Motor Racing /Vince Kowalick : Motocross Racers Inclined to Meet Challenge in Finales

The last step is a prodigious one for 100 motocross riders in the American Motorcyclist Assn. Coors Supercross and Super Crown championship series, which conclude tonight with a combined final-round race at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum.

Obstacles? How about a 90-foot, twin jump from the peristyle to the Coliseum floor?

“That’s really not that big of a deal,” Erik Kehoe of Granada Hills said. “The hardest part about that is making sure you’re in line. You don’t want to hit one of those poles.

“I’d say the double- and triple-jumps and all the whoop-de-do’s are a lot more challenging and take a lot more calculating.”

But Kehoe--along with Jeff Leisk of Agoura, Johnny O’Mara of Simi Valley and Jim Holley of Woodland Hills--may be just spinning his wheels tonight. All are out of contention for either the 10-event Supercross and the three-event Super Crown series championships.

Kehoe is seventh in the Supercross points standings. Leisk is sixth, O’Mara is eight and Holley is not listed in the top 20. El Cajon’s Rick Johnson has the title clinched.

In the Super Crown series, Johnson has clinched at least second ahead of Kehoe (6th), Leisk (8th), O’Mara (11th) and Holley (22nd).

But all will race full-throttle and wheel to wheel.

“I’ve always dreamed about winning this race,” said Kehoe, who finished sixth last year. “I want to win it just once.”

Leisk will race despite a sprained left hand, which he suffered recently in a practice accident.

“It’s my brake and clutch hand,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult riding in some of the more difficult places. It’s going to be hard to give it my best effort, but I want to race.”

Add motocross: Pete Hames of Palmdale remains second to Chris Carr of Manteca, Calif., in the AMA 600 Dirt Track National Championship points standings after a disappointing 14th-place finish in the Peoria (Ill.) TT Steeplechase last Sunday.

Hames narrowly trailed Carr and Ricky Graham of Salinas on Lap 13 of the 25-lap race but was forced from the race because of a flat tire.

After eight of 19 rounds, Carr leads with 119 points; Hames has 54.

Big race, big bucks: The winner rakes in $4,000 in tonight’s Modified Division Miller American 100 at Saugus Speedway. The purse, which totals $19,000, is the largest at Saugus thus far this season. It is also a pretty penny for a short-track race, according to Saugus General Manager Ray Wilkings.

“Nowadays there aren’t too many purses like that for a 100-lap race,” he said. “Usually, $4,000 to win is at least for 150 laps.”

The field of drivers also should be inflated.

“We should be getting drivers from all over California,” Wilkings said.

Also scheduled tonight are street stock oval and figure 8 main events. Engines start at 7 p.m.

Add Saugus: The checkered flag in Sunday’s Budweiser 400 at Riverside International Raceway signaled the end of the 31-year-old 2.62-mile paved track. The next vehicles to “race” at Riverside will be bulldozers, which next month get the green flag to clear the way for a shopping mall and housing development.

Suddenly, Saugus, with its one-third-mile track, will become the largest paved oval in the Los Angeles area.

Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino is a quarter-mile oval and Ascot Raceway in Gardena is a half-mile oval dirt track. The nearest paved track of Saugus’ size is El Cajon’s 3/8-mile oval.

But Wilkings is not as happy as one might expect.

“I don’t like to see Riverside go,” he said. “Riverside makes people aware of racing and it creates a carry-over to the short tracks. By Riverside being gone, we might pick up some people who won’t be going down there, but Saugus has always had its base. People who have been coming to Saugus are going to continue to come. We’ve been here and we’ll continue to be here.”

Second add Saugus: Wilkings was pleased with last Saturday night’s crowd of 4,468, which packed the track to watch NASCAR superstar Bobby Allison win the Sportsman Division 40-lap main event and trophy dash.

“We could hardly have planned it better,” Wilkings said.

Allison, wired for sound while behind the wheel, chatted briefly to the crowd before the race and later while taking a victory lap. The three-time Daytona 500 winner also held a 45-minute informal autograph session and still was forced to turn away dozens of fans.

“We had a ton of people in the pits,” Wilkins said. “They just wanted to be near him. He’s a real pleasure to have here.”

But will Allison, who finished 22nd in the Budweiser 400, be back?

“It’s going to be a little more difficult next time because he won’t be coming to Riverside,” Wilkings said. “The closest he’ll probably come will be Phoenix.”

Said Allison: I’d like to come back. Next chance I get.”

Southwest Tour: Seven Valley-area drivers are among the top 20 in the NASCAR All-American Challenge Series Southwest Tour points standings after last Saturday’s Motocraft/Trak Auto 300 at Riverside International Raceway.

Sepulveda’s Roman Calczynski, who gave way to clutch failure Saturday, is second behind leader Troy Beebe of Modesto. Others in the top 20 are Ray Hooper Jr. of Palmdale (5th), Ron Hornaday Jr. of Palmdale (6th), Mark Perry of Saugus (11th), Bob Lyon of Newhall (13th), Mike Kanke of Granada Hills (15th) and Chuck Pittenger of Northridge (20th).

Awards banquet: The AMA will host its 1988 Professional Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 5, aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

The banquet will include the announcement of the 1988 AMA Professional Athlete of the Year. Tickets are available by mail: AMA Pro Awards Banquet; Attn: Pat McCoy. P. O. Box 6114, Westerville, Ohio, 43081-6114.