Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kawasak i rider Jay Mann went 1-2 to score the victory in the highly competitive 12 5 cc A class at Croom Raceway. He diced with John Kitch. Charles Subert (34 0) . Lonnie Seay (3 2). Scott Carpente r (7 2 5) and Jeff Mitritsky (334) prepare to battle in the 250cc B class. . Florida Winter AMA Series: Round 1 ,M cC.abe, Mann top 'em at Croom By Mike and Anne Adair BROOKSVILLE, FL, DEC. 26-27 Jon McCabe and Jay Mann took Expert honors during the special Christmas weekend for the opening round of the Suzuki/ Scott USA-sponsored Florida Winter AMA Ser ies at Croom Raceway. Approximately 400 riders from 24 states ki cked off the 18th edition of the nation 's oldest 8 motocross series with a tw o-day Amateur only program. Supersports' Bill West exp la ine d th e cha n ge by say ing, "Many of the northern-based families enjoy spending th eir Ch ris tmas vacation touring Flori da an d as ked us to con sider a race the day aft er Christmas. We didn 't want to ask th e pros to give up th e holidays, Honda -mounted Jon McCabe (1 6 8 ) passed John Kitch (219) to claim top honors in the 250cc A class. Kitch finished second. so we started th e series with a two da y amateur o n ly co m petitio n. It worked out well , and, with one mota eac h day, everyo ne got in plenty o f trac k time." Another series innovation sp li t th e larger classes into divisions i ns tea d o f runnin g e li m i na tio n motos, each d ivi si on receiv ed a ll seve n trophies as we ll as a full tall y o f series points. Su zu ki, Yamaha , Kawasak i an d H onda p osted impressiv e co ntinge ncy progra ms for both a ma teu r a nd professio na ls, as su n ny skies a nd 85 degr ee Flo rida weather topped 0 [[ a n ideal racin g weekend. O 'Neal /Kal-Card-sponsored Jon McCabe used a pair of VP E/TFeq u ipped H ondas to carve 250 a nd 500cc swee ps . McCabe commented, " I a m feeling really strong th ese da ys. T he bike is di al ed in a nd I a m looking fo rward to a good Winter AMA Series fo r 1988." . Ka wa saki/ Scott U SA/ Ba rr/ PJ 1ba ck ed .Ma n n return ed from an inj ury to sp lit 125cc mota wins with J ohn Kitsch . " It's good to be ba ck ra cing aga i n and winnin g h er e mak es it even better ," said a sm iling Mann.. The first 125cc Expert mota ac tio n featured Kits ch, Mann, Chris Marl in, H arold Mathews , Glen Somerv ille a nd J eff Beckington in first turn co ntentio n. Kits ch cra shed, however , in a duel for fourth, remou nted an d sta rted a drive to th e point until dem ons struck o n lap seven. Kitsch ' explaine d , " T he cl u tch basket bl ew , a nd, a fter a p iece jam med th e shifter , I was hi sto ry. " Mann 's Kawasaki burned th e tra ck sco ring a decisive w m, In th e seco nd go, Kits ch 's Devo ll Scott USA/ PJ l lTroy Lee-sponsored Kawasaki ro osted th e field for th e mota win , with frantic dramati cs occ u rr ing between Marlin and Mann for th e o vera ll honors. Marlin 's Cycle Sp ri rus/Tuf/Scou -backed Kawasaki had th e ove ra ll sew ed up until lap six whe n Mann ch arged past. Marl in elaborated later, " T he b i ke was running o n th e lean side . I bogged passing a lapper a nd it seized up o n m e." Mann took th e second spot at th e flag insuring the overall victory. The 250cc A class saw Kitsch pacin g McCabe, Robert M cCullough , Carl Samson a n d Keith J ohnson in th e o pe ning laps, but on lap tw o, McCabe took th e win from Kit sch . Kit sch sa id, " I got a good h ol eshot, but missed a turn a nd it was McCabe's turn to win." J eff Beckington made it a n interesting three-w ay duel in m ot o two. Kit sch took a bull et again, but, ha vin g ca ugh t his foot under a foot peg in a berm, he lost hi s enthusiasm for speed . McCabe exp la in ed his victory, " I set my own pace an d let th em do th e passing. After Kit sch was o u t of it , Beckington a lmost got me o n a jump. We had a su pe r ' good race." Ea rl Ma y, Kevin Seidel and Mike Stahlman ga ve McCabe a run for his m oney in th e 500cc A division . May's 0 ' N ea ll P i r ell il VP E / Se m i n ol esponsored H onda romped for six laps in th e o pe ne r with Stahlman and McCabe on th e ga s. Ma y said, "My sus pe ns io n was kicking badly. I need to dial it in before next week." McCab e cru ised by on lap seven for th e checkered . " Earl was setting a good pa ce," he continued, "He made m e work for it. " J oe Roger 's put his TF/Smith/ Answer/Proline Honda in front in m ota two, leaving May and McCabe to deal with traffic. " I felt like racing this mota ," said Rogers. " I am getting over a knee operation and was too ca u tio us in the fir st ra ce." McCabe dealt with May than stalked R ogers to make it a four mota sweep. McCabe ex p la i n ed , " It will be tougher next week. I plan to race in the 500cc Pro class as well as this A." The 125cc B divison one class featured back-to-hack du els between Mike Brown and Grayson G oodman Ka wasaki /Barr / G ea r / D u n lopsponsored Brown ripped a flag-toflag victory in rnoto one, but Goodman 's ScottiBarr/Centralo Yamaha roosted by for th e final mota and

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