Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/143897
(Top) Todd Harrell (18) and Johner Kight (1 x) le.d 250cc Amateur TT winner Tommy Watts (44). (Above) Kyle Lewis and Larry Ward. (Top) Pretty Kim Tichenor and shy Chris Marlin. (Above) Westerners Larry Ward (323) and Kyle Lewis battled all weekend. petItIon, Rusty Rogers, crashed in turn four. "I hit a little rut and down it went," said Rogers. His fall allowed Virginian Keith Gregorie to take second. Rogers rebounded in the very competitive 125cc division, his WFO/ Cycleland Suzuki romping home the winner. Californian Tim Aston outraced Team Green teammates Todd Harrell and Todd Campbell, and Honda's Johner Kight for a well earned runner-up trophy. watched the lillIe bikes and learned a trick," said WallS. "I swung wide and cut in before the infield jump to take them." Hare Scrambles The grueling four-mile sand, clay pit and scrub land han~ scrambles course was tackled by a record 224 entries. Junior Jackson won the 65cc Stock class the hard way. "I fell five times and guess I still passed everybody out there, "'said the Kawasaki/HiPoint sponsored rider. Jon Pierre Levesque, in his first appearance, placed his Ronnie's Cycle Sales Yamaha YZ60 first in Modified competition. "r got caught in the gate, and was last off the line," said the Massachusetts rider. ''I'm glad it was a long race." Floridian Jody Joiner won the 7 to II 85cc Stock class while Ward topped Rob Hanson in the Modified class where Kyle Lewis dropped points with an 18th place finish. Tichenor and his Brian Seay wrenched Yamaha YZ80 rolled to what appeared to be an easy win in the 85cc Stock (12 to 15) cla!is. "No way was it easy," said Tichenor. "I got caught in some vines and thought I'd never get out!" Californian Willie Surratt rode his green machine to a secopd place finish. Bobby Moore's Pro Trac Yamaha led all the way in the Modified class, keeping teammate Danny Storbeck and Honda's Mark Melton at bay. In a hot lOOcc class final, Robert Griffin, David Tambling and Fred Andrews swapped the lead while Brian Stanley recovered from a crash in the second corner. Tambling took the win while Stanln worked his way up to second. Keith Bowen and his Ed Bowen prepped Hi-Point/Dynamic 'Cycle Yamaha was awesome in the 250cc TT Yamaha's Dannv Storbeck> averted a Yamaha sweep of the TT events by winning the 12 to 15 division's high point award, but Team Green's Junior Jacks<;>n, Larry Ward and Tommy Watts won the 65cc, 7 to II, and Amateur high point trophies. Joel Barrow was headed for a repeat Pee Wee class win, under the lights, when he took a nasty end-over-end spill on a jump. Florida's Keith Pelletier, who was just two lengths behind Barrow when Joel crashed, went on to take the win. Junior Jackson split the 65cc class wins with 1981 6 to 10 Olympic champion John Kitsch. Kitsch's American Competition Yamaha led Jackson's green machine all the way in the Stock class, but in the Modified final Jackson put the pressure' on Kitsch after losing the lead. "He went under me," said the Illinois rider. "I had to push him over a berm to pass him back." Chris Martin took second in Kitsch's absence. Kyle Lewis led a green parade in 7 to II 85cc Stock action with Jay Mann and Larry Ward in tow. Ward challenged Lewis and passed him on the main straight and then walked, away with the Modified class for his second high point award. "Those indoor short tracks I raced sure helped," said Ward. "Now I have a good start in the Olympic points race." In 12 to 15 85cc action, Texan Danny Storbeck held off Ronnie Tichenor, Vince DeVane and Bobby Moore for the win. In the Modified race, Alabama's Brian Tucker led a Kawasaki/Yamaha d'uel with Tichenor, Doug Harrington, Willie Surratt and Storbeck. Tucker held on to win while Harrington moved up to second after Tichenor fell. Yamaha/Hi-Point supported Brian Stanley broke away from Kenneth Ballmeir, Jamie Harvell and Jeff Bow ling to score a runaway win in the IOOcc class. "I lost a lot of points when I fell in my 125cc qualifier," said Stanley. "I couldn't let that happen again. I couldn't ask for a beller bike than my '83 Yamaha. It handles fantastic a'nd Barr Competition made it even faster." The Kawasakis of Tommy WallS, Todd Campbell, Tim Aston and Carroll Richardson paced the hot 125cc final. Honda/Hi-Point 'sponsored Aaron PillS moved into the fight for third on the final lap, but it was Watts taking the win, followed by Aston and Campbell. "After four tries, it's time things went my way at the Mini Nationals," said WallS. "The new KX is unreal. Everything about it is great," said Kentuckian Watts. Todd Harrell earned the pole for the 250cc final but the lanky North Carolinian was worried. "I took a fall in the l25cc qualifier and reinjured the hand I broke earlier this year," said Harrell. Honda mounted Johner Kight, who had come all the way from Nevada, led Harrell and Tommy Watts into the first turn, but WallS' Billy Williams prepped Hallman/ Kustom Kraft sponsored Kawasaki carried him to a second win. "I class. Bowen revenged a DNF in the '82 Olympics. "I dropped it once in a fast left hander, but still held the lead," said Bowen. In the 125cc finale, '82 12 to 14 champion Eric Yarnell blazed the trail with Michigan's Ed Warren, . Indiana's Aaron Pitts, Florida's Jeff Fricz and California's Tim Aston in the hunt. Yarnell found a tree "bigger than me" as Warren took the lead until Fricz put his TRIM/Sure-Fire/ Barr Compo Honda in front for good. "Honda is doing a lot for me this year and I've got to say the '83 bike is , terrific," said a happy Fricz. The evening's activities'were a big hit as Yamaha racing films and video tapes of the'day's racing ,were shown in the big Yamaha hospitality tent. Motocross Point races were tight as the contenders prepared to wage decisive ballles on George Hoefler's Chicken Farm MX 'track. Junior Jackson was being pressured by Chris Marlin and John Kitsch for 65cc class honors. Larry Ward and Kawasaki teammate Kyle Lewis had a battle going in the 7 to II 85cc class while Ronnie .Tichenor, Danny Storbeck and Bobby Moore all had eyes on the 12 to 15 grand prize. In the Amateur division, anything could happen as Keith Bowen, Brian Stanley, Johner Kight and Tim Aston were all goin' for it. Chad Winner and his Barr Competition Yamaha passed Jeremy Futrell and Brock Bullard to win the Pee Wee championship just a year after a broken wire short circuited his quest. Chris Marlin earned a clean sweep with four straight in the 65cc division with Junior Jackson collecting a string of seconds. "That sure beat sucking sand through the filter in the hare scrambles," said a ha