Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Antunez's lu ck ran out as he took h imself o ut a few tu rns later. " I shou ld have calmed down whe n I got into second," said Antunez. " I was just riding a little bit over my head." Antunez quickly picked up his bike a nd go t under way in fifth . While Antunez wa s trying to catch th e leaders for a seco nd time Swink man a g ed to pa ss Albrecht but crashe d hard off a jump short ly 00 afterwa rds . 00 0') " I' m just no t used to th e suspe n ........ sio n an d I swa pped o u t o ff that j u m p ," sa id Swink. " 1 felt o u t of co ntrol." The cras h kn ock ed Swink back to ........ fifth a n d ga ve G oodman seco nd over Pederson a nd Antu nez. Up from Albrecht was setti ng a bli stering pa ce 0.. and had o pe ne d u p a nine-second ~ . cus h io n o n Good ma n. Ped erson m oved in right beh ind Goodman a nd chased him for severa l laps before Good ma n fell back to fourth. At th e chec kers Albrecht took the win l l.seconds a hea d o f Pederson , Swink, Good ma n a nd An tunez. . After a d isappoin iin g first race Antunez ca me back to lead Swink, Albrecht, H od es a nd Brian Roth a t th e start o f th e seco nd mot a . Pederso n shot aro u nd th e ou tside of th e first turn a n d sta le fou rth from H od es w hi le Sw in k immedi at el y began to cha lle nge Antun ez for th e lead. As th e race progressed Antunez a nd Swin k opened up a three-second lead ove r Alb recht , with Pederson closing in fo urth. " I tri ed to h an g w ith Budd y Joel Albrecht (7) passes Brian Swink as they cross the f inish li ne in the final moto of the Kawasaki Race (Ant u nez) a n d S wi n k ," sa id of Champions. The pass gave Albrecht the ROC t itle by one point over Buddy Antunez. Albrecht. " I kn ew Peder son was ----~----right behind me. I kn ow Swink gets a littl e bit crazy a nd I kn ew he would Sw in k had clai me d ti tles in th e 80cc try prett y har d to pass Buddy. I was Modi fied Expert an d Su pe r Mini just h oping th at (o ne of th em ) would classes , w h i le A n tu nez wa s th e fall or so me thi ng." . runner-up in th e Su per Mini class Throu gh out th e th ree days of a nd th ird overa ll in 80cc Mod ified · ra cing Swin k had o pe ned eyes with Expert . Alb recht's hi ghest fin ish h ad passes he pulled off four times, two co me in th e 80cc Stoc k Expe rt class turns fro m th e fini sh . Once it cost wh ere he fini shed third overa ll. T exan Heath Kirkl and a win in the Yamaha 's Dam on Brad sh aw ca p80cc Mod ifi ed Expe rt cl ass after tured wins in th e 1 25cc Stoc k an d Swink pushed him o u t of the rutted 250cc Mod ifi ed Pro classes despi te one line turn , ca us in g Kirkland to heav y co ntention from Honda 's Kyle • fall. ' Lewis and Kaw asaki T eam Green 's With o n ly a few laps rem aini ng Mik e Kiedrowski. Kiedrowski , ridSwink began to try everyth ing to get ing with a brok en left foo t, bounced by Antunez. Swin k bobb led several back to win th e 250cc Stock Pro class tim es wh ich a llowed An tunez a little a nd Lewis took th e victory in th e breathin g room , bUI Swink ' would 125cc Modified P ros. Yamaha's Crai g quickl y ca tch up. When th e white Davis clear ly dominat ed th e 500cc flag waved , the race was still far from ' Pro cla ss a fter hol esh otting both being d ecid ed . As th e lea d e r s mot os a nd leading wire-to-wire. a p p roached th e sp lit level turn that Fo r the ROC , 15 rid er s we re The ROC lineup: (back row. left to right ) Jason Frenette. Brent Peterson. Swink had success