Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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contender, but luckily for me, his mistake was all I needed." Smith finished third, mak- ing it an all-mainlander podium. Despite his thumb injury, DeSoto motored on to finish ninth. He told the announcer that he thought the event would do a lot for Hawaii motocross racing. The second Alohacross hap- pened a year later, in June of 1985. The race was taped to be shown on USA Network a couple of weeks later. The Ron Crandall- built track was larger than the first year's design, allowing 250cc bikes to race. The four mainlanders racing in '85 were returnees Myerscough and Turner, along with newcom- ers Jim Holley and top CMC 500cc rider Matt Tedder. And Ha- waiian hero DeSoto was back for the '85 race. The following year an even better crowd of 22,000 went through the turnstiles. "I don't remember them paying us any show money," Holley said. "It was more like go over there, race, have a good time and catch a little vacation on Waikiki Beach- type of thing. I think they paid our expenses and to get the bikes over there. The track was a little smaller than our regular Super- cross tracks, maybe in between an Arenacross and Supercross track in size. I remember they made it pretty mild because they didn't want to hurt any of the local motocross guys who were racing. It was a good time, and they had a pretty good crowd considering where it was and all that." In the '85 main event, it was Turner and then Holley leading early. DeSoto was doing surpris- ingly well in sixth when a haybale was knocked onto the track, causing him to crash and then be hit from behind by Tedder. The incident put both DeSoto and Tedder at the back of the pack. Up front, Myerscough got up a head of steam, passed Holley and cruised to victory over Hol- ley. Turner finished third. "I'm really happy I won," My- erscough said on the podium. "I finished second last year, so I really wanted to win this one. I put a lot of pressure on myself and was a little nervous, but it felt great taking the win." Myerscough took home $1600 for the victory. DeSoto rallied from his crash and finished 10th, and then the 37-year-old legend promptly an- nounced his second retirement from motocross and supercross racing from the podium. "It was the end of my career and maybe the last race I participated in," Heisser recalls. "It was crazy getting to race with John DeSoto. I was a little kid when he was racing stateside. The thing I remember about it was the track was decent and there was really no pressure. For all of us, I think, it was just a race to have some fun and enjoy a little time in Hawaii. My parents went out there with me. It was defi- nitely one of the most memorable events I was ever a part of." Despite the growth and seem- ing success of the Alohacross, the race would not return. With it situated in the middle of the AMA motocross season, the Alohacross would never attract top riders from the mainland. That and the fact that the AMA regulars who did make the trip received no appearance money may have been one of the factors that led to the ultimate demise of the race after just two years. CN CN III ARCHIVES P130 Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives The Alohacross gave Hawaiian motocross riders the chance to go up against some top- notch AMA pros.