Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125447
NOMADS - • SCRAMBLE PRADO By Ma ureen Lee Ever s e e a Honda break in ha lf? One did at Prado Sunday at t he Nomads M.C . s crambles. P a rt of th e front frame had be e n re moved for weight redu cti on purposes and when ride r J ac k Wilki nson gassed it a bit ha rd whil e landing after the jump , hi s mount c ame over backward s on him and " t ha t' s all she wrote . · J a c k was okay but his beloved " Rinkyputt " wasn ' t , He 's been showing re a l promise lat ely and last week showed up at Bay Mare i n new gre en leather s and a beautiful green paint job on the bike . and down he went . Now this Sunday... we' re not superstitious . but . .. .. Ham's Hodaka Hauls San D;eg~ 9 BROADSLIDES THRILL HUNDREDS AT DEHESA Riley Does It Again In the Swe eps take s. J ohn Rice cha rged away into th e le ad. and ha d the rac e ended one la p earlier•. . . we ll! As it was . J oh n R. was right behind B il l Riley at the c heckered with Jim Bass ey ri ght be hi nd hi m. Think how ha rd Ric e had to be going to maintain a lead fo r so long a head of th e big , booming Triumphs. Riley pass ed him on th e straight to take the lead. after following J ohn around th e half-mile. W write this with apologies to e all the riders who should have ha d a mention. but didn' t get it. If we can 't get th e results when writing a story for the deadline. we can't credit th e rid ers. Some clubs do a fast and good job on results . . •som e don' t, (Resulls on pa ge 12 ) T he 100cc c la s s wa s anothe r tri umph for Da ve Ham ; and his Hodaka. Old pro Don Alf red , on a Hond a. got the drop on Ham in the second mota and led for we II ov e r a lap. with th e Hodaka right on his t ail. At one ORANGE COUNTY Two-lIIties mix it up at Prado tors in this size machine ractng on a one-eighth mile track. The 500cc machines will be required to have a ri gid frame and a s ingle cyli nder. The first event at South Gate gets under way at 8:00 p.m, (Res ults on page 12) By Bob Goodi ng The Hi-Boots M.C . of San Di ego continues to present outsta nding sc rambles e ve nts at th eir Dehesa T rack near El Ca jon. This Sunda y' s broad-sliders saw Byr on Kre ne k win ning his fi rst race in th e 100 cc no vic e e ve nt on a ve ry hot SOcc Yamaha. Chuck Baker to ok the 100cc E xper t rac e . push ed by T er ry Mulkey . who was taki ng hi s first E xpe rt ri de . The 200cc class feat ure d du eling by Rob er t Dur eya a nd Ro y Mich ael. both Bult aco mount ed . L arr y Bishop had th e 250c c Novice boys trying. but with no lu c k. T hen . Red Clemo cle a ned hou s e on th e 250cc Amat eur group. The 250c c Expe rt s were glad to welcome Jim Fl a gg back to c ompetition aft e r a brief re t i re ment. Admire-able BSA's ridden by Bruc e Bak er and Dick W oods were on top in th e 500cc Novic e c la ss with Red Clemo in third on an old Matchl es s t ha t he bought as a basket c a se for twenty do ll a rs . Ge orge Admire won all th re e motos in th e 500 c c Expert cla s s . thi s in a ddition to draggi ng the track . operating t he wat er truck. flaggin g and doing a large part of the work that it takes to put on a goo d pro gra m. Looki ng ve ry determined wa s J ames Smith as he took the Open Novice on a Norton. After t he fir st mot a i n the Open E xp er t c lass . Grant Br own and Vern Gilliha n pau s ed in the pit area to hold an info rma l di s c ussion . a s e lf appoi nted committee joined th em to mediate . and the n us he re d the La dy' s P owder Puff class to the starti ng li ne . A gro up of ni ne ladies put on a fine show. wit h Eulen e Long using a ll of her Giler a power to win. (Res ulls on page 12) • • point Ha m lost gro und attempting to pas s on th e out s i de of turn on e. and s li d out wide. but he soon ga ine d it