Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127157
lI('I ickey Kessler (7) and Mark Costa (2 0 9) lead 500cc Expert class winner Bon Lech ien (2) int o the first turn. Scott Sheak (67) leads Billy 'Sc hlag (4) and Lee Bostien in the 80cc (14 - 15) class. Shea~ took the overall win and Sthla.g f in ished second . 12th Annual 'Kawasaki Race of Champions Lechien, O'Mara, Pascarella shake up Raceway Park By Eric Putter O LD BRIDGE TO WNSH IP, NJ , OCT . 15-16 Despite a major assau lt by the Kawasaki factory team, Su zu ki-mou n ted Mike Pascare lla an d Suzu ki's Johnny O 'Mara, ridin g as a privateer; wrapped up overall wins in 18 t he 250 and 125cc Expert classes at the Kawa saki Race I of Cham pi o ns MX a t Raceway Park. Facto ry Kawasaki ri der Ron Lech ien 'u p held his sponsor's honor at the event by 'ta king the 500cc Expert clas s vicory. Ca lifornian Pascarell a traded wi ns with New Englander J oJ o Kell er in .the 250cc Expert class a nd rode h is tiddler ha rd enough to keep an eye on o ve ra ll w i n ner O'Mara and runner-up J eff Matiasevich in the 125cc Expe rt class. Keller was second overall in both the 250 a nd 500cc Expert classes. Team Green showed up in force wi th its 1989 factory team - Ma tiasevich was entered in th e 125cc Expe rt cla ss for his firs t major race sinee breaking ' his leg ear lier th is year ; 250cc Nationa l Champion Jeff Ward took on the 250cc division , and Lech ien a ttac ked the 500cc class. ' Ex cept for Le chien ' s two-mo te sweep , th e rest of the tea m strugg led; as Mati asevich sta rted out slow and stiff but still managed to ga rner second overall in the 125cc Expert class, and Ward had prob lems wi th the start ing gate a nd staying on two wheels in both mo tos. But it wasn 't only th e experts that put on a show. H und reds of amateur racers also took part in over 50 motos of racin g over two days o n th e rough , sandy Racewa y Par k track. Qualifiers were ru n to narro w th e large classes do wn for a mai n with th e scor e fro m each qual ifier carried over to the final event. . In th e first 125cc Expe rt class qualifier O'Mara sho wed th a t he wou ld be a fo rce to be reckoned with for the rest o f the day. On a n '89 RM fresh fro m the deal er's showroom floor, O' Mara pulled a solid holesh ot and went on for the win in convi ncing fash io n. In unevent ful for m . O 'M a ra went o n to wi n , wh il e Mich ael Jones p u t Ma tiasevich back to third foll owed by Carlo Coen and Denny Step henson. John Kitsch j urn pedou t of the ga te to lea d th e p ack in the secon d quali fier followed by Greg Bow en , Barry Ca rsten a nd Bob H a yes. Bowen quickl y jumped into th e lead but ended u p lea ving the race on lap three. Kitsch assu med first again a nd held it unt il th e end. Carsten inherited second a nd stayed there uncon- . tested. T he real story of the race was Brian Carro l as he move d up to third after getting a 10th-place sta rt. Coen shot into the lead a t the start of the fina l foll owed by Mati asevich , O 'M a ra , St ep he nson a nd Kitsch . First Matiasevich a nd the n O 'M ara passed Coen , a nd O 'M ara do gged Matiasevich for th e next eight of th e 10-lap moto. Pascarell a began a rapi d climb through the pack after a seven thpl ace sta rt, a nd by lap five had lodged himself into third, whe re he wo uld stay until th e end. As time ra n ou t O 'M ara found his spot a nd mo tored by Ma tiasevich to tak e th e checkers first. Mati asevich held off charges by Pascarell a a t th e end, whi le Coen a nd Stephen son ro unded o ut the top five. With a large number of 250cc Expe rts entered, two q ua lifiers were also run. In th e first one Stephenson flew to the fir st tu rn in front of Coen, Bowen , J ohn Dowd a nd j o]o Keller. J eff Ward ran over a fall en ri der and - left the first turn dead last, the n . charged hi s way to six th by the end of th e o peni ng lap . Kell er worked up to second by th e th ird lap and took th e lead a lap later. Ward quickly moved up into second, but Kell er had charged too far o ut fro nt to reel in. Step he nson claimed third at the fini sh fo llowed by Coen a nd Dowd. Eddie Warren go t a good jump on the ga te a nd led the pack on the first go -arou nd in the second qualifi er, but Pascarell a soo n dropped ' him back a pos it ion. Warren quickly ret urned the pass on th e next lap, while Keith Bo wen ga ined a position from h is fift h -p lace star t. Kur t McMillen mad e a charge up through th e pack and too k th e lead o n th e fifth of seven la ps, th en held on for th e win over Pascarella, Bowen and Warren. Kell er surprised everyone by p ulling the holeshot in the mai n with Mickey Kessler, who was loo king for his 400th win at the facility, hot on hi s knobb ies. Ward m isjudged th e ga te once again wh ich left him ninth on the first lap. Pasca rell a passe d Kessler on the fou rt h go-around a nd set hi s sigh ts o n Keller, as Kessler' s milestone wa sn 't to be as he dropped bac k to fifth . '. Ward charged u p and was on Pascarell a's back fende r by lap seven, but Pascarell a instan tly pu t Kell er between them with one lap to go. Pascarell a held on for th e wi n followed by Kell er, Ward, McMillen a nd Kessler. " I bumped the gate a nd ended up with a midpack start," said Ward afterwards. "T he re was no thi ng I . cou ld do to avo id a down ed rider, a nd it was hard to work my way to the front in suc h a short race." Kessler pulled the holesh ot a t th e start of th e first 500cc Expert class moto as McMillen , J im Kapitan and Lechien ch ased. T he fans' were on Kessler's side as he led th rough the th ird lap, but the n Lechien mad e hi s way up and cas ua lly unseated Kessler on the fourth circu it. As McMillen . slo wly dropped o ut of the fray Keith Bowen began hammerin g through th e pack before losing a clu tch lever a nd falling in the wh oops. Bowen twi sted a kn ee but reco vered quickly. Kell er had a ha rd time moving ou t of fourth , but fina lly p assed McMillen and held on for th ird . Up front Lech ien stre tched out a sizeable lead a nd a ll Kessler co uld do was watch Lech ien 's back." During the last three laps Kessler a nd Kell er went a t it, but Kessler didn 't slip up and finish ed second. . Lechien got the ga te di aled and led th e pa ck through th e first turn and for th e rest of the fin al mo to. Beh ind th e Kaw a saki team ster were McMillen, Kessler, Keith Johnson, Bow en a nd Keller. Kessler mad e sho rt work of McMillen , wh o slow ly fad ed back to fifth and wen t out after Lech ien. J ohnson moved up a spo t . o n th e seco nd lap, on ly to be put back by a hard-charging Kleer. Kleer