Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Paul Bray (11) led w inner Donald Jacks in the early stages of the GTU feature at Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach. Florida . Haller hauls at Lawton Cross Country By Anna Boyd LAWT O N, O K. SE PT. 18 Mom en ts after H onda iider T om H all er crossed the fini sh lin e lO ta ke first in th e O ver 30 Expert class , th e downpour fro m Hurri cane Gi lbert began . Desp ite th e threat s o f to rnados an d to rre n tia l rai n fro m th e h ur rica ne the fir st race o f the Oklah o ma C ross Co u nt ry Ra cin g Associ ati o n for the ra il season was u n de rway . After a seco n d p lace stan agains t Honda rid er Den n y Beitler, Haller took th e lead . Haller a nd Beitl er hauled it o ut o n the wet a nd slip pe ry track for th e first coup le of laps, but H all er managed to pa ss Beitler a nd. go or . on C the win. The fig h t was on for th e money in th e Pr o cla ss bet ween Honda-m ounted Ch uck Cooper a nd Suzu ki rider T rey J orski. J or ski got a fir st pl ace sta n, b u t it didn 't last long. Cooper was ltl h o t p ursuit to ca p ture the lead fro m J or sk i. Coo pe r found th e righ t lin es a nd passed J o rski , b u t J or ski to ok th e lead back a nd wen t o n to th e victor y. T he 250cc Am at eur class was a not he r close race bet ween Randy Brim a nd Wendell Heard. Heard took th e ho lesh ot fro m the sta rt a nd led most o f th e race. Brim seemed to co me fro m no wh ere to pass H ear d o n th e sixth la p of th e eig h t-la p ra ce. H ea rd pi cked up th e pace bur ran out o f la ps, ta kin g second to Br im . Results PRO: 1. Trey Jor ski (S ull; 2 . Chuck Coop er (Hon); 3 . Lar ry Sm ith (Hen) . _ OPEN EX: 1. Ken Heath erington (Kawl; 2. M ike Buerg er (Han). OVER 30 EX: 1. Tom Hall er (Hon); 2. Denn y Beitl er (Hon ); 3. Rick Hillhou se (Han) . OPEN A M ; 1, J .D. Wa lke r (Yam); 2. Tom Rhude (Han ); 3 . Pete Ooonk een (Hus). 0 -200 AM : 1. Br ia n M artin (Yam); 2 , Den nis Emer son (Hon); 3 . Dan Seerey (Hon ). M INI: 1. Robert Ow en s (Yam I. . 250 EX: 1. Dou g Blackwell (KTM ); 2. Rod Reim (Yam); 3. Mike Hul sey (SUl ). 0-200 EX: 1. Scott Wi l son (Yam); 2. A lan Brown (Hon). OVER 30 AM : 1. Bill Hul sey (Suz ); 2. Ter ry Long (Yam): A lv in Kep hart (Yam l. 250 AM: 1. Randy Br im (Yam ); 2. W end ell Heard (Hon); 3 . Randy Tucker (KTMI . OVER 40 : 1. Bil l Ow ens (Yam); 2. J im my W alker (Yam); 3. Bill W alker'(Hon). Chin, Jacks, Russell star at Moroso RR By Joe McKay W. PALM BEACH , FL, S EPT . 18 Flo rida 's Mar k Ch in a nd Donald jacks a lo ng with G eorgia 's Scott Russell dom in a ted th e road rac i ng a t Moroso Mo tor sports Park. Ru ssell was vic tori ous in the 50· mile so lo GTO eve nt, U n li mi ted Su pe rs por t , a n d fi ni shed third i n th e S h oo t-O ut. j ack s domina ted th e 50-mi le GT U so lo even t, Midd l ew ei ght Superb ik e. H eav yw ei ght Superbike. a n d Middl eweight G P. . The 50-m ile GTO race sta rted with a full field of 47 rid ers but had to be red -fla gged at th e end o f th e third la p when Kevin Bla is had hi s en gin e let go o n th e front straight a t 150 mph. It sp it him 0 [[ as the back en d ca me arou nd and he brok e both wr ists and his ri gh t leg . Russell was pressured by Ch in for th