Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

"Findlay Flyer" Steve Morehead (42) takes season opener at Clark County Fairgrounds in Springfield. besting Don Estep and Dan Ingarm. Burg eson (Yam ); 5. Gabriel Camaren a (Hon). 125 BEG: 1. Brent Palkovic (Hon); 2. Mar k Baumgardner (Suz); 3. Bill Collet (Hon); 4. Greg Rosati (Yam); 5. John Emerson (Hon). . 125 NOV; 1. David Halverson (Kaw); 2. Jerry J ackson (Hon); 3. Joey Prais (Hon); 4 . Stan Keller (Hon ~ 5. J eff Ma son (Hon). 125 INT: 1. Mi ke Brooks (Yam). PROS: 1. Keith Willi amson (Yam); 2. Lance Gonon (Kaw); 3. M asa Sh ibuya (Kaw); 4 . Glenn Page (Hon). 250 BEG: 1. Carlos Johnston (Yam); 2. Randy Noriega (Suz); 3. Donald Urbanek (Yam); 4. Jo el Camrin (Yam); 5. J eff Bail ey (Suz). 250 NOV: 1. Mi chael Mobsc si (Hon); 2. Richard Geraghty (Yam); 3. M ichael Novikoff (Hon); 4. Dave Brown (Hon ); 5 . Tein i Cam arena (Hon) . 250 INT: 1. Jamie Morabito (Yam); 2. Darr en Paley (Suz); 3. Tiber Papp (Hon); 4. Bob Kerz IKaw); 5. John Singl etary (Yam). • OPEN BEG: 1. John Nauk ivell (Kaw). . VET JR : 1. Brad Sloan (Hon); 2. Fritz Huabne r (KTM ); 3. SCOll Thompson (Suz); 4. M ich ael Nicholas (Hon). Lange, Battin bomb Washougal opener By Clay Light 4 WASHOUGAL, WA, MAY 3 H onda-mounted Doug Lange and Suzu ki jockey Brent Battin were among winners a t Wash ou gal 's season opener d u ring Mo tocross Northwest-sanctioned raci ng. Lange used I-I tallies to top the Open Pros: while Battin posted 1-2 performances to top a fine field of 250cc Pro riders. The first O pen Pro moto had La n ge shoo t into th e lea d over Southern Oregon speedster Rick Bau lt and Yamaha rider Scot t Williams. Lange led start to finish with Ba ul t nabbing second. Lan ge destroyed moto two to finalize his I-I sweep with Bault second (2-2) and Will iams third (3-3). The 125cc P ro po rtion saw Kenny Olsen coming out on top of a DNFp lagued race with I-I finis hes to dump Gary Beyer to second overall. Batten led the first 250cc Pro moto, which was the largest of the day's Pro classes . Local riders Mike Chase and Mitch Kirkpa trick were close behind until Dennis Sweeten and Suzuki rider Mike Sta hl entered the picture. Battin emerged th e winner at the completion of moto one with Chase, Sweetin, Stahl and Kirkpatrick filling the top five. Moto two had Sweeten ta ke control for a win, but the overall fell the way of Battin . after a second-place finish for a 12 overall win. Sweeten was second . overall with 3- 1 rides and third in . the moto and the overall to Chase. Amateur racing was among the best it's been all season. In the Upthe-Hill class, Ro n Sun made a return to the racing scene at Washou gal. Sun rode superb in bot h mo tos on a H onda a nd took double moto wins. Sun smoked both motos in the class followed by 250cc Pro winner Ba tt i n, which showed that Sun hadn 't lost his speed. Ba ttin used 22 performances for second place brass to beat Alla n Pitts, Kirkpatrick and Scott Bergren . Mike Williams and Monty Spald ing came away wi th wins in the 250cc and 125cc In termedi ate classes, both aboard H ondas. Will iams walloped both 250cc contests, beating fast guys J oh n Wilson and Aaron Boehmer. Spalding has been on the gas of late and today rode one of his best races th us far in the MNW season. Spald ing put toge ther I-I rides on his R oseburg H onda, beating Dana Anderson an d Je ff Daily. Da il y ca me back