TRIBUTE TO 1985 NOVICES |
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Below is my attempt to recognize those of us who composed the final class of AMA professional Novices in 1985.
The class was eliminated after the 1985 season due to 'low rider count'.
Many remember the heydey of the sport in the 1970s when hundreds of Novices would show up to an AMA Pro race. That lasted at least through 1982, as the AMA Regional half mile event at Bellfontaine, Ohio that year had fifteen Novice heat races (and no semis). Only the fastest twelve heat race winners went to the final. Heat race #12 had ten riders, so it is safe to say that there were about 150 Novices that day. The AMA moved Novices to 500cc four-strokes in 1984, and, by 1985, we only have the list below. As of 12/15/2019, the grid below shows 137 riders, of whom 21 moved to Junior mid-season, and 1 was prohibited from racing; that leaves 115 licensed Novices at the end of the 1985. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Tim Farrell, Craig Grismore, Dave Hoenig, Dante D'Ambruoso, Bob Herrick, and Pete Giammalvo for assisting me with collecting and verifying information. In the table below, all riders who competed with a Novice competition license in 1985 are listed, sorted by their 1985 Novice competition number. I have also listed each rider's Junior, Expert, and National Numbers, if known. Note: Junior plates with a shaded background indicate that the rider moved to the Junior division during the 1985 season. |
| 1985 Novice # | First Name | Last Name | Hometown | Junior # | Expert # | National # | Comments/Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
__B |
Chris | Payne | Albion, NY | 68B |
7/7/1985 Cycle News East Marietta OH & Parkersburg WV results | ||
27F |
Billy | Browning | Pomeroy, OH | Travelled with Dorsel Thomas in 1985 | |||
29J |
Jerry | Marrs | Cheyenne, WY | 1985 Sturgis program | |||
44J |
Clinton | Basket | Coeur d' Alene, ID | 1985 Sturgis program | |||
56T |
Keith | Olsen | Acton, Ontario | 56T |
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58J |
Kit | Farley | Salt Lake City, UT | 58J |
58J |
86 |
|
62B |
John | Resso III | Kingston, NY | 7B |
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63B |
Glenn | Hughson | Holley, NY | 63B |
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64U |
Richard | Mitchell | Northboro, MA | ||||
65J |
Jeff | Smith | |||||
65U |
Charlie | Shepherd | Northville, CT | ||||
68A |
Troy | Malone | Auburn, PA | ||||
69U |
Ron | Bertrand | Charlton, MA | 69U |
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70S |
Larry | Bertholdt | Baltimore, MD | 70S |
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70U |
Bart | Chamberlain | |||||
71Q |
Tricia | Lyons | Oregon City, OR | 71Q |
71Q |
1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |
71L |
Carl | Shane | Goodlettsville, TN | 71L |
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71S |
Steve | Alexander | Winchester, VA | 38S |
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71U |
Pete | Giammalvo | Westminster, MA | 71U |
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72B |
Dean | Standish | Albion, NY | 72B |
72C |
||
74U |
Peter | Minardi | Bloomfield, NJ | ||||
75Y |
Troy | Winkler | |||||
79A |
Mike | Morra | Burgettstown, PA | 79A |
|||
81Q |
Todd | Gary | Candy, OR | 81Q |
1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | ||
84B |
Brian | Bonesteel | Saugerties, NY | 3B |
3B |
45 |
Brian moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 |
84Q |
Jim | Dunken | 1986 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | ||||
84Y |
John | Nunez | Salinas, CA | 84Y |
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85B |
Mike | Underwood | |||||
86A |
Eric | Sassaman | Schwenksville, PA | 86A |
6A |
Eric was the 1985 Eastern region Novice champion. | |
86R |
John | Penner | San Clemente, CA | ||||
86Z |
Bruce | Johnson | Salinas, CA | 86Z |
Bruce moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
88A |
Mike | Scott | Macungie, PA | 88A |
88A |
70 |
|
90L |
Jerry | Ball | |||||
90P |
Barre | Love | Aurora, IL | 90P |
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90Q |
Tim | Hall | Portland, OR | 1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |||
