Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

:I: U w w a:: QO Z W ...J >- QO o ..... o :I: e, ..... en ~ b1) Brian Atherton won the Regional ~ Half Mile at Great Nazareth . < Atherton tops Nazareth Regional Half Mil~ By Len Breech 36 NAZARETH, PA, AU G. I T he nam e " Bria n " seemed to be a winner as a trio of th em left the eas tern Harley- Dav idso n Associatio n and JM Pr oductions-p romoted Eastern Regi onal Championsh ip H alf Mil e at the Great Naza reth Raceway with the majority of the m oney. Br ian At herto n won h is Expert heat a nd took the Expe rt fina l over the o ther Expert hea t winner, Brian Bonesteel. Bonesteel also won $300 for hi s wi n in a winner-tak eall das h fo r cash among th e top five Expert time trial s. The other Brian is spelled slig htly differently, b~t Bryan Villella added yet a nother wm to h is lon g list th is year in the Junior fina l. Mark Van Ho usen too k the win in the Pro -Am final. Eric Rau sch led the 17 Experts in ti me tria ls with a 25.86 cloc ki ng, wi th Ath ert on second with a 25.94. Darell Da vis paced the 18 Jun ior class riders. Ma rk Van H ousen had a n easy time win ni ng the openi ng Pro-Am heat , wh ile Mike McDonnell battled Rob Majeski the entire di stance fo.r the wi n in the second hea t, Enc George too k the fastest hea t ahead of Mickey R usden , David Ll oyd a nd Andy .Segalin i who trad ed p laces back a nd forth. Sega li n i ca me back to wi n th e sem i, nip p in g Mike Ludden on the last la p. Davis took the first J unior heat easilv o ver a race long battle o ver second between Mar k Co rsetti, Craig Estelle, Tom Majeski and Will ie McCo y. teve Aselt in e too k the lead a nd the win from Brian Carron o n th e fourth lap for the second heat win , while Vill ell a took th e fastest Junio r heat from Lew Woods a nd Scott Saunders. . After setting fast time, Ra usch 's luck went so ur as he dropped out ear lv in th e first Expert hea t, giving Bon'esteel an easv win , after Rod ney Farris had hi s borrowed Rotax go so ur while in seco nd on the third lap. David Mill er a nd Scott Stump staged a hea ted battle for a d ista nt second p lac e. At herto n too k the lastes t Expert heat over Randy Tex ter a nd Keith J acobse n. The to p five Expert qual ifiers were brought back for a four-lap , winnertake-a ll $300 dash with most of th e money put up by th e Star Service Center and severa l othe r local bu sinesses. Rau sch gra bbed the lead from Bones teel, Atherto n , T exter a nd Stump. Aga in he dropped ou t on th e seco nd la'p with engine pro~lems, giving Bon esteel the lead, whi ch he gra d ua lly in creased over Ath erton a nd then Tex ter wh o go t by Atherto n o n the fin al lap. T he start of th e Pro-Am fin al ga ve the fans some thing to cheer abo ut Riders blast off the line at the start of the Expe~ main at the St. Charles Reg ional Short Track. Scott Pearson took the Win . as a rider from nearby Bethlehrn took th e lead. G eorg e led a t ig h tly bunch ed pack of McDonnell. J ason Fletch er , Lloyd and Van Housen . On . th e fo ll owing la p , Flet c her had moved back a few spo ts, with Ru sden a nd Davi d Reeves joining the tail end of th e pack. The race was sto pped abo ut the fourth lap as Reeves went do wn hard in th e fourth turn. Van Housen ben efitted th e most from the restart as he had the lead at th e com p letion of th e next lap, with McDonnell second a nd George th ird. At th e halfway mark, Majesk i took over thi rd spot, lock in g in th e top th ree. Caron su rp rised man y by ta king the Jun ior fin al lead from Villella a nd Aselti ne as th ey ca me off th e seco nd turn , but by the time they hit the th ird turn Villella had put his Ron Wood /M ik e Ca mp ho use/ Shoei/Tsu baki/Cam2/ Hog Was hspo nsored Wood-Ro tax into the lead for good as he gradually pu lled away to a straightaway margi n after 10 la ps. Caron, Aselt in e, Da vis, Kris Kise r a n d Corse tt i ran u n der a blanket during most of the race wi th cha nges oc curi ng w he n a ri der slipped slig htly off the groove. A few laps from th e end, Caron dropped o ut, and Aselti ne cla imed second wi th two laps left. At the waving of th e