in th e 80cc Expert/Intermedia te class but had his share of problems throughout both motos, T he stellar performa nce in mo to one was turned in by Ulven Fo rging-sponsored Da nny U lven. Ulven blazed his way to the checkered flag in the combined race for a mot o one win, edging out flyin ' Ryan H uff man. Moto two had J ason McCormick, H uffman a nd Ulven hol ding down the to p spots. Huffm an had a n untim ely seizure, putting Daily into second a t the finis h behind a sur prising McCormick, who also won the 60cc Expert even t. Results OPEN PRO: 1. Doug Lange (Hon); 2. Rick Bault (Hon); 3. Scon Will iams (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Bren t Ballin (Suz); 2. Dennis Sw eeten (Kaw ); 3. M ike Chase (Hon). 2501NT : t . M ike Williams (Hon); 2. John W ilson (Hon); 3. Aaron Boehmer (Hon). 125 INT; 1. Mo nty Spalding (Hon); 2. Dana Anderson (Hon); 3. J eff Daily (Kaw). 80 EX/INT: 1. Jason McCorm ick (Kaw); 2. Danny Ulven (Kaw); 3. J eff Daily (Kaw) . 60 INT: 1. Eric Bur kins haw (Kaw); 2. Nate Gravelle (Kaw l. OPEN JR: 1. Ben Wagon men (Yam); 2. Ma rk Benn ell (Hon); 3. Mark Dickey (Kaw). 250 JR: 1. Scot Bergr en (Hon); 2. Rob Spring (Hon); 3. Ron Weslake (Hon). 125 JR: Chad Gravell e (Kaw ); 2. Mar k Sor enson (Hon); 3. Rob Spring (Kaw) . 80 JR: 1. Shan e West (Kaw); 2. Chad Brow n (Kaw); 3 . Chris Paterson (Yam ). 60 JR: 1. Todd Kibbl e (Kaw ); 2. Man Wil lia ms (Kaw). 30 -40 : 1. Tom Rolland (Hon); 2. Harvey Vi sser (Hon); 3. David Lyle (Kaw). 105 M INI: 1. Ryan Huffman ' (Yam); 2. Dann y Ulven (Kaw ); 3 . Travis Berry (Hon) . UTH: 1. Ron Sun (Hon); 2. Brent Battin ISuz); 3. All en Pitts (Hon). Morehead tops Springfield opener By Bert and Deanna Shepard SP R INGFIELD, O H, APR. 26 " It was the tire combination," said Steve More had, "plus I had to hurry. I have a spri nt car race to go to tonig h t in Findlay." Doug Murray (38) and Brad Jones (453) battled for the Open win at ' Rabbit Ridge Raceway. Jones claimed the class victory. T he " Fi ndl a y Flyer " had just do minated the Ohio raci ng season's ope ne r o n the ha lf-m ile oval at Springfield. Mu lti-ti me amateu r champions Scott Stu mp (J un ior) and Kevin Atherton (Pro/Am) ea rned victories in their respective divisions. Morehead took the F&S H .D .lKK Supply/La ube's Cycle Sales /John Dragoo/J.W. H unt / XR7 50 for th e quickest (26.544 seconds) tour of th e Cla r k Cou nty Fairg rounds race track. Scott Park er 's 1981 record (25.089) seems unobtainable due to track resurfacing. Dan In gram and Jon Cornwell ro unded ou t the top three qual ifiers. Dan Bu tler tu rn ed in a ti me of 27.323 to top a ta lentladen Jun ior field. First-yea r professionals Ru ss Crawford, Richard Foard and Kevin Atherton won th eir q ua lifiers. Kevin, the you ngest of the Ath ertons, earn ed the pole position for th e P ro -Am main. T he 1986 Sprin gf ie ld Pro- Am wi nner, David Raybu rn , picked up where he left off by winning hi s hea t, a nd Dan Butler let everyo ne know that his fast-time was no flu ke when he won hi s heat. Scott Stump's 600cc single was the fastest of the fiel d in the J unior class; he earned the pole positio n for the main. More head wo n . the first Expert hea t with a flawless high-lin e ride. Donnie Este p a nd Jon Corn well drew the crowd's attent ion when they continually stepped on each o ther's toes a few-feet behind Mor ehead. T he point of conten tion