Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ O"l ..... v ..0 S v ;> o z; Grant Palenske (206) was passed by Chuck Miller in the last nine miles when his swingarm bolt tried to back out, He still finished first 250cc, Dust played a major factor in the first 45-m ile loop, w hile the second 40-mile loop was tight and rocky , . 10 fro m th e fin ish . , had to hold it in wi th m y fool. It was pushing m y foot o ff th e peg a ll the wa y in but th ere was no way' was going to give up." Further back in th e pa ck , th e baule for Vet class honors was sta rt ing to heat up. With Clow ard o u t of the running a nd seco nd -place holder Kirk Kova leff starti ng to tire, Mik e Mulconery started to make hi s move. " Cha rl ie Barney and ' were bar-tobar most o f th e fir st loop until' went over th e handlebars in a di tch , but , go t h im back abo u t halfway arou nd a nd led a ll th e way after th at ," sai d th e Husky pi lo t. But despite . a ll th e las t-m in u te resh uffling go ing on back in th e pack, Sm it h's number one posit ion was never cha llenged. Despite a qu ick sto p to tak e on extra gas two miles o ur ' from th e fini sh , th e racelong lead er was still two m inutes ' a head as he raced in to tak e the chec kered flag aft er an ex ha us ting two-and-a-ha lf hours in th e saddle. " Forty miles of tigh t stuff - th at . last loo p went o n forever," sa id th e Cagiva N .A/Go ldbelt/Sco u / Autolite/ Arai / Alp in estar/Max im a /Metzel er/Tsubaki / Acerbi s/R enth a ll F&L /Z R acin g / Ex ceed S POTtS Nu triti on-back ed Smi th . " It was reall y good and technical - a rea l rider's course and I had a good time. The cl u b did a su pe r. job marking Husky-mounted Phil Cloward was leading the Vet Expert class for most of the race before pulling out during the grueling second loop. the course and they're running a Pro class today, so I even won some money." Krause sp ri nted home less th an two min utes beh ind Smith to cla im seco nd . " I had a good race, just picking o ff o ne rider a t a time, but I guess I fell o ne short," sa id th e Kaw asak i/Tsubaki / Answer/ Sm ith/ White Bros.lIMS/MetzelerlSpectro/ ShoeiiF& L / P SI-s po nso re d ra cer , who sq uea ke d in wi th a bo u t a teas poon o f gas to spa re. "That last loop was gr eat and .it was marked really well too. I didn 't get lost o nce." Cro ssin g th e lin e to clai m third was Mill er , wh o moved up fou r pl aces in th e fina l stages o f th e race . " I kepi cha rg ing and some guys mad e so me mi st a kes," sa id th e H ond a ace, wh o thanked Sco tt USA, H onda lin e and Desert M.e. ''I' m starting to ge t m y timi ng back a fter no t raci ng [or a whil e, a nd I didn' t g ive up or back o ff this tim e." Pal enske kep t hi s swi ngarm ax le in p lace long enoug h to claim fourth overa ll an d first in th e 250cc d ivision. " It was a good, tig h t, tech nica l ride," sai d th e T eam Green /M et zel er/ ·Spectro / O ' Nea IlShoei/ Sco ll/ F&L / Wh ite Br o s.lT suba k i/Ren th a ll Ace rbis-backed P a lenske. "They used lots of the National end uro cou rse fro m last year. , lo ved it a nd I led the 250s a ll th e way." Palenske was followed in by 250cc priva teer, Suzu ki -mo u n ted SCOll Stearns. " I was way back a t th e bomb - 30-someth ing th ey