Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind (Continued [rom page 4) and the last three or four ro unds of the AMA National Champio nship 500cc MX Series in October. Canadian Steve Aseltine, w ho dominated the dirt track events at Daytona - winning the Camel Pro, 600 National and Reg ional Championship races at the new Munic ipal Stadium plus the overall t itle in the Daytona Budweise r/ Wiseco Dirt Track Series to boot, wasn 't exactly a household name going int o the events. In 1988, Ase ltine 's best performance was a w in i n t h e Stu rg is , So uth ' Dakota, short track roun d of t he 600 Nationa l Series . He also finished eighth in the Woodstock. Georgia, 600 Short Track, sixth in the Castle Rock, Washington, 600 TT, second in the Ashland, Ohio, 600 Half M ile and sixth in the San Jose, California, 600 Mile. ' Ase ltine only scored one point in last year's Grand National Championship Series , via a 14th place f in ish in the Peoria TT, which earned him a t ie for 69th place in the final ' 8 8 Camel Pro Series point standings. What a difference a year makes I The Ame rica n Motorcyclist Association cond uc ted its a nnual meeting of Corporate Members, followed by a meeting o f ItS Boa rd of Trustees In Cin cinnat i, Ohio, on Feb ruary 25. R a y Blank of American H onda , Mark Blackwell of American Suzuki and j a ck Man g us of Cycle News; Inc. were ejected to two-year terms o n th e AMA board . Three amendments were mad e to the AMA Cod e o f Regulations. T hese included; . • An a me ndme nt to provide for the electio n o f a n ATV del ega te to th e AMA Congress at th e annual district sancti on meeting. • An amendment to clarify th e compensation due individual . member trustees. • An am endment to prohibit the trustees from dea ling with co m petition rules issu es except by three-fourth majority vot e of th e board. In his remarks to th e Corporate Members , Chairman John Hasty reported that the Association had completed a very good year, showing growth in key a reas of activity. These included; • A 9%increase in sanctioned road riding activity • A 7% increase in chartered clubs • A 9%' increase in membership, amounting to a growth of nearly 13,000 members • A 16% improvement in accumulated opera ting reserve • A 13% improvement in assets During his remarks Mr. H asty th an ked retiring members of the board for their loyal service. These included Bill Baird, John Duncan, James Hansen, and Gary Smith. When the trustees convened , Mr. Hasty congratulated the new Corpo- ra te Member trustees a long with Mr. Gary Dell who was elected by the individual members of the North Central Regi on. ' In 'a dd itio n, the board appointed Pa u l Dea n to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Hansen. AMA President Ed Youngblood reported on the Associ ation's audited financial statement for 1988, a nd indicated that it had ac hieved a strong finan cial performance for th e fir st quarter of th e 1989 fiscal year. A published a n n ua l repo rt incl ud ing a su m ma ry finan cial statement rs a vai la ble to AMA members upon request. The trustees elected officers for 1989, incl udi ng John H asty, cha ir man, Da l Sm ilie, vice chairman; Bob Perk ins , tr easurer ; Tim Hoe lt er , assista nt tr easurer ; Jack Mangus, secretary; and An ne tte Kerns, assista nt secretary. Cha irma n H asty appointed Mr. Hoelt er, Mr. Perk in s, Mr. Smilie, a nd himself to the Finan ce Commi ttee, a nd Mr. Perkins, Mr. Sm ilie, and him self to th e Co r e Pl annin g Committee. Mr. Smilie, Hazel Kolb , Mr. Perkins, Paul Schlegel, and Bill Baird were named to th e Ameri can Motorcycle H eritage Foundation Board of Trustees. Mr. Smilie deliver ed a Founda tion report, indicating th e AMA offi ce renovation has been co m p le te, clearing the wa y for museum construction which...is scheduled for com p letio n in August 1989. H e reported that the Foundation had ac h ieved a sello ut for its fund rai sing breakfast schedu led to take place in Daytona on March 10, and that the AMHF would benef it fr om th e a ntiq ue mo tor cycle auction to be co nd ucted in Daytona o n March I J. The trus tees heard a det a il ed report from liab il ity cou nse l Robert Schmelzer. Following a revie w of a ctivities