green £lag, Bon esteel p ut ~I S Lan caste.r HarleyDa vidson/M ano Bernardini.'Arai / Amsoi l/The Perr ys Harl ey in front o f Ath e rton , Stev e B u r kh ol d ~ r , Mill er and J acobsen . On the third lap, Bonesteel took th e th ird tu ru a litt le h igh , giving Ath erto n t ~e openi ng he needed , a nd he pu t hi s Perry' s H -D / Ar ai /Carlis le/Ts u ba ki / P IC R a ci n g / ' H I1 S KAT spo ns o red , Da ve Atherton-tuned Harley into the lead as th ey cam e off th e fourth turn. David Mill er mov ed into th ird behind Bonesteel arou nd halfwa y, while Doug Davis also sta rted mo vin g into co n te n tio n, taking over fo urt h abo ut th e same tim e. While Miller , Davis, Bur kho lder and Sco tt Stump battled over third spot in the latter stages, Atherton was p ulling a wa y for the win. Burkholder's ride cam e to a halt o n the nin th la p as he sli d into the wa ll comi ng off th e fourth turn. Bonesteel a nd Davis fo llowed Athe rton across th e finis h line. Results PRO-A M : 1. Ma rk Van Hou san (C·AI; 2. Mike Mc Donnell (H-D); 3 . Rob M ajeski (H· D); 4 . Jason Flet cher (W -R); 5. Br ian TIll son (W -R); 6 . DaVId Wasser (Han); 7 . Mickey Rusden (Han ); B. Eric Georg e (H-Dl ; 9 . David Reevas (H·D); 10 .. Andy Segalin i (W-R); 11 . DaVId Lloyd (W · R); 12. M Ichael Luddan (Rtx). . JR : 1. Bryan Villella (W ·R); 2. Steve A seltine (HOI; 3 . Darr ell Davis (W ·R); 4. Ma rk Corsen , (WR); 5. Chri s Kiser (W · R); 6. Cra,g Johnson (Rtx); 7. Craig Estell e (H·D ); B. Scan Saun ders (Han); 9 . Lew W oods (Han); 10 . Tom M ajeski (1 1); 12. Bria n Caron (Han). . EX: 1. Bri an At henan (H-O); 2. Bri an Bo nesteel (H· D); 3 . Doug Davis (H-D l; 4. David M iller (H-D); 5. Scan Stu mp (H · D ~ 6 . Randy Texter ( H- D~ 7 . Dan McD on nell (Han); a. Robert Crabbe (H- D); 9 . Gary Conk lin (H· D); 10 . Don W il son (W ·R ~ 11 . Steve Burkholder (H- D); 12. Keith Jacobsen (Han) . Pears on wins St. -Charles Regional ST By Dave Hoenig ST. CHAR LES , MO , J U LY 25 Hi g h tem pera tures a nd hu m idi ty greeted 70 professional di rt trackers a t th e Bu sch /Sk oa l- spo n sored , Wente Enterprises-promo ted AMA R egional Ch amp ionship Short Tr~ck. Unfort u na tely, the St. Charles track was as rough as th e weather w ith p ra ct ice spi ll s e l i m i n a t i ~ g severa l riders incl udi ng local favorite Ti m Mert en s. Fast Expert tim e a nd th e Dairy Q ueen cloc k/trophy went to Ch ad Felicia after Chris Carr waved off what would have been quick est. Darrell Davis ra n th e fastest Junior lap. T he 23 Pro-Am riders were d ivided into three heat s with wins going to Mike McDonnell , Ph il J ones and Gary Wielt. Onl y 16 J uniors were o n hand a nd they were spli t into two heats with wins going to Steve Aseltine and Kris Kiser. Thirty-one Expe rts made up four hea ts. Felicia , Carr, Sco tt Pearson and Dave H ebb ca rne o ut th e winners. McDonnell took th e first Pro -Am sem i away from fello w Ca lifornian Todd Brid ges. J ones, Todd Boot en , Bob Ybema and Bret Ga le fo llowed into th e main. Wielt led the second 'sem i for two la ps until Rex Fisher too k over. Fish er led unti l th e last la p whe n Aud ie Huff, who had mo ved into seco nd the la p before, shot int o the lead for the win . Wielt a lso go t by for seco nd a nd Fisher held o n to th ird over Steve Rasmussen , Mi ke Patt er son a n d C ha r li e So ut hga te. . . Aselti ne ra n a wray wit h the first J un ior semi wi th Will ie McCoy, Craig Joh nson who had started o n the penalty line, John Fa ulkner, Eri k Gra ybea l and Mark Corsetti also made th e mai n. Da vis wo n th e seco nd semi by a la rge margi n over Kiser a nd Kevin At he rto n , w ho bauled over seco nd. Marc G ifford, Jim Ha u p tman and p anny Powell rounded out th e top SIX. The first Expe rt sem i was a ru naway for Ca rr over Pearson , Aaron Hi ll, Rich Kin g, Rick Wier a nd Br yan McD o well. H ebb led th e seco nd sem i unti l the fini sh li ne where Ro nn ie J ones, wh o had used a n extreme ly h igh line to move up frommidpack, took th e win -with Hebb a close second. Will Davis, Dan Ingra m, Scott Ada ms and Feli cio fo llowed. T h e P ro -Am fin al sa w Wi e " pu