back . An exciti ng race was e nde d when Alfred' s Hond a went sour. The 250 Expe rt clas s featur ed David Ham again with Doug Yerke s • both Bultaco-mount ed , with hard riding Dou g ge tti ng th e upp er ha nd . Back from th e European mota-cros s circuit s. Happy Hopkins was out in the same c lass doing real well as he bec a me fami liar with ra c in g in the "Prad o P ark styl e . " He swears ther e' s not an oth er trac k like it a nywhe re . that passi ng ca n be tic klish as t he groo ve is narrow (t he on ly I S"-wi de track in e xistenc e) . but he thoro ughly enjoyed hims elf an d wa nts to get a bi g bik e now s o he can rid e in the afternoons a nd well as the morn in gs. Hunter Hits The Deck The 500cc E xpert class went to John Rice on his ol d and trusty 305 Honda scrambler. (Would yo u believe a 650 Honda scrambler?) Well. tha t' s the way it ran . Like a 650. You guy s wit h s us picious minds, coo l it. It was one of those days when the machine ran exce ptionally we ll. an d John R. rode like Jack the Bear. Jim Hunt er got a way first with J ohn rig ht af ter him. catching and pa s s ing Hun ter. Seconds later on th e ha lfmile wit h the th rottle really co rke d o n, do wn we nt J im a nd hi s B e e z er i n a s lidi ng ta ngle , with th e rid er cartwhe e ling off the tra c k. Jim ' s crashes are fe w. but they ' re alw ay s s pectacular! He got going aga in but tha t was the end of any real effort on " Mr. Gol ds ta r' s · pa rt. Aft er dropp in g one tha t hard. s omethi ng's got to gi ve ! The Open Experts wer e great. J im Ba s s e y follow ed B ill Riley aro und close en ough on a ll thr e e motos to be a thr eat the whol e time. Ba s s ey at times, a ppeared to be fast er on the st rai ght . but was s e en shutting orr at th e end . Why? Early in the day he went down very hard on a Suzuki . didn 't know e xa ctly what happened but tho ught that maybe he' got his brake and gear shift feet mixed up. Anyway . he wasn 't feeling in top shape after de cking it . and rode with caution. Re me mber that wisdom, Novic e riders . and you too will s ta nd a c ha nce to become a number one heavyweight rid er! NEWS FROM NEVADA First-time competitors cut their teeth at Orange. SHORT TRACK Wednesday night at Omnge County saw the firs t time the A.C.A. increased its M ain Event s in the 250cc c lass to an III A " and IIlB " Mai n because of over 60 ent ries . Pat Gos ch from Omaha . Nebraska on his Har ley Sprint continued to dominate the 250cc • A· Main Event beatin g out last yea r's se cond plac~ A.C.A. flatt rack er, Johnny Balaam on a Har ley Sprint. Thir d place went to Dave Ham (Bultaco). Dave has not done too well this yea r in the 250cc class but has dominated the 100cc class by winning the 100cc Trophy Dash as well as the IOO Main. cc The 250cc "B" main went to an old favorite of the fans . Tommy Bannon, up from Palm Springs on his BSA. Second place in the 100cc main was lak en by Russ Robins on from Garden Grove on a Yamaha. In hot conte ntio n for third place in this event was Rick Woods from Hunti ngton Beach on a Yamaha. T he 50cc Main Event was prett y well dominated by the Smith brothers . with Da ve winning the event and Mike tak ing s econd . both on Tohats us. Third plac e went to Bill O'Neil from Norwalk on a Yamaha. The 250cc Trophy Das h was eas il y won by Pat Gos ch on a Harley Sprint. Thi s was Pa t' s third trophy dash win in a row. Checking Out The Course Thursday night saw the fiattrackers move to South Gate Raceway for a practic e s ession to check out the new cours e. The course will be available for racing this Th ursday . It looks as if the oneeighth mile course will be larg e enough to hold not only our normal 50. 