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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127849
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AHRMA Speed &Sport Vintage M
XSeries, Round 13: Carls
By Donald J. McGregor
CARLSBAD, CA, jULYU
.
intage motocross fans from as far
away as England converged on
Ca rlsbad raceway to witness the
annual AHRMA National and the
much-anticipated hal ftim e "Legend s of
Motocross " race, Iea turing som e of the
top names fr om the gold e n age of
motocross. And with so many for mer
pro racers on hand , you had to figur e a
few of them wouldn't be able to resist
the temptation of ju m p ing in to a few
"extra " classes.
Excitement cam e early, thanks to the
blasts-from-the-pa st "Rocket" Rex Staten and former Harley factory pilot Jim
Beauchamp as the pa ir took on all comers in the Ov er 40 Expert clas s. In moto
one, Ma ico -m ounted Sta ten mad e his
compe titors loo k like they were tied to
the starting gate as he jum ped ou t to a
huge lead, leaving Beau champ to fight
off the hard-chargin g Ed Zornes . Th e
pair continued to do battle u nti l Zornes
pushe d his bea u tiful Ya ma ha to th e
b rea k ing p o int , leaving Sta te n and
Beau cham p to cross the line 1-2, with
the Kaw asaki of th ird -p lace Ga ry Ne ff
well off the pace.
In mot o two, it w a s Beauc ha m p ' s
turn to ju m p out fro nt, in the process
pulling Neff al ong for so me ex citing
high- sp ee d pu r su it. Whil e th e pair
pushed each other to some incred ible lap
tim es, Rick Humphr eys had his ha nds
fu ll wit h the BSA of Robert Poo le. The
pair continued to fight ove r third place,
each shadowi ng the oth er' s every move.
At the checkers, it wa s Beauchamp, Neff
an d Poole, with Beaucha mp's 2-1 finish
giving him the overall.
. With the interna tional nags wav in g
overhead, the 125cc Classic Expe rt class
next pre pa red to do battl e below . Local
h ot s h oe Ma r k A rse na u lt go t th e
holesh ot awa rd on his sa nita ry Husq va r na, but it was s ho r t-Jived as '70s
SoCal phenom Bru ce McDouga l, st ill
rid ing the sa me mod el Pen to n that
mad e him the terror of Sad d leback Park
in the 19705, bega n reeling him in from
his mid pack start. As Arsenaul t cres ted
th e fin is h-line jump at the end of lap
o ne, the g ree n- tanked Pen ton of
Mc Dougal new past , ma kin g a gu tsy
midair pass for the lead .
Before Arsena ult could respond, the
Pe nton was gone and a ne w problem
was nipping a t his heels. Robert Borg w ho, a fte r ge tt ing off to a slow s ta r t,
was now cha rging throu gh the pack like
a mad man - was not abou t to let Ar sen ault sta nd in h is way. Th e d ogfight
tha t ensued will .n ot soo n be forgo tte n,
and as the pair began picking off lapped
(Above)Sportsman 125cc Novices Steve
Adams (551)and Steve Ottinger (690)air U
out at the long and last Carlsbad track.
Ad ams took the overall; Ott inger was th ird.
(Left) Malco-mounted Aex Staten (6) leads
Wayne Boyer (87) and race winner Rick
Burgett (197)dur ing the AHAMA Legends
race at Carlsbad Raceway.
rid ers, all bets were off as to who would
come ou t on top .
"I knew I had him until we go t in to
lapped traf fic," Arsenault said.
Sure enough , as Arsenault slowed for
a ba ckmarker, Borg se t h im u p fo r a
courageo us inside pass at the finish line
to steal second place.
Things were no less exciting in moto
two. Thi s time, McDou gal jum ped to the
early lead , leavin g Ar senault to try to
reel him in. As the pair battled for the
lead , Intermed iate-class speedster Kevin
Blaty was busy hold ing off all threa ts in
third. But before long, McDougal once
agai n shoo k the pesk y Ar senault and
had a command ing lead tha t even a few
missed shifts from his old Sachs gearbox
wou ld not di mi nish. With his back-toback wi ns, McDougal wou ld receive the
top podium spot, wi th Ar senault runner~u p .
Th e "Legend s of Mot ocross" ev ent
came next, assembled by Sou thern Californi a AHRMA mains tay Gail Arsenault
each yea r. It looked to be ano the r su ccess as some of America' s favo rite racers
walked out into the noonday sun.
Linin g up next to McDouga l, Staten
and Beau champ w er e no ne ot he r than
former factory Yamaha ride r Rick Burgett, 1973 Trans-Am winner Rich Eiersta d t, Cene Fetty, Wayne Boyer, former
Ll.S. GP winner Marty Moa tes, form er
Yama ha fact ory rid ers DeWayne a nd
Gary Jones, 1970 Baja 1000 w inner Doug
Dou glas, and Bill Silverthorne.
As the gate dropped and the Legends
gassed it, it beca me evident tha t Oregon
nativ e Burgett, in hi s first r ace si nce
Mammoth 1979, would be unable to ride
in "exh ibitio n mod e," pow er-sliding his
CZ through comers and clearing d oubl e
jum ps like an AMA title was on the line.
With a pacesetter like Burgett, everyone
soon had the wick turned up and was
ban gin g bars. Boyer , no t abou t to be left
out of the fun, bega n reeling in Burgett,
locking onto his back fender. As the pair
fought for first place, Eierstadt - w ho
had just finished ra ci n g 10 mi nu tes
befo re on Carlsbad's GP track aboard a
bran d -new Yama ha - quietly began his
move to wa rd th e fro n t on a clean '73
Maico. In spite of the obvious difficulty
of racing - in the spa n of 10 minutes two mot orcycles that were built decades
apart Eierstadt was impressive, movin g
u p to thi rd by the fina l lap. With Rex
Beau champ and the eighth-liter Penton
of McDougal continuing to press him to
the very end, Eierstadt never flinched ,
fin ishing third behind Burge tt and
Boyer, with Beauchamp and McDougal
rounding out the top five.
Round nine of the AHRMA Speed &
Spo rt Trials Series wa s als o held over
the Fourth of July weekend, near the GP
track pit area. Trialmaste r Matt Parsons
laid ou t eight sections, each ridden three
times. Loose sand combin ed with large
rocks and even the "Aspha lt Jungle," a
section throug h piles of broken asphalt,
kept all th e riders in th e double-d igit
scores.
The Mod ern Classic Novice class had
th e la rgest e n tr y, a nd Honda TL125mounted Jeff Latime r took a convincing
win, tallying 20 points for the da y - well
clea r of ru nner-u p Randy Rossell' s 37.
Yama ha TY25D-mounted Kevin Kelley
was just one. poin t ba ck wi th 38.
•
David Boyd st un ha d a g reat ri de
aboard a Yamaha TY175 in the Modern
Classic Intermed iate class, d ropping just
11 p oints to th e 24-d ab total of Jared
Bates. Thi rd went to Alfred o Rod il, wi th
42, making it an all-Ari zon a sw eep of
the class.
In the Premier Ligh tweig ht No vice
class, Greeves riders Roger Brophy and
Don Kell ey con ti nued th eir ye a r-long
c ha m pions hi p ba t tl e , w it h Broph y
ge tt ing th e nod th is time by just tw o
1'X
poin ts.
Carlsbad Aaceway
Carls bad, Calltomla
Aesults : JUly4-6.1 997 (Aound 13 01 20)
Motocroso
S PST MN 125 EX: 1. Joe Cri p pen (Ho n): 2. Alb n
Woods (Hard ; 3. 'arm Bigelow