Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Sidewinders TT Regional Expert winner Frank Word leads runner-up Brad Hurst (51), Mickey Fay (59), Don Dodge (3) and Darrell Hendrickson (99). Trull, Green,Word waste Sidewinders TT Regional By Clay Light Photo by Richard Earle CLACKAMAS , OR, JUNE 25 Oregon Sidewinders "IT was hos t to the AMA Wes tern Regional "IT Championships under uncertain dark skies, . . which forcast to be a rainout, but the rain held off long enough for the 3,000 fans in attendance to witness through thrashings by Frank Word III(York Hon/Simpson /Scott USA/ Vern 's Air Sales/Out Front No. Plates/R&B H-D) in the Expert main event with Randy Green (Panther Racing Frames/Simpson/Bates / American Hon)winning a cliff hanger . in the Junior main. Gary Trull (Longview Kaw ) demolished the Novice main, winning by the largest margin of the evening. Due to th e threatening skies, the AMA rain format was run, although the heavy rain held off until the completion of the racing. With $4,000 on the line plus contingencies, the winners of their respective classes would come awa y with some hefty loot. Time trials were run off first , and all in attendance got to witness a new track record set by Brad Hurst (KRW/ Panther Racing/Woodland Hon/ Tri). Hurst got a good drive and had it sideways in his attempt to set a new speed record, which he did putting in a blistering 14.29, wh ich beat his own personal record set in 1979, tied by Don Dodge four races ago . Fast Junior time went to Barry Pelkey (Mega Cycle Cams/Simpson/ Harry Lilly/ Yam of Grant s Pass/CA) with hi s 14.77, which wascompe titive with many Experts. Novice hea ts had the top two from eac h of the five events go directly to the ma in. First heat had Ro bert Land (Yam) land the off-the-line honors . wi th Vince Gi ldner (H on ) in second . The two swapped back and fourt h with Land settling int o first and Gildner second. Fourth hea t was plagued by four restarts. After th e final take, Jeff Harsha (Yam) took control to bag the once chaot ic heat over Robert Spencer (Yam ). California was well represented in the Junior class . Heat one was a' southern Oregon argument between Curt Hunter (Yam ) and Pelkey. PelI key got around Hunter to post th e win with Hunter dropping out. Next heat had Green grab the lead on his 38 American H onda, go ing all the way to th e flag as did Dann y Moore (American Hon) in th e thi rd and teammate Doug Ch andler the fourth and final heat. Three Expert hea ts were run off with th e top th ree go ing to the main from each . Jeff Campbell (Elite/ Simpson/Harry Lill y/Out Front No. PlateslVern'sAir Sales Yam )appea red in the lead , but due to a massive pileup, the race was red-flagged . Second try saw Don Dodge (O u t Fron t No. Plates /Lou Kinnish Tri), Hurst and Thomas " Chainsaw" McCullough (Vern 's Air Sales/Ou t Front No. Plates/ Albany Yam / Bell Helmets/Bel- . Ra y/Lou Kinnish T ri) holding down earl y transfer positions. Hurst took over for the lead to the flag with Dodge nabbing second and McCullough third. One Expert semi was ..run off to decide the final 12-rider line-up; top three would go to the main. Sonny Burres (Adams Cycle/Tri ) showed he can still lick the " youngsters" off the line. Burres showed th e way wi th Campbell and Ronnie Yamamoto (H on of Spokane) in hot pursuit. Campbell took over on the next circuit but fell prey to Yamamoto on the last lap. Yamamoto, Campbell and Burres made the rest of the line-up for the main. The mains were posted and spectators roared their approval when the 12 Novice finalists lined up to do battle. The race was also plagued by many restarts. After a series of pileups , Ellis Cookman (H u ff m a n Wright Logging Hon), who held the pole position, used it to his advantage to lead Trull and Ryan Fisher (Vern's Air Sales Yam ). Trull took over on the next lap a nd proceeded to ope n up a wallopi ng lead by the ha lf. Bennett go t aroun d Cookman and Land, both of whom were riding their best to da te to sett le in to second, but catchingT rull was next to im poss- i ible . Bennett, in his drive to catch Trull , laid it do wn on the last lap and went out, letting Trull win by the lar gest margin of the n igh t. Second went to La nd and third to Harsha. Randy Blankenship and Mike La wrence (Bennett Lectron Hon ) rounded out the top five at the flag . Califo rnian Don Howard (Ya m) came off the line in first at th e start of th e Junior main event. Green and Pelkey were quick to move up to challenge, but Howard looked most impressive holding th e J unior sensations at bay . Green was first to move by Howard, and a lap later Pelkey also slipped by wh ile Ch andler and Moore moved into top five positions at the half. The classi c battle up front betwee n arch-rival s Green and Pel- key had the fans on their feet for a down-to-the wire dice . Pelkey made a good drive coming down the hill to take a surprised Green for the lead, but only briefly as an unsuspecting lapped rider got in the path, forcing Pelkey to shut off and putting Green in thee winner's circle. Third went to H oward, who held off Junior move up Chandler and Moore, who rounded out top five. The Expert main had Word rocketing off the line with Hurst in tow. With six laps completed, a p ile-up between Brett Barkman (Sim pson/ Out Front No . Plates/York Hon) and Greg Johnston (Seattle Hon) put an earl y end to the race while red flags were waving frantically and ambulances dashed across the track . After all the mishaps were cleared, the officials decided to resta rt , single file in the order of red-flagged first take . Word too k command over Hurst and Mickey Fay (Bell Helmets/Bel-Ray/ Panther Racing/American Hon ).The trio put a heavy dent in the pack of 12 whi le Campbell, Dodge and Dave Ryan (Yam) were fourth , fifth and sixth. Darrell H endrickson (T ri) unsuspectingly crept int o fifth , the n fourth wh en Campbell and Dodge made contact, which sent Campbell to the ground. Word and Hurst were going at it up front in a battle ro yale with Fay mo torin g alone in third ahead of H endrickson, who took over fourth, and fifth place contender Dodge. A spectacu lar battle erupted between Ryan , McCullough, Burres and Yamamoto which sawall four fighting for the sixth place spot at the finish which had Ryan hold the steady line to the flag. Word had three seconds over Hurst a t the flag followed by Fay, Hendrickson and Dodge. Results MAINS EX: 1. Frank Word '" (H· D); 2. Brad Hurst (Tri); 3. M ickey Fay (Han); 4. Darrell Hendr ickson (Tri); 5. Don Dodge (Tri); 6. Devid Ryan (Vam); 7. Thomas McCullough (Tri); 8. Sonny Burres (Tri); 9. Ron Vamamoto (Han); 10. Jeffrey Campbell (Yam); 11. Charlie Barkman (Han); 12. Greg Johnson (Han). JR: 1. Randy Green (Han); 2. Berry Pelkey (C·A); 3. Don Howard (Vam); 4. Doug Chandler (Han); 5. Danny Moore (Han); 6. Mark Rooks (Han); 7. David Wh it ing (Yam); 8. Brian Vocum (Vam); 9. Mark Key (Tri). NOV: 1. Gary Trull (Kaw); 2. Robert Land (Yam); 3. Jaff Harsha (Vam); 4. Randy Blankenship (Vam); 5. M ike Lawrence (Han); 6. Ellis Cookman (Han); 7. Veri Smith (yam); 8. Vince Gildner (Hon); 9. Ryen Fisher (Yam); 10. Danny Cain (Vam); 11. Robert Spencer (Yam); 12. Danny Bennett (Han). TROPHVDASH EX: 1. Brad Hurst (Tri). JR: 1. Barry Pelkey (C-A). NOV: 1. Danny Bennett (Han). FASTnME EX: 1. Brad Hurst (14.29 