Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ - :J: '" , (;l ::> ~ z ,- >...J ~. a: ~ u Z w ~ >lXI 0 0 l- t00 O"l :J: a, .......t .......t .......t ... Q.) .c 8 Q.) ;> 0 Z Da le Gingrich closed out the season at Trail-Way Speedway with w ins in both the 250 and 600cc Expert classes. ' Sc ott Obermuller won t he 350cc Lightweight class aboard and also w rapped up t he CVRG's 350cc Cha m pionship . Br ooker. A h ard dri vin g Cutts jamm ed underneath Brook er in th e third turn a nd set o u t a fter th e lead er. C u tts passed Long o ver th e sta ircase ' j u m p an d opened a lead . Brook er wen t by Long in the q uads then washed o ut in a hard packed tu rn a nd drop ped to fourth. Cutts took a co mfortab le win whi le Brook er cha rged ba ck to seco nd by th e fini sh . Lon g regis tered another holesh ot in the seco nd mo to with Brooker close behi nd . Cutts went o u t o n the first lap wi th a fo uled p lug. Brook er took th e lead o n th e seco nd la p but couldn ' t sha ke Long. By th e hal fwa y point Long had lost co ntact with Brooker a nd had to deal with a rapidl y clos i ng J o ey C rawford . Kawasak i-m ounted Crawford passed Long o n the fourth lap to finish a di stant second behind Brook er. Res u lts 125 C: 1. Case y Hoover (Han) ; 2 . Stev e Gr eer (Yam); 3 , Leon Luna (Han) . '25 B: 1, Bobby Hearn (Honl_ , 250 B: 1. Dw ight Duk e (Kaw ), 250 C: 1, Mike Hamilton (Honl; 2, John Blu e Smith (Han ); 3 , Jam es Brown (Han) , ENDR'; 1. Ja son Bragg (Honl; 2, John Bragg (Hen]. OPEN: 1. Hugh Gatlin (Han). SA M INI: 1. Shan non Bro oker (Yam); 2. J oey Crawford (Kaw l; 3 . Bob Long (Kaw ); 4 . Ja son Br agg (Honl ; 5, Scott Moss (Han) , JR MINI : 1. Jos h M or gan (Han); 2. Byr an Jo hn son (Kawl. 60: 1. Byran Jo hnson (Kaw); 2 . Br and on Hart (Han ). , P/W; 1. J erem y Nevel s (Yam); 2. M ar k Ragsdal e :Su zl; 3. Ray Per kin s (Yam). McLean takes Vintage Championship RR By M ichael Green 24 SONO MA, CA, ocr. II Craig McL ean became the first ever two -tim e · CV RG 500cc P re m ie r Champio n with a win at the Ca lifornia Vi ntage R a ci ng Grou p's Champions hi p Series ·fina l a t Sears Point Ra cewa y. McLea n a nd hi s Mo torcycles Un ltd /Cas troIlS hoeisponsored Mat chless G50 went into the fina l wit h 95 points, three behind the BSA B50 of Dan Philli ps (98). McL ean, kn owing he' d have to win to tak e th e cha m p ionship, brought a back-up Seeley-G50. Once the gr een flag fell, McL ean was committed to his regular mount, but it was Phillips who · was first a way a nd chargi ng hard. Mcl.ean , a lwa ys a slo w starter, kept Phillips in sight, a nd by lap three was o n th e move to reel him in. By lap four Mcl.ean was by as Phillips overshot turn seven. From that point it was McLean a ll th e wa y, th ough Phillips held o n as he was ou t-ho rsepo wered just hoping for a mistake. McLean's post-race com me n t was, " O nce he (P hill ips) ge ts hi s lines down bett er, he'Il be tou gh ." In Li ghtweight 350cc ac tio n th e champio ns h ip was still up in the air betw een three riders; Bret Mor sh ead with 85 po in ts, Sco tt Obermuller a t 75 points and Sco tt Bor ern with 73. Wi th o n ly 20 poi nts ava ila ble for a wi n a nd 16 for seco nd p lace , it wou ld be a nybo dy 's ra ce. Fo r reaso ns u nk no w Mor sh ead 's WCBR-Ducati was a t trackside (as was a bac ku p 250 Du cari ), but he wasn ' t. Borern was trackside with hi s hea t, but no bik e, a fter loosin g th e cran kshaft a t Stea mboat S pri ngs, Colorad