Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Cl ockwise fr om above) Billy Liles storms past M ike Larson (3 34 ). Atlee Beene's parents search for horsepower. Mike Hea ly (9 9) w as Honda's fastest rider. Hank Moree gave the KX60 a winning debut in Jr. Cycle Modified. Kyle Fleming (above ) ran near the f ront in his qualif iers but did not break the top five overall. (Below) First turn crashes w ere a problem. final hea t. Den is went in with a perfect I- I. Bu nch , Tennessee's Do ug Harring ton (Ka w), Brooks, Tyson Voh la n d (Hon) and Good Times Na ti o n a l win n er Danny Stor beck (Ya m) were th e top five fro m the second heat. Bu nch went in 1-2 a nd H arr ing to n 3-1. Fifteen riders transferred to the runoff. Den is had the lead on the fir st la p and a t the fla g , but he ha d to wo rk hard for it with Hemme a threa t in late rap s. Willie Surratt was past the scorers the first lap in secon d place fo llo we d b y Bo b Moore (Ya m ), Bro o ks, Mi ke Healey (H o n) and H em me. Moore moved Su rratt to thi rd as Hemme began hi s ch a rg e, dro p p in g one rider a position each la p . Moore moved into the lead for a momen t then dropped to fift h in the wood s. Hem me and Bu nch both moved Surr a tt back to fourt h as the six th lap was co mpleted and H em me began to do g Den is. Brooks jo ined th e top five and the posi tio ns he ld even th ough H em me and Denis were in a power struggle for the lead . Den is earn ed th e overa ll ov er Hemme and Bu nch.'Brooks and Harrington rounded the top five. Nea rl y the sa me faces were doing du ty in th e 83cc Mod ified class. Kawasa ki, Honda a nd Ya ma ha were all to ha ve stock 1983 min is entered with on ly Suzuki runnin g air-coo led '82s. T he '83 Ya mah a d idn ' t get a ch an ce, nor did its rider Eddie Hicks. Eddie wen t down in a first turn pile-u p in th e first moto and jumped up and ro de for th ree lap s before real izin g that his leg was bro ken . Denis proved to be the hol eshot ki n g again a nd led every la p in the fi n a l on a pre-p ro d u c tion KX80 sin gle-stru t wa ter-p u m p er. Su rra tt was secon d, also KX-mou n ted, as was Harr ington in fourth. Dan ny Sto rbeck was th e only yellow wit h h is Ya maha in th ird . Harringto n passed Storbeck and traded spots with Sur ra tt, leaving Kaw asa kis in th e top three at th e finish . Storbeck took fourth. H ealey an d Brooks had a battle on the last lap they wo n ' t soon forget. Bro oks tried h is move down the last straight, bu t H ealey moved over on Brooks and slammed the door on him, nearl y running him into the tires. Bro ok s displayed his displeasure with sign la nguage while Healey took th e flag . Storbeck 's Yamaha was the only 1982 mini in the top five. Overall, Denis took the win with Harrington, Surratt, Storbeck and Hemme rounding the results. Suzuki got to flex their muscles in the I05cc class thanks to the hard riding of R ick He mme and a bit of bad Iuck on Denis' part. Den is had a solid lead when his Kawasaki's front suspension stuck on full compression over a jump. With Den is out, Storbeck grabbed the lead a nd hung tough to the flag. He mme began the race in a miserable 12th pl ace a nd hacked his way through the pack to third on lap five where he stayed till the flag. Hemme sewe d up the overall with Storbeck second and H ealey third. Bro ok s and H arrington were the rest of the top five. Bill y Liles