seemed to be turns three and four. O n th e last lap , Co rnwell got u nder Estep bu t dri fted hig h at the apex, and second pl ace belonged to th e Orient, Ohio pi lo t. Darren Erichsen, .j o h n Parker and Mike Ashton all moved upa pos ition after the completion of th e event. Fourth-place finisher Brian Hardin forgot to go direc tly to tech in spection to have his restrictors checked a nd was disq ua lif ied. Dan Ingram 'had the ho lesho t for the second heat, bu t Do ug Davis took the L-Z-tuned XR to the point by the second tour. After six quick lap s, George Roeder had the p lace positio n and Ingra m the show spot. Curt Reh mert kept Chris Evans a nd Rob Crabbe at bay for fourt h. Dan Crawford and Ron Schroeder won the two races for no n-qualifiers. Kevin Atherton put the Perry's H.D.lRon Wood/Tsubaki/Carlisle / N.H.I. /Hog Was h/Northern Electr ic/Rotax in front .of the P ro/ Am main fro m flag to flag. Ath erton, with Russ Crawford in tow , pu t some d istance o n Mike Butler a nd th e field. . By th e halfway point, Danny Koelsch ' held down fou rt h in front of Phil Jones, R ick Saudy, Ed H owe, Mike Luddin, Ed James and 'james Beck. T he field held position as Ath erton rode to a new Pro/ Am reco rd. Anticipa tio n got the best of Juniors Mark Wyskiel and Dan H ackett , and th ey viewed th e start fro m the pe na lty l in e. O n the first start Wyskiel was left a t the gate wi th his hand in th e air. O n th e restart Dan Bu tler he ld th e lead unti l Sco tt Stu mp put the Smi tty's H .D .lShoei / T su bak i/Tohn Bales Harley under h im in tu rn three. Stump cha nge d hi s lin e a t m id poi nt and won by more th an five seconds over Bu tler. Da ve R a ybu rn ' s ( 1986 P ro / Am winner) bid for a repea t victory ended in a ge toff in turn th ree. T he notable ride of the even t was p ut in by Mark Wyskiel. The Michigan p ilot wor ked his way from th e penalty line to a th ird place finish. Fourt h and sixt h p laces were undecided unti l the last lap. Todd Conan t kept Scott Buchan a t bay as did Jeff Sizemore wit h Dave Cook. The Ex pert main was all Morehea d. From the ou tside pole, the "Find lay Flyer" demonstrat ed how to wor k the fairgrounds to per fection . J on Cornwell a nd Dan In gram spent the firs t five laps arguing over second p lace. During th e remaini ng laps Darren Erichsen, Donn ie Estep a nd Doug Davis jo ined Co rn well and Ingram. At the pay wi ndo w, the .order was Moreh ead , Estep, Ingram , Co rnwe ll, Eric hse n a n d Da vi s. George Roeder, Chris Evans, Cu rt Reh rnert , J ohn Parker , Mike Ash ton an d Rob Crabbe completed the field. Results EX: 1. Steve Moreh ead (H-D); 2. Donnie Estep (HD); 3. Dan Ingram (H-D); 4. Jon Cornw ell (H-D); 5 . Darr in Erichse n (H- Ol. - JR: 1. SCOll Stump (H-D); 2. Dan Butler (Hon); 3. Mark Wyskiel (Hon); 4. Todd Conant (Hon); 5. SC Buchan (C-A ). Oll PRO/AM : 1. Kevin At henon (W-R); 2. Russ Crawf ord (W· R): 3. Mi ke Butl er (W-R); 4. Danny , Kelsch (W-R); 5. Rich Foard (W-R). . Jones jams to Rabbit Ridge MX win By Sharon Jones ' ESSEX, lA, AP R. 26 Doug Murray, aboard a three-yearo ld Suzuki R M500, grabbed the ' holesh o t in the lar ge Rabb it Ridge Open class an d led the opening laps in commandi ng fashion for th e win. Brad Jones ran second, wh ile Doug N icholas cruised in th ird. N ichol as cha ll en ge d Jones righ t

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