Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Melch er had a thi rd pl ace sta rt and worked h is way past Bret Snider o n lap five of the main event to tak e over second; then started to reel in the leader Don Gray. Gray continued to hold off the efforts of Melcher until the last lap , when Melcher snuck to the inside in th e las t turn and hit the last j umps just ahead of Gray. Melche r ma naged to hold on a nd nai led down the win by a small margin. . Don Jackson brought his fath er 's . retired Honda out for a run in th e ' Open Amateur class and took a convincing win in the main event, despite a two-year layoff from racing. In th e 250cc Amateur class Jackson led every lap of the fea ture to score the win over Robert Speiss. OVERALL: 1. John McM anaw ay (Yam); 2. Terry Pratt (CZ): 3. Kenny Sykes (Gre); 4. George J ax (Mai); 5. Jim Keeton (Hus). VET: 1. J ohn McManaway (Yam); 2. Kenny Sykes (Gre); 3. George J ax (Mai ); 4 . Chri s Johnson (CZ); 5. Rick Nabers (CZ). OT: 1. Terry Pratt (CZ); 2. Jim Keeton (Hus); 3. David M atz (eZ ); 4 : Joe Pow ers rrri) . Woods and Majeski whip Pine Grove ST By Len Breech 50 PINE G R OVE , PA, JUNE 28 Lew Woods and Rob Majeski topped the two Expert classes as the Fly ing Dutchmen M.C. passed the halfway point in their 1987 short track season a t Pine Grove. Woods took the 250cc fina l while Majeski took the O pe n class, wi th both riders using the misfortune of Tom CercieIlo to gain their win. Cerciello led the restart of the 250cc fina l , trailed by Woods, Kenny Mohler and Mi ke Varnes. As they came off the second turn on lap two , Woods pu t his M.J . Sponsellerbac ked Honda in front to stay . On the fifth la p, Mohler took second from a slowing Cerciello who dropped out two laps later, af ter having dropped to sixth or so. In the late laps, Dave Duhaine and Varnes got into a ba ttle over third, which went to Varnes. Cerciello again led the Open Expert start with Tom and R ob Majeski, Richard Foard and Dave Miller following . Tom Majeski slipped off the groove in turn three, giving second to his brother. While trying to regain second on the third lap, he tapped Rob 's rear tire , and went down. For the remainder of th e event CercieIlo held a two -length .margin, until, as he said la ter, " I was starting to roIl the throttle back on, and straighten it up, when, bam ! It felt like I hit a sheet of ice, and down I went. " Ceriello's crash handed the win to Rob Majaski. Two " newco mers" to the Sen ior class really gave Joe Heber ling tro uble. Richard Foard, making his first start here in over 12 years, a nd Dave Mil ler, wh o just turned 30, took th e lead from Heberling a nd Doug Gi es. H eberling moved into a close second at the end of th e first lap . After a midrace restart, H eberl ing took th e lead as th ey entered the th ird turn , with Foard regaining the lead in the second turn on th e next lap. H ebering returned the favor in the same spo t on th e next lap, and Mill er came along for the ride int o second, with th e rid ers fin ishing very close a t th e chec kers. T odd Hurst took the lead as th e 250cc Amateurs sorted th ems elves o u t coming out of turn two, with Jim Ha ldeman, Dave Smith and Gary Foard close behind. On th e third lap , Hurst fell ' in the second turn, bringing out the red flag. Smith grabbed the lead on th e restart, bu t . fell in the same spot as Hurst two ' laps la ter , giving Haldeman the lead and he mana~ed to stay on bo th wheels to the fmish. . . Joh nny Bowers grabbed the holeshot at the start of the Open Amateur final from a close pack of Dave . Smith, Roy CoIlins, Todd Hurst and DaIlas Baer. By halfway, Hurst had moved into secon d in fro nt of Smith and Co Ilins. Smith displaced his trave ling budd y H urst for second on the sixth lap, and closed up the gap on Bowers, bu t sti Il finished a few len gths back. Results · 55: 1. Jonathan Daniele (Yam); 2. Josh Young (Yam); 3. Dan Halligan (Yam); 4. Anhur Lynch (Yam). 