Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Rick Johnson crashed in a section of whoops while trying to pass Jeff Ward in a heat race. Saturday. Johnson broke two fingers. of his Yamaha in the whoops and crashed heavily. Lechien throttled by the downed Michigan rider and cruised home for the win. Leisk finished second ahead of Andrews, while Bowen recovered and salvaged a fourth, inches ahead of Hicks. Lechien's heat winning time was the fastest Sunday, which gives him another four points towards the Coors Cup Series Championship, in which Johnson still leads by two points over Lechien, 19-17. Third overall with 12 points is Ward. Ward took the holeshot in the frnal heat race and charged home for a fairly easy win. He had to ride cautiously, however, since Holland was within striking distance the whole way. A tightly knit group of riders consisting of Kawasakimounted Marck McLaren, Upshaw and Matson finished third through fifth. Semis Team Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara broke into the top 10 in the series points chase with a 5-3 score in Pontiac. O'Mara rode conservatively. 125 Main Suzuki riders dominated 125cc action ~oing into the main event with TIchenor, Turpin and Vince DeVane winning the two heat races and the last chance qualifier, but when the gate dropped for the 12lap final, it was a Honda rider blasting into the lead. Bruce Gates stole the holeshot ahead of Tichenor, Yamaha-mounted Todd DeHoop, Turpin and Kawasaki cider Rodney Barr. During the first lap, while trying to pass Gates through a section of whoops, Tichenor crashed. "I tangled with Gates," said Tichenor, "and I guess his bike hit my front brake, and I just flipped over. My bike landed on top of me, and I've got tire tra,cks all over my back." By the second lap, Turpin had taken over second and was setting his sights on Gates. A few turns later, Turpin dove to the inside of Gates in a turn and then double-jumped by the Honda rider, finishing off the pass. Once into the lead, Turpin held the throttle wide open and began pulling away, while Yamaha rider Michael Jones and DeHoop chased Gates. Two laps later, DeHoop snuck by Jones in a turn and then charged after Gates. Gates and DeHoop put on a spectacular show as they diced for second, while Jones and Richard Halstead followed closely. Gates and DeHoop traded places a number of times before DeHoop settled into second with a few laps remaining. . Jones tangled with another rider ami crashed. Turpin easily won the moto ahead of De Hoop, Gates, Barr, Carroll Richarson and Jones. Sunday Heats Once again, the first heat race was dominated by Warren. The Kawasaki rider led from start to finish, while O'Mara worked his way up from a fifth-place start"'1O take second. O'Mara spent much of the moto in third trying to get around Brooks. With three laps to go, O'Mara set up the Honda rider through a double jump section to claim the number two spot. Cooper took fourth ahead of Surratt. The second heat race featured another wire-to-wire win, this time it was Ryan taking the honors. However, Ryan was chased by Stano. ton the whole way despite almost crashing in the whoops. Losing valuable time to Ryan, Stanton decided to put it in cruise control and settle for a second. Pederson ruled third place throughout the moto, while King finished fourth. Heat four pitted rivals Lechien and Bowen in the same race. Bowen held con trol of the lead after ·the first lap ahead of Andrews, Lechien and Leisk. A short time later, Lechien took care of Andrews in the whoops then began slowly reeling in Bowen. Lechien inched his way within striking distance of Bowen, but with three laps to go, and with Lechien pressuring hard, Bowen lost control Holeshot artist Frisz led from start to end in the first semi, but Hawthorne, Hicks and Surratt didn't give up without a fight. By the third lap, Hawthorne dropped to fourth, making it a three-way dice for the lead. Hicks spent the next three laps holding off Surratt until he fell in a turn and dropping to a distant third. The Suzuki duo, Frisz and Surratt, transferred to the main. Suzuki-mounted Scooter Stafford executed a picture-perfect pass during the second lap of the second semi, by sneaking under both Yamaha riders Doug Hoover and Matson in a left hand sweeper, taking the lead. From that point on, the race was all Stafford's, while Hoover finished second. last Chance Qualifier Hawthorne took the early lead in the LCQ but stalled his Kawasaki in a tight left tum, giving the top spot to Hicks. Hicks promptly extended his lead over Matson, who was eventually passed by Kawasaki rider JoJo Keller two laps from the finish. Main It was Warren just edging O'Mara through the first tum at the start of the main, with Ward running about fifth. But heading up the uphill section of the track, Ward and two other riders tangled and tumbled to the ground. "I got pinched off by Ronnie (Lechien) right off the start," said Ward, "then going up the uphill, somebody just landed on my back and took me down." This put Ward dead last after the first lap with Stanton heading the pack after passing Warren, who dropped to fourth behind Lechien and O'Mara. Bowen was running fifth ahead of Ryan, Frisz, Holland, Leisk, Pederson and Brooks. Stanton led for one more lap before Lechien motored to the outside of the Yamaha rider in a turn and then out-jumped Stanton over a double 'taking over the lead. A lap later, Leisk endoed. "I missed a shift going over a jump before a tabletop," said Leisk. "I nosed-dived it right into the tabletop. Luckily I didn't get hurt." After five laps of racing, it was Lechien developing a slight advantage over Stanton, pursued by. Bowen, Warren, Ryan, O'Mara, Holland, Frisz, Pederson and Ward. A few turns later, however, Bowen bit-it big time through the whoops, dropping the Yamaha rider out of contention. He eventually pulled out of the race. Nursing a sore knee, Holland was the next rider to make a move and did so by stuffing his Suzuki by Ryan's Honda. On the preceeding lap, Stanton lost control of his Yamaha in the whoops and bailed off the course. "I'm not sure what exactly happened," said Stanton. "I think I overJumped it and went into a rurry secton of the whoops, and it sent me over to the wall. And then I couldn't get my bike out, 'cause there was a bunch of big rocks I was stuck in." Stanton recovered but finished out of the top 10. After Stanton crashed, Warren took over second with O'Mara and , Holland close behind. Ryan was fifth with Ward working his way up to sixth. A few turns later, and after passing Ryan, Ward clipped a hay bale and crashed. "Going into a corner," said Ward, "my front brake lever hit a hay bale, and that sent me over the bars. " For a few seconds, Ward was pinned under the bike, and once he got going again, Ward recouped in eighth. Up front, Lechien was enjoying an 11.18 second lead on Warren, who was still trying to shake loose O'Mara and Holland. While holding down fifth, Ryan dropped out of contention after biting it over a triple jump and giving Ward the fifth spot. A lap later, Warren dropped his Kawasaki in the whoops, giving O'Mara second and Holland third. Warren picked back up in seventh. At the same time, Lechien made a mistake. "Coming off the double jump, I hit the back of Surratt," said Lechien. "Luckily I got up qui9<.ly and kept the motor running." With five laps remaining, the only position up for grabs was between O'Mara' and Holland for second place. Chasing O'Mara the whole race, Holland saw Ills chance and cut to the inside of his teammate in a turn and took over second. From that point on, the ra~e was history with

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