Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ul ttl ~ ~ ::E o ~ o \ u >w ~ C >ttl o l- o :I: 00 00 ll. ~ ~ c.o ..c u l-< C\l ~ Gary Hicks leads Billy Hamill in the Denny M emorial at the Imperi al County Fairg ro unds . Hicks was second in t he Handicap main. M ike Jones t oo k three Expert class w ins at Ci nc innat i Gardens. W MN EX: 1. Lisa Pet erson (Han); 2. Tami Rice (Suz); 3 . Brenda Conner (Suz); 4. Gale W ebb (Han I. 12 5 BEG 0 -1 : 1. Erik Lindstrom (Han); 2. Greg Benton (Suz ); 3 . John Specht (Han ); 4 . Tony Barrant i (Hon ); 5. Ber nie Micahel (Kaw) . 125 BEG 0 -2: r . Alex Boca (Han): 2. Larry Camom ile (Han ); 3. Brad Dawson (Kaw); 4. Rich Thomas (Kaw); 5. David Moskovitz (Hon). 125 NOV : 1. Ronn ie Densford (Han); 2. Josh McRoberlS (Han): 3 . C. Ralph ColeIKaw): 4 . Ji m my Kigh t 5. J oel Tokarsky (Han ). ' 2 5 INT: 1. Jeff Barbacovi (Yamt 2. J eff Fin e (Han); 3. Brian Sanchez; 4. Tony Mayes (Suz); 5. Tony Qua ll s (Yaml . '25 PRO: 1. Kerry Mull igan (Han): 2. W illy Surratt (Suz): 3. Jo e Good (Suz): 4 . Eri c Wi cker (Han); 5. Arl DeHoff (Yam). . 250 BEG 0 · 1: ' . M arly Est es (Yam): 2. Todd Clar k (Kaw) ; 3. Bob Hermanson (Yam ); 4 . Roger lint on (Kaw ); 5. Joe M iera (Han ). •. 250 BEG 0 -2 : 1. Todd Peterson (Yam); 2. Joey Salatore (Kaw): 3 . Aaron Van Dyck (Yamt. 4. Gary McC lelland (Kawt 5. Rebert Cooper (Yam). 250 NOV: 'l . Ronn ie Densford (Honl; 2. Danny Battaglia (Suz); 3. Bill Sauro (Han): 4. Rob Webb (Han ): 5. Kevin Cherry (Han ). . 250 INT: 1. Ron T. Monterone (Yam): 2. Tony Qualls (Yam); 3 . Merle Hammer (Yam); 4. Mike Fowler (Yam): 5. Scott Mu rphy (Kaw) . 250 PRO: 1. Eddie Hicks (Yam); 2. TIm Telford (Han); 3. Jeff M abery; 4. M ike Dunl ap (kaw): 5. Ron M eyer (Yam). 500 BEG: 1. David A loisio (Han); 2. Ron Gilberl (Han); 3. Byron Gr eene (Yam );4. KellyWaded( Hon); 5 . J ohn Br ickner (Yam). 500 INT: 1. J eff Hares (Han): 2. David Delong (Han); 3 . George Andrews (Hon): 4. Tom Sm ith (Hon). . Jones on toP.at Cincinnati MX By Davey Coombs 44 CINCINNATI, OH, FEB. 13-14 Mike Jones took three of four Expert win s at th e World Sports/ AMA Arenacross Championships at Cincinna ti Gardens. Jones won both 12Scc Expert mains while going 3I in th e 2S0cc A fina ls. Onl y KTM 's Mark Mu sselman was abl e to hold J on es' charge by winning the Sa turda y ni ght edition of th e 2S0cc A final. J on es opened hi s attac k with a 12Scc A ma in event win. After Fred Andrews a nd David H and wen t dow n early in the goi ng, J on es was left alo ne ou t front to co nte nd wi th Dann y Blackh am . J oseph Maurer , Mike Ro th a nd Mike Bias rounded ou t the top five. In the Sunday 12Scc A fina l J on es fo und him self engaged w ith Andrews from th e start, but a late attemp t at a bump-and run pass left th e cha lle nge r with a bruised foot and a seat on th e bench. Andrews was able to.hold on until th e fin ish , though, with Bias, Rod ney P hill ips and Ha nd going 3-4-S. The first 2S0cc A main saw Musselman push hi s white bike into th e winner's circle with an impressive start-to-finish win. Jones had mai ntained second early after a so-so start, bu t a clip a nd fall with another rider meant th ird when the race was