since Ma y 1986 a nd a discuss io n of the status o f the current ins ura nce marke t, . Mr. H a s ty a p poi nted a co mmittee consisting of Mr. Dell , T imo thy H oel ter, Mr. Dean , a nd himself to meet with counsel and sta ff to draft po licy over a n u mb er of cr itical issues. T he trustees conducted an investme nt a na lysis in cluding po ten tia l use of its u ndeveloped Ma in Street property wh ich would provide an addi tio nal so urce o f non-d ues income in the future. The trustees reviewed club chartering proced ures and co ncl uded that cu rrent standards are adeq ua te, but that newl y-appl yin g cl ubs and compl aints co nce rning existi ng cl ubs mi ght be more carefu lly screened. Mr . Youngblood delivered a report that included ; • An explanation of th e Association 's supporting role in th e MIC-sponsored Discover Toda y's Motorcycling ca m paign • A report on staffing in th e Association's professional racing di vision and th e development of a comprehensive plan to revitalize dirt track racing • Distribution of a specification sheet for a proposed national convention • A report on State Farm's deci sion to rescind its blacklist of uninsurable motorcycles • An a nlysis of possible areas of lega l recourse against sabotage against the Ba rsto w-to -Vegas desert race by environmentalist groups. The trustees selected reci pients of the AMA Bri gh ter Image Award and the Dud Perkins Award for outstanding contribution to mo torcycling. Names of the recipients will be made public at a later date. The AMA Boa rd of Trustees will next meet in Madison, Wisconsin, on July3J. • 600 Nat'. (continued from page 27) from Bon esteel and Hill. Two laps later Farris stu ffed his way under . Graham in turn one, contact was made with Graham hitting th e deck . From the n on Farris had a clear track and won by abou t 20 yards over Bon esteel with H ill third. " We ki nd of bumped," Farris said. " I felt h is wheel rub my leg. I was going fo r wh a tever I had to do." Sem is Only th e winners o f th e two 10la p sem is would transfer to the main with second through sixth go ing to the Last Chance Qualifier. . Brian Atherton got an early jump on th e field, but Peter H ook quickl y . reeled him in. Pete H a mes an d Garth Bro w were near the fro nt early, but wou ld fade to finis h half a lap bac k. Ath erton was sticking to the low line with H ook ru n n ing next to h im a bo u t 10 feet o u t o n th e groove. It was hard to tell wh ere he ac tua lly stood until they exi ted the turns. He was a lways close and o n th e last la p he crossed th e line half a len gth back , moved even ,o n the backstretch a nd drove aro u nd in three and four for a narrow win. Atherton was seco nd. "I was trying different things," H ook said. " T he last co u ple of laps it worked out." After cras hes caused the seco nd semi to be sto pped twice, it was fin all y cleanly started a nd Scott Pearson was its leader. Pearson had a n expandab le lead o ver Ronnie J ones in seco nd pl ace, but at the finish line, where it co unted, it was about 30 yards . J ones, seco nd all the way, would go th e the LCQ a lo ng with Aaron H ill. La st C hance Q ualifier Atherton led the LCQ off the line with Bro w behind, J o nes th ird , and Aaron H ill fou rth. Bro w slid out on th e second lap movi ng J ones to second. After two more laps both J ones and Craig Estelle, now third, made a sandwich pass o f Atherton , jones low , and Ath ert on h igh ma king the or der starting th e fifth la p jones, Este lle , Atherton. Estelle made a move o n the ninth lap, actually taking the lead , before Jones too k it back for the final transfer to th e 15-rider main. Junior Main A 15-la p J u nior main was held for the top 12 J unio rs in q uali fying. All had a ttemp ted to ma ke the 600 National, but none di d. Mike Hal e was firs t in to tu rn o ne, firs t o u t of two , a nd, 15 la ps la ter, first across the line. His lead was never co ntested. " I wanted to get the holeshot and get o ut front," Hal e said. " I never got to ride th e other sta d iu m, but I hear this o ne's better." The race was for second. Clinton Vahsholtz was second off th e start and would s tay th ere till th e end, despite a serious handicap. " My oil ca p (j us t