Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ray Yoder (52) came from behind to defeat Randy Gaffey, Phi l Pummell, Fritz Kling and Marty Miller (483) in the M ichigan Grand Prix at Grattan. (left to right) Keith Chrisco, Alan Christian and Brad Oxley battle at Orange County Speedway. Christian was the Scratch main winner. VET NOV: 1. M ilte Martin (Yam I; 2. John Topor (Honl ; 3. Randy Paul Wysocki (Kawl; 4. Bob Dunham (Yam); 5. Ma rk Lou nsbury (Yam). VET INT: 1. Randy Tinlemier (Suz); 2. Paul Tomorie (Hon); ; 3. Charlie Stro ng (Han); 4. Russ Hoffman CHonl 5. J oel Harri ott (Kaw ). JR VET BEG: 1. Pat McDon augh (Varni; 2. Je ff Canue ll; 3 . Bob M ic hael (Han I: 4 . J ack Brady (Honl ; 6 . Kelly Lawso n (Hon). JR VET NOV: 1. Greg Mart inez (Han); 2. Chuck Gume r (Suz); 3. M ike McCarley (Han); 4 . B.J . Lehn ISuz); S. George Andrews (Honl . JR VET INT: 1. David Lynch (Honl ; 2. Gray W agner (Yam). JR VET EX: 1 . Greg W inter. 125 BEG 0 -1: 1. Owen Dicbon (Yamt 2. George Moore (Kaw ); 3 . Roy Bremenour (Han); 4 , Kevin O'Br ien (Hon); 5. t2~hS~G.~2~~~ ~~:~ Hall (Honl; 2. David Bradshaw IVaml; 3. J im Nutter (Kaw l; 4. David Rasmu S5en (Suz); 5. Eddie Tanner. 125 NOV: 1. Tony Sarranli (Hon); 2. Sraes Dawson (Vam); 3. Chuck Gun ler (Suz); 4 . Joe OePatto (Kaw); 5. Chuck Love (Honl . 125 INT: 1. Derek Natvlg (!(awl; 2. Sl even Kotajarvi IKaw); 3. Rvan Carl isle IKawt 4 . Jon J ames (Kaw ); 5. Shawn Davicl50n (Han). 125 PRO: 1. SuddyAnlunez(Suz t 2. Phil Lawr ence(Y am); 3. Paul Vlach (Hon); 4. Erick Hilto n (Vam); 5. Jeff Black (Han). 250 BEG: 1. Ryan Cunya (Vamt 2. .Jeff Frey; 3. Russell F-oa (Han); 4 . Matt Oance (Suz); 5. Donny Moore (Kaw). 250 NOV: 1. Chn s Murphy (Han); 2. Milte Little ISuz); 3 . Eddie Van Davts (Vam); 4 . Robbie Dunham (Yam); 5. Phi l lawrence (19) couldn't stop Buddy Antunez (76) in the 1 2 5 cc Pro class, but he came back to win the 250cc division at LACR . 3 . Jack Steel e (Hen); 4 . Chuck Adams (Yam); 5 . John Bell (~sb c 1. Chris Rolling (Kaw l: 2. Trent a.nolani (KTM); 3 . Derrick Sm ith (Kawl: 4 . Doug Wilt (Hon); 5. Bud Wyan (Kaw l. OPEN B: 1. Frank Gallo (aM); 2 . Dan Morgan lCag ); 3 . Shawn Silver (Cag ); 4 . Bob Harrington (Honl; 5. Jeff Ghindea (Kaw ). SR 1: 1. Frank Gallo (ICTM 2. M ike Williams (Yam); 3, ); Dan M organ (Cag); 4 . AI Ch uppa (Hon) ; 5. Scan Sittig (Vam) . Christian cruises at Costa Mesa Speedway By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA. CA, MAY 19 Alan " Crazy" Christian won the Scra tch main lor 'he second time in 1989 at 'he Orange Co unt y Fairgrounds. . When the ta pes went up 10 beg in 'he lourlap race Ch ristian steered 'he Gil Armas/STP/ Troy Lee Design /Barn~ll/Ca!