Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Suzuki's George Holland briefly leads Rick Ryan (12) and Donny Schmit (40 1 ) in the first 125cc moto, before dropping back w ith bike problems. uack featured a variet y of terrain, and clo udy skies kept the ground tacky and dust-free. Bu t halfway through the fina l 125cc m o to , it began to sprinkle, a nd by the time the 500cc class ma de its final appearance, the clouds opened up and drenched the track with a steady downpour of rain, maki ng the track extremely muddy and slick. 500cc National The start of the first 500cc moto saw Ward power his big-bore Kawasaki into the lead ahead of Stanton, Kawasaki-mounted, Whiskey Pete 's Casino-sponsored J eff Watts, Hannah Raci ng Products/Pro Ci rcuit's Jeff Hicks, johnson, Race ·T ech / Innovation Sports' Doug Dubach a n d Kawasaki-m ounted Denni s H a wth orne. Mike Fisher, who pl aced third o vera ll at the San Ant on io 500cc seas o n opener th e week before Red Bud, crashed in th e firs t turnand p icked back up nearly last. '" just slid ou t in th e fir st tum," said Fish er . " I was trying to go for it: I was right up th ere abou t fourth, but' tri ed to co me out first - I didn't make it. " By the end of th e first lap, Watts a nd Johnson had passed Hicks, a nd then j ohnson sn uc k by Wa tts for third. rIOnce into third J ohnson set h is sigh ts on Hi-Point/ Arai/Scott USAspo n so re d St anton , who wasn't abou t to giv e in withou t a fight. Turn a fte r turn , John son tri ed slic kin g a front wheel inside o f Sta nton's Yamaha but fou nd no luck. But by th e eight-minute mark of th e 30-m in u te-p lus -two-lap moto , J ohnson m ad e hi s move an d dove . past S tanton fo r seco n d . Wa tts ma intained co ntrol o f fourth, while Dubach, Hicks, Hawthorne, H onda- mounted Ray Sommo and Yamaha 's Keith Bowen chased. Knowing Ward wasn 't riding 100%, johnson smoothly reeled-in the injured .Sinisa lo / Oakley/Shoeibacked rider until he was inches beh in d . Seventeen minutes into the moto - near the halfway point - J oh nson cleanly motored by Ward taking over the top position. From that point on, Johnson started pulling away from Ward, an d 12 minutes (five la ps) later, Johnson en joyed a IO-second lead on Ward, who held a comfortab le lead on Stanton. By th is tim e, AXO Sportssponsored Bowen dropped out of th e race with a seized motor whil e running sixth. " I was just workin g up prett y good," sa id Bowen, " th en the bike started to ra ttle a little bit. Then I went into a turn and let off on th e gas, and it j us t sto p ped. I thou ght I had stalled it, but it wa s locked up." While Bowen wa lked back to th e pits, Fi sher was busy working up th rough th e pack aft er hi s fall. The Kawasaki rider slowly picked o ff riders one a t a tim e until he was 10th . With o n ly a few laps to go , near th e 30-m in u te point, Watts' ri de ca m e to a su dden halt wh en hi s Kawa saki threw its cha in. Watts managed to put th e chain back on quick ly en o ugh to m a intain ninth. The moto took nea rl y 38 minutes to co m p lete, and it wa s johnson taking th e win over Ward, Stanton, Dubach, Pederson , Hi cks , H a wthorne, Sommo a nd Fi sher . " I was ridin!l ab out 60%," sa id Ward. '" ca n ' t sit down o n th e sea t. _ I'm riding o u t th ere now jus t to ge t second place. It 's reall y so re. 'wasn 't even pushing in th e moto, I was j us t Jeff Stanton was Johnson's only concern in the 500cc class. Stanton went 3-2 and finished second overall and is now second in points. riding and ' held 'em off for half the race. But my arms go t so tight for p u lling myse lf up to try an d n o t si t down that I co u ld n't flo w anymore." " I kn ew that Ward was hurt, so I took it a little to easy in th e first tu rn and gotstuffed," said J oh nson . "It took me a few la ps to get settled down and up to speed." Before the gate even dropped for the. sta rt of the second rnoto, it was pouring down rain, and Johnson knew a good start would be crucial. With that in mind, the 1987 250cc National ch amp proceded to steal th e holesh ot , while Ward got tangled up in a seco nd -turn pile-up. Some of th ose invo lved in the mess were Ward , and Dubach . All m an aged to rem ount, as did Ward - but slo wly. Ward actua lly hopped back on hi s bike but never made an effort to sta rt his motorcycle. H e event ua lly got ba ck o ff hi s bike and walked away from th e track in pain , with rib injuries. J ohnson, in th e meantime, was sail in g o u t in front with Sta nton close behind. Following S ta nton were Pederson, Hicks, Watts, H o nda riders Tom Carson and Andy Stacey, Bow en and Fisher. Stanton kept a clos e eye o n j ohnso n for th e first few laps then started to drop o ff johnson 's quick but smooth pace. Because o f th e ra in a nd m ud, positions quickl y sprea d o u t, tu rni ng th e moto into a sleeper. By th e 10-minute point, j ohnson held a very co m forta b le lead o ver Stanton , who enjoyed a bi g adva ntage on Pederson. About 10 seconds behind P ed er son fo ll owed Watts , th en H icks , Carson, Sommo an d Bow en . Bowen , however, crashed over a double jump, stunning the Yamaha rider enough to p ut him ou t of the race. Eigh t min utes later, at the halfway point, J o h nson was way o ut in front . with Stanton hol d in g on to second quite easily over Pederso n. At this point, it wa s still raining hard, making it difficult just to ride around the track. Th e ra ce cou ld 've ended here since there was no passing "a mong th e leaders. Johnson sloshe d hi s wa y to th e win a head of Stanton, Pederson, Hicks, Watts and Fi sher . '" really didn 't mind th e mud," said Johnson , "but at first I was a little worried wh en I saw Stanton right behind m e a t th e sta rt . Jeff is a good mud rider a n d this is hi s hometown. But he m ade a co u p le o f big mistakes, and- I was able to ge t away fro m him. '" a lso want to th ank j eff a nd hi s parents for letting me sta y a t th eir h ouse all week. " 125cc National There was p len ty of ac tio n in th e 125cc class, an d it a ll began a t the start of th e first mot o when H on da privateer rider Rick y Ryan blew into th e lead ahead of Leisk, Suzu ki's G eorge Holland, Donny Schmit a nd Vince DeVane, Yamaha rider T odd DeHoop an d H onda -mounted Guy Coop er. A lap (2:43.24) la ter, R yan wa s still leading but Hallman Ra cing/ Arai.' Sco tt U SA-bac ked H oll and ha d m oved into seco nd , p ushing Leisk back to third. Sch m it was still fourth fo llowed by H onda- mo u nted , P roCircu it-sponsored Larry Brooks and DeHoop. DeVane had dropped to 7

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