fu lly made hi s se lected to ra ce three m oto s o n Swink. Justin Jensen. Antunez. Grayson Goodman. Jack Ricks. Tim passes in , Antunez took th e high identicall y prep ar ed , stoc k Kaw asaki Hodes; (f ront row. left to right) Sean Thornton. Brian Roth. Albrecht. · inside line wh ile Swi n k elected to pin KX80s. All of th e riders ar e curre n t Tom m y Clowers. Ross Pede rson and Willy Bowden. it aro u nd th e o u tside, lost hi s front cha m p io ns from th e vario us NMA end ex iting th e turn a nd went down reg io ns . or cha m pions from o ther hard. Antunez took th e win an d sanc tio n ing bodies. T he riders dr aw World '~ini whil e Swi n k strugg led to ge t his bike number s which determine wh o will sta rte d Albrecht sn uc k by for seco n d ride wha t bike. Bet ween eac h mo to a hea d o f Pederson. th e riders swi tch bikes to ens ure th at Leading into th e fin al and decid no one has a n unfai r adva ntage. A ing mota of th e ROC, Albrech t was previous winner of this event was · th e o ne to beat with 1-2 mot a scores. current Su pe rcross Champion J eff Peder son was seco nd with 2-3 fin Wa rd. After a sh ort wa rm- u p pri or to the ish es and Ant unez held third with sta rt of th e first ROC mo ta , Kaw asaki a 5- ' tall y. mechanics struggled to fix a cha in Wh en th e ga te dropped , Antunez By Ken Faught p robl em a ili ng Albrecht's bike. The led Ped erson, Swin k, G oodman and HENDERSON, NV , APR. 8-\0 mech anics elected to have Albrecht Albr echt o ff th e line. Shortl y into the ride a spare bike set asid e inthe event moto Antunez fell ba ck to fifth , o f such an eme rge ncy. surrendering th e lead to Swink. Swink th en quickened his pace and Wh en the gate dropped , Albr echt gained a three-second adv antage on hol esh ot Will y Bowden, Swink, Tim Pederson. Antunez kn ew that if he H od es a nd Grayson Goodman. On h ad any ch a nce o f win n in g th e th e fir st lap the top fiv e rider s overa ll that he m ust win this moto. swa p ped p ositions. Albrech t sti ll In one lap Antunez had worked h is maintained th e lead , but Swink had pions a t the 17th Annual first moto and finished fifth th en way from fifth to second and rapidly moved into second ahead of GoodNational Motosport A ssociaca~e back to Win the next tw~ motos. decreased Swin k's lead. Halfway into man, Bowd en and Pederson . . Id ' . G d P . Third overall went to Iow a s Chad non Wor MInt ran fIX Pederson.with a 2-3-2 sco re. Antun ez, .w h o gated eigh th , was th e mota Antunez j umped pas t at Las Vegas Motocross Park. Preceding the ROC th e odds o n p icking u p positions a nd by th e end Swink and into the lead. Swink of th e second lap had caught Swink Abrecht took th e R O C titl e with favorites to win were Antunez and dropped back yet another posi tio n a s Pederson passed him for seco nd co nsis tent 1-2-3 mota sco res, narMich igan 's Brian Swink. Antun ez a nd a battle eru p ted for seco nd. The ro wly ed gin g fellow Cal ifornian two riders swa p ped positions but o ver the same jump. had a lready ca p tu red a win in th e Swink co n tin ued th e pressure unti l Swink appeared to be tired a nd it Buddy Antunez wh o fell twi ce in th e 80cc Stock Expert class ove r Swin k. ..... .... KawasakiLNMA Grand Prix Albrecht beats the odds in Las Vegas " I was just hop ing tha t I could win this. I guess it hasn' t h it me yet that I really won, but.itIeels good," said J oel Albrecht sh ortly after winning the Kawasaki Race of Ch am- 26

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