-Fab J~wa l~om 'he pole into 'he lead with Keith Chrisco n!;h' behind, Gary Hick. occupied third with Shawn McConnell lour'h. McConnell powered ahead of Hicks before 'he linish of 'he opening lap while Chrisco was all over Christian. On lap 'hree, Hicks came back by McConnell as 'hey continued 'heir dogfigh' for 'hird. Chrisco tried 10 force h is way into [irst . bUl Christian was waiting (or him and Chrisco almost lost i,. Tha' gave Christian all he needed and he captured o ne of 'he best Scralch mains of the seaso n. Chrisco finished second with Hicks and McConnell rounding o ut th e field. Mark Hannah blasted into th e lead in th e Handicap main. England's Dave Stanlord rolled off second to Hannah . but Andy Northrup quickl y passed him. Brad Oxley and J im Sisemore also went by Stanlord, 'hen passed Northrup lor second and third. Hannah bobbled on the second lap. and Oxley slid by for 'he lead with Sisemore and Christian also cominl( through th e ho le. Sisemore leaned all over Oxley, bUllheleader relused budge and hun!;: on'o the lead 'he rest of the way [o r his initial win of the year. Sise more mai ntained second wi th Christian, McConnell an d Hannah rounding ou'the 'op rive. Craig Dempster and Pe'er Lewis. on a Kawasaki, led the entire distance and won lhe Sidecar main. Steve Stanton and Tom Tufts finished second with Jelf Lerch and Ken Ohrt 'hird. '0 R.sul ts seRATCH: 1. Alan Christian (Jaw); 2. Keith Chrisco lWes); 3. Gary Hicb (W es); 4. Shawn McConnell (GM). HDCP: 1. Bred Oxley (West 2. Jim Sisemore (Wa); 3. • . Ala" Christien lJaw); .. . Shawn McConneU (GMJ. 0 -2: 1. P~t HawMey (Geln); 2. Archie Perez IGdn); 3. Matt Cottmell CGdn~ 4 . M;" RoedlWes). 0 ·3: 1. Jerry Black (Jaw); 2. Dave Wendlandt (Jaw); 3. Rudy Maresca Waw ); 4 . Jeff Hoyt (Wesl . SOCAR: 1. Craig Dempsterl Peter Lew is lKawl; 2. Sieve Sia nton/Tom Tufts (Kawt 3. Jeff Lerch/Ken Ohrt IH-D); 4 . Randy Mclntyre/Ken Melnlyre (Kawt 5. Cliff Tolley l Sieve Hardwick lKawl. Lawrence leaps to LACRMX By TerrY Rezek PALMDALE, CA. MAY 14 Yarna ha-moumed Phil Lawrence turned OUl • lO be the star in the 250cc Pro class a t Los Angeles County Raceway. Lawrence used a pair of rnoto firsts lOcap ture the overa ll. Paul Vlach took 'he lead off 'he lin e in moto o ne as Lawren ce moved up. Lawren ce took 'he lead in the middle of lap two when Vlach . went down bri efly. Lawren ce stret ch ed o ut a comfortable lead for 'he win wh ile Vlach co uld o n ly Iight his way back fin ish fourth in lh e mOlO. Vlach almost got 'he hol esho t in mo lO two bu, T im Telford swep ' by the o utside 10 ge' 'he early lead . By la p 'hree of mot o two. bo'h Vlach and Lawrence were pa st T elford . wh o even' ua lly o nly managed a pa ir of 'hirds for third overall in Ihe even L In 'he middle of lap six . Lawren ce was righl o n Vlach and soo n stufled him in a hairpin. Lawren ce fin ished firs' o