o. As for Oberrnuller, he' and hi s Du cati were both on hand , a nd all he had to do was fini sh fourth or bett er to tak e over the top spo t ,Morshead just handed to him. With th e next closest points holder o n th e track bein g th e Mork Ra cing/Cast ro llSh oei Aerma cchi of Fred Mark, Obermuller had no worries excep t finishin g, Ob ermu ller pulled th e. ho leshot over Mark , leading every lap and corning hom e a doubl e winn er. In th e 250cc Lightweigh t class , n ewl y cro w ne d A H R M A/ AMA 250cc Nation al C ha m pio n Mik e G ree n on his WCHR/H ap J on es/ Avon / C a s Ira I/ S h o e i -s p on sore d Du cati took -a flag- to-flag win to rega in h is CVRG 250cc titl e with 151-po ints, 59 a head o f J eff Hecox. Hecox was a lso a bsen t du e to cra nksha ft fai lure a t Steam boa t. In the Li gh tweight 250cc TwoStroke class, Ch arl es Sex ton took the win and cha m pions h ip . Eric Swortsfigu re finis hed seco nd on his Bul taco , but not in the overa ll points. Resu lts O/A : 1. Craig McLean ; 2. Dan Phillips; 3 . James Ban ke; 4 . Scott Obermu ll er ; 5. Mike Green. SOO PREM : 1. Craig M cLean (Mch); 2 , Dan Phillips (BSAI; 3 . Jam e Ban ke (BSA); 4 . Lou Caputo (Tri); 5 , Ed M eagor (H- D). 350 UW: 1. Scan Ober m ull er (Due); 2. Fred Mark (Aer); 3 . Char l es Sext on (8ul); 4 . Eri c Swo rt sfigure (Bul ). 250 U W ; 1. Mike Green (Duel . 350 UW; 1. Scott Obermuller; 2. Bret M orsh ead; 3 . Scott Borem . 250 U W: 1. Mike Green; 2 . J eff Hecox; 3 . Henry Deaton. Gingrich, Dorsey double at . Trail-Way ST By Len Breech HANOVER, PA , ocr. 17 Dale Gingrich and Harold Dor sey closed o u t th e 1987 sh ort track seaso n a t Trail -Way Sp eedway with a pa ir o f wi ns ; Gingrich tak ing th e 250 and 600cc Expert classes and Dorsey r' topping th e 200 and 250cc Amateurs. Ironically, Trail-Way closed out th e seaso n th e wa y it sta rted, by running two races in a row . Now th at ma y not seem lik e mu ch , but T rail -Wa y has been victi mized this year by a n unlucky selecti on of race dat es, and ended up running o n ly eig h t o u t o f the 16 events sched uled. G in gri ch wasted no tim e in getting to th e front o f th e 250cc class, as he led last week' s win ner Geor gi e Pri ce, T om Cerciell o, Mik e Klopp a nd Kenn y Mohler. While Gingrich and Price pulled away, Cerciell o , Klopp a nd Mohler got into a heated battle for thirdthai lasted most o f th e race. In th e late laps, Price slo wed, with Mohler and Cerciell o ge tt ing by him on th e final lap. Whil e Gingri ch h ad a l mos t a stra igh ta way margin, Mohler and Cerci ello crossed th e line almost sideby-side, with Mohler gett ing th e nod. The 600cc final was abo u t as easy for Gingri ch's Zechman 's Cycl e Center -sponsored · Yam ah a as he gra bbed th e lead from Cerciello, Jim Hollister , Scott Saund ers , Dave Lesni ck a nd Ri chard Foard. Whi le the front two gr aduall y put distance betw een th em selves, t h e o t he r s fought ove r third until the end. After start ing o n th e pen alty line, Sa u nders just edge d o u t H ollister for third as they crossed th e fini sh line. For Dor sey, th e 200cc class was th e mor e difficult win, as it featured two o f the fastest Honda 125s on th e East Coast , with J eff Kehne o n th e Mike Spo nse lle r mach in e a nd Dorsey o n Price's two- tim e National winnin g mach ine. J ust to mak e things inter esti ng, t he field included three former class win ners. Kehne took th e lead from Drosey, wh ile Jill