Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND -\ Buddy Antunez (Suz) locked up his second straight AMA/PJl National Arenacross Series Championship with a win in Friday night's 125cc main event at the final two rounds (27 and 28) of the series, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 20-21. Finishing behind Antunez were Chad Pederson (Kaw) and Denny Stephenson. In the 250cc main, Mike Jones took the win over Antunez and Pederson. On Saturday evening, Antunez won the 125cc feature again over Grayson Goodman (Kaw) and Pederson, while Pederson came back to win the 250cc main with Palmer and Antunez in second and third. In an awards ceremony' held in Park City, Utah, on Monday, March 23, Antunez was crowned Arenacross Champion, Jones was the Jump-Off overall winner, Stephenson won the Dash For Cash title, Antunez's mechanic, Ed Longacre, got the Golden Wrench Award, Chad Pederson won the 1-900-PRO-RACE Holeshot Award title and Kawasaki won the tnanufacturer's championship. Brian Brown (Kaw) won the second round of the AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series in Murphy, Idaho, on March 22. Brown, from nearby Nampa, Idaho, led home series leader Ty Davis (Yarn), while Destry Abbott (Kaw) followed in third. Fourth place went to Dave Ondas (Kaw), with Vet-class winner Dan Richardson (Kaw) rounding out the top five. Oakley Lehman (Kaw) won the 250cc class, Curtis Dice (KTM) topped the FourStroke class, and Rex Staten (Kaw) won the Senior class. With 55 points, Davis the defending champ - enjoys an 11point series lead over Ondas and Abbott, who are tied for second with 39 points. Jason Kempkes (G-G) and .Raymond Peters (G-G) won the opening two rounds of fhe AMA/NATC National Championship Trials Series in Brooksville, Florida, March 14-15, while Geoff Aaron (Bet) topped rounds three and four a week la ter at Sequa tchie, Tennessee, March 21-22. After four of 10 rounds, Aaron leads the series points chase with 110, followed by Peters with 97. Ryan Bell (Man) is currently third with 85, followed closely by Kempkes with 84. , Robbie Reynard (Suz), Johnny Marley (Yam), Adam Mennenga (Kaw) and Mike Alessi (Kaw) were some of the big winners at the FMF/Kawasaki Spring Nationals at Lake Whitney Cycle Park in Lake Whitney, Texas, March 20-22. Reynard won every mota in the 125 and 250cc Pro classes, while Marley, Mennenga and Alessi each walked away with three class wins. Marley topped the 125cc Stock, Modified, and Open classes; Mennenga won the 85cc Stock and Modified (14-16) and Super Mini classes; and Alessi took wins in the 65cc Stock, Modified (7-9) and Open (7-11) divisions. Casey Johnson (Kaw) was the big winner at round four of the GFI Winter MX Series South, held at Barona Oaks in Ramona, California, on March 22, by winning both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. Chris Wheeler (Suz) and Dustin Nelson (Yam) finished second and third in the 125cc class, while Spud Walters (Yam) and Tim Beatty (Suz) finished behind Johnson in the 250cc class. Walters also won the 500cc Pro class over Tony Sulek (Yarn) and Craig Canoy. After qualifying on pole position for the first time in his Indy Racing League (IRL) career, former AMA Supercross and Motocross National Champion Jeff Ward finished fifth in the DuraLube 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 22. Ward ran up front until losing sixth gear and fading to his eventual fifth-place finish - one lap behind race winner Scott Sharp. Ward's share of the purse for finishing fifth was $95,500. Joe Kopp has landed a full-time 750cc ride with backing from Harley-Davidson of Missouri and W.E LePage, and will be teamed with Kenny Coolbeth on Dave Burks Motorsports XR750s for the 1998 AMA Grand National Championship Series. The 1997 Peoria IT winner had been struggling to put together a new program since the termination of his Harley-Davidson of Sacramento deal at the end of last season. "The rumor that I had been talking with Johnny Goad (for the late Ricky Graham's spot on the USC/Marine Transport team) is true," Kopp said. "But I had also talked with Dave Burks before Daytona. Dave went back and talked to Missouri H-D, but it didn't seem like they wanted to do anything. Then, after Daytona, he called me back and wondered if I had anything locked down, because he wanted to talk some more. Everything happened real quick after that." Kopp will have at least one C&J-framed XR at his disposal, and the team is planning to build him one more to match the amount of equipment that Coolbeth has. "I'm really looking forward to getting going. I think that I'll do better with this deal. There's less pressure, and I think I'll do better if I put less pressure on myself." Speaking of new rides, 1996 AMA Grand National Rookie of the Year J.R. Schnabel has a commitment from Team Powell Racing to run 13 races on the '98 