Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127537
Hank Moree (37) rounded the first tum in front of the 250cc A class in the first moto, Brian McEhoy (48) was the overall winner, Larry Harrison (77) led Steve Starnes (69), R usty Sayres (792) and the rest of the 30+ class at the start of moto two. McElroy in charge at Camp Coker By Jay and Sharon Hauser SOCIETY HILL, SC, FEB. 16 ria n McEl ro y swep t the 125 and 250cc A classes by winnin g th ree o f four mot os a t Cam p Cok er Mot orsp orts Park. The event ma rked th e beginning o f th e 10-race Ca rolina Spr ing Ser ies th a t will be held at various tracks throughou t North a nd So u th Carolina, a nd a lso doub led as th e fin al round of th e Camp Coker Winter Series. Ap p roximat ely 300 entrants from nin e sta tes came to Camp Coker for a cha nce oL earning a sh are o f m ore than $280,000 in priz es and co n tinge n- B 36 cies pu t up by th e four j a panese manufactu rers a nd other sponsors. Racers and their fam il ies tha t arrived th e da y before th e event were trea ted 10 a pi g-pi cking barbeq ue and o the r entertai nme nt hosted by Camp Co ker owner H en ry Moree. H a yden Ri chard s pu t : his Team G ree n / Ba rrs Competit io n -bac ked Kaw asak i o u t fro nt a t th e start of th e firs t 25 0cc A m o ta w i th Rie He / Yamaha-K aw asaki of She lby / FM Fsu p po rted Brian McEl roy ho t o n his heels a nd H ank Moree holding a close third for most of th e first lap. McElro y knew that he had 10 ta ke th e lead ea rly beca use o f hea vy press u re from Mo ree, Suzu ki of Win sto n -S al em ' s Tod d Bennick and j am es Eic k le , Afte r passing Richards for the lead across the 60-foot tab letop jump at th e end of the first la p , McE lroy went o n hi s way for the mota win and left the ba ttl e. for second behind. Moree kept a good pace and fou ght off th e attacks of Team G ree n l A n swer / H am mer hea d Gra p hics-bac ked j im Neese, who had made up tim e fro m a ba d start. T he finish saw McElroy ta ke th e win over Moree, Eickle, Neese a nd Bennick. Tuf Racing 's Mik e Andrews grabbed the hol esh ot a t th e start of the second m ota a head -o f Bennick, McEl ro y, Ri ch ards a nd Moree. Bennick sailed over a tri cky double j ump less ,th an halfway th rough the first lapto take th e lead. Andrews held o ff McEl ro y a nd Rich ards until he cras hed o n th e th ird lap. By th e halfwa y point, McEl ro y mad e a move a nd pa ssed Bennick for th e lead th rough the fini sh line wh oops and was o n hi s way to his second mot o win. Bennick stayed wihtin striking distance for th e rest of thernot o but couldn' t put a move o n McElroy. Richards had no problem stayi ng in th ird to the fini sh alt ho ugh Neese came close to him near th e end after chargi ng from dead last because of a first-turn cras h. Mor ee rounded out th e to p five fini sh ers. At the start of th e fir st 125cc A moto , Chad Lough led th e pack aboard his AXO /Rentha l/Bare Bros. -b acked Suzuki with Bennick a nd McElroy breathing down hi s neck. McElroy quickly sta rted a dri ve 10 th e front and Bennick was th e first 10 fall p rey to McEl ro y's cha rge. Neese tried to sh u t McEl ro y down but fa iled as McElroy made the move to second by lap four. McEl ro y the n move d in on Lough, who held a blisterin g pace and bl ocked McEl roy's many a tte m pts to tak e the lead. Lou gh held him o ff a nd crossed th e fin ish lin e firs t for th e win just ahead o f McElroy while Neese retained thi rd p lace in front o f Benn ick and Moree. Mot o two saw Neese tak e control of the lead right from the drop o f ihe ga te a nd he did a great j ob holding everyone ofL Bennick go t a good start in second j ust a hea d o f McEl roy, Lou gh and· Andrews. Neese q uick ly p u lled ou t a lead on th e pack as McEl roy again sta rte d a stea dy drive tow ard the front. McEl roy passed Bennick th en reeled . Neese in a nd passed him for th e lead, bu t Neese passed him right back. The two riders th en battled back and forth until four turns from th e fini sh wh en McElroy was abl e to pull o ff th e rnot owin ning pa ss a nd had Neese chase him acros s th e line a lmo st on top of his rear fender. Bennick tu rn ed in an other stro ng rid e a nd fin ish ed thi rd ahead o f Lough. Andrews crossed the fin ish line in fifit h pl ace. Co ntroversy popped u p in the 125cc B class whe n a first-lap 'cra sh a nd a dis q ua lifica tio n in the second mot o m ixed up the resu lts as well as mixed u p so me emotions. The situation ca me a bo u t wh en firs t-moto runaway wi n ne r Gage Fortson a nd th ird-pl ace finisher Ri ch ard Ibison came togeth er a t th e start o f rna to two , whe n Ibison misdirected h is Ka wasak i into lead er Fortson. Fortson wen t down an d Ibi son went o n 10 win over Greg Ra nd. But Ibi so n's victory was for show o nly, as he was d isq ual ified for rough riding and the mo to win give n 10 Ra nd , who DNF the first mo to, Fortson was able to charge back 10 finish eighth and stayed in the top th ree overall. Adam Merrick was th e one to come out with the overa ll wi n via a 4-2 ta lly ahead o f Brad Si mpson. In th e first 30+ cla ss moto, Steve Starnes bl asted his AI Lane-bac ked Kaw asaki ou t of th e gate followed by th e 600cc fo ur -stro ke of j ohn T hom linson. Georg ia n Ru sty Sayres kept close in third a head of Larry H arrison and Roger Riv enbar k. Sta rnes held a good lead while Ron Dobbs and Ron j ones starte d a ba ttl e that carried th em past everyo ne in the ir path. T he two riders stuc k to eac h ot her lik e g lue a nd beg an 10 p ick o ff o ne ri de r afte r anothe r until Sta rnes was th e o nly rid er th at stoo d in th eir way. But