91F |
Mark | Ashton | Piqua, OH | 91F |
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91G |
Duane | Houston | Denver, CO | 9G |
1985 Sturgis program | ||
91L |
John | Kocinski | LA | John won the 1990 250 Grand Prix Championship and the 1997 World Superbike Championship. | |||
91N |
Scott | Scherb | San Antonio, TX | 91N |
91N |
91 |
Scott wore National #81 & #78 later in his career |
91W |
Brian | Hall | Camas, OR | 1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |||
91X |
Jack | Mayer | Midland, MI | 91X |
Jack was the 1985 Central Region Novice champion. | ||
91Y |
Bill | Hermant | Hayward, CA | 91Y |
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92A |
Eddie | Draves III | West Chester, PA | 92A |
Eddie moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
92Q |
Jason (Jayson?) | Naylor | Hillsboro, OR | 1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |||
92U |
Joel | Phelps | Dudley, MA | 17U |
|||
92X |
Rob | Farver | Jonesville, MI | 7X |
Rob moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
93P |
Randy | Blank | Elgin, IL | ||||
94B |
Craig | Estelle | Windsor, NY | 24B |
24B |
51 |
|
94F |
Dave | Cook | Mt. Vernon, OH | 7F |
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94K |
Wayne | Schaeffer | |||||
94W |
Keith | Barnhart | Woodward, WA | 94W |
Keith moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. / 1986 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | ||
94Z |
Bobby | McDowell | Valley Springs, CA | 10Z |
10Z |
43 |
Bobby moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. |
95N |
Brad | Wiese | San Antonio, TX | 95N |
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95P |
Thomas | Jacobs | Sheridan, IL | ||||
96B |
Eric | Johncox | Alexander, NY | 96B |
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96K |
John | Fiorio | Ashland, WI | ||||
96P |
Ronald | Bernard | Sheridan, IL | 96P |
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97P |
Randy | Love | Batavia, IL | 97P |
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97Q |
Jimmy | Servo | Canby, OR | 97Q |
1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | ||
98K |
Dennis | Bernal | |||||
98P |
Bruce | Peterson | IL | 98P |
Bruce moved up to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
99K |
Tom | Silvers | |||||
99W |
Rick | Mscichowski | Vancouver, WA | 99W |
1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | ||
101P |
Scott | Rothschild | Anna, IL | 26P |
5P |
||
102P |
Dallas | Mayer | Makanda, IL | 32P |
Dallas moved up to Junior mid-season in 1985. | ||
107P |
Greg | Joop | LaSalle, IL | ||||
108C |
Eric | Prior | |||||
110G |
Bill | Burr | Ft. Collins, CO | 3G |
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111F |
Chance | Darling | 11F |
11F |
84 |
Chance moved to Junior mid-season in 1986 | |
111K |
Tim | Haight | 11K |
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111U |
Mark | Haddad | Hampton, CT | 11U |
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111Z |
Dante | D'Ambruoso | San Jose, CA | ||||
112G |
Tom G. | Troudt | 12G |
12G |
89 |
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112K |
Rodney | Noel | KS | ||||
112N |
Mark | Blackstock | Lubbock, TX | 4N |
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112X |
Kevin | Rose | Lansing, MI | ||||
113W |
Jeff | Still | Bothell, WA | 1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |||
114U |
James | Magoon | Concord, NJ | 28U |
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115P |
Michael | Capriola | Winnebago, IL | ||||
116P |
Randy | Turbett | East Peoria, IL | 16P |
Randy moved to Junior after Daytona in 1985, but perished during the Springfield IL Junior National on May 26, 1985. | ||
117P |
Daniel | Mettile | Ottawa, IL | ||||
117S |
Steve | Mahanes | Glen Allen, VA | ||||
118F |
Scott | Knecht | OH | ||||
118P |
Ricky | Eskridge | West Chicago, IL | ||||
119F |
Dean | Kitts | Marion, OH | 2F |
Dean moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | ||
120Y |
Eric | Green | Salinas, CA | 12Z |
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121P |
Bill | Jackson | Marion, IL | 69P |
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121Y |
Tommy | Carriger | |||||
