Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Honda's Johnny O'Mara (4-3) came horne third in the 250cc class. (Below) Suzuki's Erik Kehoe finished 1-4 in 1 ~6cc comPetition, American Honda's Micky Dymond became the fourth rider in four events to win a 125cc National. Dymond powered to a 2-1 win at Mt. Morris. beck, Eaton, Murphy, Hicks and California's Billy Frank. Hannah had moved up seven positions to 16th. Johnson gassed it up as the moto neared the checkered nag. By lap eight Ward's one-time 14-second lead had dwindled to eight seconds, and by the time the white nag came out on lap 10, qe was only seven seconds in front of Johnson. Ward slowed his pace during the final lap, then lost at least fOUT seconds when he overshot a berm, allowing Johnson to close to within one bikelength with only a few turns left. Johnson just missed catching Ward at the flag. Bailey took the checkers in third place and O'Mara got around Liles on the last lap to finish fourth. Sixth went to King, Lechien finished seventh, Storbeck ended up eighth, Murphy was ninth, and Tom Carson of Ohio; (sponsored by Northgate Honda/Gold Belt), rounded out the top 10. "I slowed down on the last lap probably more than 1 should have," said Ward after the moto. "At the beginning I was really riding nice and smooth; riding my own race. Then Ricky got in' second and 1 had to keep my eye on him. 1 tried different lines LO see if they were faster, but they weren't. On the last lap 1 went over a, berm, then he was right on me." In John on's pit, mechanic Brian Lunniss and other Honda personnel franticly rebuilt the LOp end on Johnsgn's CR250. "They're putting a new piston and rings in itand cleaning al I the dirt out of the bike," Johnson said. "It sucked a bunch of sand about the haH-way point. 1 thought it was going to seize, so 1 started nursing it, and it loosened up LOward the end. I don't give Jerr the credit for that win. It wasn't me (that faltered), it was the bike. He didn't beat me. The next moLO there will be a war." Johnson fired the first shot in that war - a holeshot - but he couldn't pull away from his Kawasaki-mounted rival. For most of the moLO '(30 minutes plus two-laps) Ward stuck like glue LO Johnson's rear fender, seldom dropping more than five or 10 bikelengths behind Johnson's rebuilt Honda: Liles completed the fiTSt trip around the course in third place with O'Mara, Carson and Eaton in tow. Lechien was running seventh, followed by Bailey, Jim Holley (sponsored by Yamaha Motor Corpotation), Tom WatlS and Billy Frank, (sponsored by Yamaha/Gear/Race Tech). Johnson and Ward continued LO power away from the pack on the second lap, while positions were swapped in almost every turn among the remaining top 10 riders. The O'Show throttled by Liles to take over thi~d for good on the second lap, and BaIley ,moved around Lechien, Carson and Eaton to lake over fifth. One lap later the order read Johnson, Ward,. O'Mara, Liles, Bailey, Lechien, Carson, and Holley. Bailey moved by Liles on the fourth lap to claim fourth place and set for good the top-lour finishing positions. During the late stages of the race, Ward often looked as if might gain on Johnson coming into one turn, but always in the next corner Johnson would pull away. Once during the late going, Johnson exited a difficult turn on the gas - a tum where Ward had expected Johnson LO cruise - and the defending 250cc National Champ just watched and shook his head. It was evident the weB -conditioned Johnson would not give the race away because of fatigue. Ward had closed to within three bikelengths behind Johnson with two laps LO go, and on the white-nag lap Johnson held a slim four-bikelength advantage as the two factory riders sailed over the triples on the uphill section just before the finish line. Johnson held that advantage on the final lap, winning by fOUT bikelengths at the flag. . O'Maracruised LOan unchallenged third, which gave him third overall for the day. Bailey motored home in fourth to take founh overall, and Lechien rounded out the top five in the moLO, finishing sixth overall. Liles finished sixth (fifth overall); Holley took seventh (eighth overall); Frank finished eighth (ninth overall); ninth in the moto went to King (seventh overall); and Carson crossed the line in 10th (10th overall). "Jeff didn't close on me," said Johnson after the moLO. "There were two lappers in from of me and I couldn't jump two sets of doubles. He didn't exactly reel me in. Jeff rode really good today, really hard. I didn't think he was in striking distance during the race, but at the end, where 1 made the mistake, he closed. When I couldn't get around those lappers at the triples that moved it (Johnson's lead) from 11 seconds to right on my tail. " Can anyone beat Rick Johnson? "Well, he got beat once today," Ward said. "We broke even. It was really an even race. It's just too bad the second moLO gelS the overall." 125cc National There was no SLOpping Kehoe in the afternoon's first 125cc moLO. Kehoe, who won his first National ever at Ml. Morris in 1985, followed California's Doug Dubach out of the gate and took tlte lead from Dubach in turn two. Kawasaki-mounted Rick Ryan, (sponsored by Mamola Racing/ GVO) came off the line in third place. with Dymond close behind. Before the first lap was half over, Dymond was pushing Kehoe hard, running two bikelengths behind the leader and going for the top position whenever the opportunity presented itself. Kehoe consistently held him orr. At the end of the first lap, Dubach followed the front runners in third, Kawasaki's Eddie Warren was holdingdown fourth, and Honda-mounted Jeff Leisk rounded oUlthe top five. Leisk moved into third on lap two, with Georgia's Keith Turpin taking over fourth, dropping Dubach LO fifth. Running sixth through 10th were Wart

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