Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Scott Brown (66) led Steve Lamson (2 N ) early in both 500cc Pro motos. but Lamson ended up on top w ith a perfect 1-1 combination. Button', Young top Glen Helen .Trans-Cal MX By Donn Maeda SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 10 Nearly 100 p rofessional motocross racers from the state of California an d from as far as Fort Dodge, Iowa, showed up for round two of the Dodge Truck/ CMC T rans-Cal Seri es held at Don Browne's Gl en H elen OHV Park in San ' Bernar, In<;>. H owever, It was d· Honda s JImmy Button, Cag- 20 iva 's Mike Young and Yamaha 's Steve Lam son com ing o ut on top in the 125, 250 and 500cc Pro classes, respectively. In th e sa me wa y that he dominated th e Intermedi ate di vision at la st year 's Tran s-Cal Seri es, Button pi cked up wh ere he left off and roosted a way to th e 125cc Pro cla ss win . Button was seem ingly un contested , and with relat ive ease danced hi s H onda to both mot o victories. Young had to work a bit harder for hi s winn in g 2-1 mot o fini shes, as he suffered a poor start in mot o o ne a nd had to weave his wa y up through the pack. Lamson was clearl y th e crea m of the crop in th e 500cc P ro class, as h e powered hi s 36 0co nverted Yam aha YZ250 to two com ma ndi ng moto win s. Randy Moody grabbed th e early lead in the first 125cc moto, but close beh ind were Kyle Lewi s, Button a nd Mike Pascarell a. Within two laps, Button had for ced his way into th e lead and began to pull away. Meanwhile, Lewis lost con tro l in a rough wh oop sectio n a nd parted co mpa ny wi th hi s Yamah a, droppin g from second to 10th place. Pascarell a was happy to tak e th e runner-up position, and mounted a cha rge to ca tch th e lead er. Although he failed to ca tch Button , Pascar ella o pe ned up a comforta ble lead over Young wh o had worked into third p lace. After cras h ing earlier o n , Lewis set a bli stering pace a nd weaved through th e pa ck a nd o n to Young's rear fender. Lewis found an ope n ing on lap six , and blasted past Young in h is uphill wh oop sectio n. Button took the chec kered flag well a hea d of Pascarell a. Lewi s and Young. Brian Calhoun grabbed th e holeshot in moto two , but Button out- brak ed th e SCR pil ot in th e first turn and took over th e .Iea~. Once i ~ front, Button put o n hIS di sappearin g act a nd hid from th e rest o f the field. Greg Tirheim er held second pl ace ear ly in th e mot o, but was bum ped back to third by Lewis, as the du o dropped off of Animal' s Leap. Next to push Tirheim er back was a hard charging A.]. Whiting, wh o ' had overcome a sevent h-p lace sta rt. Once past Tirheimer, Wh itin g set his sights on Lewis and was breathing down hi s jersey by lap six . Whitin g found his way past Lewis on th e in side of a tight left-hander. Button cruised to the mot o win ahea d of Whiting, Lewi s a nd Young. Button was uncontested for th e overa ll, while Lewis' 3-3 bested Whiting' S 52 for the runner-up positi on. Ca lho un hol esh o t th e firs t 250cc moto but got sideways in the muddy first turn , allowing Dean Mat son to slide pas t. Pasca rell a wor ked pas t Ca lho un on the first la p and set o u t to catch Matson, wh o had opened up a sma ll lead . On lap fo ur, Pasca rella p u lled alo ngside Ma tson as they approache d Anim a l' s L ea p , a nd soa red into th e lead as th e pa ir d ropped to th e track below. Once in fro nt , Pascarell a proceeded to pull a way to a comma nd ing lead . Mea nwh ile, Young was worki ng u p from a 12th-place start and began pressurin g Sven Stilmock for th ird. Young mo tor ed into third o n lap four and set after Matson. Ma tson fell victim to Young's charge on lap six, wh en the Cagiva rid er na vigat ed th e back wh oops a bit faster. Pa scarella took a n easy win , followed by Young, Matson a nd Craig Davis. After hi s remarkabl e cha rge in th e first moto, a determined Young grabbed th e holeshot in mot a two a nd ope ned up an im media te lead that he would hold to th e fin ish . Ma tson held a stro ng second a head o f Ti m T elford and Pasca rella . Pascarell a tried to gain pos iti ons, but Honda-mounted J immy Button ' (50J) captured the overall w in in the 125cc Pro class w ith 1 -1 moto finishes; Kyle Lewis finished second. was suffering from a painful foot injury sustained in the closing 125cc moto. The pain proved to be too great, and Pascarella was forced to pull off the track on lap four. T his left a ~h a rg i n !? Gary Butcher in fourth; Just behind T elford. Butcher bounced past Telford and into third as th ey exited the uphill whoops sectio n. Butcher then began to reel in Mats on, but ran out of time and had to settle for third. Young's 2-1 