Lau ten bach er, Kevin Varnes, Mike Wal ton a nd Bri an Strong had anot he r of the ma ny mid pack -baules o f th e evening for thi rd. Kehne led for the first four laps but got into a nasty tank sla p pe r co m ing o ff th e seco nd turn on th e fourth lap, giving Dor sey th e hol e he needed whil e Kehne was savi ng it. Wh en he go t ba ck o n it, Dor sey was abo u t 10 yards a hea d which he held to th e finish. In th e 250cc class, Dorsey jumped in front of Gary Foard, Dave Smith, Todd Hurs t and Eddie Hidden. While Dors ey was pu lling away to a 20-yard margin of victory, Smith took 'over second as they began the third lap. After a n opening lap crash that sent three o f the top 600cc Amateur riders' to th e penalty line, Johnny Bowers took the lead from Jim Chapman, Dallas Baer, Gary Foard and Roy Collins. Chapman took first coming o ff the seco nd turn on the third la p, as Bow ers seemed to have troubl e adjusting to th e sli ck tra ck conditions in th e evening darnpnes -:-' <, Collins th en took seco nd as they ca me o ff th e fourth turn on th e sa me lap. Collins the n mad e hi s cha rge from the penalty lin e com p lete, as he took th e lead down th e back s tra ig h t o n th e six th lap, as he wo n here fo r th e first time since th e second race o f th e yea r. On th e seventh lap, Foard moved Bowers back a no ther pl ace. Results SA; 1. Rich ard Foard (Rtx); 2 , Joe Heber ling (Yam); 3. Harold Hillard (Rtx ). 55 : 1. Ricky W insett (Yam); 2. John Winsett (yam); 3 . Josh Young (Yam ). 200 AM ; 1. Harold Drosey (Han ); 2. Jeff Keh ne (Han); 3 . J ill Lautenbacher (Suz). 85 EX: 1. Kevin Varnes (Yam); 2. Mike Sponseller (Han) . 85 AM; 1. Brian Strong (Kaw); 2. Randy Shank (Kaw); 3 . Jeremiah A lexander (Kaw); 4 . Robert Miller (Yam), 250 EX; 1, Dal e Gingrich (Yaml ; 2 , Kenny Mohler (Suz); 3 . Tom Cerciell o (Yam); 4 . Geor gie Price (Kaw); 5. Mike Klo pp (Vii) . 2S0 A M ; 1. Harold Dorsey (Han); 2, Dale Smi th (Yam); 3, Gary Foard (Yam); 4 , Todd Hurst (Suz); 5. J un ior Skil es (Yam) . 600 EX; 1, Dale Gi ngr ich (Yam ); 2. Toni Cerci ello (Yam); 3. Scott Saunders (Hon) ; 4 . Ji m Hollister (Rtx); S, Dave Lesnick (Rtx), 600 AM ; 1, Roy Collins CH -D I; 2, Jim Chapman (H-D); 3, Gary Foard (Han) ; 4 , Johnny Bow ers (Yam); 5 , Dave Smith (Rtx), 750 EX; 1. Tom Cerc iallo (Tri); 2 . J im Holl ister (Tri): 3 . Jo e Gat ely (Tri ); 4 , Clar enc e Bull (Yam ); 5 , Bob Babcock (Tri) . James robs _ Bakersfield Mini RR By T. D . Deatherage BAKERSFIELD, CA, ocr. 25 In hi s first min i road race. Mini Mot ocross Ch ampion Jesse J am es raced hi s stoc k Yamaha YSR 50 to first place in th e 0-149 pound Stock Novi ce a nd 0-1 49 pound Modified Novi ce cla sses. J am es put th e pow er to th e ground a t the start of th e first Stock Novice mota a nd grabbed th e lead. Foll ow ing in seco nd Gary Drew closed th e gap o n th e downhill sectio n. Powder Puffer Linda Donovan was running third, but pulled off the course for a short tim e with a loose exhaus t manifo ld. On the seco nd lap Drew made a move onjames for the lead iii a left-hand co rner a nd went on to win the heat wi th J ames gassing it for second. Donova n reentered the race and finished th ird. The second heat was a repeat of the firs t, with Drew taking the win in his 150-199 pound class, James collecting th e 0-149 pound win, and Donovan netting th e Powder Puff victory. The combined Modified Novice class saw John Luciene blast ahead of th e pa ck on his exotic YZ80-

• Cover