over. H an d took over the ru nner-up spo t and held off J ones to th e finish. In ' Su nday's 2S0cc A cla ss wrapup J on es again got ou t front early and never looked back while pushing his G ear/Smith /B arr ' s Camp. Yamaha to th e win, hi s third on th e weekend. Hand was again second, with Phillips, Bias and Musselman rounding o ut th e top five. In 12Scc B action Mike Brown rom ped to a pair of main event wins . Rod Carrier and Bryan Jones ran 23 in the first nigh t of racing whi le Blan e Armbuster placed his H on da into th e runner-u p spot on Su nday. He was foll owed by Bruce McDonal d and Rodger Molnar . In the 250/S 00cc B class George Molnar and McDon ald traded tu rns leading th e pa ck across the finish lin e. Molnar opened th e match with a Saturday night wi n over McDon ald a nd H onda-m oun ted J eff Steinrock, McDonald took hi s laps up front o n Sunday with Molnar and Mik e H ogan rounding ou t th e first th ree. Denny Swartz beat Senior class rival Phil Alderton in the o pener with Josh Abst on placing third. Swartz again led the way in tlie next day 's main, tho ugh Alderton suffered problems and faded to fifth. Abston inherited second wi th Brad Lake and George Mekjain sp litting th e differen ce between Abston and Alderton. In th e hard fough t 8Scc (14-IS) clas s Chris Carte and Stephen Christian sp lit wins. Carte led th e wayan the first night of racin g with Christian and J ason Reeves close behind. It was Christian's turn o ut front on Sunday, with Shane Lawson coming hom e in second ahead of Carte and Erik Leo nard. Resu lts SATURDA Y '25 EX: t . M ike Jo nes (Yam); 2. Daniel Blackham (Yam): 3 . Joseph Maurer (Hon); 4. M ike Roth (Yam); 5 . M ike Bias (Han ). 125 B: t . M ike Brown (Kaw): 2. Rod Carrier (Suz); 3 . Bryan Jones (Kaw); 4 . M ike Hogan (Hon); 5. Richard Robinson (Hon). 125 C NAT"L: 1. Steve Sizemore IHon) ; 2. Coby Robb (Hon): 3. Hoben Babb (Honl : 4. Br ian Custer IKawl: 5. Dean Ross (Yam). '25 C SUP: 1. Steve Chri st ian (Yam); 2. Brian Stocker (Kaw ); 3 . Brad Ghidi u (Kaw) ; 4 . J ohn A lti er i (Kaw l; 5. M ike Grant (Cag). 250 / 500 EX: 1. M ark M usselm an (KTM ); 2. David Hand (Hon ~ 3 . M ike J ones (Yam): 4 . Fred Andrews IHon) ; 5 . Mike Bias (Hon) . 250 /500 B: 1. George Molnar (Kaw) ; 2. Bruc e McDonald (Hon~ 3 . Je ff Steinrock (Honl ; 4. Rodney Carr ier (Hon); 5. Jim Krauser (Hon) . 250 /500 C: 1. Steve Gill and (Hon); 2. David Danko (Yam); 3. Coby Robb (Hon); 4 . Kevin J ones (Han); 5. Steve Gifford (Hon). SR: 'l • Denny Swam (Han ): 2. Philip A lderton ICag); 3 . J ohn A bsto n (Honl : 4. Tim Smith ISuz): 5. Steve Don aldson (Hon ). B5 14-' 5: 1. Chr is Carle (Kaw): 2. Ste phen Chr ist ian (Yam); 3.Ja son Reeves (Hon); 4. Shane Lawson (Hon); 5. Philip Dering er (Hon). B5 '0·13: 1. Davey Yezek (Kaw); 2. Bobbie Sturgell (Kaw ); 3 . Chr is Orme (Suz); 4 .J oshu a St eel (Kaw): 5. M ike Lom ax (Suz). 6 5 7-11 : 1. Brock Sell ard s (Kaw); 2. Scolly Graves (KawO; 3. Joshu a Swe at (Kaw); 4. Terry M eyer (Ka",:t 5 . John Rife ( Ka~). P/W: t . W esl ey Gilland (Yam ); 2. Dam ian Burkhart (Yam); 3 .Jo ey Ballinger (Yam); 4. Jo sh Scott (Yam): 5. Michael Ivers (Yam). SUN DAY '25 EX: t . M ike Jones (Yam); 2. Fred Andrews (Hon); 3. M ike Bias (Hon); 4. Rodney Phillips (Yam ): 5 . Dave Hand (Hon ). 