vera ll and Vlach ma naged to pull in seco nd. Buddy Ant unez look a brea k fro m th e Nati onal circu il to terrorize the 125cc Pr o cla ss. Antunez led every lap o [ bo'h mo lOS for an e"dSy win . Todd Lehmann. u,uall y seen o n a 250cc ma chine. had the early lead in both molOS 01 th e 500cc Pro class, bu' eventually "",ve way to a hOI Jon Onner wh o took bo th mOlDS and th e overa ll . '0 R.sults SO BEG: 1. Paul Gilmart in (Kaw ); 2 . Aaron Wasne a (Kaw); 3. Greg Billing (Hon); 4. Carlos Murillo {Sud; 5. Fred Ogr im lHanl. BO NOV: 1. Jason DePano IHonl : 2. Jeff Willoh (Kaw); 3. Scan Johnson (Suz); 4 . Man Hall (Sud; S. Oavid Evilsizer (Suz). BO INT: 1. Bob Sage (Hon ); 2 . Terry Parsons (Honl ; 3. Bri an Teet s (Kawl . WMN NOV: 1. Valarie Parm ely (Suz); 2. Carie Mart inez (Hon); 3. Joy Am es (Honl; 4. Kim Trudell (I(aw ); S. Lisa Frame (Suz). WMN INT: 1. Lori Hedstrom (Hon). V1NT 1. Joe Broussard (Hon); 2. Ken Greene ; 3. Sieve : Du nlap (Hon); 4 . Ron A ldrich (CZ); 5. Rod KirltbrKie (Hon). SR BEG: 1. Bill Wehmann (Hon). SR INT: 1. Tom Spurg in (Hon); 2. Robert Wnville (Suz). SR EX: 1. Bob Millner; 2. Si eve Dunlap (Yam). VET BEG: 1. lenny Baker (Yam); 2. Bret Greeni~ ~TK); 3. John L Sull ivan; 4. Mar1I: Rauch (Kaw); S. Jim Williams (K.w). Byron Greene evam). 250 INT: 1. Ryan Carlisle (Kaw);: 2. Gary Lacy tKaw ); 3. Tony Qualls (Yam.; 4 . ~udt Bagwell (Hon); 5 . Merle Hamme r (Yaml . 250 PRO: 1. Phil Lawrence (Vam); 2. Paul Vlach (Han); 3. Tim Telford (Suzt; 4. Eridr. Hilton (Yam); 5 . Gary Sailors (yam). 500 BEG: 1. Danny McKee (Hon); 2. Kelly Hazy (Honl. 500 NOV: 1. Greg Keirn (Hon); 2 . Greg AEkinson (Hon); 3. Tony Alessi evam); 4 . Charlie Strong (Hon); 5 . Jerry Ehlers (Ka w). 500 INT 1. Chud< Bagwell CHon). : 500 PRO: 1. Jon Onner (Hon); 2. Todd lehmann (Han); 3. OaV1d Bagwell (Hon); 4 . Jeff Hare. (Honl . Yoder rolls to four wins at Grattan, Michigan RR By larry lawrence GRATTAN. MI. MAY 21 fIIin ois rider Ray Yoder had the most impressive weekend of his yo u ng racing career, winnin ~ four races on his pair of Prre ll i ZSu zu k i o f \Vaukegan /Speclro· sponsored Suzuki GSXRs. Yoder went home a li lli e rich er 'hanks Suzuki and WERA. In Suzuki co ntingency acti on , Yoder took a first and a seco nd. and in also won th e seco nd round of the Michigan Grand Prix. as well as the reg ional Formula USA co ntes t. Yoder 's total earnings lor th e weekend came to S1086. Yod er spe n t mu ch of his first two years of road racing in 'he sha do w of fellow North Central riders suc h as Sco tt Zam pa ch . And y Fenwick and Fritz Klin g. Now in hi s third year. Yoder ha , emerged from tha' sha dow a nd is co ns idered o ne of th e best up-and· co m ing rid ers in Ihi s pan of the counuy. Yod er warmed up by easily winnin g 'he B