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/142442
(Above) Jim Gibson gets the 125cc holeshot. Johnny Q'Mara (9) and winner Mark Barnett (1) chase. Chandler (left) won both 500cc motos going away. (Below) 125cc runner-up Jeff Ward chasesfifth place Gibson. ' I over the first jump but held on. Through th e opening laps it was Gi bson showing th e way, followed by Barnett and Ward , the pair less tha n three bikeleng ths apart. O ' Mara was fourth , H olla nd an d H onda 's Ron Turner were a tight 5c6, and Hannah was seventh. Barnett went inside on Gibson to lead, and Ward'ca me along, no t gi ving Barnett any margin for error. By the halfway point Barnett an d Wa rd pulled a 24 second lead on O 'Mara and Gibson . Ward was try ing every trick in the book but couldn't work around Barnett. Jeff set Mark up wit h a skyscraper jump off the dropawa y, . but Mark slammed the door at the next turn . It was all -o u t MX racing la p after lap, but Barnett fin ally go t h is break when lapped riders slowed Ward, . giving Mark · a three second lead. Tha t was all he needed to cro ss th e finish li n e with the win. Wa rd held second, and O'Mara a nd G ibson took 3-4, off the leader's pace . H ann a h was fifth, Turner and Hollan d 6-7, and H eisser worked past Yamaha 's Erik Kehoe for eighth. " War d was on me all th e way, " sai d Barnett . "I wouldn't let off an d . neither would he. Towards the end I got to slack off a bit, but I had p lenty left , I could ha ve kept push ing. T h is 21 point lead (over O 'Mara) sure feels better than 13." "A race goes fast when yo u ride like th a t. I cou ldn 't go any faster, " said Wa rd. " I was riding on the fro nt wheel goin g into the corners. Lapped riders go t in front of me a nd Barnett pu lled three seconds. I couldn 't make it back up." "I fell on the first lap, " said O 'Mara. "I was trying to pass Gi bson a t the finish line turn , a nd the wro ng rut , tlirew me on the ground. vThe' heat a nd having to pick up m y bike cost me. " The crowd mobbed Barnett in winner's circle, happy to see a local rider of past yea rs return and win. " I' ll give m yself the odds to w in a t Washougal (Washington, the next round), but winning here is best , the fans are better," sai d Barn ett amidst applause. 500cc National Shultz, Ka wasaki's Goat Breker, Bell, H onda 's Chuck Sun and Chandler headed moto one. H on da 's Jimmy Ellis and Maico's Andy Stacy came around next to last and last after doing down time. Within two laps Shultz and Breker were pulling away, while Chandler was on the move. Danny passed Su n, then took Bell on the low section and closed on Breker. " H old line, no passing," was the signal Shultz go t from tuner Chris Haines as Chandler closed on Darrell . It didn 't work that wa y as Chandler made short work of " Sh u " and took the lead. For the 'next two laps Chandler and Shultz played tag, with Danny finally pulling out a lead. Breker and Bell were a close 3-4, and the front fo u rsome were putting ground on Sun and the rest of the pack. By the halfway mark, Chandler had four seconds on Shultz, who was beingpressured by Bell . Breker a nd Sun had ground on King and Honda 's Phil Larson, who were relatively close. KTM J oh n Finkeldey and Yamaha's Jeff Hicks were 8-9. Magoo was smooth a n d he ex panded his lead over Bell, who worked past Shultz after some prodding . Shultz took an easy third , wh il e Kin g and Larson moved into the 4-5 slots during the closing laps. Breker landed sixth followed by Sun, Hicks, Honda's J o Jo Keller and' Finkelde y. . . We asked Chandler if he had any reservations about passing Sh u ltz, smce the two are teammates an d Sh ultz is the class points lead er. " I di dn' t worry about passing Darrell ," said Chandler. " I just rode m y own race. H eck , th ere were lots of places to pass. I j ust cu t th ro ugh the mud. I didn't stay where the lines were like everyone else." Larson jammed o u t front in moto two followed by Bell , Shulu, Chandler a n d King. Chandl er used first lap traff ic to tak e th e lead trai led by Bell. Then Bell stu ffed inside to lead, but Chandler returned the favor. King moved to th ird and had to contend with