125 B: 1. Mi ke Brown (Kaw); 2. Blan e Armbru st er (Han): 3. Bruce McD onald (Han); 4. Rodger M olna r (Kaw): 5 . Mike Hogan (Hon). '25 C NAT"L : t . St eve Sizemore (Hon ): 2. St eph en Chr ist ian (yam); 3. Steve Gilland (Hon): 4 . Shane Lawson (kaw) ; 5 . Russ Shank (Kaw). '25 C SUP: t . Gary Michael (Kawt 2. Stev e Hensley (Hon); 3. Rusty Hall (Hon); 4 . Hebert Babb (Hon); 5. Jason Searp ull i (Yam). 250/500 EX: t . M ikeJones (Yam): 2. David Hand (Han): 3 . Rod Ph ill ips (Yam t 4 . M ike Bias (HoN): 5. M ark Musselman (KTM). 250/500 B: t . Bruce M cDon ald (Honl; 2. Georg e Mo lnar (Kaw ): 3 . Mike Hogan (Hon): 4. Richard Robinson (Hon ); 5. Ray Boruff (Suz). 250 / 500 C: t . David Danko (Yam ); 2. Coby Robb (Hon); 3 . St eve Gilland (Hon); 4 . Kevin Van Arsdale (Yam ): 5. J effrey Cluxton (Hon ). SR: 1. Denny Swam (Hon): 2.JohnAbston(HoN); 3. Brad Lake (Hont 4. Georg e M ekjain (Yam ); 5 . Ph il ip Ald erton (Cag). . B5 '4-'5: 1. Ste phen Chr istian (Yam); 2. Shane lawson (Hon); 3. Chri s Cane (Kaw); 4, Erik Leonard (Kaw); 5. Jason Reeves (Hon) . 85 '0- '3: t . Davey Yezek (Kaw); 2. Chr is Orme (Suz); 3. Joshua Steel (Kaw); 4. Jo shua Sw eat (Suz); 5 . Scott Gh idiu IKaw). 657-' 1: 1. Scott Ghidiu (Kaw): 2. Brock Sellards (Kaw): 3 . Terry Meyer (Kaw); 4. Joshua Sweat (Kaw); 5. John Rif e (Kaw) . P/W : 1. Wes ley Gi ll and (Yaml: 2. Dam ia n Burkhart (Yam): 3 . J oey Ball inger (Yam): 4. M ichar l Ivers (Yam); 5 . Josh Secn (Yam) . Ermolenko cooks. Imperial Speedway By Scott Da loisio EL CENTRO, CA, FEB. 26 Despite threa tening weather, th e sou thern Ca lifornia speedway fraternity converged on th e Imperia l County Fairgrounds on opening ni~ht of the Ca lifornia Mid-Winter Fair. They were not on hand to enjoy the rid es, livestock or greasy fair food. They were on hand for the 6th Annual Denny Memorial , in which Sam Ermolenko emerged victorious. For mo st of the com petitor s it's a three hour trek to th e fairgrounds wh ich is located 12 mil es north of th e Mexican border. The event pay s homag e to Denny P yea tt. The curly haired America n lost his life in a cras h at London, En gland's Hackn ey track in 1982. The foll ow in g February and to thi s day, Ron Preston, anot her Ameri can wh o was racin g in th e British League, has a nnua lly promoted a race in th e memory of his friend. Ma ny of America's favorite speedway rid ers were on hand for the event including " Flyin' Mike" Far ia, Steve Lu cero , Robert Pfetzing and John Cook but onl y veterans Ermolenko and defending Na tional Speedway Champion Brad Ox ley made it to the Scratch main. They were joined in th e four rider even t by you ng lions Gary Hicks and Bill y Hamill. Before the rid ers pulled up to the line for the main, the fans and loca l bu siness' chi pped in $2SI.OS extra for the winner of the Iour-Iapper Ermolenko, aboard the Pacific Coast Laminatin g/Pick Your Park/Shoei/ Sm ith Goggl es Weslake, displayed th e "Midas T ou ch " when he drew the pole starti ng position. H amill drew two with Oxley in three and H icks on the o utside. When referee Irwin Moon set th e tapes