track record). JR: 1. Barry Pelkey (14 .77). Manning, Moen on the move in Bellingham 'nig ht MX By Suanne Light BELLINGHAM, WA, JUNE 17 Washington go-Iasters Robb Manning and Tom Moen (Seattle Yam )were once again victorious at Hannegan Speedway MX Thursday night AMA racing. Both Moen and Manning contested two Pro classes with Manning taking 125and runner-up to Moen in Open. Moen also took the 250cc Pro class win. First of all , you must remember that Hannegan runs only one moto whi ch is thirty minutes in length, no second chance, as Manning found out in Open Pro w h ich Moen mustered. Moen also struck a blow to the 250cc Pro class , handing the pack the agony of defeat with his Yamaha to take the win over Charlie Marrs (Suz). Manning found the I 25cc Pro clas s . to be easier going with a good start and his blazing National speed and ability wh ich he combined to wast e the pac k which consisted of second p lace Brad Bolmes (Suz) and loca l Brian McGonical (Yam). Another interesting point is that about 40 percent of riders in attendance are Canadian, since the border isn 't far from Bellingham. Tonight, seven classes of 14 fell to Canadians as in Open A class . Donny Kerr (Mai ) did the deed to the class for his win .over Paul Stuen (Suz). David Graham (Yam) led the way through the entire 125cc C race to cop the brass with a win over Canadians Rob Peters (Suz) and Eric Arney (Yam). Results 125 PRO: 1. Robb Manning (Han); 2. Brad Balmes (Yam); 3. Brian McGon ical (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Tom Moen (yam); 2. Char lie Marrs (Suz); 3. Robb Manning (Han). OPEN PRO: 1. Tom Moen (Vam); 2. Robb Man ning (Han); 3. John Christian (Yam). OPENA : 1. Donny Kerr (Mai); 2. Paul Stuen (Suz). 250 A : 1. Wayne Church (Kaw); 2. Reuben Springham (Suz). 125 A : 1. Tony De Vr ies (Han); 2. Rick Albee (Suz); 3. Rusty Fletcher (Yam). . 125 B: 1. Mark Hill (Hon); 2. Kevin Zilkey (Suz); 3. . Loren James (Kaw). 125 C: 1. David Graham (Yam): 2. Rob Peters (Suz); 3. Eric Arney (Yam). 250 C: 1. Randy Kennedy (Vam); 2. Kenneth Enns (Kaw ). OPEN C: 1. Ted Anthony (yam) ; 2. Mike Egbert (Yam). ENDURO B: 1. David Boethem (Kaw). ENDURO A : 1. John Christian (Yam); 2. Tiger Wingert (C·A). 250 B: 1. Jeff Jungquist(Vam); 2. Scott Buchanon (Vam). OPEN B: 1. Dan Riddoch (Yam); 2. Jerry Kearney (Kaw). Michlitsch dominates Washougal Gold CupMX By Brian Barnes WASHOUGAL, WA, JUNE 27 Eastside Kawasaki/DG support ace Tim Michlitsch was unstoppable in this weekend 's Yamaha Perpetual Gold Cup race held at Washougal Motocross Park. Michlitsch, one of the area's premier riders, ran up a perfect score card by winning all four motos he competed in. Bob Plympton (Gresham Suz) took Open Pro with I-] scores beating Pasco's Art Key (Suz) and Maico-mounted Doug Hafsos. In the first 125cc Pro moto, Michlitsch holeshot alongside Suzuki rider Steve Pless, but as th ey stormed around the corner, Pless went down , taking Fred 's Cycle Cit y Suzukimounted Mike McCormick with h im . Michlit sch breezed on to an easy wi n , wi th McCormick putting on an awesom e display of rid ing ability comjng fro m dead last to fin ish second. Beaverton Kawasaki 's Kevin Jansen was third, Yamaha rider Steve Corco ran was fourth , and RW Racing's Robby Watilo was fifth. McCormick was ready for battle in the second rnoto, holding Michlitsch at bay for seven laps. But the Kawasaki rider rode flawlessly and pressured McCormick, finally getting by for the number one slot and taking th e overal l. McCormick was a strong second with he and Michlitsch pulling some 30 seconds ahead of third place Jansen. Yamaha rider Larry I

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