Just like last week, we go into the Delorean and hit 88 mph and come out in 1985 and take a look at the Rose Bowl SX from that year. So without further adieu…….

1:00-The world’s greatest announcer, otherwise known as Larry Huffman has set the stage for us. This is the last race of 1985, Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward and Yamaha’s Broc Glover are tied in points and Honda’s Ron Lechien is only 2 back. Talk about drama! We also get to see the 125 class line up as 1985 would be the first year that they would be added as a support class. It’s a great idea, to give the younger kids a chance to get their feet wet without all the pressure of winning, there are no factory riders in the class and I bet that no one racing is making over 40 grand a year. What's happened to this class now? Anyways, Larry tells us that Steve Grad and Danny “the door” Laporte would bring us all the action, which is weird because Danny is still racing the outdoors for Husky at this point. Wonder why he is doing color? Maybe he needed the money?

1:12-We see that the SX series is sponsored by Fram/Autolite, and right about now, I think somebody should call Fram up and see if they want to sponsor the 2008 SX series for a box of air filters and cash. By the way, it’s also on ESPN.

1:21- They show the points standings going into this final race with Mike Healy leading by nine over Bobby Moore. Ray Sommo and Billy “Funnel Guy” Frank rounding out the top four.  I guess this is a harbinger to come for Healy and Moore’s careers. Chasing each other around in 1985 in LA and the same thing ten years later at the GP's. Wonder if they ever looked at each other at some riders' meeting in Estonia and wondered what the hell happened?

3:35-Jumping ahead a bit, they are showing us highlights of the 125 qualifying. A young Larry “Mototalk” Brooks is number 157 on a Honda wearing an open face helmet and Hondaline gear and is winning. 80cc phenom Eddie Hicks is second followed by Bader Manneh, who, incredibly, is still racing supercross in 2007. Eddie Hicks is probably a greeter at a Palmdale Wal-Mart. Pit reporter David Stanfield reports that Larry is “wide out.”

4:14-I don’t get it, its 1985 yet Brooks and Hicks are on 1986 machines. What’s going on here? I know there is some old timer that was actually at this race reading, I would appreciate an email at matthes@racerxcanada.com to explain why some riders are doing this.

4:38-Not sure on the finishing order as the scene just shifts to heat two in mid race. Anyways, Billy Frank is winning this race on one of those super trick DMC Kawasakis. When I was younger, all I ever wanted in my life was one of those green plastic DMC airbox covers for my bike. I would’ve killed for one and I rode a YZ 80--that’s how bad I wanted it. We get to see the finish here and Frank wins with Todd Campbell getting second. Todd is on a KTM and back then, he may as well have been riding a speeder bike from Return of the Jedi, that’s how strange KTM’s were back then.

5:58-The 125 main is on the line and you can hear the sweet sound of a pack of African Killer Bees on the starting line. I miss these days. Plus, as a mechanic in the two stroke era, and one that ended his wrenching on thumpers, everybody forgets how KEY the wrench was in the twisting of the throttle on the line. You had to do it right when the rider was putting on his goggles, not too fast, don’t let the R’s get too low, it was a real science. Now the mechanics just sit there while the bike burps and farts by itself. These dam kids don’t know how good they have it! You try revving a bike, holding goggles, an umbrella, a toolbag and a sandwich for later. What? Not everybody made themselves a little mid-moto snack? I’m shocked.

6:17-And they’re off with Larry Brooks getting the holeshot and Steve Schmitz running in second. Big crash down the straight with a Suzuki guy going down and taking out 10 other dudes. Hicks is buried in the pack and so is Moore.

8:00-Kurt Hendrickson (now running the NMA) crashes hard and on the replay, you see he actually gets run over. As the medics just literally throw Kurt onto a stretcher (back injury? Nah!) Steve asks Danny, as a fellow racer, what goes through your mind when you ride by and see a rider getting carried off on a stretcher and Danny says “Not very much,” and follows that up with, “it happens so quick….it doesn’t hurt…it happens so fast…it just happens….there’s nothing you can do about it.” David Stanfield reports that they don’t want to move him too quick despite us seeing Kurt being thrown around like he was on the spin cycle 30 seconds ago.

10:48-Brooks is gone, checked out. Makes me wonder why he was like ninth in points going into the race. He must’ve gotten hurt or missed some rounds. Again, I have no idea what’s happening with the other riders as they are focused on Larry riding by himself. It’s refreshing to know that in 1985, the producers didn’t know how to film a race either.

