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/141062
... '" '" 0> 8'. M .... en RESULTS : EXPERT FINAL : 2 . Gary Scott ITri) . 4 . Jim Rice I H -D!. 46. Mert Lawwi ll ITri). . 8 . Chuc k K id d {Tri} . 10. Gen M ulder rr-u . 12 . K JR INV ITATIO Hocking {Yam) . 2 . Wh ite ITri) . 4 . De by Howie Fowler Photos by Buzz Baty SA:\ JOSE, CAL., May 20 - Today ma rked the first A;\ I:\ :\ational "half mile under th e new Experts-only :'01 ational racing program. There ar e those who thought that just an Expert program would be less than e xciting, but those who were there now know bette r. With almost 80 riders entered the day looked from the start to be an exci ting one. wh ic h is definitely how it t urned out. Onl y ·t~ riders would b e eligible to compete in four he ats to de termine who 'd ride in the X a tiori al . Fastest qualifier was n on e ot he r than the c urre n t point le ad er, Kenn y R oberts . Kenn y 's factory Yamah a se t a new o ne lap trac k re cord in the time o f 26.0 8 sec o n ds. Se cond fast est qualifier was the o ld t rack record holder and ro oki e E xp ert S cotl Br elsford. T he old record st o od a t 26.S!!, with five riders b e s t i ng th e mark by tw o one-hundredths of a se cond. T hi rd man to qualify w as C al R ayborn Foll owed b y G en e R om ero , Don Cas tr o , D ave Sehl , who won eve rythin g in sigh t at th e R ace of Champions las t October, th en Randy Sco tt , J im Rice , a n d Gary Scott. T he firs t h ea l tu rned o ut to b e a runaw a y for R oberts fo llowed by J im Rice , Gene Romero, E dd ie Mulder, DeWayne Kee te r, Sonny Burres, Randy Skiver, T om Horton , T om Ro ckwood, Phi l Darcy a nd Bob Scally . Doug S eh failed to finisb after an easy slide out i the number one tum . The second heat produced bot excite ment and tragedy. The ra e proved to be the fastest of the fou b ea ts won by another fa ctory Yamaha pilot ed by Don Cas tro.l 'I'he second ma across the finish lin e was second yea Expert Gary S co t t. Third was cap t u re r bv the f'acrorv Ha rlev of rookie S ea l Brelsfo rd , fo U';wed b): Chuck Palmgre rFiftb and sixth places wer e h OI co n tes ted ri,i{h t to the fi nis h , whi . . tu rned to trage dy jus t be y ond th e lin e Llo yd H ouchin s crossed th e line fir s with Pal Mr -Cau! ri ght at his handleba r with both ' riders go ing down ab out 2 feel b eyond th e fin ish lin e. ~l cCaul was ab le to ge t up bUI Houchin s was kill e b y th e force of the c rash. Th e third heat went to f'a ct or Harley leam m ember Rex Beauchamp foUowed b y 19-y ear-old T exas sh o r trac k ac e Mik e Kidd. R ayborn p icked o ff fo u rt h, th en T erry Dorsch, Dave Han s en Paul Bo strom an d Mar Willi am s fo llo we d. The fourth a n d final h eat w ound u th e slowes t o f th e four with Mer Lawwill winning. Second pl ace went t Randy S cott, third 10 rookie . L Gino, fourth t o Fran k Gillespie, fifth t Chuck J o yner, with an other rooki Brian LaPlante riding sixth, an d Eddi Wirth and la te en try and last man t qualify, T om Phillips, rounding out th fll'ld .