e remai nd er o f th e ra ce but a t th e chec kered fla g it was R ussell o n his So lma x G SXRIIOO Suzuki. Ri ck Sh aw fin ished a clo se th ird with joh n C ho a te fourth. fn th e GTU cla ss it was Pau l Bray on h is Honda 600 out fron t for the first seven la p s with Jacks o n his rear fend er. On lap eigh t jacks got ,ired o f playin~ follow-th e· leader a nd 'ro lled pa st Bray and III two la ps he had pulled out a 12·seco nd lead. Bra y wa s havin g trouble with second ~ar in th e turn two area and twice had to re'ddJust hi s l ine aft er mi ssing a downshift. This problem allowed Novice rid er a nd Florida points lead er Mike Barnes to pu ll h is Hurricane up o n Bray 's rear whee l severa l times. Barnes' was not alone in h is efforts to pass; R u ssell on h is stock 600 Kata na . had ma na ged to sta y with Barnes' more power ful H onda in th e corn ers bu t was no ma tch o n th e long slrai&hmways a t Mor oso. At the ch eckered n ag It was Jacks, Bra y, Barnes. R ussell , a nd Newton H eston. At th e start o f th e $ 1000 Shoot-Out race, it was Ru ssell in fron t o f th e pack going do wn the ha lf m ile back straight to turn five. C h in was second a n d Dani el Turner th ird. At th e end o f la p two Ash mead had po wered up fro m sixth p lace to p ress u re Ru ssell who had j us t been p assed by Chin . H alfwa y dow n the fro nt straigh t Ashmead made h is move and outbra ked Russell for seco n d . By the fourth la p o f the five lap feature Ashmead had closed the gap on C h in a nd was loo ki n g for a wa y pa st. As th e two cro ssed th e finish line. Chi n had a bike len gth lead and a n ew track record. Both he and Ashmead had broken Ri ck Sh a w 's record; J ohn Ashmead brok e Eddie Lawson 's tra ck record. Shaw broke his a nd now Chi n ta kes home a ll the mar bl es. Results GTO ENDR: 1. Scon Russell (Suzl; 2. Mart Chin (yam): 3 . Rick Shaw (Yam ); 4 . John Choate (Suz): S. Rudolph Von lignau (Suzl. UW GP COMB EX: 1. John Fran ce (Han ); 2. John Long (Yam) ; 3 . Sta n Pollo ck (Yaml ; 4 . J im Ronan (Yam); S. Gary Stumm (Yam). HIW S/SPRT EX: 1. Paul Bray (SUl ); 2. Dan ny Robert s ISuz); 3 . Tim Ledbett er (Sull; 4 . J im Nick s (Su z); 5 . Bill Beesch (Suzl. M IW S/BK EX: 1. Donald Ja cks (Han); 2 . John As hmead (Han ); 3 . Paul Br ay (Hon); 4 . Newton Heston (Han ); 5 . Glenn Bar ry (Hon ). U/L S/S PRT EX: 1. Scott Russell {Suz}; 2, Dann y Robert s (Suz): 3 . Bill Beesch (Suz); 4 . Donald Jack s (Suz ); 5. J im Nick s (Sull. GTU ENDR: 1, Don ald Jac ks (Han); 2 . Paul Bray (Hon); · 3. Mike Barnes (Hon); 4 . Scott Russell (Suz); 5. Newton Heston (Hon) . U W GP COMB NOV; 1. Joe Col e (Yam); 2. Jeff J ohn son "(Suz); 3 . Ben Stow er s (Yam); 4. Ron Ston e (Hon); 5. Ste ve W ish in sky (S uzl HIW S/SPRT NOV : 1. Nat e Dono hew (Yam): 2. Chip Crowther .Suz ); 3. David Kamps {Honl; 4 . Jim Niebrzyd owski (Suzl: 5. John Cox (Yam). M IW S/BK NOV: 1. David Kamps (Hon); 2. Kevin Noon an (Hon); 3 . John Costa (Hon); 4 . Mik e Rest a (Hon): 5. Georg e M att hew s Jr . (Han). UW Vl NT: 1. Mik e M osocoso (Yam); 2. Dou g M edem a ' (Due). HIW VINT EX: 1. John Long (Vin); 2 . Joe Drost (Hon). M IW GP COM B EX: 1. Don ald Jacks (Hon); 2. Randy Kirnec (H-D); 3 . Newton Heston (Hon): 4 . Gl enn Bar ry (Hon): 5. Jo hn Fran ce (Hon). S1000 