12:11-Larry Brooks is on the last lap and they are so tight on him, I can see his nose hair. C’mon guys, pan out a little. Danny says that it’s hard to know the positions of the riders because they are lapping and being lapped. Ummm…isn’t that why you’re there? To tell the viewers where the guys are, you’re the expert! Next time I see Laporte, I’m really going to lay into him about this.

13:05-LB wins and is being interviewed by Stanfield. Larry has the biggest glasses on under his Oakley goggles I’ve ever seen. You gotta give it up to Brooks, he rocked the glasses for years, even when contacts came out, he still didn’t give in.

14:20-There's a helmet cam shot of some rider rolling all the jumps, going very, very slow. This does not make the track look like “it punishes man and machine every single lap” as I am told. My dog, Buddy, goes faster at the dog park and he’s a Basset/Beagle or Bagle for short!

16:40-The announcers give us another overview of the race and then say that the rider who wins the series will get 100,000 bucks. This seems like a lot for 1985, that’s pretty sweet. They show us a single cab Toyota truck that they say will also be given out to the rider who gets the most votes by the fans in a magazine survey. Let’s see….100 grand, a free truck, a series sponsor and ESPN. Things were pretty good in ’85.  Other cool things about 1985-the first cell phone was invented, Back To The Future was popular, The 49’ers won the Super Bowl, the Oilers won the Stanley Cup and Nintendo came out with Excitebike.

 

17:18- A shirtless (?!?) Broc Glover is interviewed and says that everybody is talking about the pressure of the race, that there is pressure and he is indeed feeling it. Wardy says that he’s taking it “one race at a time”. Based on these interviews the early favorite is Wardy for sure.

18:54- Number 801, Eddie Warren wins the first heat over Team Kawasaki’s Goat Breker. When was the last time a privateer won a Supercross heat? Can you imagine? He just beat national number 8, Breker!! Here’s the thing also, I can guarantee you he got zero credit for it. The magazines probably only devoted a couple pages to the race three months later and there was no internet. Heck, there wasn’t even 1-900-moto number to call. Poor Eddie Warren, he just won a heat in the premier class and nobody cared. No wonder he ended up moving to Australia. However, we're here for you in 2007 Eddie!

 

19:22- Heat two highlights show us a sweet looking David Bailey and we find out that he had some trouble and Yamaha’s Keith Bowen won the heat. In 1984 Bailey was the Grand National Champion and we see here that he was ninth in the SX points and later this year he would lose the 500 outdoor title to Glover on his 1982-based YZ490. Bailey had a works Honda 500 people. I wonder why David had such a bad year in ’85. If I ever see him, I’ll ask him and report back.
 

19:57- Ricky Johnson wins heat three over ’84 SX champ Johnny O’Mara and here’s where things get goofy. Heat four shows us Jeff Ward picking his bike up on the top of a jump, getting on and riding backwards down the face of the jump to bump start his bike. Riding backwards at any time is a big no-no and Wardy is DNQ’d from the heat and sent to the Semi. Glover wins the heat and Yamaha believes that Wardy should be DNQ’d for the night based on principle. Surprisingly the announcers don’t talk about this incident much.

22:54- Semi final highlights as Ricky Ryan on a Kawasaki is leading followed by AJ Whiting. AJ never got enough credit, he’s national number 12 here, he won a national and finished 4th overall in the ’84 125 Nationals. Pretty good rider who never had factory equipment. Where is he now I wonder? They show us Weekend Warrior’s Mike Bier crashing in the whoops. Mike was number 11 this year as well.

23:34- Factory Kawasaki’s Billy Liles is having a battle to the death with number 58, Scooter Stafford. When was the last time a factory rider battled with a guy named Scooter? I LOVE THE 80s!!!!!

 

25:10- Semi number two is off and Wardy is in it along with Lechien who I found out last year crashed earlier in the week of this race and cut his elbow up real bad. He took some kind of horse tranquilizer or something and his lower arm was numb the whole night, which kind of explains his night. He does look good in his JT gear though. Laporte throws out Husky references to keep his employer happy.

28:33- Steve says that he wonders how these machines are able to go so fast and says that David Stanfield tracked down the answer for us. I’m expecting to see a close up of a works Honda and all the specifics of the bike but instead David is standing in the middle of the fuel dump explaining that each mechanic has a special mixture of oil and gas. Then he holds up a fire extinguisher and says he always carries one of these in the gas area. Just thrilling Dave……thanks.

