Cycle News

G ar y Nixon tell s th e press how h is return to ro ad raci ng went. John Cronsh aw rod e a T ea m Obsolete 1962 Matchless G50 to victory in the 500cc Premier class. thought wrong. I j ust went as fast as I felt safe going: ' Eac h of th e four front-runners took tu rns a t the ' fro nt of the pack , b u t as the race dr ew to a close Du H am el loo ked like the rid er to beat. Nix on, however , had other ideas . As th ey dashed for th e fini sh line, Nix on sa t in fifth but pu lled out of the draft a nd slingsho ued past all four of his peer s. An a ma zed Du H am el cro ssed t he finis h line second, o n ly in ch es behind Nix on . Springs teen, R ei m a n and Pr idmor e follow ed in that order. " Ma n , th e draft reall y works on th ese bikes. In my racing days, it never felt �� like it did on this, " said Nix on , wh o celebra ted h is 52nd birt hda y in J a nua ry. " I th ou gh t th ey had m e beat , but DuHam el got ou t of shape on the last lap and I tagged onto him ." " T ha t wa s a g ood p a ss," sa id DuHamel with a sm ile. " T h is is grea t, I'm rea ll y g lad to get to pa rt icipate. I may. be 51, but I'm tryi ng to sho w th a t I ca n still go fast !" In th e seco nd race, DuHamel didjust th a t a nd led th e majori ty of th e 5-la p race, including the lap th a t co un ted. Sp ri ngs tee n s ha dowe d DuH am el throughout the race, while Rei ma n, Pridmore and N ixon trai led a few bik e len gths behind. Sp r ingsteen tr ied r e peatedl y to sq ueeze past DuHamel, b ut wou ld co nstan tly lose ground to th e ea rl ier race's runner- u p in the tig h ter infield sectio ns . " I th ou ght I m igh t be ab le to sta y wi th Yvon in th e infi eld, bu t ma n, he's fast a nd smooth ," said Springs teen . " I was dr agging th e cylinders o n the grou nd tryin g to keep up !" DuHa mel greeted th e chec kered flag first, ahea d of Springsteen, Reiman , Pridmore a nd Nixon. " I wa nte d to wi n the seco nd race rea lly bad , but I d id n' t want to go too fast a t first," sai d DuHamel. ' ~ I didn 't wa nt to be too far head o f th e o the r guys. I wanted it to be a good sho w." And a ll of th e othe r riders- agreed th a t it was a good show. "T his was a blast," said 33-year-old Sp ringsteen . " It 's kinda funny because a t the dirt tracks now, I'm usu all y th e o ldest gu y, but here I'm th e you ngest." " We were all ha ving a grea t time ou t th ere," agreed P ridmore, who hi t a sea gu ll in the first race . " It was reall y fun , but I haven 't been on a road ra ce co urse since I quit racin g professionally abo ut 15 years ago," sa id 58-year-o ld Mann , wh o fi r st co m pe ted as a n Ex pert a t Da ytona on the beach co u rse in 1955. Mann reti red fro m professio nal racing 19 years ago , in 1973, bu t rem ai ns active in vintage raci ng. " I jus t went OUlto rid e around," said Ca lifornian Vesco , who co mpeted in five Dayton a 200 races in th e ��60s. " I let those guys ba ttl e it o ut." " I think mo st of us still have a bit o f co m pe titiveness in us," said Emde, w ith a la ugh. " O nce a racer , always a ra cer. " Alt hough he would have li ked to , DuHamel had li ttle tim e to si t a nd reminisce wit h h is fellow ra cers, as he had two AHMRA H istoric Cup Series classes to com pe te in. A q uick cha nge of leathers, and the Can adi an was