SHOOT-OUT EX: 1. M ark Chi n; 2. Joh n A shm ead: 3 . Scott Russell : 4 . Dan Turner; 5. John Cho ate. HIW VINT NOV: 1. Geor ge Rockett (Tri); 2. M ike M oscoso (Yam); 3 . W ill Dalt on {Suzl. 2 M IW GP COMB NOV: 1. M ike Barn es (Hon K:1 . David Kam ps (Hon); 3 . Jo e Cole (Hon); 4 . Kevi n Noonan (Hon): 5. John Costa (Hon ). Grasso brothers topOlRMX By Peggy Adamic RAV ENNA, OH , SE PT. 4 Chri s Grasso a nd h is yo u ng brother john eac h gra bbed double rn ot o win s in the ir respe ctive classes th is week end a t Ohio International Racew a y. Four days of steady ra in resulted in a sma ller than a verage turnout. th e riders who did show, were treated to n earl y perfect . tra ck co nd itio ns fOT motocro ss. Kevin Sween ey led the 125cc B class o ff th e gate. Ch ris Bodo a nd Chris Gr asso held seco n d a nd third beh in d Swee ney till mid-ra ce wh en Bodo lost co ntrol of hi s H onda and found himself in last p lace. Less than a lap lat er , Kawasak i-m oun ted Swee ney joined Bodo a t th e back of th e pack g ivin g Grasso co ntro l of the race . G rasso took the moto win fo llow ed by Aaron McCoy with Sween ey DNF. j o h n G rasso rode hi s KT M to do u ble moto wins in th e 80cc (12-13) cla ss. Grasso led moto o n e from start to fi nish , racin g to a siza b le lead a head o f joe Gerd es. . In th e second mOlD, Grasso grabbed the early lead a nd le t ,hrough la p fo u r whe n Bod o took over th e lead. Grasso battled back and within a h alf la p , regained the lea d. Grasso went o n tak e the win, trailed by Bod o and Vin ce Kamow. Honda rider Chris Mi ller bested the la rge 125cc C class, finishing with a perfect I-I. Miller grabbed th e lea d off th e line with Yamaha rider Allen Beech, Ho nda- mou n ted james Wagner and Kell y j o h n so n atop hi s '0 Harl ey -D avi dson- m o unt ed Steve Aseltine (2 2 ) f inished second to Brian Bonesteel in t he Expert class at the Syracuse Speed Week Half Mile. Kawasaki g iving ch ase in th e fir st moto. Wagner d rop ped back 10 fifth a nd J ohnso n passed Beech b1 the beg innin g o f th e third la p . With Mill er o u t to a n in e-second lead . Beech reg- ined second wh en J ohnson d umped a hi s ride a nd en ded up in 10, h. Steve H u rnpe , Brad Quear a nd Pete Bau ghman ch ased Miller a nd Beech to th e checkered fla g. Mi ller hol esho t mot o two with Wa gner , Beech, J oh nson a nd Bil l Ko leno close behind. Mill er h eld h is lead wh ile Kol en o routed hi s Kaw asaki a ro u n d the rid ers a head o f him. passing both j oh nson a nd Beech b y th e mi d wa y point. With j ohnso n in tow , Ko len o pa ssed Wagner fo r second with J oh ns o n foll o w in ~ su i t a nd also passed Wagner to grab rh ird . Mtll er took the w in , a full l2 seco nds ahead of Kol en o , johnson a nd Wagner. Karl Sco tt ripped th ru bot h rn ot o s o f th e 60ce class fin ish in g wit h a perfect 1-1 moto ta lly . Andy Wicken s. a 50cc rider co n tin u ed hi s assa ult in th e Pee Wee class, scori ng double moto victories. R ider T revor Vin es post ed wire-towire wins in th e 80cc ( 14-15) class m o tes fo r the overall victory. Results 50: 1. A ndy W icken s (Yaml; 2. M ar k Calla han (Yam); 3. Larry Rust (Yam); 4 . Kri sta l Scon (Yam); 5. Caleb Lawson (Sull. 60 : 1. Karl Scott (Kaw); 2. Levi Hennunger (Kaw ). 