Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

JoJo Keller (43) leads John Dowd du ring t he 250cc Pro bout. Keller went on t o finish third and seventh in the series , .Kell er responded, " I was setting up \ to pass Keith whe n he roosted m e in a p uddle. I was blinded for a moment a nd didn't mean to h it him. I ate it for th a t one." Bowen 's TUF/Sm ith/M. Robert/ An swer-backed Suzuki found a clear tra ck and roosted away for the win. Ke ll e r regained seco n d from Spa n gl er until LaRocco churned back to claim second at the halfway point. Bowen said, "I love this track. I told the crew that iLl won today, I wou ld sta y over and spend some o f Suzuki ' s $1000 conringency money," O n ly two points separated Jeff Frisz from the 500c c P ro leader, Andrews, and the pair res umed the ir mon th long d ue l -in earnest. Frisz ' WKR-p rep pe d Kawasaki fended off Mickey Kessler for the moto one early lead. Frisz th en started a domino effect of prob lems that wo u ld drop him to II th by th e en d of th e m ot o. Frisz sai d, " I fell four or five tim es and th en my kickstarter jammed." Andrews he ld off a final assault by Kessler to p reserv e th e win . Kessler sai d, " Fred didn 't know that I wa s so close." " Whe n Kessler got close, it was so wet th at I was afrai d that I would run out o f Roll-Offs," said Andrews. Keller drown ed o ut an d J ohn Collins claim ed th ird. Frisz broke away clea n in th e final rno to , wit h Kessler a n d An drews stru ng out. Andrews passed Kessler on ly to crash a nd have to repeat the pr ocess. Andrews said, " After I passed Kessler, I saw Frisz ahead and got too excited. I h eld th e power on to keep the fro nt out of a puddle and' i . I00ped It. " And rews remounted, charged back, repassed Kessler, but Frisz was lon g go ne for the moto win. Andrews said, as h e co llected his series trop hy, " Pi t Stop Racing really h elped us o ut th is win ter a nd it meant a lot havin g my gi rl Amy Maurer wi th me." Amateur The Amateur 125 an d 250cc Expert Ch ampi onsh ips were like a ga me of musical chairs. After Mann forf eit ed both cla ss leads to injury , Dav id Becki n gton beca m e the hei r apparent, In th e first 125cc A rnoto , Eric McLear . led a ll th e way, LaRocco C ycl e/Am er ican Honda /Scottbacked Beck in g ton reacted with a flag-to -flag win in moto tw o to clinch the cha m pionsh ip. Jeff Beckington (456) topped both 250cc Expert motos, while his brother David Beckington (878) won the 125cc Expert Championship, . Eric Mclear (741 ) heads the 125cc Expert moto ahead of Mike Himanek and Ashley Epps (28) , Competi tion in th e 250cc A class fea tured J eff Beckingt on, riding to a clean swee p . David sti ll held ' th e seco n d title in hi s gr asp until di saster struck in th e fi na l mo to. . David Beckington said, " I was in third p lace, going well an d my ch ain br oke." Earl May, wh o in th e 500cc ac tion , earned the only £lawless record o f m o to wins in the series finished second in the 250cc class fo r a surprise secon d ti tl e. The VPE/ Bo yese n /O ' N eal / Scot t- sp onsored -rider sai d , " I feel badly th at my teammate, J ay Mann, was hurt and lost th e ti tle. Both of us have become better riders this year wi th the help in trai ni ng a nd bike preparation that Fred Vert ucci h as given us." J osh Scott gave Pee Wee champ Do n Leedy h is to ughest race of the series with a fin al m o to win. . . T ea m G reen Kawa saki 's R icky Carm ichael a nd Ezra Lusk earned hard- fo ugh t 65cc and 85cc 9-13 crowns. J arrett Tipping sp li t with Carmich ael. T immy Ferry topped L usk in bo th m ot os, but came up short in th e points ta lly. Wally Sil va had a .tu rn a t th e top o f th e 85cc 1415 class at Cocoa, but H onda of Winterhaven 's Brian L ist earned the title. Ti m H odes and H ank Mo ree shared moto wi ns in 125 a n d 250cc B co mpetition , but Hodes took the two titles back to Texas. H onda-supported Hodes said, " I p lan to head for Ca lifornia nex t month and try th ose guys out th ere." T eam Green 's Moree sa lvaged th e da y with a swee p and class cham 'p ionsh ip in th e 125cc Youth class. • Results ' 12 5 PRO: 1. Br ian McElroy (Cag): 2. M ike laRocco (Yam ); 3 . Anders Svensson (Yam); 4 . Barry Carsten (Suzt, 5. Jo hn Kitsch (Suz): 6. Heath Kirkland (Hon t, 7. Patr ick Banon (Yam): 8. J im Chester (Suz): 9. Jason Langford (Yam): 10. Chr is Coleman (Kaw). 