a nd Ron Lech ien were the class acts in th e 125cc Expert classes. Liles took his share of the $3,000 Expert purse with a Modified win over Lechien. Lechien p itted hi s Yamaha aga inst Liles' Kawasaki in the Stock class and came out ahead. T h ree divisions h ad to be pared down to a list of 30 riders for th e 125cc final wit h a lot of riders going in wi th a low score. Eight riders wen t in with a realistic chance at the overa ll win. Lechien was the victor of th e Modified final over Liles. A Yama ha/ Kawasaki confrontatio n raged for the entire rnoto: the yo ung Cal iforn ia n holding his ground on the more experienced Georgian. T h ree Texans, Tim Bu tler (Hon), Carroll R ichard son and Steve Gauthier (Suz), took the 3-4-5 spots in th e final. The overall went to Li les followed by Lechien, Greg Fou ts, Bu tl er and Gauthier. A tie-breaker fin al decided the-Stock class. A poor start ga ve Lech ien the room to win; it was Li les' poor start. . Lech ien seem ed content to follow earl y leader Ed Warren o f Michigan on a Kawas aki. Liles found a spot wh ere he could ou t-pe rform o ther riders in th e trees and proceeded to pass a rider a la p to move into the third posi tio n behi nd Lech ien. O verall it was Lechien , Li les, Warren , Mik e Bias (Yam) a nd Richardson. L iles took more of the purse money to Georg ia with a win in th e 250cc Expert class , th e fin al race of the sixda y event. Kawasaki ma de a powerful showing wi th four 1983 pre-productio n water-cooled KX250s. Liles, C urt McCuistion and Dan Conway put the green meanies into the top three spots from the beg in n ing and ran away with th e win . Kyle Landrum had to wo rk the last '83 in to fourt h by tackling Ok lahoma 's Clay Hoens he ll, a local ride-all-classes Yamaha sh oe. Landrum got by Hoenshell a nd Conway put the heat on McCuistion on the last lap, but the positions remained th e same. McCuistion fo llowed Liles in the overalls and led Texan Ri cky Glaser (Su z), Conway a nd Landrum. An y event th a t draws a n average of 67.00 people each day for six da ys of any activity is goi n g to have some problems a nd this race did, but less than wo uld be expected and that is why th e crowds of riders and supporters re tu rn to Ponca each year. It is, q uite sim ply, th e most prestigious race in th e world of its kind. Nex t yea r will see those wh o wi sh to be th e best ret urn to do battle. • Results PEE WEE STK: I , Steve Petree (Yam); 2. Colin Edwards (Yam); 3. Dane Hatf ield (Yam); 4. Billy Schlag (Yaml; 5. Eddy Cumins (Yam). PEEW EE MOD: t , Colin Edwards (Yaml ; 2. Steve Petree (Yam); 3. Dane Hatf ield (Yam ); 4. Bill y Schlag (Yam); 5. Jesse Ja mes (Yam). JR CYCLE STK 6-8 : t . Hank Mo ree (Yam); 2. Ji mmy Button (Yam); 3. Colin Edw ards (Yaml; Tony Sulek (Yam); 5. Eddy Cumins (Yam). JR CYCLE MO D 6 -8 : t . Hank Moree (Kaw ); 2. Jimmy Button (Yam); 3. Ben Heibel (Yam); 4. Colin Edwa rds (Yaml ; 5. Ronnie Densford (Yam). JR CYCLE STK NOV 9-' , : t . Ryan Sm ith (Yam); 2. Jared King (Yam); 3 . Buddy Antun ez (Yam); 4. Eric Alstrin (Yam); 5. Travis Mot ley (Yam). JR CYCLE MOD NOV 9- ' , : t . Buddy Antunez (Yam); 2. Ryan Smith (Yam); 3. Skeets Winner (Yam ); 4. Jay Wagner (Yaml; 5. Andy Atkins (Yam). J R CYCLE STK INT 9- " : t . Low ell Thomson (Yam); 2. Kvle Lew is (Yam); 3. J un ior Jackson 4: (Yam); 4. Je ff Emig (Yam); 5. John Kits ch (Yam). JR CYCLE MOD INT 9- " : t . Low ell Thomson (Yam); 2. Kyle Lewi s (Kaw ); 3. Shaun Kalos (Suz); 4. Jeff Emig (Yam); 5. Jo hn Kitch (Yam). B3 STK NOV 9-' t : t . Denny Stephenson (Yam); 2. Damo n Bradshaw (Yam); 3. Chad Montero (Kaw); 4. Shawn Huggins (Yam); 5. Bruce O'Hagan (Yam). 