Trans-Usa Series

TRANS-USA SERIES

Kent "Rhinestone Cowboy" Howerton Lassos the Win

Jim Gianatsis

There are more-and larger-factory teams racing motocross in America than in any other form of motorcy cle racing in the world. But despite the intense competition, it usually isn’t too difficult to predict in advance the winner or champion of a particular race series. That’s because motocross requires such intense dedication that the riders who are ready and capable of winning aren’t difficult to spot.

Such was the case in I979's fall TransUSA Series in which Team Suzuki’s Kent Howerton narrowly edged out Team Yamaha’s Mike Bell for the title. You could see the battle developing between Howerton and Bell earlier—during the national championships—though the two riders were in different classes and did not have their bikes on the same tracks at the same time. Both riders were playing runner-up in their respective classes, warming up for the Trans-USA series. Howerton placed second overall in the 250cc nationals behind Yamaha’s Bob Hannah, clearly picking up enough speed as the championship progressed, and beating Hannah at the final race. And the same thing happened in the 500cc nationals as Bell played runnerup to Team Suzuki’s Danny LaPorte, almost edging LaPorte out of the title by winning the last two races.

Howerton and Bell entered the TransUSA series with something still to prove, while Hannah and LaPorte might be backing off a little to rest. Then, before the series even began, Hannah, the reigning Trans-USA Series champion, broke his leg in a water skiing accident on the Colorado river while being towed by a boat piloted by off-track buddy Marty Tripes of Team Honda. Tripes, who had signed with Yamaha for 1980, would not be able to race the Trans-USA series for either Honda or Yamaha due to contract troubles with Honda.

At the first Trans-USA race LaPorte was put out of contention when his usually reliable Suzuki RN 440 works bike suffered from carburetion problems and DNFed both motos. Mechanical problems continued the next two weeks so there was no chance of doing business in the short, five-race series.

Despite the reduction in competition, neither Howerton nor Bell found the racing to be easy at the first race. There. Husqvarna's Chuck Sun traded moto w ins with Team Honda rider Andre Malherbe of Belgium, w ho had just finished third in the 1979 FIM 500cc World Championships. Malherbe won that day overall. Bell and Howerton, meanwhile, had been victims of poor starts and a huge mudhole on the course which seemed to have claimed every rider at least once. Bell finished third overall while Howerton, having gotten his foot caught in his rear wheel at the beginning of the second moto and left in last place while trying to unhook it. charged his way up to collect fourth overall.

The second race was in Michigan and there Howerton looked like he could hardly ride, suffering from a week-long flu bout. Coughing, with a runny nose. Howerton knew he couldn't allow himself to ease back no matter how sick he was. His strategy for the day was to try to win the starts, pulling out as much of a lead as possible before running out of strength. He must have surprised even himself as he nailed the holeshot in both motos and quickly built up huge 20-second leads. His determination was so strong it never allowed him to slow down for a moment as he charged on to easily win both motos, waiting until afterwards in the pits to collapse from exhaustion. Bell collected a distant second overall, but the series point lead remained in the grasp of Malherbe, who finished the day third.

The series moved to New York. Malherbe experimented with different lines around the tricky course in practice and endoed his bike in a rocky creek crossing, suffering a broken nose and a fractured wrist. He tried to ride the first moto and actually got a second place start, but the pain was too intense and he dropped off the pace to retire from the moto and the series.

Howerton won the first moto, followed by Kawasaki’s Brad Lackey and Maico’s Danny “Magoo” Chandler. The second moto would go to America’s top grand prix star. Lackey, after a moto-long duel with Mark Barnett as Howerton collected third. Howerton was second overall behind Lackey, but it hardly mattered: Howerton had a huge points lead now that Malherbe was out and Bell had suffered a breakdown in the second moto.

Honda’s Warren Reid placed second behind Mike Bell in the opening moto of the fourth race of the series at Road Atlanta. Suzuki’s Darrell Shultz collected third just ahead of Howerton. In the second moto it was Shultz tailed by Bell, Howerton and Lackey. Howerton still held a strong series points lead as Bell moved up into second place some 22 points behind; all Howerton had to do was finish conservatively in the final round.

And that’s just what he did. The Rhinestone Cowboy dialed in a strong, but safe, ride on his Greg Arnett tuned RN Suzuki to collect a third place finish. Bell won both motos ahead of Darrell Shultz. What hurt Bell, though, was that breakdown in one moto at Unadilla. New York. SI