Shultz, who was knocking at the do or. Just befor e mid-ra ce, King shot into th e lead, wh ich didn't sit well wi th Chandler a t al l. Danny started to try hi gh spee d ou tside lines, then cut across to th e ins ide, finall y pushing King h a rd enough to regain th e lead by the 20 mi nu te mark. King held Bell for a few la ps, but th en sta rt ed droppi n g back to a n eventual 11th p lace fin ish , su fferin g from th e hea t and a flu bug which had bothered h im on Fr id ay. Chan dle r p u ll ed out an 11 second lead on Bell , th en kept pushing to th e fin ish for a perfect da y. Bell and Sh ultz rem ained in th e 2-3 slots with La rson four th , sett ing up his fourth overall , h is best Na tiona l finish to date. Keller, Sun a nd Finkeldey took adva ntage of Breker for the 5-6-7 slots after Goat's shifter on th e works Ka wasaki jammed agai nst the case, leaving the tra nsm ission inope ra ble. H icks was n inth with teammat e Eric . McKenna 10th. Chandler got wild wit h th e cha m pagne in winner's circle, first pouring bu bbly on h im self, then promoter Ri tchie an d fina lly an n o uncer La rr y • Maiers. " T h is is m y first Na tio nal win and it feels great, " said Chan dler . " I let King go for a few la ps and fo llowed his lines, and then I had to make my p ass so I stuffed hi m hard. We mad e contact th ree or fo ur tim es, but tha t's part of racing. Somet im es yo u get the good end of th ings and sometimes you don 't." " I started to get sick," said King. " I guess the heat had so meth in g to do with it ." • Results 125cc NATIONAL: 1. Ma rk Barnen (Suzl 1-1; 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 3-2; 3. Johnny O'Mara (Han) 2-3 ; 4. Bob Hannah (Yam) 4 -5; 5. Ji m Gibson (Han) 6-4; 6. George Holland (Suz) 5-7 ; 7. Chris Heisser (Suz) 7·8; 8. Ron Turner (Han) 11-6; 9. Gary Denton (Suz) 8-10; 10. Doug Jackson (Yam) 9·11 ; 11. David Weak (Suz) 16- 12; 12. Jeff Surwall (Han) 12·17; 13. Erik Kehoe (Yam) " -9 ; 14. Brian Myerscough (Han) 10 -" ; 15. Mark Butler (Han) 20-13; 16. Rick Ryan (Suz) 18-15; 17. David Hand (Han) 13 -'; 18. Steve Burdene (Suz) " -14; 19. Jeff Schumacher (Yam) 19-16; 20 . Tom Rice (Yam) 15·20; 21 . A.J . Wh iting (Yam) 14-"; 22 . Mike Beier (Yam) 17-"; 23 . Troy Blake (Yam) " -18; 24 . Frank Lamp (Yam) " -19 . " Denotes placing out of top 20 . 500cc NATIONAL: 1. Dann y Chandler (Han) 1-1; 2. M ike Bell (Yam) 2-2 ; 3. Dar rell Shultz (Han) 3-3; 4. Phil Larson (Han) 5-4 ; 5. Chuck Sun (Han) 7-6 ; 6. Jo Jo Keller (Han) 9-5; 7. Goat Breker (Kaw ) 6-8; 8. Alan King (Suz)"4-11 ; 9. Jo hn Finkeldey (KTM ) 107; 10. Jeff Hicks (Yam) 8-9; 11. Kevin Davis (Ma i) 15 -12 ; 12. Eric McKenna (Yam) " - 10; 13. M ickey Kessler (M ai) 11-"; 14. Ma rk Corben (Ma i) 12·"; 15. Tom Carson (M ai) " - 13; 16. J immy Ell is (Han) 1717; 17. Alan Pizzino (M ai) 16- 18; 18. Zoli Berenyi (Han) 13·"; 19. Greg Mayo (Suz) " -14; 20 . Billy Gross i (Hus) 14·"; 21 . Jerome Heiberger (Mai) " 15; 22 . Scooter Stafford (Yam) 20-16; 23 . Jeff Spreeman (Yam) 18·"; 24 . Joe Baker (Han) "- 19; 25 . Jeff Stevenson (Yam) 19-"; 26 . Tim Krogh (Han) " -20 . AMA 125cc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS : 1. Mark Barnen (272); 2. Johnny O'Mara (251) ; 3. Jeff Ward (212) ; 4 . J im Gibson '(204 ); 5. George Holland (190); 6. Bob Hannah (161) ; 7. Gary Denton (14 9); 8. Erik Kehoe (132); 9. Chris Heisser(116); 10. Ron Turner(109); 11. Doug Jackson (74); 12. Troy Blake (7 3); 13. Mike Beier (57); 14 . David Wea k (55); 15. M ike Preston (54 ); 16. Jeff Surwall (47 ); 17. Brian Myerscough (42 ); 18. Kar l Jordan (38); 19. Rick Ryan (34 ); 20 . Steve Burdene (30 ). AMA 500cc NATIONAL CHA M PIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS : 1. Darrell Sh ultz (248); 2. Alan King (206 ); 3. Chuck Sun (192); 4 . Danny Chand ler (190 ); 5. M ike Bell (175 ); 6. Goat Breker (170); 7. John Finkeldey (148) ; 8. Phil Larson (137); 9. Jeff Hicks (123); 10. Jo Jo Keller (118); 11. Kent Howerton (103) ; 12. Billy Grossi (96); 13 . Mickey Kessler(93); 14. Jerome Heiberger(91 ); 15. Jimmy Ellis (72); 16. Kevin Davis (60); 17. Eric McKenna (51); 18. Andy Stacy (47 ); 19 .Tom Car son (4 5); 20.'J im Holley (30 ). 9