83 STK NOV' 2+: Stephan Lee (Kaw); 2. Chris Mc Nutt (Yam); 3. Philip Hicky (Yarn]: 4. Bill y Berry (Yam ); 5. M ike Foster (Yam). 83 STK INT 9- ' , : t . Kyle Lew is (Kaw); 2. Shaun Kalos (Suz); 3. Shau n Wooten (Kaw ); 4. Greg Bowe n (Yam); 5. Tommy Dalto n (Yam). 83 STK INT '2+: t . M ike Mo rris (Kaw ); 2. John Conney (Suz); 3. Tommy Collier (Yam); 4. M ike Young (Yam); 5. Ron Will iamson (Kaw). 83 M OD NOV 9- ' t : t. Den ny St ephenso n (Yam); 2. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 3. Skeets Winne r (Yam); 4. Brent W ineland (Suz); 5. J im my Didier (Kaw). 83 MOD NOV ' 2+: t . Stephen Lee (Kaw ); 2. Kenny But ler (Yam); 3. Erick Post on (Yam); 4. Jeff Peterson (Yam); 5. Jarrod Fondie (Yam). 83 MOD INT 9-' , : r . Lowe ll Thomson (Yam); 2. Shaun Kalos (Suz); 3. Ju nior Jack son (Yam); 4. Jeff Emig (Yaml; 5. Derek Brown (Yam). 83 MOD INT '2+: r. Eddie Vr eeland (Kaw ); 2. Bria n Tucker (Kaw ); 3. Mark Me lto n (Hon); 4. Scott Chesser (Yam); 5. Chris Wa llis (Kaw ). 83 STK EX ' 2+: t . Paul Den is (Kaw ); 2. Rick Hemme (Suz); 3. Bruce Bunc h (Suz); 4. Larry Brooks (Suz); 5. Doug Harr ington (Kaw ). 83 MOD EX '2+: t . Paul Denis (Kaw ); 2. Doug Harrington (Kaw); 3. W illie Surratt (Kaw); 4. Danny Storbeck (Yam); 5. Rick Hemme (Suz). , 05 9-" : t , Lowell Thomson (Yam); 2. Shaun Kalos (Suz); 3 . Tim Falty n (Hon); 4. Rob Hanson (Kaw); 5. Kyle Lew is (Kaw ). ' 0 5 ' 2+: t . Rick Hemme (Suz]; 2. Danny Storbeck (Yam); 3. Mike Healey (Hon); 4. Larry Brooks (Suz); 5. Doug Harr ington (Kawl. ' 00 MOD SCHOOLBOY SR: r. Denn is Daft (Yam); 2. Taylor Ma rcell (Yam); 3. M ike Taylor (Yaml; 4. Jay Jones (Suz); 5. Danny Day (Suz). '00 STK SCHOOLBOY SR: t . Ray Dawson (Yam); 2. Randy Bryant (Yam); 3. Taylor Marcell (Yam); 4. Mark McClaren (Yam); 5. Guy Wil son (Yam). ' 00 STK SCHOOLBOY JR: t . Carroll Richardson (Yam); 2. David Tambling (Yam); 3. Daniel Benham (Yaml; 4. Jeffrey McCune (Yaml; 5. Kurt Henrickson (Yam). ' 25 STK NOV: t. M ichae l Hammer (Yam); 2. David Tamb ling (Yam); 3. Ricky Dar ling (Hon); 4. Lloyd Clayton (Suzl; 5. Danny Day (Suz). '25 MOD NOV: t. Ricky Dar ling (Hon); 2. David Tambling (Yam); 3. Lloyd Clayto n (Suz); 4. Michae l Hammer (Yam); 5. Mark Kesseler (Hon). '25 STK INT: t . Tim Aston (Kaw ); 2. Todd Campbell (Kaw ); 3. Tom W ickham (Kaw ); 4 . Kurt Hen ricksen (Yam); 5. Ray Dawson (Yam). '25 MOD INT: , .Tim Aston (Kaw); 2. Todd Campbell (Kaw); 3. Ken Fox (Kaw); 4. Sam Storer (Kaw ); 5. Morris Troxell (Kaw ). '25 STK EX: t. Ron Lechien (Yam); 2. Billy Lil es (Kaw); 3. Ed Warren (Kaw) ; 4. M ike Bias (Yam); 5. Carroll Richardson (Yam). '25 MOD EX: t . Bill Liles (Kaw ); 2. Ron Lechi en (Yam); 3 . Greg Fouts (Yam); 4. Tim Butle r (Hon); 5. Steve Gauthier (Suz). 250 NOV: t , Pee Wee Campbell (Suz); 2. Tracy Sm ith (Suz); 3. Tim Cuthbert (Yam); 4. Jeff Thaxton (Suz); 5. 'Donald Vick (Yam). 250 INT: t . Rusty Pipes (Suz); 2. Lance Nabors (Kaw); 3. Steve Pitts (Hon); 4. Terry Green (Suz); 5. Steve Tipton (Yam). 250 EX: t . Bill Liles (Kaw ); 2. Curt McCu istion (Kaw ); 3. Ricky Glase r (Suz); 4. Daniel Conway (Kaw ); 5. Kyle Landrum (Kaw ). r: 15

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