100 and 250cc . but we are going to start initiating a 500cc single class which s hould add a great deal of interest to the eighthmile flattrack, T his Thurs day night there will be an exhibition run by the 500cc singles to se e how much interest is shown by the riders and the specta- And yet more 250s - Experts get going at Las Vegas. Sunday , May 22nd , Las Vegas. N evada Story & Photos By Reg Sheldrick With Gene Drew's thoughts . Awaiti ng the start of today's races , I found myself staring at Gene Drew. the starter. I was wondering what was going on in a starter' s mind during a race. T he concentratio n was s o int ens e that I seemed to pick up his thoughts ...· M an. that track was in bad shape. .s ure looks good now. Smooth, watered down. heard they worked out here real late last night ...looks lik e a good turnout. Typica l Las Vegas Sunday .. wind blowing strong .. saw ride rs here from Phoeni x. Etiwanda, Lancast er. Well. practice, Powder Puffs , then 50s . Hmm. .. maybe I s houid wate r the trac k?? Naw, turn ' em loos e. We ll . firs t Hea t. gals up. Ea ger aren't they. Hold it - easy - OFF and racin g. ... Up s ince 6:00 a.m, Long morni ng.. last Hea ts ...juveniles up. Back up, Mike! GO! Danny going good.. little tan gle in the ess . Wave the checker and they finis.h Da tlind, Honda ; Debloy. Honda; and MIke North• . Honda. 50cc Senior in, Miller tak es first. Lee s econd and Danny Sromalla third . Here ar e the boys from Pho enix. Thos e li ttle 100cc Yamaha sc rea mers ••. five laps over and they win it. J im Halford. Yamaha first; broth~r Tom second; Norm Hanson, Yamaha thud. 90cc Senior anxious to start. Tum 'em loose•••good s tart. Boaz out in front and pull ing away ..Sromalla chas ing••oopS, missed somethin g. Danny' s in front and wins it. •. Boaz winds up se cond and Valenzuel a third. Final Heat 250 Novices. Secondo Columbero leads. going real good•.big lea d at the finish ..handled that Bullaco nicely. John Columbero (Bulta co) s econd and J im Hill (M ontesa) third . Amateur 250s up ••listen to that Yamaha.•so unds like so mebody tearing up strips of paper••tlght race.. Bob Ahls trom takes it on a Yamaha. Jay Willey (M ontesa) second and Shane Ross (Greeves) third. Here come the hot 250s. Sure glad I quit the trac k. Man, what a quick five laps . •Don Slagle flashes in. Bultaco' s really perkin g. Max Switzer right behind .•new bike for Max ..switched to Bultaco. Third to Lee stumpenhaus. (Gree ves ). Too bad there aren' t more big bores. . They 're off. Look at that Boaz ride. . 441 Victor.. we're not going to catch him today. .sure turning it on. .Got 500s and 650s running together..That Beezer has got the race. Lonnie Arnold looking and riding better each time out. How was the fint.sh? .Yea! Boaz (BSA) first; Arnold (Tn .) second; Cunningham thi rd in the 500cc. Bob Neil (Tri.) first. Wilburn ickey Daws on (TrL) (T ri.) second and M third in the 650cc cla ss. Pa ck it up now and me for a cold beer." The Sil ver Queens put on today's races. This 12 member. all -girl cl ub s hould get a big hand for the way they handled the events . They s uffered the only mishap of the day when Paula Mazzo. a newcomer ridi ng in her first race , unloaded in the second heat. Paula and her Suzuki parted company and she wound up with a wrenched knee. Shirley Slagl e and P eggy Ferguson dueled it out, with Shirl ey overcoming a good lead in the final heat to edge out P eggy and tak e the P uff trophy. Al Titus s et up his sound system and called the races. By the way. Al rec entl y opened his new motorcycle shop at 5560 La ke Mead Blvd. Most all models of BSAs and Yamahas are on display and it's a great place to rent a Yamaha as his s hop is on the way to Lake M ead. Trophies were donated for the races by: T om' s Cycle .Art·s Motorcycle Shop, AI' s Cycle . Bob Simps on Jawa -Hodaka, and E.A. Marshal Construction Co. (Res ul ts on pa ge 12) ..