Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but paid users have great benefits. Paid member benefits:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
Sorry, I wish I knew how to make these articles larger.
I was in Ponca City in 1982. I was racing the 125 novice class. It was my first big race that I had ever been at and I was having a blast. When I first got there, my fork seals on my RM-125 were leaking. I asked around if there was anybody from Suzuki that could help me fix them. Someone recommended that I should ask Shawn Kalos's grandfather at R&D Suzuki. I'll never forget the size of the motor home and trailer that they had. He fixed them in no time. I tried to pay him but he refused to take any money. Being a huge R&D fan already, I asked him how the team was going to do. I remember him saying that if Bruce Bunch's wrist wasn't broke, they would probably be unstoppable. I was glued to watching the R&D riders all week. They were blazing fast and so exciting to watch. When we went to leave, they actually had us detour around the accident. I never knew what happen until I got back home in Ohio, I read about the accident in Cycle News. After all these years, I never forgot about their names, or what happen. I always wanted to tell the families how sorry I was but was never able to. By writing this, I kinda feel like maybe I have. A couple years later, I was talking to Dave Coombs Sr., and he was saying that the loss of all three riders put a whole in the future of pro motocross.
Bruce Bunch takes the holeshot at Indian Dunes and leads #52 Mouse McCoy, #911 Shaun Kalos and others. You can clearly see his trailer behind the starting gate.
tcestudios@netzero.net
The Shop
Here's a picture of Ralph Bunch and you can see the mini man #6 behind him. Not sure where this is but appears to be Saddleback? Look at that red neck hat, remember how popular those were back then. I drove by Barkley street last weekend on my way to a superbowl party and showed the wife Bruce's old house. Bruce lived near a JR. high school and we made it our own little moto park. We had a track throught out and would ride bikes until dark. Then after dark it became Tripple Cross hour and we would run the neighborhood and school grounds on Bruce''s pit bike. I think it was a 78 XR 75. Bruce at the helm, Taylor in the middel, and me on the fender hanging on for dear life. Need less to say, this was great fun and simply cherish those times! It was just ultimate freedom!
1982
1982: 51cc Stock 4-8, Butch Smith, Moscow, ID
1982: 65cc Stock 7-11, Lowell Thompson, Post Falls, ID
1982: 65cc Modified 7-11, Greg Bowen, Pontiac, MI
1982: 85cc Stock 7-11, Larry Ward, Redmond, WA
1982: 85cc Modified 7-11, Kyle Lewis, Simi Valley, CA
1982: 85cc A Stock 12-15, Danny Storbeck, San Antonio, TX
1982: 85cc A Modified 12-15, Danny Storbeck, San Antonio, TX
1982: 125cc A Stock, Youth, Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA
1982: 125cc A Modified, Youth, Ron Lechien, El Cajon, CA
1982: 125 A Stock, Eddie Warren, Clio, MI
1982: 125 A Modified, Eddie Warren, Clio, MI
1982 Ponca City Results:
1982: 83cc Sock Class
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
1982 83cc Modified Class
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Doug Harrington, KAW
3. Willie Surratt, KAW
1982 105cc Modified Class
1. Rick Hemme, SUZ
2. Danny Storbeck, YAM
3. Mike Healey, HON
1982 World Mini Grand Prix
80 STOCK EX 12+ RUN-OFF
1. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Paul Denis, KAW
4. Tyson Vohland, YAM
5. Bob Moore, YAM
80 MOD EX 12+ RUN-OFF
1. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
2. Larry Brooks, SUZ
3. Paul Denis, KAW
4. Rick Hemme, SUZ
5. Bob Moore, YAM
105 RUN-OFF
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
4. Bob Moore, YAM
5. Tyson Vohland., YAM
YAMAHA RACE OF CHAMPIONS
1. Paul Denis
2. Todd Campbell
3. Larry Brook
4. Danny Storbeck
5. Art DeHoff.
my dad is john hemme. i never met my uncle but i bett he would be the best uncle ever
1982 WORLD MINI GRAND PRIX
80cc STOCK EXPERT 12+ RUN-OFF
1. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Paul Denis, KAW
4. Tyson Vohland, YAM
5. Bob Moore, YAM
80cc MOD EXPERT 12+ RUN-OFF
1. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
2. Larry Brooks, SUZ
3. Paul Denis, KAW
4. Rick Hemme, SUZ
5. Bob Moore, YAM
105cc MOD EXPERT RUN-OFF
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
4. Bob Moore, YAM
5. Tyson Vohland., YAM
NMA/Yamaha Grand National Championship:
Ponca City, Ok, July 27th - August 1, 1982
By Karel Kramer (Cycle News 1982): A Multitude of parent-pit-crews, over 1,000 riders from ages four to 21, four factory teams and equipment conservatively estimated to be worth $15 million-plus descended on the Oklahoma town of Ponca City for the National Motosport Association's Yamaha Grand National Championship Mototcross. For the entire six days of racing and practice, performances by the young riders were polished and professional. Unlike past years, there were no massive run-aways. Several riders scored convincing wins and double and multiple wins, but nobody won without working for their trophy or cash.
The week was marred by the tragic deaths of Suzuki riders Bruce Bunch and Kyle Flemming in a car-train accidient after the event was concluded. Suzuki's Rick Hemme and Oakley rep Dana Duke were seriously injured in the same accident.
1982: 83cc Stock Expert Class
By Karel Kramer (Cycle News 1982): Going into the final heat in the 83cc Stock Expert class, Paul Denis, Rick Hemme, Kyle Flemming (SUZ), Colorado's Kevin McKnight (KAW) and Ray Sommo were the low point men in the final heat.