Superbike race over Phil Pummel!. PummeJl cras hed h is Honda VFR7 50 on Sa' urday and had 10 start the raa- from th e back ro w. By lh e ,i me he raced th rough lhe lield , Yod er was lo ng go ne. It was the o nly non-pa yin g evt"nt Yader en tered. In the Mich igan Gra nd Pr ix. firsl·round win ner FrilZ Kling \\"3 5 fa\ored to wi n agai n , t"Ven thoug-hhi s winn in g Suzu ki was sidel ined \\'ith e1l"Ctrica J pro blems. For th is ro und Klin g wo uld be o n a m ild ly-tuned. 'wo-year-old Yam ah a FZR750. The a lwa ys fast-sl:ming Randy Ga ddey took 'he lC' o n lap o ne fnllowed by Klin g, dd Yod er, Pu mm ell , 1\lar'y Miller a nd Sa m Wardrip. Gaddey continued 10 lead 'he 46bike pack o n lh e second go-ro u nd. On th e third lap Yoder moved int o 'he lead . Gaddey foll owed closely but had a feelinl( lha' Yoder was riding j ust a bit too aggr essively. "I was wat ching h im . he was pu shing 'he bike to its limits. [('s tough to nde tha t way [or very long without som elhing ha ppen ing," said Gaddey. What happened was Yoder o vercooked a lurn and ended up in th e gra ss. " . hit a false neutral go ing into 'he lurn. I grabbt'd th e clutch and though" 'O h nol ' I slid the edge 01 lhe 'rack and luckily scrubbed off eno ugh speed. When • hit 'he grass • ,urned around and saw a gap. a nd Rot back into the ratt, " said a relieved Yoder . Yoder dropped all 'he '0 '0 way back to fifth place, but quickly began making u p lost ground. l Two laps alter his off -track excursion. Yoder put his big Suzuki back into the lead . From th at point, Yoder made no more. mistakes and went on to lake the victory . On 'he last la p Kling was able to move hi s Yamaha up to lak e seco nd a fter experiencing overheating probl em s in the ea rl y laps. Fonner GP cha m p Sco tt Zampach sta rted a' the bac k of the grid. By th e end 01 the race he had worked h i, way u p sixth beh ind Mill er and Purnmell. Klin g has th e po ints lead after two rounds. Purnrnell , Yod er a nd Gaddey are in second th rou gh fou rth a nd o nly 13 po ints separate KIing fro m Ga ddey. Yod er co n tin ued hi s wi n n ing ways by defeating Zampach in the A Production race. The d uo were together th e en tire race bu t Yoder's 1100 h ad m any poni es for Zampach 's 750. Da ve Schmidt fin ished thi rd in hi s first rood race since a devasta tin g crash o n 'he high 'banks of Rock in gh am last year. Ohio rider Sco tt Seferi a n was unstoppable in 'he No vice ranks. Seferian rode his Honda Hurrican e to three co m ma nd ing victories. '0 '00 Result s MICH GP: t . Ray Yoder (Suz); 2. FnlZ Kling (Yam); 3 . Randy Gaddev (Suzt; 4 . Phil Pummell (Hon ); 5 . Marty Mdler (Suzl. . A S/BK EX: 1. Randy Gaddey (Suz),; 2. Phil Pummel! (Han .; 3. Mike Karm (Suzl . • A S/BK NOV: 1. Dave Voelzke (Suz); 2. At