Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... s-. 0.. < Damon Bradshaw (6 8 ) was t he t op Pro ri der. scoring w ins in the 1 25 cc Stock and 250cc Modified divisions. Here he dices wit h Chris Yo ung . was . questi onabl e whet her or not Albrecht would be a ble to mak e u p th e four seco nds sep arating the two on the fin al lap. Albrecht was ridin g well , .how ever, a nd appeared to be cat ching Sw ink. While Antunez took the checkered flag a head of Pederso n , Albrecht dov e underneath Swink in the final turn to tak e third by in che s. After th e race was over th ere was so me con tro versy as to wh ether or no t Swink let Albrecht by. Swink led the earlier stages o f the race and cou ld have won if they wou ld hav e stayed in that order. "The first co up le o f la ps I was a ll rig ht an d I started to p ull away , a nd th en I just started to ge t ti red. I was sick earli er this week," sai d Swi n k. " He j ust sn uck on the insi de and go t by. We d idn 't tou ch a t al l. I woul d have liked 10 ha ve wo n th e Race of Ch ampions most of a ll bu t..." " I d idn 't kn ow that I had wo n ," sa id Ka wa sa ki /DM C /A n swer l Scotti Du nl o p / T s u ba k i/P o mona Valley Kawasa ki-spo nso red Albrech t immed iatel y a fter th e moto. " T he - last co uple of la ps I didn 't think that I was goi ng to do it because I was messin g up a lo t. I'm just glad I won. " At th e s tart of th e fi rst 80cc Modified Expert m o to H o n d a mounted But ch Smi t h h ol esh ot H ea th Kirkl a nd , Tom m y Clowers, T im Hod es and Antunez. Swi nk was back in 11th . After so me po sition swa p p ing early in the race Kirkl a nd mo ved into the lead a nd o pened up a sma ll cushio n. Wh ile Kirkland was - p ull ing a way, Antunez was rapidl y cu ui ng through th e pa ck , but hi s cha rge ended o n the third la p when the R&D Suzu ki pilo t crashed back to fift h . C low ers , w ho ea r l ie r d rop ped o ff th e p ace , s ud de n ly star ted to ca tch Kirk land. T he two riders ba ng ed bars for severa l la ps befo re Clow ers was ab le to take th e lead. A lap a fter bei ng pa ssed b y Clow ers. Kirkland took himself o u t a nd ga ve seco nd to Sm ith. Clow ers went on to tak e th e win over Smi th, Kirkland , Ant un ez a nd Sw in k. As the riders entered th e first turn for th e start of th e seco nd mot o , the Gear . R a ce wea rI Sco tt -s p o n so red Ki rkl and led H odes , C lowe rs , Antunez and Derek Natvig. Antunez fell in th e early stages o f the ra ce wh ich p u t him back in 11th. Swin k, wh o suffered from poor sia rts a ll week long, was forced to work his wa y u p from 10th . " Back home we don 't ha ve an y ceme nt starting ga tes," sa id Swi nk . "The on ly tim e I ever start on th em are here a nd in T exas." Swink co n tin ued to po u nd his wa y to wa rd s th e fro nt a nd q uickl y fou nd himself in third. Antu nez was a lso o n the mov e but could n' t seem to pass as easily as Swi n k. On the last la p Swin k mo ved into second a short d ista nce behind Kirk land. Wi th o n ly two turns remai ni ng Swin k sho t for the inside of a o ne -li ne tu rn th at was occupied by Kirkl and. Kirkl an d lost h is fro n t end in th e deep rut a nd Swi nk cruised to the chec kers. " I hesitated in th e corne r whe n I should ha ve gone o n, and the n he hit me," said Kir kland. " I a lmost had it. If I wou ld 've kn o wn tha t I cou ld 've let him by and still won the overall, then I wo u ld ha ve." The cra sh des trov ed Kirk la nd 's ho pes o f an overa ll and dropped hi m to fourth. " It was a las t-chance pass," said Swi n k. Swink took th e overa ll win with a 5- 1 score. Clowers was second o vera ll wi th 1-5 fin ish es and Antu nez p laced third with a 4-3 tally. Kirkland fin ished 3-4 for a disa p po inting fourth overa ll and Smith was fifth wi th a 2-8 score. Wh en the gate dropped a t the start o f the first 80cc Stock Expert moto Will y Bowden hol eshot Albrecht, Sm ith. Antu nez a nd Swink. As the pa ck exited the first turn Bowden fell back to fift h a nd gave Albre ch t th e lead. T he duo of Ant unez and Swin k wasted no tim e dispo sing