Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

A pack of 250cc Intermediates crowd into a first lap Coliseum turn. Double winner Jim Tarantino cruises with no one in sight. Tarantino takes two at eRe Amateur Superbowl T hat forced Rutherford to seco nd a nd gave him th e unen viable tas k of hol ding back Yam aha MOlOr entry Zip Macrae of Albuquerque. NM, to third and Jeff Barbacovi to fourth . T he seco nd bl ast off th e line found Barbacovi breathing down Rutherford 's jersey out of th e gate. With changes in every turn, H ealey zipped into th e lead by mote's end for ba ckto-back wins, Macrae claimed second overall honors and held Rutherford to third and Barbacovi to fourth . The Open Pro contest was a classic Honda-Yamaha confrontation with LOP 's Jim Tarantino once again emerging triumphan t. This tim e he had to fig ht his way up in the first moto a n d try and ca tch John Whelche l (Yam) who had pulled wa y out in fro nt in one of th e fin est rides of hi s career. Wh elchel was sm o king! H is la p times averaged one seco nd less tha n th e National Pros th e night before. H e had Simi Cycl es ' Bob Schulz threatening to take away his lead, followed by Mik e Garratt of Tucson, AZ, and Tarantino coming up fast. Whelchel held firm till mote's end with Tarantino slip p ing into seco nd , Schulz in third, Garratt in fourth and Juan Benavidez rounding out th e top five. . When th e big-bor e machines ca me to life for their fin al en co u n te r , T arantino and Wh elchel traded positions. This time Tarantino led the way a nd left ' Wh elchel to fight his way past Benavidez, Scott Cavness an d Schulz. When the fini sh line loomed into sight, Tarantino led the troops home to his second victo ry for the da y. Whelchel zip ped into seco nd afte r a handlebar cla sh ing duel with Ben a videz. Schulz, w i th a su per smooth 3-4 ride, took home th ird overa ll, a nd Benavidez claim ed fourth overa ll. T he 125cc No vices bro ught everyo ne to their feet in admira tio n of a spectac ular race fro m wi re to wi re by J ohn Da vis. Despite constant pressure fro m Wesl ey Furrh and G ar y Sa ilors, these th ree men had a troph y dash to the end with Davis ho me to top honors in h is class. For the fin a l of the 250cc Inter mediates, Jon Za h rt a nd h is Suzu ki made magic by tea ring through a n intimidati ng pack o f riders a nd holdi ng firm to hi s win from sta rt to fin ish . Steve Gilbert rode shotg u n litera lly inch es away fo r most of th e race. . By Lee Taylor Photos by Greg Taylor LOS AN G EL ES, CA, J ULY. 18 Over 700 riders, from throughout the western United States and as far away as Oklahoma and Hawaii, came to pay their last respects and say good bye to the Grand Dame of stadium motocross, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Eleven years ago, it was the birthplace of stadium Super- 18 cro ss a nd today, it was the sit e of th e hottest, most competitive amateu r racing in California, th e Cali fornia Racing Club's JT Amateur Supercross. The 60cc Expert class saw Bubba Eri ckson (Yamaha suppo rt/ PJ -I ) tak e to th e Coliseum course lik e a du ck to wa ter with American Honda 's Ronni e Densford cha lle nging for th e lead . in mid-air. T he se two had su pe r rid es th roughout bo th rnotos with Erick so n snaggi n g a choice pair of wi ns a nd Den sford holding a pack of warri ng min is at bay for second place. Wh en th e 250cc Pro s bl asted o ut of th e gate, Honda ace J im Ta ranti no, riding for LOP, bro ug ht bac k all the fury and bri lli ance of Saturday n ig h t's AMA race . T he firs t mo to found racers crashing o n the stra ight a nd Tarantino breaking away into a beautifu l lead . Worthy adve rsa ries Eric Baker (Hon) , Juan Ben evidez (Ya m) a n d J ohn Wh elchel (Yam) fired sh ots a t eac h o th er from sta rt to finis h for the to p three positions. Benevidez took o ver second, and Wh elchel fough t his wa y in to third with Baker in fourth and