free, Hicks and Ermolen ko were the first to react. Ermolenko, current world number three, made it to turn one first but H icks rode around him and attempted to bri ng it down to th e pole as the y came off turn two. It didn 't work. Errnolen ko had too much power and he got th e drive dow n the back ch u te and took sole possession of the lead. . Hamill got as far as turn one before droppi ng out and being forced to watc h the remainder of the proceedings from the infield. Back on the track, Ermolenko was all by himself at the poin t. H icks had second wrapped up but turn four, w h ic h bit a number of r iders th rougho ut the night, reached ou t and grabbed him as he headed for the white flag. Hicks wen t down and ou t and was awa rded third in th e fin al ana lysis. For the record it was Ermolen ko by a wide mar gin over Oxley, Hicks and Hamill. The you ng blood cou ldn' t do it in the Scratch main but yout h was served in Handicap action as l7- year old Greg Hancock won over l S-yearold Hicks. Longtime veteran Mike Bloom set the in itial p ace in the eig ht lapper o ver H amill and Hancock. That didn 't last long as Hancock used th e in side line and relegated Hamill to third before th ey slid into turn three. He cont inued hi s dri ve o n th e Bruce P en ha I l /Qu i ck si 1v er /Bob b y SchwartziBell /Oakl ey/Cirello Weslake and wrestled the lead away from Bloom before th e end of lap o ne. Once Hancock took the lead th e race for first was over but the ba ttle raged on behind him. H a m ill cha rged Bloom in turn three on lap two and almost tagged him. Hamill took evasive action and a lmost highsided. Kevin Krug h ' was headed directly for Hamill and laid it do wn to avo id the young rider. Tha t dropped Krugh to the back whi le less tha n a lap later, Hamill pu lled in. Oxley wor ked his way through th e field and moved into fourth o n lap five. Hicks pushed Bloom back to th ird o n th e seventh lap and Oxley also got pas t Bloom, bu t at th e head of the pack it was Hancock with th e impressive win chased by H icks. Results i SCRATCH: 1. Sam Erm ole nko (Wes); 2. Brad Oxley (We s); 3 . Gary Hicks (Wes) . HDCP: t . Greg Hancock (W es); 2. Gary Hicks (Wes); 3 . Brad Oxl ey (Wes) . SUP; t , Br ian King (Ja w); 2. Bobby St illwell (Wes): 3 . Way ne M anc hester (Wes). MATCH RACE; 1. Lance King (Wes) ; 2. M ike Curoso (Wes) . Eklund wins at MontereyST By Mike Va ncil MONTER EY, CA, FEB. 20 Steve Ekl und took off so me o f th e pressure of the upcomin g Ca mel Pro Ser ies by com ing " ou t to pl ay" ill the weekly short track prom ot ion of R &D Ente rprises a t the Monterey County Fairgrounds. A specia l added class ca lled Big Guys a ll Lil' Bikes enticed th e 1979 Grand National Ch ampi on to rid e ' aga i n st a n assem bled group of novice, junior and expert ra nked short trackers. Hea t race winner Brad Spencer got the holesho t and rea lly put his little 80cc ma chi ne to wor k. Forceful, yet controlled , ridin g allowed Spe ncer to keep th e lead for approximately eight laps, but then Eklu nd caugh t and passed him. Spencer came in second followed by Danny Moore and Anthony Giammanco.

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