3. Gary Strausser IKawl. OPEN B: 1. Rob Murphy (Kawl; 2. Sten Thomas (Kaw); 3. Roy Craig (Hon). SR A: 1. John Nelson Jr. (Yaml; 2. Jay Perry (KTM). SR B: 1. Joe Marino (Hon); 2. Bob Baunen (Kaw); 3. Dave Roaclermel (Kawl. SUP SR: 1. Pierra Reasner (Kaw); 2. Gerald Winkler (!:ton); 3. Don Slenkor (Kawl. WOODSMAN: 1. Scott Cooney (Yam); 2. Ron Fry Jr. (Hon); 3. Don Weltzy (Yaml. Sandona stars at O.C. Speedway By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA. CA, MAY 9 John Sandona and Alan "Oazy" Ouistian emerged victorious on a night of exciting speedway motorcycle action at the Orange County Fair- 58. while being chased by Ermolenko, . "Rad" Brad Oxley and Steve Lucero. Oxley made the first move of the main as he swept past Ermolenko near the end of the first circuit. He set his sights on Sandona but Sandona was putting maximum horsepower to the ground. Ermolenko moved back mtosecond when he raced inside Oxley on the third lap. Lucero also got by Oxley but the main belonged to Sandona and he took the win over Ermolenko by a comfortable margin. The Halldicap main was more than a wild affair as it took three tries to . get the race underway. The first restart proved LO be the wildest. Scotty Brown had the lead and was challenged out of turn four by Keith Chrisco at the end of lap one. Brown blocked Chrisco with an aggressive move and when they got to the first turn on lap two Chrisco never bothered LO turn. He hammered Brown who slid about 30 feet across the surface. Chrisco was kicked out for the ploy while Brown's bike was too tweaked LO continue. Brown borrowed the GM of Gene Woods for the restart and he put on a ride. He was second out of the gate behind Walt Farnum but he quickly got by Farnum on lap one. Brown built a slim but comfortable lead. At the same time Christian was chargmg from the 50-yard line. Brown took the white £lag with Farnum still second but Farnum wheelied off turn two and let Christian through. The crowd went wild as Christian closed the gap. He would have run out of time but Brown drifted wide out of the final corner, aUowing Christian to pull alongside and they dragged to the line shoulder-to-shoulder with Christian scoring a narrow win. The crowd screamed their approval. Farnum ended up taking home the third place dough. The Second Division main was a wild affair that saw Warren Reid circle the track with the checkered £lag on a victory lap. Unfortunately the race had been red £lagged on the fi nal circuit and the win went to Don Butler (Wright Framers/Mike Sullivan Racing Associates/J&M Trophy and Silk Screen Weslake). The starter gave Reid the checkered by mistake. Second was Shane Hawley on the former John Sandona Weslake with Steve Furman third. Reid, in the end, garnered fourth. Keith Rylance, who spent the last few years racing grass tracks in his native England, turned in a fine ride and won the D-3 main over Kurt Markham and Craig Furman. grounds. Sandona, who won the Scratch main, became the seventh different winner in as many weeks at the competitive beach-area oval. Sandona has been very hot in the first week of May and he more than proved that on Friday evening. After transferring LO the Handicap Consolation, Sandona then won his Scratch heat and took second LO Sam ErmoResults lenko in their semi. . SCRATCH: 1. John Sandona (Wes); 2. Sam I n t h e malO San d ona h opped f rom Ermolenko (PPT); 3. Steve Lucero (Wesl. the .paIe.and qllickly .into .the .lead •.... H~DJW: 1. Alan Christian (Wes); 2. Scotty Robert Hansen won both 250cc Pro motos at Albany. Oregon. Brown (GMI; 3. Walt Farnum (Jawl. 2ND DIV: 1. Don Butler (Wes); 2. Shane Hawley (Was); 3. Steve Furmon (Jow). 3RD DIV: 1. Keith Rylance (Jaw); 2. Kurt Markham (Jaw); 3. Craig Furmon (Jawl. Rogstad, Hansen atAlbanySX By Clay Light ALBANY, OR, MAY 4 Kawasaki speedster Kurtis Rogstad rode a superb second moto in the 125cc Professional class at the Albany Supercross to nab early leader Kenny "Too Rad" Olsen and take the overall win in the class with 2-1 rides. Washington's Robert Hansen was the most dominant Pro of the day, winning both hot 250cc Pro contests on his Honda. Two other riders were also impressive. winningtwodasses; II-year-oldRyan Hu££man won the 60cc A and 80cc B events and Tony Graves won the I 25cc and 250cc B classes. Olsen (O'Neal/ATAKlKawasaki) holeshot the first 125cc Pro contest on what was a very soupy track due to heavy rains early in the day. Class dominator Gary "Bad Boy"Beyer (Taylor Honda) ran second to Olsen in the early going with Rogstad running third on the Beaverton Hondasponsored Kawasaki. Beyer pressured Olsen, which resulted in the KX speedster bailing off and gave Beyer the lead to the finish ahead of Rogstad, Jon Davidson, Swuki rider Ernie Roberts and Scott Gri)'llm.Moto