250 PRO: 1. Keith Bowen (Suz); 2. M ike laRocco (Yam): 3. JoJo Keller (Hon): 4 . Dale Spang ler (SUl); 5. Jim Kapitan (SUl); 6. Jo hn Dowd (SUl ); 7. M ike Pascarella (SUl): 8. Carl VaiHancoun (Hon); 9. Shane Drew (Hon): 10. John Shay (Suz). OPEN PRO: 1. Fred Andrews (Hont, 2. M ickey Kessler (Kaw): 3. John Coll in s (Hon): 4 .J eff Fri sz (Kaw ): 5. J im Kapitan (Hon): 6. Ted Van Nest (KTM): 7. Keit h Johnson (Kaw); 8. JoJo Keller (Hon); 9. Tommy Manin (Hon): 10. Bill Wallin (Hon). 125 A: 1. David Beckin gton (Hon): 2. Er ic Mc Lear (Yam); 3. Ashl ey Epps (Hon): 4. J eremy Buehl (Kaw); 5. Mike Himanek (Hon). 250 A : 1. Jeff Beckington (Hon); 2. Ear l May (Hon); 3. Er ic McL ear (Yam); 4 . An dr ew Ceteneerc (Hon). . OPEN A: 1. Earl May (Hon); 2. Bill Wallin (Hon); 3. Je rry Se.p (Hon); 4 . Rick Lindell (Yam); 5. David Curry (Kaw ). P/W: 1. Donald Leddy(Y amt, 2. Jo sh Scott (Yam): 3. Maso n Willia ms (Yam). 85 9-13 : 1. Tim Ferry (Hon); 2. Ezra Lusk (Kaw ); 3. Tony Haynes (Yam). 85 14 -15 : 1. Wally Silva (Yam); 2. Zya Braun (Kaw); 3. Bryan List (Hon). 125 YTH: 1. Hank Mor ee (Kaw ); 2. J oJo Falla (Hon): 3. All en Ross (Hon). PLUS 25 : 1. Joe Roger s '(Hon); 2. Rick Lindell (Yam ): 3. Robbie Neeley (Kaw). • . SR: 1. Robbie Neeley (Kaw); 2. David Bowman (Hon); 3. Frank Depalo (Vam). S/SR: 1. Gao. Singler (Hon): 2.Kenneth Brown (Vam): 3. Barry Mayo (Hon). 125 B: 1. Tim Hodes (Hon); 2. Ralph Fernand es (Hon t, 3. Ryan Dean (Hon). 250 B: 1. Tim Hodes (Hon); 2. Ross Johnson (Hon); 3. Jeff Lampe (Hon). 500 NOV: 1. Dean Baker (Hon t, 2. Carl Legu ia (Hon); 3. Joh n Gillespie (Hon). 125 C: 1. Brock Bullard (Hon); 2. Doug Conrad (Kaw ); 3. Bobby McClelland (Hon). 250 C: 1. Der ik Royal (Suz); 2. Jo n Heidental (Suz): 3. J onathon M cCulli an (Yam). WI NTER AMA OVERALL SERIES 125 PRO: 1. M ike laRocco (Yam): 2. John Kit sch (Suz); 3. Brian Elroy (Cog); 4. Jay Mann (Kaw ); 5.Jas on Langford (Yamt 6. Sean Dukes (Hon); 7. Barry Carsten (Suz); 8. Todd Neal (kaw t, 9. Jeff Beckingto n (Hon): 10. Chris Colema n (Kaw). 25 0 PRO: 1. Mik e laRocco (Yam): 2. Keith Bow en (Suz): 3. M ike Pascarella (Suz): 4. Bob Hannah (Suz): 5. Jo hn Dowd (Suz); 6. J im Kapit an (Suz): 7. JoJo Kelle r (Hon): 8. Jason Butt le (Hon); 9. Carl Vaillancoun (Hon); 10. Mi chael Ryan (Suz). 500 PRO: 1. Fred Andrews (Hon): 2. Jeff Fr isz (Kaw): 3. JoJo Keller (Hon): 4. John Collins (Hon): 5. Tommy Manin (Hon): 6. Jim Kapitan (Hon); 7. Keith Johnson (Kaw): 8. Mark Micelli (Kaw); 9. Bill Wallin (Hon); 10. Earl Ma y (Han). 125 A: 1. David Beckingt on (Hon); 2. Todd Neal (Kaw); 3. Bill Wa llin (Hon): 4 . Ashl ey Epps (Hon): 5. M ike Him anek (Hon). 250 A: 1. Earl May (Hont, 2. David Beckington (Hon); 3. M ike Brown (Kaw): 4. J ay Mann (Kaw); 5 . Dawson Ransome (Han). . 500 A: 1. Ear l Ma y (Hon): 2. Joe Rogers (Hon); 3. David Curry (Kawt 4. Bill Wall in (Hon): 5. Rick Lindell (Yam). PIW: 1. Donald Leddy (yam); 2. Mason W ill iams (Yam): 3. J osh Scott (Yam). 657-11 : 1. Ricky Carmichael (Kaw ); 2. Ja rrett Tipping (Kaw); 3. Keith McOu aig (Kaw). B5 9- 13: 1. Ezra Lusk (Kaw ): 2. Tim Ferry (Hon); 3. Kevin Windham (Kaw). 85 14-1 5: 1. Brian List (Hon); 2. Wally Silva (Yam); 3. Zya Braun (Kaw ). 125 YTH: 1. Hank Moree (Kaw); 2. Allen Ross (Kaw); 3. A aron Yates (Hon). PLUS 25: 1. Rick Lindell (Yam l; 2. Joe Rogers (Hon): 3. Robbie Neeley (Kaw). SR: 1. Robbie Neeley (Kaw); 2. David Bow man . (Hon): 3. Frank Depalo (Yam). . S/ SR: 1. Ernie M ill an (Hon); 2. Kenneth Brown (Vam); 3. A I Gardner (Hon). 125 B: 1. Tim Hodges (Hon); 2. Doug Iddin gs (Hon): 3. An thony Paggio (Kaw ). 250 B: 1. Tim Hodges (Hon); 2. J eff Lampe (Hon): 3. Ross J ohnson (Hon). 500 NOV: 1. Dean Baker (Hon); 2. Charles Thompson (Hon t 3. Jo hn Gill espie (Hon). 125 C: 1. Aar on Yates (Hon); 2. Jody Non h (Hon): 3. Bobby M cClella nd (Hon). 250 C: 1. Scott Taylor (Hon): 2. Thomas Boyland (Kaw): 3. Sam Redmond (Hon).

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