to ld me - but I moved up gradua lly," sa id Stea rns, who than ked hi s mom a nd dad , Ch arlie Mo rris , Sr. a nd Charli e Morri s, J r. " I broke m y clutch cable go ing o ur on th e seco nd loop and that was reall y some th ing. , had to rev the bike like crazy th en jam it into gear through a ll th e ro cky stuff." Ro n Sh uler brough t hi s Kawasak i o f Ri verside/ Ra cet ech / Spectro backed KX500 home in sixth. " T he first loop was good but th e seco nd loo p - not for me, tha t's for sure. , was just rid in g to fin ish by the end o r it," sai d Sh uler. Seventh overa ll was claimed . by Pro-Circuit-backed Gorgone, with Mike Mul coner y takin g th e Vet honor s in eig h th . "T he second loop was tough' - real Ch ecker 's stu ff," said Mulconery. An sw er P ro d ucts/ Kesco / T u lare H onda-sponsor ed Mik e Kornwinder crossed th e line in ninth (fourt h Open Expert), just a hea d o f Vet racer Kirk Ko vale£f a n d YZ250 pil ot G eorge P e n n i n g to n . " T o u g h, tough , ro ug h," was Kov al eff' s description of the course. " I haven 't ri dd en in five mo n ths and it nearly kill ed me." T he first Am ateu r race r to cross th e line was Eric Anderson in 12th overa ll. " It was rea ll y rock y," said . th e Husky pi lo t, " It was fun but it su re kicked my buu." John Braa sch took his Yamaha of Covina/Yamaha Motor Corp.lHi-· Point/Pro-Circuit/ Spectre -back YZ to th e 125cc win in 14th overall , j ust a head of Steve Par son, th e second Am a teur class racer to cro ss th e finish line. " It was a lrigh t," sa id Parson , " bu t I had to do th e wh ol e second loop on two flat tir es, so I'm pretty tired." . Two p laces back , the 250cc Ama teur wi n wen t to Bobby Ow ens, a nd Dave Kerstin g ca me in a t th e head of the Senior racers in 25th overall. Gary Ga rla nd p us hed a front flat most of the way to score second in the Sen ior division, an d J eff Capp clai med victory in the No vice class .• Results 0 / A: 1. Dan Smith (Hus): 2. Paul Krause (Kaw ): 3. Chuck M ill er (Honl; 4. Grant Palen ske (Kawl ; 5. Scan Stearns (SUI) ; 6. Ron Shuler (Kaw); 7. Phil Gorgone (Kaw ); 8 . Mike Mulconery (Hus); 9 . Mike Korn w inder (Han); 10. Kirk Kovaleff (Han); 11. George Pennigton (Yam); 12. Eric Anderso n (Hus); 13. Dave Wasden (Hus); 14 . John Braasch (Yam); 15. Steve Parson (Han); 16. Steve Smit h (KTM); 17. Bobby Ow ens (Han); 1B. Dwayne l ew is (Yam); 19. Mark Mangold (Han); 20 . Scan An derson (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Dan Smith (Hus); 2. Paul Krause .(Kaw ); 3. Chuck M ill er (Han). 250 EX: 1. Grant Palenske (Kaw l; 2. Scan Stearn s (SUI); 3. Phil Gorgone (Kaw). . 125 EX:·I . John Braasch (Yam). VET OPEN EX: 1. M ike Mu lconery (Hus); 2. Kirk Kovaleff (Hon); 3. Mark Mangold (Han). VET 250 EX: 1. Scan Anderson (Yam); 2. John Tobin (Yam); 3. Mark Kie! (Han). SR EX: 1. Dave Kersti ng (Kaw ); 2. Gary Garlan d (Yam); 3. AI Hull (Yam). OPEN AM : 1. Eric An derson (Hus); 2. Steve Parson (Han) . 250 AM : 1. Bobby Ow ens (Han); 2. Dwayne Lewis (Yam); 3 . Glen Ar m strong (Yam ). VET 250 AM : 1. John Carn en (Yam). NOV: 1. J eff Cappo OPEN BEG: 1. Tom Dailey (Yaml; 2. Randy Banks (Hon/ ATKI. 250 BEG: 1. Eric Sedor (HanI. 25 BEG: 1. Brian Davis (Yam).

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