Racewatch
RACEWATCH
Ricky Graham Wins No. 1 Plate at Final Race; Springsteen Misses Fourth Title by Two Points; One More Race Watch Contest To Enter.
RICKY GRAHAM WINS WINSTON PRO TITLE
Ricky Graham won the AMA national championship and the context went down to the wire, the last race of the season, just as promised.
Except that the last race, the half mile at Ascot Park, wasn't the duel tradition requires. Instead, living up to another tradition crafty Randy Goss solved the puzzle of a rapidly drying track, put on one of his patented late-season charges and won the race with a wide margin. Graham and Jay Springsteen, who was four points behind going into the final, wound up eighth and sixth, respectively. There was lots of passing and repassing behind Goss and the season total became a mathematical exercise: if Springer could pass Scott Parker and Ronnie Jones passed Graham, Springsteen would pick up enough points to be champ. But if Graham could get directly behind Springsteen, Graham would have a safe margin. As it happened Springsteen couldn’t stay ahead of Scott while Alex Jorgenson got between the contenders, so the final score was Graham 221 points, Springsteen 219.
In the poetic sense, Graham took the No. 1 plate just as tuner Tex Peel said he would, with his brilliant performances in the TTs, his speed on the miles and his incredible consistency early in the season.
Peel was also right when he said the battle would come down to the wire, and that Springsteen would be the other contestant. Springer was on, then he was off. He'd win and get sick, then he'd get sick and win anyway, then he'd be too sick to ride. But when his mysterious forces all were aligned, he romped. Five wins during 1982, and he’ll be back next year for more of the same.
What about the rest of the Winston Pro crowd? First, this was the last year for Winston sponsorship. Next year the series reverts to the name of Camel Pro, with more money and more road races, although the schedule isn't final yet.
Defending national champion Mike Kidd had a terrible year. He began wrestling the odd-looking NS750 into some manner of competitive behavior, then he broke a leg and had to sit out the final races while Scott Pearson scored Honda’s first win and Hank Scott battied Graham for second at the San Jose mile, proving Honda at least can keep the pace.
Yamaha did worse. Despite the talents of tuner Corky Keener and rider Jim Filice, the Virago-based Yamahas looked wonderful and ran poorly. Yamaha pulled back on the money and the team didn't even come to the year’s last race.
Harley team manager Dick O'Brien is due for retirement this year and the crew had hoped to present him w'ith another No. 1 plate, but at least Springsteen was second, Goss third and Scott Parker fifth; they got the team prize, you might say.
In between was Terry Poovey,who took fourth by always being in the hunt and by winning the terrifyingly fast Knoxville half mile. Knoxville is a banked track, and a rough track. And a fast
“I just rode the high spots on the racetrack; Poovey’s winning speed was 81 mph.
The year’s new face,-if not an actual rookie, was Texan Bubba Shobert. He won two miles despite the best higherranked riders could do. One victory came on Graham’s spare XR, which caused Peel to joke later that they’d have to be more selective of their friends.
But AMA dirt track doesn’t work that way. The day after the last race those fierce rivals Graham and Springsteen went off to Michigan together for a hunting trip.
YES, ANOTHER CONTEST
The first reader to correctly name the rider, machine and track in the above photo wins a Suzuki jacket. Send your entry and your jacket size to Yes, Another Racewatch Contest, Cycle World, 1499 Monrovia Ave., Newport Beach, Calif. 92663 USA. Residents of the British Isles, Ireland, Botswania and the Falkland Islands are not eligible. The winner’s name will be announced in an upcoming issue. Photo by Kel Edge
HELP FOR CRASHERS
Where there’s racing, there’s crashing, and too many times crashing means injuries. At races in Northern California the first people on the scene of a crash are often members of the National Motorcycle Patrol, a volunteer, non-profit group dedicated to providing first aid.
Each member holds a Red Cross CPR and Advanced First Aid card, and many are qualified as Emergency Medical Technicians. National Motorcycle Patrol activities are funded by donations from riders and promoters, and the money is used to buy first-aid supplies.
To a crasher who’s hurt, the sight of concerned faces belonging to people who know first aid can be very reassuring, especially during the long minutes it takes for an ambulance to reach a remote part of the racetrack. More information can be had from NMP events coordinator Ann Keller, PO. Box 2804, San Rafael, Calif. 94902.
—John Ulrich
GARY SEMICS: MX VET ON THE MOVE
Like Brad Lackey, Gary Semics, 27, has been around, but unlike Lackey, 1982 was Semics’ first year on the 500cc World Championship motocross circuit.
While Lackey raced in Europe, Semics spent the '70s racing in the U.S., winning the AMA 500cc Supercross Championship in 1974. Since then, Semics traveled the U.S. MX circuit, often with Gaylon Mosier. When Mosier ► was killed in a bicycle/truck collision in 1980, it pointed out to Semics that many of his friends had come and gone and he ( was still around. It seemed like a good time to try a new angle, and for Semics, that new angle was to race in Europe.
Semics and Marty Moates, winner of the 1980 Carlsbad U.S.G.P., landed sponsorship from Motocross Marketing to race Hondas in Europe. Semics had the best results of the pair, leading at least one moto and finishing as high as third overall in his push to seventh in the end-of-season points.
The experience has matured Semics, a fact brought home at the USGP, where he answered questions put to him by fans with a new-found sincerity.
The message in all this is clear Gary Semics is still around, in fact, just starting his big-time career. Look for him in the winner’s circle.
— Tom Mueller/Cycle News East
