Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ron Lech ie n (4) took Broc Glover out du ring the first heat as they battled for the lea d. then finished th ird in the main for the fourth straight t ime. bu siness as usual for Johnson, who flew fast and fair off th e jum ps in pursuit of War d. Lechi en started to try tight inside lines as he worked to th ird, but almost dumped him self over a hay bale on one occasion. J ust befor e entering th e ro ug h infield wh oop section , Ward fell in the " Gator Pit " sand hole" and it was Johnson in ' the .lead. T he rou gh infi eld sectio n too k its .toll on o thers as th e 20-lap race wore o n. Holl an d was th e next to drill him self into th e course, and then Kehoe flip ped his bike in the same section. Ward was up q uickl y and kept the pressure on J ohnson . " When I fell I just did n't feel that it was over, " _ said Ward. "I still felt smoo th , and that there was more to the race than tha t." A few lap s later Ward slid o ut and was down again. H e ski llfully kept control of th e clutc h lever and didn 't have to restart the bike, bu t h is second cras h , put J ohnson o ut of range. The race claime d more ri ders. Fisher and Sta nton tangled on an uphill. Brook s fell and Fra nk went down . The o n ly o ne see m ingly ha vi n g fu n wa s J ohnson , w ho wowed the cro wd o n every lap . At the finis h J ohnson ha d abo ut a half -lap lead on Ward, who was followed by Lechi en, Ma tiasevich, Du bach , Leisk, Ma nley and O 'Mara. " I kn ow I' m always doing stuff to ma ke the cro wd like me, bu t I'm telli n ' ya th at th e Tampa cro wd is the' most m oti vation al ~oup I've ridden for in a lon g time," said Joh nson. " I like a good hard figh t, an d tha t's what I go t at th e begi nning with J eff. I a lmost fell screwin ' aro und with some la p pers on the last lap - you have to give it 100% or th ings will go wron g." J oh nson called AMA referee Fred di e Ep hrem to winner's ·circle and presen ted him with th e firs t p lace trop hy. Ephrem had retired as AMA ref followin g t he G ain esvill e Nati o nal February 28 after 38 years of service. " Man , I' m tryin g as hard as I can!" said Ward wh en asked if he co uld stop johnson's win strea k. " I go t up next to him , but I forgot ho w slippery th e course was a nd fell a second tim e." "T h is is getting pretty bori ng. I hope I can do some th ing abo ut it soon ," said Lechien. " I trie d to hold off J ohnson for Wardy as long as I co uld," said Mati asevich , " I just hung on in th e w h oops a n d tri ed to co nserve energy. " " I finally broke free and pulled u p on Mat iasevich, bu t the la pped riders were ca usi ng me a lot of discomfort," sai d fifth-place Dubach. " Fo urt h woul d have been better than fifth , but I'll have to be happy with what I go t here tonight." 125cc The top six tran sferr ed from each of two 125cc heats. Yamah a rider Mike Larocco ga in ed control at th e start of heat o ne and pro ceeded to lead Yam aha ri der Mik e Jones, Suzuki-mou nte d Mike Norris and H onda rider Mark Crozier. LaRocco misj udged his distan ce on th e far side of the big triple and smacked th e sea t hard, and wh en he slowed to recover J o n es too k th e poi nt. Ro bert . N augh ton put his Cagiva past Cro zier a fter some dicing for fourth, and then bo th riders got past No rris for the th ree-four slo ts. Crozier went o ut of conte ntion wh en he fell on a n up hi ll. Jones, LaR occo , and Naughton finished o ne-two-three, a nd New Jersey rider Robert Hayes came. up th rough th e pack to p lace his Suzuki fourth. Norri s was fifth, a nd Br ian McEl ro y p u sh ed h is Cagiva