Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eEVENTS , ~ ('f) 0\ 0\ rl " ~ 4-J (/) ;:l eo ;:l < Benny Durrough came out on top of two classes at Honda Hills Vintage MX. AHRMA Vrntage Iron National MX Series/Oassie Bike Magazine Dirt Track Series: Rounds 813 '. Durrough, Higgins dominate Honda Hills VintageMX By Matt Benson UNNVILLE, OH, JULY 17 eorgia riders dominated at the vintage mo tocross d ouble-head er a t Honda Hills MX, as Georgia rider Benny Durrough rode a beau tiful Maico to perfec t scores in the d ay's two biggest mo tocross cla sses, Sportsman 500 and +30 Intermed iate. Fe ll ow Geo r g ia n Barry Higgins made the most of his outing, rackin g up three wins and a secondplace aboard a KTM and a pair of BSApow ered machines. When the 133 entries were finished raising dust on Honda Hills' roll ing MX cou r se, John Blacks tock entered his Yamahas in a trio of short track classes and head ed back to Georgia with a firstplace trophy in Mod ern Vintage 600cc and a second in Mod ern Vin tage 250cc. The Classic Bike Dirt Track attracted 40 en tries. Hond a Hills p erso n n el worked throu gh th e ni gh t to prepare a mot ocross track suitabl e for AHRMA's 1974 an d ear lier ma chin es . And th ey succeed ed: When racing started in th e Vintage Ir o n n ationa l, th e hea vil y bermed track had plenty of traction an d jumps that were manageab le with shorttravel sus pension. But even with wa ter sp read on the course before the second set of mote s, the hot afternoon sun and breeze quickly took away any moistu re, and mad e for somew ha t dusty conditions. Likewise, frequen t laps in the water tru ck by forme r Honda Hills 'owner an d th r ee-time Da y tona 200 wi nner Dic k Kla mfo th failed to keep th e d irt track dust-free for long. For both thedirt track and motocross, however, the dust was more an annoyance than an impediment to close racing. Du rrough seemed to ha ve little real difficulty in either of h is classes. In the first +30 Intermediate moto, Jim Qu alk was gainin g groun d on Durrou gh, wh en the Honda rid er appeared to miss a shift and dropped back. Qualk was second overall with 2-4 finishes. In Sportsman 500cc Expert, Higgins G 24 won both motos. Behind him at the finish in the first race was CCM-mounted John Hanford, while Hu sq va rn a rid er Wes Fuller was runner-up the second time out. Consistent 3-3 finish es netted BSA-m ounted former Nat ional Tri als Champion Curt Comer second overall. Higgins, riding a BSA 250 in Premier Lightweight II, and AHRMA Executive Director Jeff Smith , on a Can-Am 125 in +50 Expert, cha sed one an other in that combined-class moto and crossed th e finish line side by side . But in moto two, old Mr. Lucas turned off the electricity on Higgins' BSAand Smith oiled a plug. Higgins wo u nd up second overall to a hard-eharging Hu gh Weaver in Premier, while Charles Hawk took the +50 d ivision. In a n o the r co mbined-class race, H iggins rode the wheels off hi s Weslake-BSA Rickman in Premier 500cc II Expert, whil e mixing it up with the lea d ers of th e +30 Exper t divisio n . Higgins first got past Honda rider Doug Wentzell in the second rnoto, then made Rick Hudson work ha rd to stay ahead of th e fo u r-s tro ke . Hudson got the +30 class overall win with 1-1 finishes, while Higgins was uncontested . Higgins' thir d class win came in +40 Exper t, wh er e he kep t a co mfortable lead over Phil Hanford 's CCM in both motos. Bul taco-ri ding Tim Weaver w as involve d in so me of the d ay's closest racing. In Sportsm an 250cc Expert, he na rrowl y held off Hudson for the entire firs t mot o, an d in moto two started second behind the Canadian before ge tting past on th e second lap and opening a small lead. In Sport sman 125cc Expert, Weaver was in th e fas t-moving front group, when lead er Doug Wentzell fell an d took hi m out. Ho nda-mounted Mike