29:49- The Dogger pulls up on Wardy and is right beside him over the double jump. Unfortunately Wardy clears it and Ronnie doesn’t, he cases it and almost goes over the bars. He saves it but has lost major time to Jeff Ward. Steve tells us that he thinks that Ward “really made up a lot of time on that jump.” You think?

31:21- The first main is on the line. Yes, that’s right, I said first main. Y’see in ’85 there was a change to make the format two twelve lap mains. It was only done one year and I would like to know how long the riders got in between motos. Again, any old timers out there email me and let me know.

31:55- Bailey is out front with Lechien second until he endos his brains out over a double. His goggles and face mask get blown off and his rear fender is pointing straight up. His championship hopes are done with this crash. At least his lower arm feels fine.

32:30- Bailey rides around up front and it’s at this point I feel I have to inform you readers that the track sucks. It’s basically three straightaways and some S turns. There’s one double that everybody is doing and two whoops that are so rutted out everybody’s going in the two main lines. The announcers tell us that the track was designed by a woman. She must’ve just discovered that her man was cheating on her that morning because she really took it out on the guys who have to ride this thing.

34:00- The first main wraps up with Bailey winning, Goat Breker and Johnny O rounding out the top three. Glover finishes one spot up on Ward, who is holding back a wild RJ. No doubt Ricky is trying to get past the Kawasaki rider to help out his fellow El Cajon buddy Glover.

35:19- The shot focuses on the two main guys in the title hunt. Jeff Ward is just sitting there calmly while Mike McAndrews slowly revs the bike. They are a picture of serenity compared to Glover and his mechanic Jon R. You can see Jon R revving the crap out of the YZ 250 and Broc very concerned about his goggles. He is talking to Jon R and pointing at something, then Jon R takes the goggles off and waves them up and down like he’s fanning a fire or something, I guess the Golden Boy had some fog build-up. Bevo should’ve run the no-fog cloth over a little better I suppose.

36:37- The riders go down the start straight with O’Mara leading. Wardy pulls out the start he needed and is in second. Glover looks to be in sixth or so and Lechien is way back and even though he’s going to lose the title tonight, how much you wanna bet he wins the “Craziest night out” award after the race.

 

37:45- RJ goes down hard in the whoops which puts Glover into 3rd. So all Glover has to do is catch Jeff Ward ahead of him and the title is his. Easier said than done, right? David Stanfield reports that the finish line “mountain” (which is really about 10 feet high) is causing some riders problems. We never hear what kind of problems as he doesn’t elaborate.

40:08- The top three are coming up to lap RJ and the announcers go on and on about how RJ is going to hold up the leaders to help Glover get a little closer. They talk about team tatics and how Glover and RJ are buddies and it’s going to be real interesting shortly.

40:20- RJ pulls over to the side and waves the leaders on.

40:39- Two laps left and Danny says that if Broc can get Wardy he will win the SX title, “the first time ever for Yamaha….in the last 3 years…four actually.”

41:11- Glover is ALL OVER Ward on the last lap.

42:01- But he can’t close the gap and actually loses some time to Wardy. Ward crosses the line doing an early version of the 1990 “Wardy fist pump” by only pumping his fist a couple of times. Of course the fact that it’s a ten foot pile of dirt could have something to do with it. Glover crosses and even though his face is covered by the Scott Venturi mask, he looks real sad. Poor Broc, he never again came this close to a SX title. I’m sure when he looks on his wall and sees six outdoor championship plaques, he feels a little better.

43:25- The post race scrum is going on and they pull away and you can see O’Mara’s works Honda just leaning up against the start doghouse. Where’s Jim Felt? That’s a works bike man!

The race ends but it really doesn’t as Yamaha files a protest for Ward and his backwards track riding. It goes before the AMA and Wardy’s championship is upheld. It’s funny to see this because when I was at Yamaha, the older guys there (McCarty, Bob Oliver, Jon R) were still bitter over Broc losing. They said that twice earlier in the year riders (I think one of them was Bailey) were DNQ’d from the whole race for riding backwards so they couldn’t believe Wardy didn’t get kicked out. I guess the AMA wanted to have a race for the title, not a guy losing the title on a rules infraction.

Well that’s it kiddies! Thanks for reading and please share some of your drunkin ramblings with me at matthes@racerxcanada.com