inside of Kawasak i rider Don Hudson for th e .sixth a nd fin al transfer. " La Rocco passed me in Pontiac, so wh en I go t h im here I didn 't wa nt to look back," said j ones. . Kawasaki ride r Denny Stephe nson a nd DeHoop broke free of a big pileu p at the start of heat two. Ya mah a- mo unted T o mm y R io s, Mark Pillion on a H onda a nd Chris Co leman on a Kawasaki were run ning in the top five. Coleman fou nd a line past Pilli o n for fou rth, and Sean Dukes go t his H o nda into the hunt by movi ng pas t Yama ha rider Lonnie Tucker for six th . Stephenson almost went over the bars on the big triple, but held-o n to win . DeH oo p was second foll o wed in the ot her transfer spots by Co lema n, R ios, Dukes and Kawasaki rider Kenny Kizzar. I came here today to stay up and no t fall , and I did it," said Stephenson. "T he track is slic k, but if you come ou t of the turns mellow it's no problem." T he 125cc co nsi pu t the top to riders in the main , elim inating on ly three riders from the ori ginal start ing 'field of 25. Crozier led th e way fo r th e win. DeH oop and J ones stayed clea r of a six-rider pil eu p in tu rn o ne at the start of the main , and set the pace out front. Naughton went out with rear shoc k problems ear ly in lap one. LaRocco ran an early th ird, bu t Colema n event ua lly settled into th e spo t. DeHoo p wa s m on i tor in g J o nes' pos ition, but near m idrace his mechanic gave him pi t signals to stop looking back and to charge. T hat order p ut DeH oop far eno ugh in front to enjoy th e race, and he was visibly happy when he popped a victory fist int o the air off the finish line j ump. Todd DeHoop stayed clear of a first-turn pileup and Michael Jones to take the 125cc main and closed in on Jones in the point standings. George Holland (3) held off Jeff Ward to win the second heat. Ward fin ished second in .the main after falling twice while Holland crashed . .After wrapping up the 125cc Western Reg ional Championship in Dallas. Jeff Matiasevich scored fourth. his best 250cc finish to date. Results 125: 1. Todd DeHoop (Suz); 2. M ikeJones (Vam); . 3. Chris Coleman (Kaw ); 4. M ike laRocco (Vam); 5. Kenny Kizzar (Kaw ); 6. Denn y Stephen son (Kaw ); 7. Mark Crozier (Han); 8. Sean Dukes (Han); 9. M ike Norr is (Suz); 10 . Tommy Rios (Yamt, 11. Robert Hayes (Suz); 12. Ji m Randa (Vam); 13 . Mark Musselman (KTM ); 14. Donal d Hudson (Kawl ; 15. M ike Kurzeja (Suz); 16. Andy M ichner (Han); 17. Bob Nebel (Suz); 18. Lonnie 'tucker (Vam); 19. (Kaw ). 250 ; 1. Rick Johnson (Han); 2. J eff War d (Kaw ); 3. Ron Lechien (Kaw); 4 . J eff Matiasevich (Kaw l; 5. Doug Dubach (Vam); 6. J eff Leisk (Han); 7. Brian Malev (Suz); 8. Joh nn y O'M ara (Suz); 9. Ross Peder son (Suz); 10. Fred And rews (Suz); 11. Dean Mats on (Suz); 12. Brae Glover (Vam); 13 . Lar ry Brooks (Kaw ); 14 . Jeff Stanton (Yam); 15. George Holl and (Hon); 16. Erick Kehoe (Suz); 17. Keit h Bowe n (Kaw); 1B. Jeff Hicks (H on~ 19. Ray Somma (Suzl; 20 . M ike Fisher (Kaw); 21. Billy Frank (Yam ). POINT STAN DINGS 25 0; 1. Johnson (192); 2. Ward (177); 3. Lechien (160); '4. Glover (113); 5. Holland (107); 6. (TIE) Kehoe/ Leisk (101 ); 7. (TIE) O'M ara/Stanton (67); 8. (TIE) Dubach/M icky Dymond (54 1. 125 EA STERN REGION; 1. Jo nes (111); 2. DeHoop (109); 3. Colema n (83); 4. Hayes (77); 5. laRocco (75 ); 6. St ephenson (65); 7. Kizzar (55); 8. Robert Naughton (49); 9. Crozier (40 ); 10. Carl Vaillancort (37). "This is an excelle n t crowd, th ey really had me go ing, " said DeHoop. " When I ge t nervou s I start looking back, a nd I need to focus on wha t's i n fro nt i f I p la n to kee p o n winn ing." ' . 7

• Cover