o f Smith a nd qu ickl y sho t into second a nd third behind Albrech t. and the ba ttle for the lead grew fierce. The three ri ders swapped positio ns severa l times with Antu nez benefi ting the mos t. T he ba tt le slowed do wn o n th e sixth la p whe n Swi nk cras hed back Swink 12 5 7) and Antunez battle in Expert action. Swink won the 80cc Modified and Super M in i classes and Antunez won the 80cc Stock class, to th ird , far behind the leaders. . An tunez took the win a head o f Albrech t, Swink, Smi th a nd Hodes. Second moto action saw Sm ith tak e th e early lead over Albr echt , Antu nez, Co li n Edwards a nd Clow ers. Ant un ez q ui ck ly passed Albrecht o n the ins ide lin e o f a sweeper an d closed in on Smi th . An tu nez's charge was tempo raril y ha l ted after h e swap pe d o u t a fte r a j u m p a n d a llowed Albrech t to retak e seco nd. Antu nez struggled to ge t back up to speed a nd now had to co n tend with Swin k breathing down his neck. The duo conti n ue d th eir cha rge to th e fro m of th e pack wh ere they dis pl aced Albrecht to fourth nea r the hal fway po int. An tu nez th en proceeded to move into th e lead and put Smi th between him a nd Swi nk . Swi n k hounded the rear fender of Smith 's H onda for severa l laps befor e he made his move . O nce by Sm ith, Swi n k set his sights o n Ant unez' a nd a do -or -die battle was created. Swi n k chased Albrech t for two la ps with on ly one ' bike leng th sepa rati ng the two. Two tu rn s from the finish Sw in k tri ed to ta ke th e ins ide awa v from An tu n ez, causing the Suzuki pi lot to go down . Wh ile An tunez strugg led to pi ck up hi s bi ke, Albrech t 'ra n int o him from behind. Wh oever crossed the finish line first wo uld be th e overa ll wi nner a nd the two riders tri ed furi ously to free th eir tan gled bi kes. T he two ride rs go t under wa y a lmo st si m u ltaneous ly a nd Albrecht tri ed 10 di ve underneat h Antunez in th e final turn, bu t An tu nez sh u t th e door. Ant une z was th e first to cross th e finis h line after Swin k a nd h is 1-2 sco re gave hi m h is o n ly overa ll o f the weeke nd . Swin k was seco nd ove ra ll wi th a 3-1 sco re, Alb rech t p laced thi rd wit h 2-3 finishes , Smith fourt h wit h a 4-5 an d Dustin Even s was fifth overa ll. Wh en the ga te dropped a t the start o f the first Su per Mini class moto An tu nez grabbed the early lead over Swin k, Je ff G ra fton , Brian Rot h a nd Kirkland. O n th e first la p Grafton crashed hard and a lmost took Ro th out wi th h im. Ro th then proceeded to drop off the pace whi ch gave Na tvig third ahead of Clow ers a nd Sm ith. Up front Swi nk pressu red Ant u ne z and was trying to mak e lines to . get by th e ex tremely fast R&D Suzuki ridden b y An tu nez. Sw in k fin ally fou nd a line th at worked and took over the lead. With only two laps re ma ini ng Antunez stu ffed Swi n k befor e th e . tabletop . Swink retaliated a nd tr ied to rep ass Antunez in the following turn , but Antu nez didn ' t give a n inc h a nd th e Kawasaki pilot went do wn . Antu nez th en cruised to the wi n over 10 seco nds ahead of Swi n k, who was « followed by Cl ower s, Smith and Nat vig. Seco nd moto actio n saw Sw in k da rt into the lead ahead o f Antu nez, Brian Ro th , Kirkl and and Smi th. After ga ting sevent h Alb recht sho t arou nd th e outside of the first tu rn and moved into thi rd. Two la ps in to th e race An tu nez got by Swink. wh o quickened his pace as th e two freight tra ined around the track for severa l laps. Whi le Antunez was trying to hold Swink a t ba y, Clowers had moved int o third ahea d o f Ro th. With o nly two laps rem a in ing di saster struck for Antunez. Du ri ng th e p receeding lap ; o ne of the steel po les tha t was being used to hol d u p ba n ne rs was knocked down into th e middle o f a berm and Antu nez" h it the po le head on , ca usi ng him to go down hard. "Whe n I hit th e po le it threw m y fro n t end o u t fro m undern ea th me," said Antu nez. " T he re was noth ing I co uld do." Swi n k, who was two bike lengths 27

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