122K |
Corey | Brink | Sturgis, SD | 67K |
37K |
63 |
1985 Sturgis program |
122Z |
Randy | Fisher | Antioch, CA | 22Z |
123F |
Dorsel | Thomas | Cheshire,OH | 7/7/1985 Cycle News East Marietta OH results |
124C |
John | Wahl | 124F |
Mike | Castin | Canton, OH | Cycle News East Marietta OH results |
124K |
A.J. | Sumner | Milwaukee, WI | 6K |
86K |
A.J. moved to Junior mid-season in 1986 | |
124P |
Verne | Browne | Libertyville, IL | 24P |
24P |
||
125S |
Robbie | Oliver | Ashland, VA | ||||
125X |
Bryan | Villella | Pontiac, MI | 65X |
65X |
24 |
|
125Y |
Rob | Damron | Morgan Hill, CA | 7Y |
7Y |
64 |
Rob moved to Junior mid-season in 1985, and also wore National #68. |
127P |
Jim | Miller | IL | ||||
127W |
Peter | Jorgenson | Kent, WA | 1985 Sidewinders (Portland, OR) program | |||
128L |
Mark | Witham | Benton, AR | 28L |
28N |
49 |
|
128N |
Ernie | Quinn | TX | 28N |
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128P |
Matt | Yoho | Abingdon, IL | 15P |
Matt moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | ||
135F |
John | Bova | Wadsworth, OH | 35F |
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136F |
Kelly | Bowlby | OH | 36F |
36F |
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136P |
Kevin | Kwaterski | Des Plaines, IL | 63P |
8P |
Kevin moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | |
137X |
Jim | Bauerle | MI | ||||
141P |
Davey | Camlin | Rock Island, IL | 41P |
41P |
27 |
Davey was underage when he began racing professionally in 1985, and was banned from racing until 1986. He eventually earned National #27: 1990-2000, and scored four Grand National mile victories. He died in a racing accident at the DuQuoin, IL, Grand National in on July 24, 1999. |
142P |
Tim | Farrell | Oak Park, IL | 42P |
42P |
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143P |
Erik | Graybeal | Bloomington, IL | 87P |
87P |
39 |
|
143Z |
PJ | Sanchez | Salinas, CA | 43Z |
43Z |
PJ was the 1985 Western Region Novice Champion. | |
149P |
Tom | Sutton | |||||
150B |
Jeff | Smith | Warrensburg, NY | ||||
150Y |
Mark | Corsetti | CA | 50Y |
50Y |
60 |
Mark also wore National #89 later in his career. |
151F |
Jerry | Robson | Dover, OH | 25F |
7/7/1985 Cycle News East Marietta OH & Parkersburg WV results | ||
151P |
Rick King | IL | |||||
152R |
Jim | Kesler | South Gate, CA | 52R |
Jim moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 / 1985 Sturgis program | ||
153P |
Chris | Links | IL | 28P |
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155F |
Ron | Schroeder | Celina, OH | 78F |
78F |
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156H |
Nicky | Sterling | IN | 40H |
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157D |
Nick | Piklor | Daytona Beach, FL | 3D |
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161K |
Robin | Bennett | |||||
165G |
Kevin | Todd | Glendale, AZ | 20G |
20G |
1985 Sturgis program | |
167Y |
John | Looney | CA | ||||
167Z |
Craig | Howard | Fresno, CA | 67Z |
Craig moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
170U |
John | Hildebrand | Derry, NH | 5U |
5U |
John moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | |
177L |
Kirk | Hayes | Johnson City, TN | 77L |
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178F |
Jack | Vanderkooi | OH | 65F |
65F |
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178G |
Gary | Schlickau | |||||
180G |
Jeff | Shelton | Tulsa, OK | 80G |
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186P |
Bob | Brooks | Morris, IL | 57P |
57P |
Bob moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | |
194P |
Jeff | Carner | Streator, IL | 21P |
Jeff moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
196K |
Randy | Feldhaus | Howard, SD | 5K |
Randy moved to Junior mid-season in 1985 | ||
196P |
Danny | Hollenback | Table Grove, IL | 47P |
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201K |
Gustaf | Feind | Tomahawk, WI | 12K |
12K |
Gus moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | |
211K |
Bob | McPeak | WI | 212R |
Ruben | Malaguarnero | South Gate, CA |
222P |
Jeff | Davis | 44P |
Jeff moved to Junior mid-season in 1985. | |||
241F |
Mark | Roop | OH | 20F |
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