Bobby White, of Phoenix , AZ, rounding out the top five. Second rnoto ac tio n found T ar an tino having to fight for hi s vic to ry ride. Bobby Bulluzzi, from Goodyea r, AZ, holeshot, and Jim Brodie gra bbed sho tg u n. Tarantino in ch ed h is wa y up to th e fro n t a nd held co mma nd down to th e wire with Whelchel's Ya maha cinch ing seco nd and seco nd pl ace loot by mo to 's end. Belluzzi took th ird and fell ow Arizon ian T im Richardson took fourt h , good enough for th ird ove ra ll. What the 80cc m in is lacked in stature, th ey mor e than made up for in guts a nd deter m in a tio n. T he 80cc Ex perts brought to th e Coliseum floor one of the finest races of the day . A d uel went down between H o nda rider Mike H ea ley and Century Kawasakil Roost Factor y sensation Tim R ut herfor d that defied description . R u therford led th e way the first time around onl y to fi nd h im self engaged in an aerial dogfig ht with H eal ey off the Sp rite Ski R u n , on ly to see H eal ey g ra b the lead u pon landing . Tony Spear rode a Suzuki for Hang T en in third, and Glen Wells ran fourth . Yamaha support racer Taylor Marcell fought tooth and nail for his I25cc Pro win. H e had heavy artillery blasting away at him from all directions and fought throughout the first rnoto to hold Doug Gentry and Dennis Hulen to second and third, respectively. JT I Facto ry Rider pilot Todd Kessel , from Phoenix, AZ, was smoking in fourth with Dave Hamada rounding out the top five. The final encounter.found American Honda ra cer Louie Franco not only outjumping everyo ne for the $50 bounty Skoal Tobacco had placed on Miller High Life Mountain, but slamming his wa y into the lead and holding off ever yone a n d a ny o ne down th e end. Franco's win was good en o u g h for fifth pl a ce overall. Mar. cell , in 'seco nd , claimed top dollar, Gentry took home seco nd place loot, Hamada cro ssed over to third place, and taking down fourth ov erall honors was Kessel. . Results , PEE WEE: 1. Jesse Tewksbury (Yam); 2. Johnny Chamberlin (Yam t; 3. Dav id Ochoa (Yam). 60 NOV : 1. Eddie Gaumond (Yam): 2. Sean Blan · chard (Yam); 3. Wesley Klein (Yam). 69 INT: 1. Jason Collier (Hon) ; 2. Shaw n Bates (Yam); 3. Wes Parker (Yam). . 60 EX: 1. Bubba Erickson (Yam); 2. Ronn ie Densford (Hon) . 80 BEG: 1. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) ; 2. Scon Michaels (Suz); 3. Gary Benedict (Yam). 80 NOV : 1. Shawn Wynne (Yam); 2. Jeff Clifton (Yam); 3. Arthur Huffer (Kaw) . 80 INT: 1. Joe Lozano (Yam); 2 . Tony Toste (Yam) ; 3. Craig Canoy (Suz). 80 EX: 1. Mike Healey (Hon); 2. Zip Macrae (Yam); 3. Tim Rutherford (Kaw) . 100 BEG: 1. Curt is Dougherty (Yam). 100 NOV : 1. Toby Lawes (Yam). 100 INT: 1. Mark Lackma n (Suz). 125 BEG : 1. Tim Wh it lock (Suz); 2. M ike Harda way (Yam); 3. Todd Stubblefield (Yam). 125 NOV : 1. John Davis (Suz); 2. Wesley Furrh (Hon); 3. Gary Sailors (Suz). 1251NT: 1. Steve Stewart (Kaw);·2 . Randy Ma lena (Kaw); 3. John Cook (Kaw). 125 PRO: 1. Taylor Marcell (Yam); 2. Doug Gentry (Yam); 3. Dave Hamada (Hon). 250 BEG: 1. M ichael Martin (Yam); 2. Bren Webber (Yam); 3. J im Neubauer (Suz ], 250 NOV : 1. Kirt Gold ie (Hon); 2. Randy Knox (Yam); 3 . Man Nat ion (M ai). 250 INT: 1. Jon Zahrt (Suz); 2. Steve Gilbert (Yam); 3. Tony Spear (Suz). 250 PRO: 1. Jim Tarantino (Hon); 2. John Whel· ceh l (Yam); 3. TIm Richardson (Hon). 500 BEG: 1. Kev in Akrey (Hon); 2. Brian Brovvn (Yam); 3. Ed Tash jian. J r. (Suz). 500 NOV : 1. Philip Baron (M ai); 2. Steve Luc ia (Yam); 3. Douglas Cave (Hon ). 500 INT: 1. Don Glover (Yam); 2. Glen Wells (Hon); 3. Shawn Lane (M ai). 500 PRO: 1. Jim Tarantino (Hon) ; 2. John Whel· chel (Yam); 3. Bob Schu lz (Yam). VET JR : 1. Alan Gerkey (Suz); 2. Robert Fortier (Suz); 3. Bryan DeWald (Yam). VET INT: 1. Ray Simmons (Suz); 2. Ron Ryer '(Yam ); 3. Monte Wh itaker (Yam). VET EX: 1. Ron Tuzinsky (Yam); 2. Bill Millar (Suz).

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