80 (12· 13): 1. Jo hn Gr asso ~KT M ); 2. John Bodo (Hon); 3. V ince Karnow(Yam): 4 . J oe Gerd es (Hon ); 5. David Borris (Hon). 80 (14. 15): 1. Trevo r V in es (Hon); 2. Tim Conti (Hon); 3 . John Caruso (Hon); 4 , M ar k Dal l isl (Kaw); 5. Dail e Hern anskey (Yam l. 12 5 SCHBY: 1. Kevin Sweeney (Kawl : 2. Brad Qu ear (Han ); 3. Bill Ketene (Kaw l; 4 . Joh n Caruso (Hon): 5.Curtis Sta n tia l (Yam). ., 12 512 50 OPEN A : 1. Ken Frankenberry (Hon); 2 . Steve Gardiner (Han ); 3. Bar ney Barn en (Hon ). 125 B: 1. Chris Grasso (KTM ); 2. Aa ron Mc Coy (Hon): 3. Chris Bodo (Hon); .4 . All en Beech (Yam ); 5. Curti s Sta ntial (Yam ). 125 C: 1. Chr is M ille r (Honl; 2. Bill Koleno (Kawl; 3. Steve Hu mpe (Yam l; 4 . Allen Beec h (ya ml; 5. J ames Wa gner (Han ). 2508: 1. D.J. Hebe rele in (Kaw); 2. J ohn Harr ington (Hon ); 3 . Ken Novak (Hon); 4 . Tom M ihav les (Suz); 5. J eH Jo hns on (Cag). 250 C: 1. J im DeFra nco (Kaw ); 2. J aso n My er s (ya ml; 3 . Chet Clem (Suz); 4 . Todd Toby (Kaw); 5 . Butch Shu ltz (Hon) . OPEN B: 1. Jerry Boyd (Hon ); 2 . Paul Ceren (Honl . SR I: 1. Bla in e Ouecast er (Kaw l; 2. Hen ry Hauen stein (Han); 3 . Tim Sta nt ial (Yam ); 4 . Bill Guargiulo (Cagl; 5. Gary Rice (Hus). SA II: 1. Tom Knapp (Yam I; 2 . Keith Boyd (Kaw) .· OPEN EXTRA: 1. Barn ey Barn ett (Hon); 2 . Chri s Gra sso (KTM): 3. J eff Joh nson (Cagl; 4 . J im De Fran co (Kaw ); 6. Derr ick Smith (Kaw) . • Bonesteel grabs New York Half Mile By Dave Hoenig MIDDLETOWN, NY . SEPT. 8 Brian Bonesteel got th e hol esh or when the Expert ma in was turned into a four la p shooto u t a fter a red flag . Bonesteel ca p tu red th e Don Brym er -promot ed Syracuse Speed Week o pe ne r o n hi s Mari o Bernard in i!Ara i! Arn soi lz La ncas te r H~D /L ou' s L eath erssponsored H arle y-Davidson. Craig Es telle took a n exciti ng Junior ma in, whi le Larry Pegram co n tin ued h is assa u lt on the Pr o-A m cla ss. Gary Co n klin turned quick Expert time a t 2. .534, edging Steve Aselt ine's 25.580. Fast , tim e of th e n ight went lO Junior Jason Flet ch er , 25.425 . P ro -Am heats went to Stephen Beattie, Eri c George, Mik e Varnes, A.]. Snoop and Pegram. The semi was won by Steve Lo ngo. j ason Fle tch er ba cked up h is fast time laking th e first Ju nioT hea t over Kris Kiser . Estell e beat Andy Segalini in the seco nd heat. Randy Texter bested Conkling and Bon es· teel i n th e firsl Expert h ea l. Aseltine outdueled Steve Burkholder a nd Roger Durkee in th e second hea t. The PTO~Arn main was a heanbreaker for heat win ner Eri c George. as he was not able to fire up in time and was replaced by Dave Duhaime. Snoop took th e lea d in the 10 la p race o n ly to ha ve Pegram p ut h is Riley's/ Sh oei /KK Supply/ Pj I Oil/ Mj USAIDE R Raci ng/S m itty's H -D. sponsor ed Wood-Ro tax up fro nt o n la p four. Pegr a m p ulled a way lea vin g Snoop to h ol d o ff Ca na d ian Bea u le. Mik e Va rnes cr u ised h om e in fo ur th a hea d of Carl Lind, Steve Marth, Sco tt Sehl, Will iam H uttu la, Duhai me, Longo a nd Todd Hurst. Kris Kiser got th e ho lesh ot in the J u n io r main a nd pulled to a good lead over Andy Sega lin i, Estell e a nd David Ll oyd. Lloyd mov ed into second wi th Sega lini dr opping to fourth a n d soon o u t of the act io n. Kiser was riding