Boggia inherited the lead and would n't give it up, d esp ite pressure from Darin Enswiler. Wea ver rode hard to finish fourth. The second moto was a close battle bet ween Bogg ia, Enswiler, Suzuki rider Phil Pummell and Weaver, with Boggia dropping back on the final lap to . finish fifth. In the dirt track portion of the event, Donnie War E's Ossa Dick Mann Rep lica was the machine to chase in the Modem Vintage 250cc class. John Blackstock and his Yamaha chased in both the heat and final, to no avail. Third we nt to ano ther Yamaha-mounted Georg ian, Darrell Bryant. Blackstock got his win in th e next rac e, Mode rn Vinta ge 600cc. Tom Morgan challenged in the fin al, but Blackstock opened a comfortable margin .by the time the checke red flag came ou t. Bill Harrett and his Triumph we re moving up on Morgan when the flag flew. Triumph rider Jack Warren showed in the Modem Vin tage Open heat that he was there to race, and he proved it in the final as he jumped to an immediate lead and was never cha llenged. Morgan was an uncontested second, while John Skinner won a battle for third with Skip . Wertz. The tw o pre-1968 Classic Vintage classes and the lone p re-1952 Dinosaur Vintage entry we re combined in the last race. Wertz spent the fina l being chased by a big-slid ing Cr aig Breck on in th e .C la saic Vin tage 50 0cc OHV /750c c Sideva lve d iv ision. Jack Surber's Ossa came o u t vic torious in th e C lassic Vintage 250cc class. Even though John Posthuma's rig id Ma tchless 500cc was en tered in Classic Vintage and Bernie Breece' s beautiful hand -shift 1948 Harley was def initely a Din osau r, th e pair had close rac es in bo th th e heat and final. Breece lo st a footpeg in the final and rod e w ide on e lap , but he still managed to finish ahe ad of the Matchless. The day was marred by the death of Tom Boyce of Dayton, Ohio, who suffere d a m assive heart attack following his Modem Vintage Open race. The 44year-o ld Boyce was the son of longtime AMA official Bill Boyce. tN Results MX SYTMN 125 EX: 1. Darin Ensw iler (Ho n); 2. Mike Boggia (Ho n); 3. Tim Wea ve r (Bu l); 4. Pau l Burn e tt (Han); 5. Doug Wentzell (Hon). SPTMN 125 INT: 1. Jay Kinder (Han ); 2. Eric Stockwell (Yam) ; 3. John Ziska (Hon); 4. Jack Su rber (Ho n); 5. Howard Benne tt (Ho n). SPTMN 125 NOV: 1. Kenny Konwin (Hon); 2. Britt Armstrong (Hon); 3. Steve Nace (Hon). SrT M N 250 EX: 1. Tim Wea ve r (Bu l); 2 . Ric k Hudson (Ho n); 3. wes Fuller (H us); 4. Doug Wen tze ll (Hon); 5. Paul Burne tt (Hon). S rTMN 250 INT: 1. Wayne N ix (Hon ); 2. Ric h Ba ulch (Pe n ); 3. Blake Wil son (Hon); 4. Joh n Zis ka (Hon); 5. Dennis Blevins (CZ) . . S PT MN 250 NO V: 1. Lester Craga n (Hon); 2. Jeff . Sa cks (Suz); 3. Stev e Nac e (O ss); 4. John Thom pson (CZ ); 5. Jason Ezell (Hus). SPTMN 500 EX: I. Barry Higgins (KTM); 2. Curt Come r (BSA); 3. Wes Fu ller (H us); 4. Doug Wentzell (Kaw); 5. Phil Hanford (CCM). SPT MN SOD tNT: 1. Benny Du rrough (Mai ); 2. Edd ie Lambe rt (Suz); 3. Jeff Kee l (M a i); 4. Robert Schultz (Bul) 5. RayWeir (CZ). ; SPTM N SOD NOV: 1. Les Mohler (Hus); 2. Da ve Tu cker (BSA); 3. Willia m Sekulich; 4. John Thompso n (CZ); 5. Stephen Simpson (Ya m). SPTMNTWIN NOV: I. Eric Pritchard (Tri). · PREMUW INT: 1. John Astleford O aw). PR EM UW NOV: 1. Dave Tucke r (Gre); 2. Harry Higg ins (DSA). PREM UW 11 EX: 1. H ug h Wea ver (Bul); 2. Barry Higgins (BS A). PREMUW IIINT: 1. Mike Smith (AJS). rR EM500INT:1. John Posthuma (Mat). PREM 500 NOV: 1. Harry Higgins (BSA); 2. Jim ·Walker (B5A). PREM500 II EX: 1. Barry Higgins (BSA). PREM 500 II INT: 1. Steve Tucker (BSA); 2. Jack Surbe r (BSA). rR EM SIlO II NOV: 1. Dave Tucker (BSA); 2. Eric Pritchard (Tri). PREMTWIN INT: I. Mike Smith (Nor). +30 EX: 1. Rick Hudson (Ho n); 2. Doug Wentzell ' (Hon); 3. Paul Burne tt (Ho n). +30 INT : 1. Benny Ourrough (Mai); 2. Jay Kinder (Han); 3. Jim