lli ng the hol eshot. On lap four McDon ne ll moved his Li lly Racing/ Arai /L&M Lea thers/ Fred 's Speed & Sport/ J im my Odom/EZ I Car Ca responsored H arl ey into. th e lead . Fish er also moved by Wielt on la p five. Huff dropped Wielt on e more po sitio n o n lap six and th e final orde r seemed set until Huff fell in turn four of the last lap. McDonnell too k the win oyer Fish er and Wielt, Huff a nd Boo ten , who fell early in the final, bo th too k a trip to the hosp ita l with shou lder inju ries. T h e Junior fi na l belo nged to Davis on hi s Tsubaki /Shoei/ Ro n Wood /H o g Wash /Cam-2 / MC R a cin g -s p o n so r ed Wood -R o tax. Ear ly cha llenger ~Iser was ~eplaced in second by Aseltine o n lap five. The .red flag ca me 0 ';l t on la p seven whe? Faulkner fell III turn two. DaVIS pi cked up where he left off o n th e restart with Aselti ne givi ng chase. Kiser was the big loser o n the restart, dropp in g to fifth beh in d J ohnson a nd McCo y. Davi s pu lled away to a . comfor table win over Aselt ine and McCo y, wh o passed J ohnson o n the last lap. Pearso n j um ped to th e lead of th e 1O-lap Expert fi!lal with Carr, Hebb a nd Davis a di stance back. DaVIS im mediat ely started dropping back as Hill too k over fourt h. Ro nnie J ones was cha rgi ng from the back again and moved into fourth on lap three and then passed H ebb a t th e ha lf-way po in t. Carr a ppea red to be gaining on Pea rso n when th e red flag came out o n lap seven. The race was ca lled com plete with scoring revertin g back to la p six, giving the wi n to Pea rson a head of Carr, Jones and Hebb. Resu lts PRO·AM : 1. Mike McDonne ll (H· D); 2. Rex Fisher (H- DI; 3 . Gary Wielt (C· A); 4. Todd Bridg es ( Rtx~ 5. M ike Pan arson (H · D ~ 6 . Phil Jones ( H · D ~ 7. Charl ie Sout hg at e (Hon ); 8. Steve Rasumssen (H· D); 9. Bob Ybema (H · D ~ 10 . Bret Gale (Hon~ 11 . A udie Huff (H- D ~ 12 .•Todd Boot en (Rtx) . J R: 1. Darr ell Davis (W-R); 2. St eve Asel ti ne {HOI; 3 . W ill ie M cCoy (H-D); 4 . Craig Johnson (HD); 5, Kr is Kiser (Han); 6. Kevin Atherton (W-R); 7. M arc Gifford (Rtx); B. Ma rk Corsett i (W · RI; 9 . J im Hau pt man (Han); 10 . Er ik Graybeal (W· R~ 11 . Dan ny Powe ll (H- D); 12. John Faulkner (C-Al. EX; 1. Scon Pearson (Han); 2. ChriS carr (H- D): 3. Ronn ie Jones (Han); 4 . Dave Hebb (H - D~ 5 . Aa ron Hill ( H · D~ 6 . Scon Adams (H·D); 7-.Rich King ( Ho n~ B. Chad Felicia (H· D); 9 . Will DaVIS tHO); 10 . Brian Mc Dowell (H-D); 11. RIck We" (HD): 12 . Dan Ingram (H- D). Stephenson smokes Cres ton MX By Brad and Sharon Jones CRESTON, lA, J ULY 19 Den n y St ephen so n o nce agai n deva stated h is co mpe tition , leading every lap of the 125 a nd 250cc A classes a t Creston. Step hen son too k the ho leshot in moto one of th e l25 cc A cla ss wit h SCOll Brown in tow . Roundin g out the top three was David Weak wh o has come a ut of retirem en t. The th ree hotshot ride rs pulled a way from th e large class for some really h o~ laps. Stephe nso n wo n th e moto Just a couple of seconds a hea d of Brown. In mo to two, Stephe nson go t the hol esh ot a nd ran away fro m th e pack. J ohn Weber held o nto seco nd for a la p befo re Greg Wurster slid past. David Weak was on th e mov e a nd passed both Weber a nd Wurster by la p fo ur to inove into th e second pl ace spot. Brown fell twice and found hi mself in last pl ace by th e midway poi nt. Stephen son too k the victory. Weak got second with Dave H u ber th ird. Brown sa lvaged a six th for fourth overa ll. In the 250cc A class, it was Brad Jones takin g th e h ol esh o t wi th George Ga rvis in second. Within a half a lap , Stephenson was out front a nd flymg. Mark Bo lten charged through th e pack to overtake J o nes on lap seven for second. In th e seco nd moto, Stephenson got the holesh ot a nd never looked back. Jones held second with Greg Wurs ter looking for a pl ace to pass. Steve H ytrek soon found hi s way past Wurs ter and set off after J ones. Meantime, Bo lt en was jam m in g thro ugh the pack in a hot pace. ~y lap six Bol ten passed H ytrek for thud and was looking for a way around

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