AMA Grand National Championship Series schedule. Team owners Bill and Carolyn Powell fielded machines on a limited basis for series veteran Tim Mertens in 1997. The team is actively seeking sponsorship so that it may campaign the entire series with Schn,abel. Due to the overWhelming response of his Baja rides, Larry Roeseler has scheduled another four-day trip for April 2-5 that will explore the northern portion of Baja, including Mike's Sky Ranch, San Quintin and Santo Tomas. For more information, call 818/957-1166. The Senate highway reauthorization bill, titled the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997, was amended on March 11 to include language to curtail helmet-law lobbying efforts by officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), according to the AMA. Last year, representatives of the AMA and .the Motorcycle Riders Founda tion (MRF) learned that NHTSA had signed a $149,000 contract to produce a media package intended to persuade state legislators to enact mandatory helmet laws. Additionally, it was learned that - NHTSA officials had actively lobbied many elected state officials in support of maintaining mandatory helmet laws for adult motorcyclists. American Honda has announced that it will be sponsoring round three of the AMA/MBNA Superbike National Championship at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, April 17-19. The title sponsorship is the first of a th,eeyear agreement between Laguna Seca and Honda. Called the Honda Chal- A bit of trivia for you: Who is he? Where is he? What is he doing? Here's a hint: It was this former dirt-track racer's first ride on a race track in seven years. The first reader to answer all three questions correctly will receive a free Cycle News "Dirt Track" T-shirt. Please specify shirt size with your response. Photo by Don Bok. lenge of Laguna Seca, the sponsorship is the result of a collaborative effort undertaken by Honda's motorcycle and automobile divisions. American Supercamps, the dirt tracking schools headed by Danny Walker, has scheduled two camps - one in Harrington, Delaware and the other in San Jose, California. The Harrington school will run in conjunction with the AMA Grand National half mile on May 16 and 17 and will fea ture both Chris Carr and Will Davis as guest instructors. The San Jose school will be held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, June 5-8. For more information, call 970/669-4322. with George Roeder, Ronnie Rail and Neil Keen in a special dirt-track race during the AHRMA/Oassic Bike Magazine dirt-track national at the Ashland County Fairgrounds on July 10. AHRMA has also announced that the AHRMA trial has been rescheduled to Saturday, July 11, with the motocross taking place on Sunday, July 12. The motocross will be held in the infield section of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, so watching the road race and the motocross on the same day is feasible. Roswell Fun Machines is bringing back Two-Wheeled Tuesdays at Sidelines Sportsbar in Marietta, Georgia. For more information, call 770/509-3320. Three-time Daytona 200 winner Dick Kl~oth is acting as chairman for the committee seeking donations for a Daytona 200 Monument and Wall of Champions, which it is hoped will be built to honor both the 1937-60 race winners from the 4.2-mile beach race and the 1961-present winners from Daytona International Speedway. There will be room on the granite base of the Monument for the names of the first 300 donors. The Wall of Champions will be the second phase of the project. Minimum donations off $250 will purchase spaces on the monument, and a star will be given for each $250 unit of a given donation. It is estimated that more than $75,000 will be needed to complete the project. For more iJlformation, write: Daytona 200 Monument F1,Uld, c/o Dick Klamfoth,10213 Honda Hills Rd., Thornville, OH 43076. Veteran Australian road racer, Malcolm Campbell, 44, made a welcome return to superbike racing in the Australian opening round of the World Superbike Championship on March 22 at Phillip Islilnd, reports Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. Campbell rode a State 1 Homes Ducati 996 fitted with Motec fuel injection and prepared by one-time Australian Ducati team chief Peter Smith. In the last qualifying session, Campbell was sitting in the 16th and final Superpole position before Piergiorgio Bontempi and Alessandro Gramigni pipped him in the dying minutes. Markedly undergeared in the first leg due to the ·typhoon tail wind, Campbell's bike was by far the slowest in the top 20 at 170.376 mph. Campbell finished 14th in the first race, but didn't finish the second. Two-tUne AMA Grand National Champion Dick Mann will compete along How do up-and-coming superbike stars build up to the first race of the year?

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