a smooth race u p front, but Estelle turned up th e wick o n hi s H arold Ra ymond! Bob Coolbet h Founda tions/ Marus h in / M&M Enr .z P arenrs a nd Gra ndma -s po ns o re d H a rl ey-D avidson. With two laps left Estelle swept into th e lead lea vin g Kiser hol d in g ' seco nd . Ll oyd held a n easy th ird followed by Fletch er, Da vid Reeves. Roger Bibeau, Claude Racine, Bill Newkirk, Todd Mart in , Dan G reen e a nd J im Hollister. Burk holder led th e Experts a way with Conk l in~ , Bonest eel , Asel tine an d T exter clos e behind, At the half wa y po int Bu rkh older sti ll held down first but Aselti ne and Texter wer e dosi ng . T ex ter p itched i t a way on lap six. The red £lag ca me ou t j us t a fter Aselti n e took th e lead . Aseltine sat up front o n th e single fil e resta rt but it was Bonesteel, sta rt in g thi rd , wh o led the last four la ps. Asel tin e d ro pped to fou rth beh in d Conkli ng a nd Bu rk ho lder. Aseltine was on the mo ve but wou ld fall j u st short of vic to ry o n th e last la p . T ex ter a lso mad e a . last la p cha rge to fini sh th ird as Co n kli n g dropped to fif th behind Burkho lder. Results > PRO-AM : 1. Larry Pegr am (W-RJ; 2. A.J . Snoop (W ·A I; 3. St eph an Beatt ie (H· DI; 4 . M ike Varnes (Honl; 5 . Carl Ling (Honl. JR : 1. Craig Estelle (H-Dl ; 2. Kri s Kiser (Rtxl; 3 ~ David lloyd (W -RJ; 4 . J ason Fletcher (W . RI: 5. David Reeves (Rtxl . EX: 1. Br ian Bon esteel (H-Dl; 2. Steve Ase lt ine (H·D); 3. Randy Texte r (H-Ol; 4 . Steve Burkho lder (H-O); 5 . Gary . Co nkli ng (H-D). Burge stars at Action Park Speedway By Todd Kroh GREEN E, NY , SE PT . 9 Acti on Park East co ncl uded its 1988 speed way raci n g season with th e runnin g o f the a nnual track ch a m p io ns h ip event . It capped off wh at tru ly was a n unusu a l year o f racing a t th e so ut he rn New York facility. Races m arred by ra in a nd thunderst orms, power o u tages but most a bno rma lly was th e fact tha t th e tra ck ' cha m pions h ip produced th e closest racing of the 1988 seaso n. Wh en a ll was said a nd done To m Burg e went h om e for t he win ter kn owing he was king o f th e hill. Burge: sh owed hi s muscle in th e first heat o f th e even ing by flyin g o ff o f th e nu m ber three spot a n d sla m ming th e door shu t o n Steve Watson a nd j ohn Keh oe. Keh oe fought o ff th e cha rges o f Wa tson as they went back a nd fo rth dici ng for th e seco nd spo t a nd the two po in ts th at go along with it. Warren Diem, wh o wo n a bo u t everyth in g th ere was to wi n in East. Coast speedway for 1988. dow ned Canadian number o ne Len DiJlion in th e second heat, Veteran George Laz or gated Len ·McBr id e in heat th ree o nly to have McBride pull past Lazor do wn power a lley. After trying both inside a nd outside lines, Lazor had to settle for a seco nd p la ce fin ish . Ro u n d o ne en ded with John Lewis and Damien Cornwell locked in a tight duel until Cornwell went down in turn one at th e halfway point. Keh oe saw h is chances for a main evenl slip o ut of sight wh en he turned a 360 on la p th ree of h ea t 13 after having the raa: in th e bag. Diem a nd Bu rge tall ied three more points for each o f them by copping heats 14 a nd 15. Now 35

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