Paul Denis went in with a perfect 1-1. Bruce Bunch, Tennesee's Doug Harrington (KAW), Larry Brooks, Tyson Vohland (HON), and Good Times National (TX) winner Danny Storbeck (YAM) were the top five from the second heat.
In the final, Paul Denis had the lead on the first lap and at the flag, but he had to work hard for it with Rick Hemme a threat in late laps.
With Paul Denis in the lead, Willie Surratt went past the scorers table in second after the first lap followed by Bobby Moore (YAM), Larry Brooks, Mike Healey (HON) and Rick Hemme who was in 5th.
Bobby Moore then past Willie Surratt to third as Rick Hemme began his charge, dropping a rider a position each lap. Bobby Moore passed Paul Denis for just a moment to take the lead, but when they came out of the woods he was in 5th and Denis was back in front.
Rick Hemme past Surratt on the 6th lap to move into second place. Bruce Bunch had moved up through the pack to also take Surratt on the same lap.
Rick Hemme then began to dop Denis for the lead the remainder of the race. Larry Brooks moved into 4th place and the R&D Suzuki team lined up in the 2, 3, and 4 spots.
That is how the top four would stay. At the checkered flag, it was Paul Denis (KAW), Rick Hemme (SUZ), Bruce Bunch (SUZ), Larry Brroks (SUZ) and Doug Harrington (KAW) had moved into the 5th spot.
The 83cc Stock class received somewhat more attention than usual. Kawasaki protested the factory supported stockers of Rick Hemme, Larry Brooks, and Bruce Bunch. Suzuki felt they were being harassed and protested all the stock Kawasaki's, 10 in all. There were some detail questions, but at least the first place Kawasaki of Paul Denis and the second place Suzuki of Rick Hemme were pronounced legal.
The teardowns were still in question at the time word was received of the accident involving the Suzuki team riders and all protests were mutually withdrawn. All four factory reps said that they would welcome teardowns of all winning bikes to avoid future problems.
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Rick Hemme, SUZ
3. Bruce Bunch, SUZ
4. Larry Brooks, SUZ
5. Doug Harrington, KAW
1982 83cc Modified Expert Class
By Karel Kramer (Cycle News 1982): Nearly the same faces were doing duty in the 83cc Modified class. Kawasaki, Honda, and Yamaha were all to have stock 1983 minis entered with only Suzuki running air-cooled 82's.
The '83 Yamaha didn't get a chance, nor did it's rifer Eddie Hicks. Eddie went down in a first turn pile-up in the first moto and jumped up and rode three laps before realizing that his leg was broken.
Paul Denis proved to be the holeshot king again and led every lap in the final on a pre-production 1983 KX80 single-strut water pumper. Kawasaki's seemed to dominate the starts at Ponca as Willie Surratt was again up front early along with Doug Harrington. Danny Storback was the only yellow bike in sight early and after the first couple laps found himself in 3rd place.
Doug Harrington would pass Storbeck to make it a Kawasaki trio up front and it would stay that way to the end.
Storbeck would finish fourth on his 1982 Yamaha (only '82 bike in the top five). The battle for 5th would be between Honda rider Mike Healey and Larry Brooks. Healey and Brooks had a battle on the last lap they won't soon forget. Brroks tried his move down the last straight, but Healey moved over on Brooks and slammed the door on him, nearly running him into the tires. Brooks displayed his displeasure with sign language while Healey took the flag.
Overall results combined from the heat races and final had Paul Denis take the win with Doug Harrington, Willie Surratt, Danny Storbeck, and Rick Hemme rounding out the top five places.
1. Paul Denis, KAW
2. Doug Harrington, KAW
3. Willie Surratt, KAW
4. Danny Storbeck, YAM,
5. Rick Hemme, SUZ
1982 105cc Modified Expert Class
By Karel Kramer (Cycle News 1982): Suzuki got to flex their muscles in the 105cc class thanks to the hard riding of Rick Hemme and a bit of bad luck on Paul Denis part. Denis had a solid lead in the race when his Kawasaki's front suspension stuck on full compression over a jump. With Denis out, Danny Storbeck grabbed the lead and hung tough to the flag. Rick Hemme began the race as far back as 12th place and hacked his way through the pack to third on lap five where he stayed till the flag.
Rick Hemme sewed up the overall with Storbeck second and Healey third. Larry Brooks and Doug Harrington finished out the top five in 4th and 5th respectively.
1. Rick Hemme, SUZ
2. Danny Storbeck, YAM
3. Mike Healey, HON
4. Larry Brooks, SUZ
5. Doug Harrington, KAW
Here is R&D's Dean talking about when the 83 KX80 surfaced at Ponca City in 1982:
MXA: What was the best mini-bike ever made?
Dean: "The biggest improvement in the mini bike arena was the introduction of the 1983 KX80. It was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, Obviously, it would not compare with today’s standards, but, at that time, it made huge strides in engine performance as well as suspension. Needless to say, they kicked our butt. It took some time to overcome the technical advantages that they had achieved."
I think you are right about your uncle.
Pit Row
Bump.....
Out of respect for them this thread should always remain on the first page of old school.
Godspeed Young Heroes
On the pipe and in the red! Here's to the boys!
Ok Chuck, screwed that one up, just like my racing career, ha! Anyways, this is how it all began for Bruce. This is his first trophey from Saddleback Park, 1977. Pretty sure he was on an XR but I could be wrong. Picture: Complement of Bird Legs Taylor himself.
Post a reply to: Bruce Bunch, Rick Hemme, Kyle Fleming