on the track again. In th e Formu la G ran d Pri x Heavyweight class, Du H a mel bl asted aro u nd th e co ur se fastest aboard the Team O bsol ete BSA triple to score the win over Todd H en ni ng, wh o was aboard a 1972 Yamaha TR3. Fin ish in g th ird, close behind th e lead duo, was Cycle Ne ws co rrespo nde nt Alan Cathcart of Eng la nd, aboard a 1972 Duca ti 750SS. DuHamel added th e Formula 750 class wi n to his day 's ac hievements. Return in g to the track o n th e BSA, Du Ham e l again o u td ista n ced h is co m pe tition in the infi eld to score his wi n. Cat hcart too k second this time ou t, a lso a boa rd the same mach ine he raced in th e G P H eavyweigh t ra ce. Rou nding out th e to p three was 1970 H onda C R 750-mounted Ku rt Leib mann. T he 500cc Prem ier cla ss belonged to T ea m O bso lete's J o h n Cro ns ha w, p er i od. T he 1962 Ma tch less G5 0mou nted Brit blasted off the lin e a nd was never seriously cha llenged for th e lead. Nixon re tu rn ed to the track, th is time aboard a T eam O bso lete 1962 Ma tchl ess G50 , and ran seco nd for most o f th e race. Although Nixon staye d close to Cro nshaw , he was never able to mak e a serio us bid for the point pos itio n. " I kn ew he was back there," said Crons ha w. " Bu t I was able to keep m y lead th ro ughout th e race." . " I tr ied a nd tri ed , bu t I co u ld n't ga in any gro u nd ," said Nixon. Mu ch . to N ixon ' s d ism a y, P eter J ohnson sn uck up on th e 1967 Daytona 200 wi n ne r in th e clo sin g la ps a nd sto le th e runner-up po sit ion. Pennsylvania n J ohnson, aboard a 1969 H onda Drixto, ra n third for most of th e race before running Nixon down. Pe n nsy lvan ia n Peter Johnson, a boa rd a 1969 H onda Drixto, overtook 1962 Mat chless G50-m ou nted Ga ry Nixon to finish seco nd in the 500cc Premier cla ss. " I d idn' t get a grea t sta rt , bu t I was ab le to gai n a li ttl e every lap ," sai d J ohnson. . eN Results 500 PREMI ER : I. J oh n Cro nsha w (Mat); 2. Peter Johnson (Ha n); 3. Gary Nix on (Mal); '4. J ohn Lo ng (Due); 5. Cra ig McLean (Mal). 750 SPTMN: I. Pa l Moo ney (T , i); 2. Ro b T u llie (T ri); 3. J nhn Lon g (T ri); 4. Ra nd y Bradesk u (BMW); 5. Peter warson (BMW). 500 SPTM N: I. J o h n Lo ng (Due); 2. T odd Hen ni ng (Ha n ); 3. Bru ce Allen (BSA); 4. Sea n Dwyer (BSA); 5. G lenn T ow ery (T ri). PRE 1940: I. R usty Lowry (Ind ); 2. Marcello del Gi nd ice (Nor) ; 3. Al Kna pp (H -D); 4. Jim Smith (Ind]: 5. Ben o Rod i (No r). 200 GP: I. Sven Bley (Ma i]: 2. Chri s LrCruee (Bul); 3. Byro n Blen d (Hon); 4. Edward Sen sing (Due ); 5. Dennis Maca luso (BSA). 250 GP: 1. Lee Rob inson (Bu l): 2. Michael Gr een (Due); 3. J ason Bessey (Due ); 4. Wayn e Allen (H D); 5. Steve Ap pleba um (Bul). CLASS C: I. Norma n Nelson (Nor); 2. Bill Pilling ' (V-G ); 3. Da vid Ro per (Vel); 4. Marty Dickerso n (Vin); 5~ Leif Scree. FORM ULA G P LTWT: I. Yosh i Kosaka (Ya m); 2. Keith Go n you (Yam ); 3. Kevin Go n you (Ya m); 4. Randy Harding (H ��D); 5: Rich Barger (Yam). C LASSt C 60: I. Norman Nelso n (BSA); 2. Bill P ill in g (V-G); 3. Bob Bulmer (BSA); 4. Ja son Bessey (BSA); 5. 'Ti mo th y Stancill (BSA). . 350 SPTMN: I. T om Keister (Due); 2. Russell Foa rd (H e n): 3. Tom Arn or (Du e); 4. Jay Chap man (H �� D); 5. Tim Van S

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