In the Wind
Team Green 's Da ve Ondas and -Shan e
Esp isito (Kaw) raced to the overall an d
Open Pro class wi ns at th e 540 -m ile
Vegas-to-Reno Best in the Dese rt race on
Friday, Oct ober 1. Finish ing s eco n d
aboard a '00 XR650 was th e Ame rica n
Honda tea m of Joh nny Campbell a nd
J imm y Le w is . Destry A bb ot/Bria n
Brown (Kaw) ro unded ou t the top three,
fin ishin g th ird Open Pr o. Tim Staab
an d Garth Sw eetland (Yam) took Under
450cc Four-stroke h on or s, finis hi ng
fou rth overall ahead of Jonah Street and
Tors ten Bostrom (Han), w ho contested
th e Open Pro class. Ed M cC oy a n d
Mi ke Baxter (Yam) topped the Vet Pro
class by fi n is h in g sixth, while Doug
Chiapuzio a nd Steve Hengeveld garnered 250cc Pro-class go ld by finishing
seventh overall.
David Watson (Han) and Phil Libhart
(Tri) emerged victorious fro m the 12th
rou nd of th e AMA Na tio na l Hill climb
Champio nshi p in Na sh ville, Tennessee,
o n October 3. Libha rt won th e 540cc
class, top p ing John Hamilton Jr . (Tri )
and new ch a m p ions hip p oints leader
Ted Wilkins (Rtx) . In th e 800cc class,
Watson bea t Bobby Templeton (H- D)
and Ti m Frazier (H-D). James Large (HD) finished fourth and now only needs
to finish 11th or bette r at the nex t round
to take his third class title.
Kevin Varnes (H -D) outra n his main
title rival, Geo Roeder II, to win th e
750cc Exp ert main event and clinch the
class title at the fin al rou nd of the AMA
Nationa l Ho t Shoe Cha mpionship Series
a t Las Vegas Mo to r Speedway in Las
Vegas, Neva da, on O ctob er 1. Mike
Varnes (H-D) w as th ird . Gary Rogers
(H -D) won th e 883 main e ve nt , w h ile
Scott Scherb (R tx) won the 600cc Expert
class and Roger Lee Ha yden (Rtx) won
the 600cc Pro Sport main event. Several
of the top teams and rid ers tha t showed
up to the eve nt elec ted not to co mpete
a fte r findin g th e race track to b e in
rough condition.
The fina l rou nd of the World Superbike
S eries in Sugo, Japan, o n October 10
will run as pla n ned, d espite the recent
nu cl ear accid en t a t a p owerplant in
To kaim ura. World Superbike promoters
received clearance from th e ne cess ary
governmen ta l ag encies for th e se ri es