90 AM : 1. Jeremiah Alexander (Kaw); 2. Raben M iller (Yam); 3. Ja son Lheureux (Kaw ); 4. Jason Wr ecsics (Han); 5. J ason Dierol f (Suz). _ 90 EX: 1. Kevin Var nes (Yarn); 2 . Mike Sponsell er (Han); 3. Chuc k Wrec sics (Yam). 200 EX: 1. M ike Sponsell er (Han). 200 AM : 1. M ike Walto n (Yam); 2. M ike Thomas (SUl); 3. Eugene Simms (Yam); 4: Rich Mell inger (Yam); 5. Brad Byers (Vii). 250 A M: 1. Jim Haldeman (SUl ); 2. Gary Foard (Yam); 3. Barry Wolf e (Yam ); 4. Steve Smit h J r. (Yam); 5. Ju nior Skiles (Yam). 250 EX: 1. Lew Wo ods (Han); 2. Kenny Mohl er (Suz); 3. Mi ke Varnes (Yam); 4. Dave Duhain e (Suz); 5. Ben Macham er (Yam). SR: 1. J oe Heberli ng (Yam); 2. Dave M ill er (Han); 3. Rich ard Foard (RlX) 4. Doug Gies (Yam); 5. ; W ayn e Fran klin (Rtx). • .. OPEN AM : 1. Johnny Bowers (Yam);,,2: Dave :: .." Smi th (W· RI; 3. Todd Hurst (Yam); 4. Roy Coll in s " (H· D); 5. Ji m Lynch (Rtx). .' -, .OPEN EX: 1. Rob M ajeski (H-D): 2. Richard Foard ~' (RlX); 3. Dave Mi ller (Han); 4. Dave Duhaine (RlX); 5. Dave Lesnick (RlX). Melcher hauls at Lake Geneva MX By Jack Biddison LAKE GENEVA, WI, JUNE 26 J eff Melcher piloted his Suzu ki to th e victory over a large field of I25cc Amateur class .cornpetitors a t La ke Gen eva Raceway. Rambur (Kaw ); 3.Marc Hend er son (Kaw). 80 NOV: 1. Chris Dew int er (Kaw ); 2. Roger Lindstr om (Kaw ); 3 . Kevin McElIion (Kaw ). (Kaw ); 3. Lan ie Leh eave (Kaw) . By Jeff Jacobsen Vintage Racing Group machine rules so bikes are requir ed to be 1974 models o r earl ier and have a maximum wheel travel of four in ches rear and seven in ch es fron t. Built without towering drop-offs or intimidating double jumps, th e tac ky- tra ctio n Ascot course seems weIl suited to vintage machines a nd Vet and Old T imer class ri ders. The Old T im er class was won by T erry Pratt wh o posted two second overaIl finish es. Results 50 NOV: 1. Luke Rambur (Yam); 2. Popeye Gonzales (Yam); 3. Richie Biley (Yaml. 60n NOV: 1. Casey Johnson (Kaw ); 2. Jos h 80 EX: 1. Aron Niles (Hon); 2. J amey Lewi s (Suz); 3. Mall Galbr aith (Han). 125 NOV: 1. Mike Guth r ie (Kaw); 2. Leif Forsythe (Kaw); 3. Rudolph Onega (Han). 125 EX: 1. Joe Good (Suz); 2. Jason And erson Burger tops Calhoun MX Tom Circiello (9 0 B) led most of the 250cc Expert final at Pine Grove 's ST, but Lew Woods (20) took the win and Circiello DNF. lever , le tti ng G ood by to chase Sch aub. At the halfway mark Good passed a n d took the lead over Schau b. An derson finished fourth after a poor start, but combined wi th h is first moto first he ended u p seco nd overall a hea d of Schau b and h is 4-2. CMC Golden Sta te National Old Timer Expert Champion for 1987, - Bob Krah, was on vacation from h is home in Idaho a nd talked someone into loaning him a bike. Two mot os la ter, Kra h had decimated the Vet class lapp in g up to second pl ace. Results CALHOUN, GA , JUNE 28 . Keith Burger once again ma naged lO beat all the competition at Calhoun Motocross in the J unior Mini class . John Ownbey took the holesh ot in the first moto and maintained his lead unti l he went down on th e mole hi ll on th e third lap, giving th e lead to Stevie Roberts. Burger , who had started ou t in last p lace du e to a fa ll, was on the gas and mad e a sp ecta cular surge in th e last la p to cro ss the fi n ish l i n e fi r st , ju st ah ead of Rob erts. In the seco nd moto, Ownbey o nce ag ain took th e lead , but fell back du e to a flat tire. Once again Burger took ad vantage a nd went a hea d for th e mot o win. The Seni or Mini race was also an exciting one with Joey H older o ut in front until the fourth lap wh en hi s carb uretor feIl off a nd he dropped back, giving the lead and win to Alex Scott. Holder managed to fix his bike by the second moto a nd forg ed into first p lace on the fir st la p , then kept his lead to win the moto, When the points were tallied, Scott got first overall and Holder was second. Results 250 NOV: 1. Norman Harr is (Yam); 2. Scott Ward (Han); 3. Creig Corlis (Yam). 250 EX: 1. Kevin Schaub (Han); 2. Ralph Blanch ard (Kaw); 3. Donn y Russell (Kaw). 