Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

SOuther. California·Arlzona·Southern Nevada. SouthernCaJifornia·Arizona-5outhern Nevada· Southern CaUfornia·Arizona.$i Western hotline creating fireworks for the California Racing Club. The field was hot and com pe titive with American Honda ace Donnie Hansen turning his firecracker red Honda loose and gathering back-to-back wins. Throughout the first rnoto , a very special duel shaped up between Hansen , holeshotting, and Yamaha racer John Whelchel. For Whelchel, who came up through the ranks, studying Hansen 's every move, having a shot at Hansen was a thrill. Not only did Whelchel giv e Hansen some competition, he also held Mike Shoemaker (H on) to third and Jim Holley (Yam) in fourth , down to the finish. "Holeshot" led the way in the second moto and an interesting battle went down for the lead with "The Shoe" close behind on a production machine. With Suzuki-mounted Gary Bowman in third, Whelchel running fourth and Holley, slipping into the fifth place slot; the action was heavy. For " T he Shoe," this had to be one of his finest rides ever. He ga ve Hansen some solid pressure, letting him know he was there from start to finish. Bowman, despite problems with his handlebars, held on to fifth, inches away from Holley in fourth and battling side by side, to the wire. Whelchel, strong in third, broke away from the Holley/Bowman madness and was in control throughout. When the checkered flag waved them home, Hansen was solid goldl Shoemaker gathered up second place loot and third overall honors went to Whelchel. Results (Below) 1255 at Corona's night MX. (Above) Tom/Scott Whitney lead the Pete Whitney/Duane McDowell rig. Whitney, Whitney & Harley take USGP sidecar-X By Karel Kramer Photo by Ken Prosser CARLSBAD, CA, J UNE 20 Through interest on the part of USGP promoter Gavin Trippe .a n d purse 'm oney on the part of Hallman Racing, so m e of th e 26 fastest sidecar 'crossers and their passengers lined up on th e gri d a t Carlsbad R acew a y follo win g the U.S. 500cc Grand Prix . FI M rules p roh ibit exhi bition races th at can affect the ou tcome of th e race in any way , so th e hacks had to run after th e G P . The field included 10 brands of power plants, notably Nortons, a Harley-Davidson, a Ducati and a variety of smaller two-strok es. Also on hand was the Trevor Harr ison /Randy Langosh rig powered by two Weslake speedway motors in a com mon crankcase. The Weslak e was devel oped for grass track in England and is seld om seen in motocro ss competition because of th e cooli ng characteris tics. Despite all the highly tuned and exo tic en gi nes , Dam o n Du ckette/ J oe Bro ussard grabbed th e holeshot on a rela tively stoc k-engined 650 Yamahapowered hack. T heir lead las ted till Ra ttl esn ake G ulch where they tipped over. T om and Scott Whitney took over the lead on th eir Harl ey-powered all-America n hack, and th ough th ey were hounded by the Pete Whitney/ Du an e McDowell (750 Yam /EM L ) outfi t, th ey led to th e chec kered flag . Deep berms left by the motor cycles made pa ssing difficult for th e chairs. The Wh itney/McDow ell rig was putting on a strong charge but came arou nd from the back section some distance back. It seems that mud from a sp in n ing knobby ripped the deadman switch from its socket and killed th e mo tor and their chances at first. R ober t Sanner/Gary Cass (836 Hon/Wasp) and Miles Strickland/ Alan Hadcock were having a dice for th e entire moto, but agai n, passing was a pro blem . Sanner/ Cass took third , and Strickland/ Adcock too k four th . Ralph Whitney/Perry Melill o charged fro m a po or start u p to fifth by mote's end. Hansen humbles Dunes locals By Lee Taylor VAL EN CIA, CA, JULY 4 .T he 250cc Pros exploded off the line on the Fourth of July, 60 NOV: 1. Brian Payne (Yam); 2. Joel Tokarsky (Yam); 3. Keith Bowen (Yam). 60b BEG DIV 1: 1. Gary Wr ight (Suz); 2. Jimmy Ryder (Suz); 3. Duane DeArman (Yam). . 60 BEG DIV 2: 1. Eddie Mercada (Yam); 2. Robert Forest (Suz); 3. Todd Looney (Yam). 60 NOV: 1. Tony Fleming (Yam); 2. Scott Murphy (Yam); 3. Eddie Tanner (Yam). 60 INT: 1. Joe Lozano (Yam); 2. Jeff Reynolds (Yam); 3. Shane Trittler (Suz). 80 EX: 1. Bill Dalton (Han); 2. William Surratt (Kaw). 100 BEG: 1. Curt is Dougherty (Yam). 100 NOV: 1. Jeff Reynolds (Yam); 2. Toby Lawes (yam) . 125 BEG: 1. Guy Willis (Han); 2. Ray Guilbeau (Suz); 3. Dave Horton (Yam). 125 NOV DIV 1: 1. Chris St. Marie (yam); 2. Kelly , Virchow (Yam); 3. Jeff Jagale (Suzj. 125 NOV DIV 2: 1. Danny Casson (Yam); 2. B-B Kaiser (Yam); 3. John Cushingham (Suz). 126 INT: 1. John Condon (Yam); 2. Kevin Fields (Kaw); 3. David Antillian (Yam). 126 PRO: 1. Gary Bowman (Suz) ; 2. Jeff Stanford (Yam); 3. Pat O'Donnell (Suz). 250 BEG: 1. "Crazy" Craig White (Yam); 2. Marty Desbrow (Han); 3. Eric Marnoch (Han). 250 NOV: 1. Dean Kassel (Yam); 2. M ike Vrchota (Yam); 3. Marc Cumm ins (Han). 250 INT: 1. Jon lahrt (Suz); 2. Steve Gilbert (yam); 3. Rob Petrin (Suz). 250 PRO: 1. Donnie Hansen (Han); 2. Mike Shoemaker (Han); 3. John Whelchel (Yam). OPEN BEG: 1. J im Kirby (Suz); 2. Paul Stewart (Yam); 3. Dave Hall (Yam). OPEN NOV: 1. Philip Baron (Mai) ; 2. Jere Maso (Mai); 3. Bob Burleigh (Han). OPEN INT: 1. Rich Calhan (Suz) ; 2. Vince Friedl (yam); 3. Rodger McCabe (Suz). OPEN PRO: 1. John Whelchel (Yam); 2. Bob Schuhz (Yam); 3. Randy Morales (Yam). VETSJR: 1. Steve Dietrich (Suz); 2. Bryan DeWald (Yam); 3. Jerry Thater (Yam). . VET INT: 1. Ron Tuzinsky (Yam); 2. Raul Escamilla (Han); 3. Jerry Johnson (Yam). VET SR: 1. J im O'Neal (Mai); 2. Bill M illar (Suz). Graydon night over big at OCIR By Steve Crosby IRVINE, CA, J UNE 24 . To celebrate the end of school, Graydon Limited of Southern California sponsored a special prize nigh t at Orange County International Ra ceways Motocross for a second year. Wi n ners of a Sport sman class receive d gift cer tifica tes fro m CEET Racing Products for the ir efforts. Second pl ace finishers won Ancra tie-downs and third place riders won American Pro Grips. Every entry received two Dum Mud Scrap-

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