two had Olsen grabbing his usual holeshot while Beyer ran dead last after a first-turn crash. Rogstad made things miserable for Olsen and took over the lead late in the moLO to beat Olsen, Davidson, Roberts, Keith Foidel and Beyer, who charged to sixth at moLO's end. Davidson used his 3-3 consistency for second pay behind the 2-1 tally of Rogstad and ahead of Beyer (1-6). Robert "Hot Rod" Hansen had an easy time in both of the 250cc Pro contests, manuevering his Honda through the slop for a I-I rout of the class. Hansen hooked up nicely to lead his comrades into turn one in the first moto and held the position for the duration which left fellow Washington riders Stan Lund and Tracey Bethel to squabble for second until Oregon's Kevin White separated the duo by taking a third at the end of the moto behind winner Hansen and Lund. who landed second. The second contest was all Hansen's, again start to finish. Hansen rides with a style and speed very similar to that of national speedster Mikel Larson, and today, had no competition. Bethel held off LRD Racing's White for a second in the slopfest, good for second pay with 4-2 rides while White took third moeny after finishing third both outings. Graves (Krause Racing/Herbs Cycles-Honda) continues to be southern Oregon's premier B class rider, and today, sloshed through thequag· mire for I-I wi ns in the 250cc B class. Graves had to hold off Team Greens Kelly Whelchel and track manager Bob Leach in order to earn a win in moLO one. Leach drilled the holeshot in moLO two and held oU 15-year-old Graves for five laps until the southern Oregon speedster swept past. The ride of the day came from Whelchel, who came from a full lap down after getting c;aught in a first-turn pile-up. Whelchel rode to third in the 17-rider class at the moLO's end behind Graves and Leach LO earn third overall with a 2·3 score. Fourth in the moLO went to Curtis Cunningham while Mike Not~ placed fifth on a new M-Star. The largest class in the program was the 125cc C class at 27 riders strong. Jon Wiley came away with the lead at the drop of the gate in the first contest and took the win at the finish over Paul Rosenau and Aaron Boehmer. Things got scarey in moto two as the pack funneled into tum one. Down went leader Damon Dunnagan and a massive pile-up occured, which put Rosenau and Bobby Eyman into the 1-2 spots well ahead of the comperition. Eyman overtook Rosenau for the lead and the moLO win, buta firstmoto 13th gave the Yamaha speedster a dismal overall finish and put Rosenau into the winners' circle via his 2-2 rides over Boehmer (3=4) andWiley (1-7). Results 250 PRO: 1. Robert Han..n (Hon); 2. Tracey Bathel (Kew); 3. Kevin White (yam). 125 PRO; 1. Kurt Rogstad (Kaw); 2. Jon Davidson (Yam); 3. Gary Beyer (Hon). 30-40 PRO: 1. Bob Leach (Hon); 2. Mike Holbrook (Hon); 3. Den Summerlin (Kew). OPEN B: 1. Pat Jordan (Hon); 2. Tom Pilcher (M5): 3. Was Han..n (Kaw). OPEN C: 1. Tom Wood (Kaw); 2. Jim Parks (Hon); 3. Kelly Whelchel (Kaw). 250 B: 1. Tony Graves (Hon); 2. Bob Leech (Hon); 3. Kelly Whelchel (Kewl. 250 C; 1. George Fortin (Hon); 2. Terry Hamne.. (Hon); 3. DougWiley (Hon). 125 B: 1. Tony Graves (Hon); 2. Dana Anderson (Hon); 3. Devid Browning (Kew). 125 C: 1. Paul Rosenau (Kew); 2. Aaron Boehmer (Hon); 3. Jon Wiley (Honl. BO B; 1. Ryan Huffman (Yamt 2. Travis Markell (Yom); 3. Richord Browning (Kew). BO C; 1. Travis Berry (Yam); 2. Roby Laach (KTM); 3. Chris Paterson (Yom). 80 B: 1. Chris Paterson (Kaw); 2. Ryan Leech (Hon). PEE WEE: 1. Robert Holtgr_ (Yam); 2. Kevin Eokin (Hon); 3. Man Williams (Yam). OT $: 1. Jim Lamkin (Hon); 2. Charlie Standeford (Hon); 3. Charlie Harter (M-SI. OT B: 1. Don Colt (ATKI; 2. Richard Chapman (M-S); 3. Jim Newman (Suz). BO A: 1. JeN Daily (Kow); 2. Paul Winn (Yam). 60 A; 1. Ryan Huffman (Kew). Richmond ST win to Koris By Joe Kelly RICHMOND, VA, MAY 7 A beautiful night for short track racing greeted the 70 riders and 1200 spectators as they entered the Virginia State Fairgrounds Wednesday night. The action got off LO a rousing start in the J 25cc events. Mickey Turner held the lead in the first qualifier until David Nuckols blitzed by on the last lap to' win. Mickey Turner won the second heat. Doug Elliott led the main for three laps tjlen Nuckols started a charge that carried him to the front. Defending Track Champion Wayne Eckert put pressure on the leader in the final two I·aps, but had LO settle for second. The 250cc Amateur class had an upset of sorts in the heat qualifier. Chris Rickman had always been a hard, talented rider, but difficulties have kept him from the front. In the heat he charged in front of Glenn Baar, David Nuckols and Carroll Wh'!y...l:tW tI:ttee¥!t1l~.p~t.u'p'~ ~qr-.

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