Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

S uz u ki-mo un ted Mike Ha rth (8 8 ) won the A Prod uc t io n Expert class at th e Ro e bling Road Ra c e , w hile Scott Ru ssell (2 2) finished t h ird . Don Odorn, on the inside, grabs the gate over Doug Nicol (9 8) during speedway action at IMS . Nicol is Odom 's uncle. Schwartz reigns over Inland Speedway By Scott Daloisio 46 SAN BERNARDINO , CA, AUG. 5 Sou thern Ca li forn ia's wi n ni ngest rider, Bobby Sch wa rtz, reigned supreme over speedway proceedings at J ohn LaDouceur's Inland Motorcycle Speedway Wednesda y night. Schwart z lo st hi s Scratch heat but when it cou nted, in the Cycle Rider Scra tch main , number o ne ended u p bein g number one. Steve Lu cero , wh o has been ge ttin g hotter with every passin g week, drew th e o n ly blood from Sch wartz on th e Scratch side o f the p rogram. That came in th eir heat whe n Lucero beat the d ef end ing N ati onal Cha m pion . A malfunction in th e green light for ced a restart in th e main and Sch wartz, o u t o f ga te two , edge d pol e , sitter Lucer o to th e fir st corner. Lucero gave Schwartz a rap in th e first turn but the lead er quickl y recovered a nd moved o u t to a com manding lead o n the Budweiser/ C.T.! . Brace/Cirello Racing/ Bell/ T alon Racing Weslake. Gary Hicks and Lucero became embroiled in a battle for th e bridesmaid spo t and th ey swa p ped th e position ba ck and forth o n th e ope n ing lap. Schwartz began to turn it into a runa way wh ile Lucero a nd H icks went at it for th e number two spot. L ucero fin all y asse rted him self before the end of th e second revolution bu t it was far too lat e to ca tch the s treak ing lea der. Sid Sutto n b rou g h t o ut th e chec ke re d ~ nd Schwartz had close 10 a half -strai g h t bulge over Lucero , Hicks a nd P hil Co lli ns. Most of the riders cou ld n 't believe that " Ra d " Brad Oxl ey was only off the 30-yard line on th e H a ndicap side of the program . That was for good reason as O xley too k the Coors/ KL O S/ I n ternati onal Speedway / cott Goggles/Cire llo Racin g Weslak e to a clea n sweep in H an di cap action. Oxley qui ckl y took th e lead at the start of the main j ust a hea d of Doug Nicol a nd G reg Han cock. Former New Yorker T u ff McBride was third by the end o f the first circu it and the n he wen t a fter second and Nicol. Ni col held McBride o ff and opened up some breathing room him self. O xley was gone. There was no wa y that anyone was go ing to ca tch him. Bobb y O tt, who had been hot at IMS , came up on McBride a nd took th e th ird spot away on th e fifth lap. Ott staye d in the dirt a nd had his sig h ts set o n Nicol but th e " Destroye r," in hi s fir st 1987 IMS appearance, never relinqu ished the posi tion . Ox ley was so far o u t front a t the fini sh , he co u ld have stop ped for fuel a nd tir es. Form er BMX sta r Sco tt Clark took th e Speedway Associates /Tru Vu Aq uari u rns / C lar k U SA / Merr i II . . Ha ydel & Ha ydel J a wa to hi s firstever IMS mai n event win in the Su p po rt class. Arch ie Perez, the o n ly o ther rider still in action a t the checkered flag, ended up seco nd with Greg Molina th ird. Mol ina was goi ng well until th e fin al bend wh en h is cl u tch fell a part sendi ng th e pl ates, basket a nd sp ri ngs a ll over th e tra ck a nd infield. Resu lts SCRATCH: 1. Bobby Schwanz (Wes): 2. Steve Lucero (Gdn); 3. Gary Hicks (W es); 4 . Ph il Collins (Wes). HDCP: 1. Brad Oxley (Wes~ 2. Doug Nicol (W es); 3 . Bobby On (Gdn). SUP: 1. Scon Clar k (J aw l; 2. Ar ch ie Perez IGd n); 3 . Greg Molina (J aw). Harth, Russell cash in at Roebling RR By Cindy Bowen FAU L KVIL L E, G A, AUG. 2 Up a nd comi ng roa d racer Sco tt Ru ssell a nd vetera n Mik e Harth were the bi g mon ey winn ers a t