Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- .. . Lucerne Valley - Red Mountain - Plaster City - Searchllgh top 10 was Lee Scheffers after a bad cras h on the first lap. Sunday · . . •• • t 1 . } 1 " Larry Roeseler won the Ca l City GP Pro race . (File photo.) Roeseler, Stearns, Mattox master Cal City GP By Shirley Upp CALIFORNIA CITY , CA , J ULY 3-4 SoCal M.e. hosted the California City GP ~ver the Independence Day weekend, and a real picnic was had by many, 20 including class winners Larry Roeseler, Chuck Stearns, Rich Price, Dennis Rosenberg, Rick Shirey, Bill Mattox and Paul Palmer. Perfect racing weather combined with a perfectly-marked course made this a grand weekend of racing for spectators and racers alike. In addition, California City made the desert people feel welcome, and Norm Johnson had showings of his film On the Seventh Day all day Saturday. And to round it off, SoCal was terrific! Sa turday morning, i t all came together with the start of the Vet ra ce. Mark Force (Ya m ) led for six laps, but had no time to relax as Bill Saltzman (Hus) was keeping the pressure on. O n the sixth la p , Saltzman took over the lead to keep it until the ninth lap. Saltzman stopped to pit and Rick Shirey (Yam). who had been working his way up from seventh on the first lap, took the lead. Shirey held the lead and took first overall. Second was Saltzman. Third and first 250cc was Mike Goodwin (Yam). Fourth was Force. Fifth was desert ace G a ry Charters, who sai d he was just outgeared today. R uss Jones rode hard en ough to take the first 250cc desert points home this weekend. First O pe n No vice was Pa ul Cl ifford. First 250cc Novice was Fred Collin s. T he fastest O pe n Beginner today wa s Bill H en sch e. In the I 75cc race , Bill Mattox (Ya m ) took full co ntrol from start to finish. T his was in spi te of stop pi ng for lunch at h o m ech eck after la p o ne, and ea ting a haybal e! Run n ing second was Pete Postel (Hon) who had so me wa ter and mud for lunch , going do wn in th e m ud whoop-de-doos much to th e delight of th e cro wd that h ad gathered. At the fin ish , it was Mattox taking th e win . Second was hard riding Scott Atchi so n . who eig h t weeks ago had broken h is co lla rbo ne and was a little sore to da y. H e said he j u st couldn't miss Ca l Ci ty. Third was Post el who w a s h appy to be racing with h is friends again. First Amateur was Eric Hallgath . First No vice was J ohn Stoffel. First Beginner was R . Bergerson. The Unclassified race went to Paul Palmer with a co m mandin g lead over Bill Saltzman. In for a third was Rich Mark. Fourth was Mike Martin and fifth was Grant Co lbert. Sixth and first 250cc was Ralph Mendenhall. Stephen Curek too k seven th. In the Pro race, Chuck Miller (Yam ) took th e lead in a very fast paced race. Miller kept his head down on th e straightaways and d id everything possible to find that ext ra power to sta y in front of Larry Roeseler (Ya m) who was running third a fte r o ne lap. It was gran prix racer Bryan Statham who had the second spot fo r th e time being. Miller held th e lead for three laps , after which Roeseler took over and held it for the finish . Second was Miller. Third was Craig Adams. Fourth was off-road ace Tom Kelly. Fifth was another top rider , Howard McCasland. Sixth was Bryan Statham. Seventh was Den n is Vetter. Eighth and rid in g h is first Pro race was young Bobby Charters. Ninth was Randy Norman. R o un d in g out the After a beautiful Cal Cit y evening wi th movies, parties a nd pl enty of fir eworks, it started all over aga in at 8 a. m . with th e Seniors and women . Cha rt er s took th e lead, but luck wa s .n o t with him this wee ke nd and h e was out a fter one lap with a flat. Den ni s Rosenberg ' o n hi s big 480 Honda was right th ere to take over th e lead and that's where he staye d for the rest of th e race. Al Guzman h eld seco nd for one lap, but was soo n out with bike problems. Dann y Drew (490 Ya m) took over as seco nd. On the seventh la p, Ron Su ber overtook Drew, but Dr ew moved back into second on th e eighth la p . Mo ving up to third o n the eig hth lap was Steve Big ler o n h is 250 Yamaha, Di ck Postma ho lding down first desert 250cc spot. In the C bike class, Lou Monterone (Yam ) had th e key position ; Am o ng the wo m en , Lori Farmer (H o n) had th e lead, bu t was having her sh are of troubl es holding on to it. H er bike kept cutting out an d Jolen e Payn e was at times with in seco nds. Vera Charters wa s having a super ride, running firs t Amateur. At the finish it was Rosenberg, ver y dirty but happy. H e stated that contrary to bel ief, motocrossers do not like mud and water. Second was Drew , followed by Suber , who pa ssed Bigler on th e last lap. Fourth was first 250cc Bigler and fifth wa s second 250cc (firs t desert p o ints) Postm a . Monterone took first C bike. First C bike Amateur was Do w Gowing. Lori Farm er sta yed in fo r a first. Jolen e P ayn e to ok a seco nd, but wa s thrilled to j ust finally get a finish - her first ever Cal City GP finis h . Charters rode a ha rd race a fter cra shi ng and hurt ing her kn ee, bu t she stayed in for a first Ama teur fin ish . First No vice wa s P atrice Payne who had to get ready for her first sideh ack ra ce which was next. First Beginner was J eannett e Fi sh er. T he Sidehacks / AT V/ O d yssey ra ce was so meth in g specia l, en joye d by al l. Start in g the exci temen t was a sidehack with Ridyard a nd Wilcox aboard. After one lap th ese two were leading, but with th e team of Sanner/ Sanner on th eir tail. Third was McIntyre/Ketcham. These guys are fearless and came through the mud and wa ter without backing off one bit. At the fini sh , it was fast and furious twoso me of Sanner /Sanner. The 250cc/Open No vice/Beginner race had the most riders a nd th e riders made it very exciting to all spectators. It was 250cc rider Scott Stearns who ki cked his Honda to life and passed 40 riders. By the time he hit the sandwash , h e had the lead. For two laps Stearns asked it all from his 250cc, but on lap three it wa s Rich Price on his Open bike that put the move on an d took the lead. From this point, P ri ce laid on the tank and kept the th rottle on until he took the checkered. To the very excited Price the win wasn 't the only thing he took. California City donated three plaques and one beautiful perpetual trophy to the winner. Price was surprised and happy with his win and California City. Stearns took second overall and a first in the 250cc class . Ra lp h Mendenhall took th ird with no problems. First 250cc Beginner was Mike Pennington at fourth overall. To top the weekend off, the 250cc/ Open Amateur/Expert race was a thriller. It was Dan Ashcraft (Hus), with the number nine start position, who took th e lead. Chuck Stearns, who was a late sign-up, had starting position 62 a nd as many riders to pass. After lap one, it was Ash craft with Craig Adams (H o n) a close second. Stearns hadn ' t wasted time and had moved up to third. Fourth was Dan Smith (Hus ) who h ad moved up in rank. Fifth was Chris Crandall (KTM ), also working his wa y up. On th e fifth lap, it wa s Stearns with the lead and that was where he stayed. At th e finish a roar came up from the crowd as Stearns made hi s last turn and took the ch eck ered. The cro wd and Stearns were happy for hi s win; it was well deserved. Stearns wanted to thank Keith Reeves a t American Honda and O 'Neal Ra cing Products. Second was Ashcraft, who rode a hard race. Honoring third spo t was Smith, who said h e was just outp owered today. Fourth wa s hard riding Randy Norman. Fifth was Craig Adams and taking six th in a field of our best was Crandall. First 250cc was Ted Hunnicutt. First 250cc Amateur Larry Brown (Ya m) took his fir st on a bike tha t ran ba ck to back races. T erry T alley ga ve his bike to two different guys to ride two different race s - that 's desert people! This was one of the best races we have had in a long time; SoCal did a great job an d th e folks at Californ ia .C ity were great. Man y, many thanks to Ron Hall, Sharon Tompson, Jean Dorler and Dotti Charters . Results herein are unofficial. Johnson wins Gambler Hare and Hound By Ro n Purvin es LAS VEGAS, NV, JUNE 20 Maico 's Jack Johnson rode to the overall win at the Gamblers ' 6S'- mile Motorcycle Racing Association of Nevada-sanctioned hare and hound June 20. The race was scheduled to start a t 6 a.m. but th e G amblers were getting some last minute marking done on a rough section of th e course, so th e Expert wave got underway at 6:30 with Johnson taking the early lead to th e smokebomb followed by Anthony Pasqualouo, Bob Davidson and Bill y Hill, Jr. The Amateur wave was underway five minutes later with Rick Sherman getting th e holeshot followed by Sam Bennett and Richard Shaw. Shortly after the smoke Sherman rode off a cliff and Bennett sacrificed hisposition to aid Ri ck . The Novice start was holeshot by Jim Thompson, followed by Terry Gillard. At the gas stop Johnson came through with a one minute and five second lead over Kevin Welch. Welch had a long pit, dropping a position to Chuck Rush. The Amateur class was being led by Mike Lehman follo wed by Shaw. T he Novice class was still being led by Thompson. At the finish J oh n so n came in after making the 65 miles in 2:05, followed by Hill, who took second overall.. first 125cc Expert. T hird overall, first 250cc Expert went to Bob Davidso n . T he Amateur class honors were taken by Leh ma n on a 250cc and second ove rall Amateur was Shaw on a 125cc. N ov ice ho nors were ta ke n b y T hompson, who led from start to fin~h. •

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