behind th e ste ering head) came out on the seco nd lap," he said, " And it (o il) got on my shield so I couldn't see." The Data-Tel /Vahsholtz Automotive-sponsored Wood-Rotax rider was covered in oil all across the front of his leathers and helmet. " It would've been closer if this hadn't happened. But I don't know if I co uld' ve beaten him." And by the third lap, third place wa s decided with Brian Tillson pi loting his way alone to third aft er ' a brief tu ssle with A.j. Snoop who finished fourth. " A.J .' s a real good competitor, " Tillson said. "But the track got faster and real bumpy and it worked better for me." Fifth went to Scott Buchan wi th Speedy Kell sixth and Larry Pegram seventh. Main The front row for the final , from th e inside pole, was Roeder, Aseltine, Ingram, Springsteen, Farris and Davis. Row two was Carr, Mertens, Poovey, Parker, Bon esteel and King with Pearson, Jones and H ook on th e th ird ro w. Springst een's crew ha d discovered that so me thi ng had passed th ro ugh the head and bent a valve. Wh at ever went through was never fou nd, th e head was replaced, and Spri nger was read y for the main. Aseltine made another lightning start, jump in g o ut fro nt with Farris close beh in d. Ca rr, wearing the n u m ber one of the 600cc National Ch a mpion (a o ne wit h 600 through th e m iddle of it) was third a hea d o f Ingram and the nu mber one o f Parker. T he field bega n to stre tch out o n the third lap with Aseltine, Farris _and Carr getting away and Parker • pas sing Ingram who lost several spo ts. Mertens moved to fifth with Roeder six th and In gr am seventh. It wasn't until th e eigh th lap tha t Carr was able to ch ange the or der of th e top three, scooting aro u nd Farris o n th e o utside of turns three and four. The lead trio contin ued to pull away, leav ing Parker to try to hold off Mertens. But Parker tried too hard and slid off , unhurt, in tum three just past th e halfway mar k a nd th at handed fourth to Merten s with J ones and Da vis o n his fender. George Roed er was seventh until he went wide exiting tum two, hi tt in g a ha y ba le squa re on and doing a n endo. H e was n't hurt , b u t he was through for the ni gh t. With five laps to go it appeared that Aseltine's lead over Carr was shrinki ng with Farris dropping off the pass. Bo th Aseltine a nd Carr were using the middle of the track', squaring off, and dropping down on the ex it. Carr was chipping away and made a bold move going into turn three with j ust a few laps to go . Aselti ne, h o wever, d id n't budge, Ca rr had to shut off and the rac e was over. T he wi n ni ng margin was abou t five lengths with Farris another five back , yet half a la p ahead of Mertens in fourth and J o nes in fifth. Half a straightaway behind were Da vis and Sp ringsteen . " I knew he was going to press me," Asel tine sa id, antici pating Ca rr's move. " If he got by I would've forced him like he for ced me." " I got under him and had to run the low li ne ," Carr said. " I didn't know he co uld go insi de or ou tside. I was wasting time in th e apex and wasn 't able to hold it. I hadn't run the low line a nd didn 't know how the bike would react. I th ought it might do some thing weird o n me." Farris said he "got a good start. If anybody was going to pa ss me they were going to have to go on the outside. " • Results 1. St eve Asel tine (H·D); 2. Chr is Carr (H· D); 3. Rodney Farris (H· D); 4. TIm Menens (Han); 5. Ronnie Jo nes (Hont 6. Will Davis (H· D); 7. Ja y Springst een (H· D); 8 . 8rian 80nesteel (W-R); 9. Terry Poovey (Hont 10 . Scan Pearson (Han); 11. Dan Ingram (Han); 12. Rich King (Han); 13. Peter Hook (H· D); 14 . Scan Parker (H-D); 15 . George Roeder (H-D). • . ' DAYTONA DIRT TRACK SERIES POINT STANDINGS; 1. Farr is (55 ); 2. Carr (53t 3. Aseltine (SO); 4.J ones (46); 5. Mo reh aad (36); 6. Ingram (33); 7. Men ans (28); 8. Roeder (19); 9. Hill (17); 10. Ragen (13). 600 NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. Aseltine (20 t 2. Carr (16 t 3. Farris (13t 4 . Menans (1 5. Jones (l Ot 6. Davis (9); 7. Springsteen (8t 8. Bonesteel (7); 9. Poovey (6t 10. Pearson (5); 11. Ingram (4); 12. King (3); 13. Hook (2t 14. Parker n (1). 57

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