SALEM, OR

Honda-mounted Tim Ricketts Jr. was the dominant performer at round two of the Oregon State Dirt Track Championships, held on the one-eighth-mile oval at Salem Indoor Speedway. Ricketts, who hails from Salem, won the 450 and Open Expert classes despite tough competition from up-and-coming Travis Ohge. Ricketts was the only one of the large gallery of Northwest riders to accomplish such a feat.

Former top-ranked amateur Nic Ohge came close to a double-class win, but the rider from nearby Aurora fell with a large lead in hand in the Vintage main event, and Yamaha TT 500-mounted took advantage of Nic's spill and then won, this coming after Nic had dominated the two heat races on the Wheel Smith Cycles-backed, Champion-framed 1976 Yamaha 250. Nic came back later to dominate the combined 250/Over 40 main event, leading from start to finish, followed by Jeff Homolka and Jerry Searles, the top two finishers in the Over 40 class.

The day's largest class was the Vintage Knobby class. Honda-mounted Pat Munyon and Kawasaki jockey Ed McLaughlin posted heat-race victories in the two qualifiers, with Munyon sitting on the pole position for the 15-lap final. Yamaha rider Bob Valin, who placed second to Munyon in qualifying, got a jump on the field to lead Munyon and Dan Bobo at the start. Valin and Munyon ran in close quarters for the first 10 laps, until Munyon got a wheel underneath Valin's 1973 Yamaha 360, and Munyon led it the rest of the way to continue his dominance of the class. Bobo placed third, followed by Chris Boschee and Britt Boyette.

Ricketts, who this year was a top competitor at Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series events, won both the Open and 450 Expert qualifiers, but neither were runaway victories, as Travis Ohge, a top Northwest road-race and Supermoto competitor, ran in Ricketts' shadow for all 48 laps in the two classes. Travis got the jump on Ricketts in the second Open-class qualifier, forcing Ricketts to use a variety of lines in an attempt to get past the 16-year-old. Salem Honda-supported Ricketts eventually got past Travis to sweep the evening's qualifying. Ricketts then came back to do the same in the 15-lap final to complete his domination, ahead of Travis Ohge and Robert Culbertson.

In the Modern Knobby class, the day's second-largest class, Kawasaki-mounted Clay Light, riding a 250 two-stroke, swept both qualifiers and the 15-lap main event, finishing ahead of Kawasaki 450F rider Boyette, Larry Reed, Larry Wise and Tim Hess.

Results

OPEN EX: 1. Tim Ricketts Jr. (Honda); 2. Travis Ohge (Honda); 3. Nic Ohge (Yamaha). 

OPEN SPTSMN: 1. Robert Culbertson (Honda); 2. Larry Reed (Honda); 3. Britt Boyette (Kawasaki). 

450 EX: 1. Tim Ricketts Jr. (Honda); 2. Travis Ohge (Honda); 3. Robert Culbertson (Honda). 

MDRN KNOBBY: 1. Clay Light (Kawasaki); 2. Britt Boyette (Kawasaki); 3. Larry Reed (Honda). 

VINT KNOBBY: 1. Pat Munyon (Honda); 2. Bob Valin (Yamaha); 3. Dan Bobo (Honda). 

VINT: 1. Rick Ferris (Yamaha); 2. Nic Ohge (Yamaha); 3. Jerry Searles (Yamaha). 

250: 1. Nic Ohge (Yamaha); 2. Jerry Homolka (Honda); 3. Britt Boyette (C-A). 

40+: 1. Jeff Homolka (Honda); 2. Jerry Searles (Yamaha); 3. Larry Reed (Honda). 

S/MINI: 1. Jeff Homolka (Honda). 

50: 1. James Burley (Kawasaki).