Roebling Road Raceway in wh at was probabl y the closest a nd most exci ting racin g . seen in th e 1987 Suzuki C up Series. Ru ssell took hi s Du nl o p/ EBC/ Gr i ffin Su zu kiiSo lmax Ra c in g / Tsu ba ki-sponsored Suzuki GS XR750 to h is th ird straigh t Suzuki 750cc Cup Series wi n after starting from th e last row of th e grid due to mechanica l prob lems in Saturday's hea t races . At the drop of the g reen flag in the B Production race , it was Conti nental Tire's Greg Tysor who led the pa ck into turn one. Harth stay ed a close second. with Russell, Jamie J a mes and Kurt H a ll battling for third. By lap three, the five-bike pack were all within arm 's length of each other wi th Tysor still leading. O n lap four , James, R ussell , Ha rt h and Tysor started pull ing away from Ha ll, wi th Harth taking the lead from Tysor, O n la p six, James on his Quick Sa nd & Gravel/ Du n lop/ EBC/Scoo ter Stafford Suzuki /Shoeisponso red Suzuki GS X Ri50 passed Harth o n the in side of turn o ne taking the lead. J a mes continued to lead the ent ire lap , but Hart h took adva n tage of the ex treme ly fast turn nin e leading onto th e stra ig h t to dr aft back by Jam es for th e lead. James aga in got by Harth in turn o ne a nd at the co m p letio n o f lap seven, it was J am es, H arth a nd Tysor three a breas t co ming down th e fro nt stra ig h t wi th Russell on ly a whee l away. Russell took adv an tage of th e three bike draft and shot by all three in turn on e for the lead, and conti nued to pull away fro m th e pack to take th checkers wi th Ha rth seco nd a nd .I ames third. Harth go t hi s reven ge in · the A Pro du ction race a boa rd h is J esse Burgh er / T subak i/Mi ch elin / EBC/ Tea m Hamm er/NGK/Chuck Morga n / Fox-spo nso red Su zuki GS XR1100. He immedia tely ju mped in the lead a t the start a nd began p ulli ng away from th e two -way battle for seco nd betwee n Dunlo p riders J ames a nd Scott Russell. Harth led th e first three laps hold in g abo u t a five bike len gth lead over James with Russell in th ird . On lap four Russell passed J am es and started clos ing th e ga p o n H arth. J ames passed Ru ssell back in lap five while H arth ma in ta in ed his lea d. On lap six Russell go t back by J a mes an d they bo th began closin g on H arth . Russell took th e lead from Ha rth o n la p seven a nd pu t two bike len gths bet ween h e a n d H arth. Russell co nt in ued to lead H arth a nd J a mes on th e fin al lap, wh ere in turn nin e, Harth a nd J am es took adva ntage o f Russell 's posit ion a nd were a ble to draft by with H arth taki ng the wi n, j ames seco nd a nd Russell th ird. T his mak es Harth 's seco nd straigh t win in th e Suzuki GSXR1100 Cup Series. Rep eating hi s perf ormance from previous weekends, up and com ing Novi ce racer George Fox dominat ed every class he ent ered on hi s Suzuki GS XR750, win ning A Producti on , B P roduction, a nd B Su pe rbike b y im p ressive margins. Novice racers Pa t Ch andl er a nd Kenn y Ph ill ips ca me away wi th two wins apiece wi th Chandler wi n ning Clubma n a nd Form ula T hree o n his - Suzuki GS450 a nd Ph ill ip s ta king the wins in D Product ion and D Superbike on his Ya mah a RZ350. Re s ults A PROO EX: 1. Mike Harth (Suzt 2. James James (SUl); 3. Scon Russell (Suz). A PROD NOV : 1. George Fox (SUl); 2. Scott Harper (Yam ); 3. Jeff Duckwort h (Yam) . B PROO EX: 1. Scon Russell ( SUl~ 2. M,ke Harth (Suz); 3 . Jamie James (SUl) . B PROD NOV: 1. George Fox (SUl) ; 2. Scon Harper (Yam); 3 . Ooug Kidd (SUl) . C PROD EX: 1. Kurt Hall (Hon); 2. Jay Rat hbun (Hon); 3 . Kevin Hunt (Hon) . C PROD NOV: 1. Ste ve Smit h (Kaw); 2. Rene Chamse r (Hen) ; 3 . Bruce Fowler (Hon) . o PROD NOV : 1. Kenny Phillips (Yam); 2. James Yarbo urgh (Yam); 3. Wi llia m Gray (Yam). CLBMN EX: 1. Bob Gr een (Hon); 2. Ji mmy East IKaw); 3. Ken Essex (Hon). CLBMN NOV: 1. Pat Cha nd ler (SUl) ; 2. M ichael Cummins (Yam); 3 . A ll ist er Sm ith (Yam). A S/ BK: 1. Greg Tysor (SUl); 2. Bob Gr een (Yam ); 3 , Wink Pr ice (Sullo B S/ BK EX: 1. Kurt Hall (SUl); 2. Patr ick Harri s (Yam); 3 . Gr aham Jame s (SUl) . B S /BK NOV: 1. Georg e Fox (SUl) ; 2. J eff Du ckworth (Suz); 3 . Scott Harper (Yam) . C S/BK EX: 1. Gr eg Tysor (Hon); 2. Scott Russell (Hon); 3 . Kurt Hall (Hon). C S/BK NOV: 1. Pat Johnson (Yam); 2. Ren e Chamser (Kaw) ; 3. Rick Kirk (Hon) . o S/ BK EX: 1. Cam Roos (Yasm); 2. Bob Green (Hon); 3. Mike Nolan (Yam). o S/B K NOV: 1. Kenny Phillips (Yam)); 2. W ill iam Gr ay (Yam); 3 . J im Yarbourgh (Yam). F· 1: 1. Patri ck Harr is (Yam); 2. R.B. Branton (Suz); 3 . Ricardo Gade!. F·2 EX: 1. Cam Roos (Yam); 2. Robert W illis (Yam ); 3 . Bob Gr een (Hon). F-2 NOV : 1 . Pat Chandler (Suz); 2 . M ike Cummings (Yam); 3. Charlie Skinner (Suz). F~3 EX: 1. Jimmy East (Kaw) ; 2. John Sanders (Kaw); 3 . Ron Raven {Honl. F-3 NOV: 1. Hubert Briggs (Yam) : 2. Ke n W aycast er (Yam ). VINT 2: 1. Bru ce Fowler (Hon). VINT 3 : 1. Dave Corn eli son (BSA ); 2. Bruce Fowl er (Hon ); 3 . W ayn e All en (H-D ), VINT 4: 1. Wayn e All en (H·DI: 2. Jim Ham ilton (Nor). Ingels, Sisemore score at Cycleland Speedway By R.C , Jones I CHICO , CA, AUG . 9 Northern Cali fornia speedway riders . we nt a few mil es' fa rther north : tonight to put o n a sho w for the Chico area residents. The Cycleland I tra ck, located so u th o f Ch ico in the quiet farmlands, is th e largest track th e speedway riders in northern Cal ifornia race o n. Eddie Ingels and Jim Sisem ore d ialed th e big tra ck in, using th eir lon g track experience to take home wins in the Scratch and H andica p main events. The big gu ns, In gel s, Bast, Hous- jj ton and Sisem or e, mad e it to th e Scratch ma in witho u t a ny problems, ) and when In gels pulled th e pole I positio n, on ly a bad start would keep I th e top Scra tch rider o u t o f the money. Bart Bast, o u t o f gate two, ) kept In gels within striki ng distance . for th e four lapper pressing Ingels , every cha nce he cou ld. Ingels started ' 10 cruise aft er a lap, but Bast moved ) in quickl y for a pa ss. Ingels seeing I Bast not· giving up gassed it , not giving Bast a cha nce to set him up .a ga in . Sisem or e ga ted well but had problem s in the fir st tum taking himself o ut of co nte ntion, which a lso forced ] oh n H ouston to back off lea vin g Bast a nd In gels to battle by th em sel ves. In gels was able to hold o ff Bast for th e wi n and H ouston wh o co uld not ge t around Sisemore p laced fourth. Scott Yarb rough was looking for the u pset in th e Handi cap ma in after winni ng his hea t race a nd sem i fina l. Yarb rough. no rma lly a Division Two . rider had moved into Division One tonight a nd the long track su ited his ridi ng skills. Sisemore, Ingels a nd Bast had some hard riding to ca tch Yarbrough. Ingels pulled th e start ahead of Sisemore and Bast, worked quickl y to move a lo ngs ide Robert Cu rry . O n the bac k stra ig h t, Curry was keeping Ingels at ba y u n ti l In gels hi t a rough part o f the track slowi ng h im down. Sisemore moved th rough on the ins ide a nd went after Dave Coupe . a nd the lead er Yarbrough. With Bast , Cu rry a nd Ingels doing battl e, Sisemore went ahead ' and moved past Coupe to chase a fter Yarbrough. Yarbrough was looking ' rea l smooth a nd hanging tough , but . Sisemore took th e in sid e line away a nd th en th e lead with a lap left. The , Ingels /Curry /Bast duel ended with Ingel s ge tti ng a ro u nd th em and passing Coupe to fini sh third with Coupe holding off. Curry and Bast for fourth.

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