cap tur ed th e overall, Mats on was second with hi s 3-2 and Butcher's hard-earned 5-3 gav e him third. Scott Brown bl asted to th e front in the opening 500cc rn oto , but clo se behind were Allen Berluti, Lamson and Sea n Conley. Lamson worked hi s way past Berluti on th e first lap and set after Brown. As Lamson looked for a wa y a ro und Brown . J eff Pestan a worked his way in to third and waited for a mi stake from eithe r rid er. At one point Pestana took seco n d from L am son , but the . Yamaha rider quickly retali ated with a pass in th e whoops. Lamson th en do ve to the inside of a right-hander, taking th e lead on lap three. Brown a nd Pestana tried to steal the lead, . but couldn 't keep the pace that Lamson set. Brown lost con trol of his big Kawasaki on la p seven and went down, handing seco n d to Pestana. Pestana enjoyed the runnerup positi on for only half a lap, as Rex Staten motored by a few turns lat er. Lamson crossed th e fini sh line well a head of Staten , Pesta na and Greg Zitterkopf. Brown claimed hi s seco nd holeshot of th e da y in mot o two ahea d of Lamson, Zitterk opf a nd Pestan a. Ri ght out of th e ga te. Staten had ta ngled with a no ther rid er and went down. Sta ten remounted in dead last. a nd rode . like a man po ssessed in orde r to regai n po sit ions. Meanwh ile, Lamson sta lked Brown, looking for a way around. Lamson dove to the inside of th e fin ish turn on lap two, stu ffing Brown o u t of hi s hne. O nce in front , Lamson pulled a way as he did in the first moto, 'while Brown a nd Zitterk opf argued over second. Zitterkopf prevailed, as Brown lost co nt ro l again and went do wn hard. Pestana was ab le to avo id th e do wned rid er and took over third, just ah ead of Staten . Staten had set an in credible pace, and carr ied his mom entum past Pestana and into third. Lamson took ano ther easy win a nd th e overa llahead of Zitterkopl, State n and Pesta na. Staten's hard rid ing paid off, as his 2-3 topped Zitt erkopr's 4-2 for second overall. Kenny Millsaps took th e hol eshot in the fir st Vet Interm ediate moto, bu t righ t behind were Don Pastel). Kell y Myers and Da ve Simmons. As Millsaps ex tended his lead, Hondamounted John Slingerland worked through the pack after a poor sta rt. Slingerland cu t th ro ugh the field, a nd had moved into second by lap five ahead of Pastell and Myers. Millsaps went down in the finish turn, handing the lead a nd an easy win to Slingerland. Slingerland was fo llowed across the line by Myers , Pastell and Simmons. Pastell stoled the holeshot in mota two, but right on his rear knobs were Myers, Simmons a nd Michael Gibson. First moto winner Slingerland was stuc k back in sixth , but was onto fourth place by lap two. As the pack rounded th e tra ck to begin lap three, Pastell washed out in th e finish turn and dropped to fourth. Myers inherited th e lead but ri ght behind was Slingerl and, wh o was on th e move . On lap seven , Slingerland railed th e outside of th e far turn a nd sho t past Myers. Slingerland th en cruised to th e moto a nd overall win; Myers and Simmons were seco nd a nd third overall. Joe Bruce powered through the first turn ahead of the rest of the 125cc Interm ediates in m oto one, and proceeded to lead wire to wire. Jason J o h n so n , Brian Roth a n d Scott McElroy argued over the runner-up , position throughou t th e moto, but it was Roth co ming out on top. Bruce took an easy win over Roth , J o hnson a nd McElroy. Steve Kotaj arvi was the early race leader in moto tw o , but a t. the halfway point succu mbed to th e charges of Kaw asaki -mounted Ro th . As Roth began to pull away , Bru ce and J ohnson tri ed to find a way around Kotaj ar vi, Both riders eventu all y got by but ra n out of time before th ey co uld make up any time o n Roth. Roth took th e mota win a hea d of Bru ce, J ohnson a nd Dal e Ra yzor. Roth 's 2-1 topped Bru ce's 1-2, while Johnson was third with a consis tent 3-3. The fir st U p The Hill In termedia te moto sa w Steve Pia toni lead Scott Lee, Randy Blair and Sh awn Davi s through th e first turn. Lee stu ffed Piatoni on th e second turn and took the lead for good. Blair was next to get by Piatoni, making a pass in th e uphill whoop section. Piatoni stuck to Blair's rear fender , making repeated attempts to repass. Time ran out, however, a nd Blair held second to the checkered flag. Blair took the ear ly lead in th e second moto, but Pia toni forced h is way past o n lap three. Lee then began to pressure Blair a nd passed th e Yamaha rider in th e whoop section. Lee tried to catch th e leader, but rea lized that he would still have the overall win a nd cru ised for th e rest

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