Hall (Hon); 3. Oave OeRonne (Yam). B S/BK EX: t . Ray Voder (Sta); 2. Phil Pummel! (Hon); 3. Tim Morrissey (Suz). e St BK NOV: 1. Doug Sholly (Hon); 2. Oave Voelzke (Suz); 3 . AI Hall (Hon). C S/ BK EX: 1. Sam Wardrip (Yaml:: 2. Andy Schmidt lYam t 3. Randy G _ (Hon). C S/ BK NOV: 1. Scott Selenan (Han ); 2. AI Hall (Hon); 3. Oave DeRon ne (Yam). S/ BK EX: 1. Steve Pan erson (Yaml; 2. Shaw n Nicoloff (Yam) 3. Seen Biow' (Yam), D S/ BK NOV: 1. Kirk Rauille (Yam); 2. Ene Voight (Yam); o 2r~~OI~~St~ V;~~.!. 3. Bauer (Suz); 2. Craig Newforth (Yam); 3. Bob Hill (Suz). A PROD NOV; t . Doug Sholly (Han); 2. Curt is Talbert (Yam): 3. Jeff McKinney (yaml. B PAOD EX: 1. Vince Bauer (Sud; 2. Craig Newforth (Yam); 3 . Man W innacker (Kaw). B PROD NOV: 1. Scott Sefe rlan (Hon); 2. Dave DeRon ne IVam); 3. Ike butner (Hon). C PROD EX: 1. Sam Wardrip (Yamt; 2 . Kerth Merryfield (Hon!; 3. Brian unu (Han). C PROD NOV; t . Scon Seferia n (Honl; 2. Dave DeRonne (Vam); 3. Larry Martin (Yam). o PROD EX: 1. John Bowles (Yaml; 2. Man Winnacker evam); 3. John Ourk in evam). o PROD NOV: r . Jordan Brown evam); 2. Bob Dicello (Yam); 3. Dave Mark (Yam). A S/STK: 1. Ray Yoder (Suzl; 2. Scol1lampach ISuzl; 3 . Dave SchmKtl (Suz,l. B S/STK: 1. Scott Zampach tSuzt 2. Ray V..... tSuzt 3. Tim Morrissey (SU%). e S/STK: 1. Steve PanerlOn (Yam); 2. Tany LaGrene evam); 3. Andy Fenwick (Suz). F-USA : 1. Ray Yoder (Suz); 2. Scott Zernpach (Suz); 3. Fritz Kh~ (Yam). F·2 EX: 1. Jeff Vas (RIX); 2. Many M iller evam); 3. Si eve Patterson (Yam). F·2 NOV: , . Kirk ReuiUe (Vam); 2. Jordan Brown IVam); 3. Greg Hutcheson (Vaml. F-3 EX: , . Tom b ing er (Kaw); 2. Ralph Farmer (Hoo); - 3. Gordon Hamilcon (Kaw). CLBM EX: 1. RICh Graver (Suz); 2 . Roben Tapscott evam); 3 . Dale W ltSener (Vaml . CLBM NOV; , . Ken Tapscon (Yam); 2. Cart Morris (Hon); 3. Chr is Bak er (Yam). V1N 2: , . Mark Jones l Duc); 2. Heidi Smaku la (H-O). T VlNT 4 : 1. M ichael Burk e (BMW); 2. Tim Richards (Suz!; 3. Bob Tapscott (y am). VINT 5: , . Kevin Fardo ull (Kawl ; 2. Rich Graver (Sud; 3. Bob Newby (Yaml . Letellier tops Santa Fe Swamp HS By Phillip Ellsworth CARBONDALE, KS. MAY 21 Lei gh Letellier took lh e overa ll win a' the har e scra mb les held a ' Santa Fe Trail Cycle ; Park. The usual du st and hea' were rep laced by mud and rai n, but the resuh was the same as Lelellier lOok his second victory in a r.ow 4 here. A line of lhunderslorms was pa SSIng Ihrough, and conditions were so lhrellening that during the rid ers meeting promoter Paul DiPascluale advised that in case of severe ligh'ninl( th e race wou ld be stopped and la,er restarted. The parade lap was held in a downpour 'ha' rendered goggles useless a nd created bottlenecks in many sections. As the

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