Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• • • , , • • SCRAMBLIN AROUND 7 ORANGE COUNTY By Maureen L ee I've been ask in g a lot of the ri ders what t hey think of t he ruling that a C lass C Amat eur or Expert c a n n o t ri de In Sportsman events (excl udi ng desert ), and the answ er is al ways "It stinks" (or words to that effect ! Th ere are t wo si des to every story , so what 's t he othe r si de to this one? Di str i ct 37 clubs doo' t pay money to scrambl ers. Equipment ? Well, may be the re's a small point there; an Expert' s Class C bi ke is always better and he can wri t e of f al l his engi ne " goodi es" on his income tax, pl us expenses which could help pay for some things a "sports man" ri der coul dn't afford. But I can't think of any of our top chargers at the sc rambles who are hurting for engine goodies because t hey can't deduct t hem off t hei r tax forms. A preli minary heat, Pros & Cons I n many secti ons of the country the pros never have been allowed to rid e with the Sportsmen; they have ridd en i n thei r own classes at the event s , or if t hey did rid e with th e sportsman rid ers , were not gi ven trophi es for placing, the tr ophi es bei ng given only to sportsman winners . Ri ght t here is a sol ution to the cry of " they tak e our t rophies away from us , how can we beat a Nat io nal Number, " etc . But when you come ri ght down to it, how many times do we see a sta r Cl ass C rider compete at a local scrambi es and walk home with a t rophy? Very rarely. In our district we have more prof essional rid ers than anywh ere el se in the country , and this rul e reall y hurt s the guys who are perhaps on thei r way up to a National Number and who ri de every Sunday at a sc rambles and st ill ride Cl ass C. Want a few names? L onnie alter, Steve Scot t , Jim Berry , Chuck W Minert etc. , etc. Last saturday night's A scot T.T. found Skip Van Leeuwen mi ssing. F in di ng Ski p in the stands I asked him why , and he showed me the telegram fr om the A.M.A. revoking his license . . Now, how does a nationally-rated rider risk l osi ng his profes sional license by competing i n a sport sman sc rambl es? Skip went up to Bak ersfield fo r the T ri State Champi onshi p, which was probabl y the fi rst sc rambles hel d since all the Class C riders recei ved their l ett er from the A .M.A . He ta lked to Red Owen about i t , and Owen sai d he had ta l ked by phone to L in Kuchl er for over an hour about the rulin g, and that he underst ood it woul d be all rig ht for Skip to ri de, he wouldn't be jeopardizing hi s license. So what happens? He wins t he t rophy and l oses his license. . Th ings like this keep addin g to the lo ng list of complaint s about t he A .M.A . It made me and ot hers good and mad to hear an A.M.A . offici al stand ther e in fr ont of the Sports Commi tt ee and say they were consideri ng d ropping sanc tions to sport sman events , as i f our races were to o small to be both ered wi th. How can they do this, and at the same time require an appllcant fo r a No vice professi onal license to have an Amat eur or Expert sportsman card? Our Natio nal Champi onship events aren' t doing so well, anyway, wi th some four cancelled this past year, so if the A.M.A . drops sportsman sanctions , what are they goi ng to be doing? Fighting secret l awsults? D. ad h.at In the trophy dash found #48 Pat Gosch and John Bradford sharing honors. One of t he most hot 1y contested trophy das hes ever at Orange County Speedway was run l ast Wednesday night , May 4, when Pat Gosch from Omaha, Nebraska on hi s Harley Sprin t and Jo hn Bradford from Anaheim on his Bu l taco ran most of the last lap wheel to wheel and finish ed the t rophy dash i n a dead heat. Amid the screaming and hollerin g of the fans , and much to their delight , two tr ophi es were gi ven away fo r that event. We are pleased to see the crowds i ncreasing each week at Oran ge C ounty Speedway . I t loo ks as though Ronni e Jones , th e promot er, i s obtal ni ng some results thr ough his efforts to publici ze the t rack and the motorcycl e racing on Wednesday nights. W e're also pl eas ed to see our ent ri es for the events are i ncreasing steadlly each week . The 100cc trophy dash was won by an old favori te and a ri der who has been absent fr om short track raci ng fo r some time, Davi d Ham from Riverside on a Hodaka. Ham was abl e to come back and do t he same thing i n the 100cc main, breaking Ri ck Woods ' eight conse cuti ve win streak. In the 250cc main , Gosch and Br adford agai n had an opportunity to show what they coul d do in competitio n with each other, and thi s time J ohn was able to get by Pat and win the event . T hird pl ace in the main went to t he number two A.C .A . fiattracke r of 1965 seaso n, Jo hnny Bal sam, followed cl osely and hotly contested by #452, James Deehan. Next week shoul d prove to be Quit e a bat tle for these top four 250cc main event runners. With Johnny Balaam getting th e fi rs t 250cc ride of t he seaso n and James Deehan, a new ri der to short tracking, coming on strong, it looks as though Pat Gosch and John Bradford will have their work cut out for th em staying on top of the 250cc cl ass. ( Results on page 16) Da. ld Ham sw. pt the 100cc class W.dn.sday night at Orang. County Spe.dway. .,. S PROCKETS PARK MAY 8 25Dcc AM.-EX. Di stributor for 11 W.stern Stat.s COOPER MOTORS 2815 W 0 11 • • St•• . Burbank, Calif• . (213) 849·6066 FIRST PLACE Import.d by COSMOPOU TAN MOTORS, 5521 Wayne A•••• Phllad.lphla. Pa. ALE R INQUIRIES INVITED EVERYONE IS WELCOME to the Honda of Gardena' SUN. MAY 15th Fun Ride & Poker Run • • • Please CaD Charlie orRen at 323-8314 or 770-0603 jrJr Reservations by Fri. Noon at the Latest r FREE COFFEE &DONUTS i Run Starts at 9:000 at lSS1SS. Western A Gardena ve., (Honda of Gardena) -

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