Qualk (Hon); 4. Wayne Nix (Han); 5. Jeff Keel (Mai). +30 NOV: 1. Leste r Cragan (Yam) ; 2. Les Mohler (Hus). +40 EX: 1. Ba rry H iggins (KTM); 2. Phi l Hanford (CCM); 3. Hugh Weaver (Bul); 4. Charles Hawk (Han). +40 INT: 1. Brian Batterson (Han ); 2. Steve Tucker (BSA); 3. H ow ard Bennett (Han); 4. Roy Mal ey Jr . (Yam); 5. Tim Graves (Yam). +40 NOV : 1. Eric Pri tchard (Tri); 2 John Manfor d (Oss); 3 . Steve N ace (Os s); 4. Stephen Simpson (Yam); S. Edd Kubik (Pen). +50 EX: 1. Charl es Haw k (Hon); 2 Jeff Smith (C-A) , +50 tNT: 1. Roy Ma ley (Ya m ); 2. Ha rold Hazel (Han); 3: David Ezell (KTM). +50 NOV: 1. R.Q. Old (Mai); 2. Harry Higg ins Rader romps Starwest MX By David A. Procida MORENO VALLEY. CA. JULY' O 1 Dwight Rader rode his Kawasak i KX2S0 to a pai r of moto wins to score the ove rall win in the Begi nner cla ss at Starwes t's Sat u rday Night Under The Lights MX at the Lake Pe rr is Fairgro u nds . Rader timed the drop of the gale perfectly to grab the hol esho t in mot e one wi th 14-year -old Ada m Pierce riding in his dust trail. Steve Skube - settled into th ird w it h Rya n Beueridge and George Lanski round ing ou t the top five. . As they app roached the Tw in Peaks double ju mp, both Rader and Pierce cleared the jum p, but Skubc elected to single them and was passed overhead by Beue ridge, as the Yamaha rid er do ubled his way into th ird. Pierce had h is Suzuki screa ming down the back s traightaway, and w ith a ll of his B5 po un ds hold ing o n for d ear life, he closed in on Rader. Beh ind him Skube close d on Beu eridge d own the sa me stra igh taw ay . Sku be actuall y passed Beuerid ge bef o re dropping h is Honda in a co rne r. Movi ng up from the back after a poo r start was Dean Di rks, w ho had passed George Lanski for fifth. Michael Flowers was h is next vic tim , as Dirks moved into fourth. O ut in front, Rad er had o pe ned up a bit of spa ce bet w ee n h im s elf an d Pierce w it h Beue ri dge running a lo nely thi rd. The or d er remained inta ct until two lap s from the finish when Pierce dropped his Suzu ki in the Snake Pit. . Pie rce had problems ge tting his bike started and remounted in last. Rad er began h is last lap wi th a very co mfo rtabl e le ad in front o f Beu eiid ge , Dirks and Flow ers. With o nly one lap left Pier ce mad e his way ba ck up in to the top five before taki ng the checker ed behind the leaders. . Moto two saw Pierce rocket off the starting Jine to gr ab the holeshot wi th Rad er and Flow ers in close compan y . Dirks quickly passed Skube for fourth be for e the end of the first lap . Pi erce did h is best to hold o ff Rader, but Rade r mu scled his way past the Suz uk i ride r non eth eless. Dirks and Beueridge had a battle of t hei r o w n goi ng a nd were no w cl o sin g o n Flowe rs. Th e three Yamaha rid ers bega n what was to be one o f the best battl es of the night . Late in the race Rad er almost han ded back the , lead to Pierce when he came up short ove r the do ub le. A q uick applica tion of th ro ttle pr event- ed him from tasting di rt. Flowe rs, mean whil e. had closed to Pier ce's rear fender an d bega n to p ressure the yo ung ride r. With the white flag ou t Rader was enjoying a com fo rtable lead, w hile Flowers bega.i bumping Pierce in an att emp t to ge t by. His persistence fina lly ea rned him second when Pierce left the doo r ope n for Flowers. Pierce's troubles did not stop here, as Dirks. who had been on F lowers' tail, was now on the Suzuki ride r 's rear fend er . With only two corners rema ining, Dirks p u lled a lo ngside of Adam s and the two went over the dou bles sideby-sid e. With only on e turn betw een him self an d the checkered flag, Dirks used his weig ht and size to force Pierce off the track and back in to fourth. Results . 60 6-8: 1. Tyson Taylor d

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