Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Barnett made a year-long ascent over some of his to ughest competition ever. Sh u lt z made the climb over 'p iles of . damaged (Top) D av e Gerig (91), Shultz (20), Donnie Cantaloupi (12) and Kevin Davis lead 500cc moto one. (Above) Chuck Sun (10) passes Gerig. AMA J251250cc National Championship MX Series: Rounds 818 King for a day, Shultz, B arn ett: K ings f or '82 By Karel Kramer and Jim Bowman CARLSBAD, CA, AUG. 15 "Dangerous" Darrell Shultz and Mark Barnett completed the climb to the AMA~s highest pinnacle, the National 500cc and 125cc 6 MX Championships, at Carlsbad Raceway. ;./ bod ies - mos tly hi s own - and some ste llar co mp eti tio n in the form of former Na tional Cham p 's Mike Bell a nd Chuck Su n. H e also had to deal wit h fir st yea r Suzuki sta r Alan King, who took today's National with a 2-1 score, and popular showman Dann y Chandler, a new member in the Shultz going-slower-to-win-more school. Shu ltz rode to an 11th place finish in th e first moto, to sew up the title, th en sat outthe final moto. Shultz rode at Washington and today feeling the effect of having one of his lungs collapsed on the Thursday before Washougal. It was reinflated and h e was released from the hospital _ on Saturda y a ft er n oo n and went directl y to Washington to race. Alan King had th e breaks his wa y, an d in th e competition 's ma chinery, in both motos. King rode hard and fo ugh t the da y's closest battle in the second moto with Ya maha 's Mike Bell. Bell had a p art of h is rea r suspension brea k off of the frame in th e fir st rnoto, costi n g hi m a sure first moto wi n. "My bike j us t wouldn 't ta ke the pounding in th e second mot o ," said Bell , " the last couple of tim es 1 passed Alan were sheer insanity." . First moto winner, Goat Breker, snapped the swingarm on his KX500 early in the second rnoto and also forfe ited a chance at th e overall. JeffWardandJohnnyO 'Maracame to Carlsbad with a slim mathematical ch a nce of beating Barnett in the fina l I 25cc standings, but they were bo th on the walking wounded list . and didn 't have good da ys. The hard, d usty track and lapped riders left eac h on the ground at tim es during the race. Their injuries, O 'Mara's wrist a nd Ward's ankle, both prizes fro m Washington th e previous week, were aggravated. Bob Hannah was notable in his a bse n ce . His bike and mechanic arrived without him and stayed that wa y. Rumors were rampant that a change of brands was in the works or th at he sim p ly decided not to attend. Official reports said he was ill. Spectators, though sparse in quantit y, were enthusiastic and saw Jim Gibson and George Holland as runners-up to Barnett. Chuck Sun and Honda support team rider Jo Jo Killer did the honors in the 500cc class. Donnie Cantaloupi and KTM got their best results of the year in fourth , Phil Larson's stock-engined factory Honda fit into fifth and privateer Jimmy Holley took home sixth. . Fritz Schlegal spe nt his second week ' on th e charts as top privateer in th e 125cc class with a sixth overall on his home stomping grounds. Gary Bowman was seventh. 500cc National With the Championship still up in the air and a bundle of factorysupported riders on the line, Dave Gerig's convincing holeshot on a Pro-Circuit Husqvarna 500 was an eye-opener. " I race here once in while," quipped Gerig after the race. on his way to his house a few miles' down the road, "most of the guys didn't want to start on the inside where the mud was, but that's where the traction is." Darrell Sh ultz was off In second, intent on working no harder in this moto than was absolutely necessary. " I may have looked bad , in two races , but 1 won th e. Championships!" said " Sh u" as h e exp lained his strategy. , Mike Bell jumped right to the front of the pa ck and led before the first drop into th e " Ra tt lesn a ke Gulch. " Gerig clung to seco nd ti ll th e top of the uphill wh ere Breke r broke into second. Shultz started a surprising fade into th e pack before the completion of on e lap. Cantaloupi, Husqvarna 's Bill Grossi, Chandler and Hond a ride r Ke v in Davis were among the riders near the front. . At th e co m p letio n of lap two , Bell led Breker , Gerig, Cantaloupi, Shultz, Chandler a nd Grossi. Bell was busy leading with a IO-second lead over Breker, who in turn had a 15-second lead on th ird. Chandler skipped two places in the next lap and moved into third. The top three froze in that order until King was able to arrive from his second lap berth in 10th place and make himself a pest for Chandler. Shortly after, Chandler dropped out of the race for unknown reasons. King . made himself at home in third and 12 minutes into th e rnoto, Bell maintained a 15-second lead over Breker. King was 30 seconds shy of the leaders, but closing. Grossi hung in behind King wi th what seemed very little trouble as a ' host of private and semi-private riders filtered in. Sun and Jimmy Ellis were the only factory riders moving in the top 10. Ellis was on a production bike. Jo Jo Keller, looking surprisingly at home away from his native sand tracks, led the move on the leaders. Carlsbad regular Steve Rhyan moved his Honda 480 in with Tim Locey's a

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