Weinert Wins Opening Supercross

WEINERT WINS OPENING SUPERCROSS

Jammin' Jimmy Weinert won his qualifying heat and the final event in the first AMA stadium motocross event of the 1979 season, held in Oakland, California.~ Weinert led the final from start to finish in spite of neck injuries suffered when he crashed hard in a pre-race television publicity film session the day before the race. Weinert went to the starting gate wearing a neck brace, but that fact obviously didn't hurt his performance as much as would be expected. A major innovative advantage that Weinert held over the competition on the sand track built in the Oakland Coliseum was his selection of a paddle tire designed for sand and nothing hut sand, Weinert’s Kawasaki threw gigantie. blinding rooster-tails as he blasted around the. track in a series of straight lines. A latefinal challenge from red-eyed Bob Hannah(who suffered from sand in the eyes) ended with Hannah’s crash when only 20 yards' behind Weinert. Hannah, who had charged up through the pack from a poor start, still finished second.