500 NOV : 1. Alton Burn s (Yam); 2 . J oh n Willimgton (Han); 3. Harr ison St uan (KTM). 500 EX: 1. J im McClain (Kaw); 2. Bru ce Stingl ey (Han); 3. Brad Bomhoff (Han). VET: 1. Bob Krah (Kaw); 2. Mark Faeo (Hus); 3. Pat Poland (Kaw). PRO: 1. Joe Good (SUl); 2. Jason And er son (Kaw ); 3. Kevin Schaub (Han). Bush masters Morrison HS By Merle Acord MO RRISON , IL, JUNE 28 J oh n Bush , riding a Bike Barn 350 Can-Am, ca me from nowhere to edge o u t Kaw asaki-moun ted H arv ey Whipple by eig ht seconds a nd took the overa Il victor y a t th e sixth a nd final round of th e Bike Barn/Spectr o Oil-sponsor ed Illinois H are Scramble Association Series. . " I didn 't kn ow he (Bush ) was o u t th ere," said Whipple, Lightweight Expert class win ne r and seco n d overal\. " T hey (Whip ple 's pit crew) told me to get Gary (Pe terso n) and Larry (Bergquist), which I did and I thought I was lead ing. Bu t I'm not surprised I got beat, I had a bad day. I high-sided in th e first turn after th PIW: 1. Greg Day (Han); 2. Johnny Tronr (Yam), start and took a long time to get PIW : 1. Josh Maynard (Yam ); 2. Au stin Gom ez going again. Then I had to bump (Yam). sta rt because I sheared something J R M INI: 1. Keith Brug er (Kaw); 2. Stevie Robens (Han); 3. John Ow nbey (Kaw ). . and the kick sta rte r wo ul dn' t work. SR MIN I: 1. Al ex Scott (Kaw ); 2. Jo ey Holder I will say this , ri ding catch-u p, (Kaw l; 3. Jo sh Pin (Suz). NOV: 1. Ja mes Law ry (Han); 2. Chris Walker makes the afternoon go fast." (Han); 3. Alan Denson (Kawl . " I had the holeshot," said Bush 250 : 1. Joe Ma yo (Yam); 2. Joh n McConn ell (Han). " but" Wh ipp le and (Jeff ) Stevenson OVER 30 : 1. Ricky Lamb (Han); 2. Thom as Day were righ t behi nd me. In the last half (Hon).' ho ur I took a line do wn the midd le of a creek a nd .th at was the fastes-t G00d sweeps line, but it looked like the worst. Alaska MX There was a skim of wa ter an d a li ttle By M.R. Edge mud. I fell down and I didn't know if I was going to win until I went ANCH O RAGE, AK, J U NE 28 through the final barrel." T his was Ar ctic-Suzuki Motorspo r ts-spon Bu sh 's firs t overall victory in the sored J oe Good took bo th the P ro series. and 125cc Expert class wins a t the After an hour and IS minutes of Alaska Mo torcycle Racing Associaracing Bush was 15 seconds in fro nt tio n 's MX. The Kin caid Park course and th e next five posi tio ns were hosted a large turn out of riders who bein g hotly con tested over the entire came to try ou t the wet sand. th ree-mile co urse . Gary Peterson o n Good blazed to both 125cc Expert a 200 Can-Am, pu lled even wi th moto wins over Jason Anderson, but Bu sh and made a bid for the lead , Kawasaki of Anchorage-sponsored bu t fell -off and tweaked his throttle Anderson di d better agains t Good in then d rop ped off the pace to even. the .Pro .class . Anderson pulled th e tually fini sh third in the Light. fi.rst moio .holeshot 'over: tea mma tes ., weight Expert class. ~ "JIm McCam ana .Ral ph Blanch ard. ; . . Chuck Cannon charged h is 430 while Good g9L a back-of-the-pack ,-._ All roma ric into the second slot. " I start in rnotoone'and spent the entire I , . 'th ou gh t I could use a littl e more bi te m aio passing ri ders. : .' ..: . '. go ing over those high speed grass With only a few lap s lO go Good trails," said Cannon , "so I p ut on started gaining on Anderson, but a a new rear tire. What happens? It fall sent Good back to third. Good goes flat on the first lap and I ride was abl e to remo unt and finish all day with a flat tire, I managed second by mote 's end . to hold onto third overall an d second MOlO two of th e Pro class fou nd in my class (H eavyweight Expe rt) ." Kevin Schaub - on a self-sponsored Third i n the Expert H ea vyH onda in first. Good got off in thi rd weights, R ick Ingold had a little be hin d Mc C lai n. On lap th ree trouble putting on his race face, an d McClain got a rock stuck in his brake ·C;~ : h i s :> h elrnet., In gold had three . • #!i" . 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