Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Rick Johnson (1) t?ok the holeshot in the second 500cc moto but went too wide and was passed by !VIike Fisher (15), Leisk (7) and Ward (2). The second moto saw Holland and his Hond alirie/S cott/Dunl opbacked Honda tak e th e holesho t ahead of a pack of Suzuki riders co n si sti n g of Schmit, Da vis , Tichenor, Todd DeH oop and Kehoe. Cooper was running about 10th before lettin g his front wheel wash ou t in the mud only a few turns into the race. The H onda rider from Sti llwater , Oklahoma, re-entered the race nearl y dea d last. Meanwhile u p front, Schmit manage d to stay close to Holla nd for a couple of laps, bu t H olland was just too much for Schmit to ha ndle. H ollan d's lap times averaged around three minutes. Davis was runnin g th ird wi th Kehoe ready to ma ke a move on h im , but, Kehoe came over a ju mp a nd clip ped a wood stake tha t marked the co urse. Keh oe went do wn, dropping out o f th e race w ith a slightly co m pressed vertebra. Kehoe was tak en to th e hospital for ob servation and was soon released, pronounced okay. H e sho uld be able to mak e th e Millville National , August 14. This setthe stage for the top three for the rest of th e race - Holland, Schmit and Da vi s. They would eventuall y finish in th at order. Bu t a ll eyes we re focu sed o n Co o p er, wh o wa s m o vi n g u p throug h the pack at a tremendously fast rat e of speed. By th e halfway point , Cooper had moved into ni nth and wou ld eventually charge u p to fifth , th us snatching third overal l. Finis hing o ne p lace ahead of Cooper in the moto was DeHoo p , having one of th e best rides of his career. Six th throug h 10th went to La Rocco who started th e mot o in 15th, Brooks, Roe, Tuf Ra cing 's Keith Bowen and Tichen or. " I got the start 1 needed and th en 1 tried to get a cushion a nd pace' myse lf ," said H o ll and a fte r th e second mo to. " I reall y needed this win." After the best National finish of hi s career, Davis said, " I' m kind of di sap po inted 1 di dn 't get th ird overall after 1 finished third in both mo tos, but I' m happy." 500cc National The first 500cc moto was a Lech ien Holland (3) grabbed the holeshot in the second 125cc moto and was chased by Suzuki's Donny Schmit (16) ; runawa y. Although th e Kawasaki factory rider from EI Cajon, Cal iforni a, didn 't get th e hol esh ot , he did pass both j ohnson and leader Stanton on th e first lap , a nd th en waved goodby e to everyo ne. By the en d of the opening la p, Lechien a nd h is jT Racing/ Sco tt-backed Kawasak i had a lready developed a cus hion over j o hnso n, Stanton; Leisk, Kawa saki ri der Denn is H a wth o rn e, Yamaha rider Shau n Kal o s an d H ondamounted Fred Andrews. By la p four Lech ien had stretch ed hi s lead to seven seconds over MotoX Fo x /O akley / Bell Helm ets/ Dunlop-sponsored j o hnso n, who on the same la p tangled with a ri der he was la p pi ng and almost cras hed. johnson actually hopped off and ran alongside hi s Honda, losing even more valuab le seconds to Lechien. A la p la ter, Lechi en had do ub led his lead o ver johnson, wh o had a co m fo rt a ble advantage o n th irdplace L eisk. R unn in g a di sta n t fourt h was H i-Po in t/Bell -backed Sta nton. Ward, meanwhile, was running in midpack after having tangl ed with another rider in the first turn. " I a lmost fouled a spark p lu g on the start straig ht, then 1co llided wi th someone and bent my rear di sc (brake)," said Sinisalo/ AX O/Shoei/ Oa kley-sponso red War d. " After that my bike was dragging wit h th e brake o n, th en the pads wor e o ut and 1 had no brakes." No brakes and all , Ward eventually wor ked his way up to finis h fifth. For the rest of th e rno to, it was all a ma tter of how far ahead of johnson cou ld Lechien get. Lechien eventually crossed the finis h line 3 1 seconds ahead of j ohnso n with Leisk taking th ir d. Fourth went to Stanton fo llo wed b y Wa r d , H awt horn e, Andrews, Kalos, Kawasak i-mounted jeff Fri sz a nd H onda rider David Hand. "I had tro ub le wi th th e bike," said 'johnson. " T he cha nges I asked to hav e done to m y bike were wrong - 1 thought it wa s going to be slipperier th an it was . The suspension was off a nd 1 just wasn 't riding very good." T he fina l moto of the day featured th e most exei tment of th e day, a nd it started off wi th j ohnson ge tting th e hole sh ot, but it was Kawasaki 's Mike Fish er com ing ou t of the turn in th e lead. " I just went too wide in th e first tum, " said j ohnson , who dropped .'to fourth. . Fisher' s lead, however, was shortli ved when Leisk sho t by, taki ng Ward with him. • Before the first lap was com p leted, j oh nso n co llided with Sta nton in a turn and crashed. "S tanton came in and sli d into me in the fourth turn," said j ohnson. " T hen I had a hard time getting my bike started because it was in the m ud and stuck in gear. " j ohnson regrouped near th e back . of the pack and began a char~e that carried h im into fifth by th e fmish. Leisk, who rode th e World Champ io nship 500cc MX G P in San 7

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