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/125451
Irwindale 10 Clas s wi nne rs Saturday wer e almost a ca rbo n of Sunday ' s show . Exce pti ons were such as Sal Estrada's wi nnin g Top Str eet at Irwi nda le and Nira Johnson Top Gas. Ron Kna pp won the 250cc Ga s class and R. L . St rickland took B St ree t ho nors . Othe r results can be foun d in Cycle News (on page 14) except for the unusual. Such as Sonny Raslawski running out of gas before the fin ish lights and half the eliminations finished at the starting lights when a rider moved too s oon and redlighted. The program was great, thanks to . WillY Butler and his wife , Virginla , and Irwindale has great things for the future of bikes on the planning board. Coming Events • • • Fontana is now running th ree nights pe r week: Friday, Saturday and Sunday the gates open at 5:30 p.m. , elimina tions s tart at 8:00 p.m, Saturday , Ju ne 25, will be the date of anothe r A.H.R .A. W orld Record meet . T he place is Romona Rac eway near San Di ego. In two weeks, July 2, Murray a nd C ook will rac e Dick Ri os on a two-out -of-thre e match for the co ve ted " King of the T win s" crown whil e Bob Ebeling will ra ce the Ornellas Bros. on a si mila r tliree-time basi s a t F remont Ra ceway near San Franci sc o. July 30 and 31st will be the A.H .R.A. two da y Nat i onals at Li ons Dra g Strip with a good cas h purs e for the win ners and a cha nce a t world rec ords. T he futur e of dra g racing is well on th e move upward ! Resul ts IRWINDAL E DRAG RESUL TS Sa turday, June 18, 1966 TOP FUEL: Murray & Cook Tri-RUNS ER- UP : Don Ha rris Tri - T OP GAS: Nlra Johnson T ri 11.93-113. 0 A/GAS: Sonny Ra slawskl II-D 11.23-120. B/ GAS: Nira J ohn s on Tri 11.93 -113. D/ GAS: La rry Grossman Hon 13.66- 98 . E /GAS: Ron Knadd Yam 13.36- 97.6 • TOP ST REET: Sal Estrado AlSTREET: Sal Estrado B/ STREET: R. L _ Strickland C/STREET: Harry Cro uc h D/ STREET: L e RoyWyman in E/STREET: J im De W ter H-D 13.11-102.5 H-D 13.11-1 02.5 Tri 13.97- 95.1 15.18- 85.6 Hon 13.74- 92. 18.32 - 66. Ll OS S DRAG RESULT S Sunday, June 19, 1966 T OP F UEL: Murray & Coo k RUNNER-UP: Don Harris THIRD : Bob Ebeling Tri 9.72-157. Tri 10.81 - 137.8 li on 13.0 0- - TOP GAS: Sonny Raslawskl RUNNER -UP: Willy Butl er T HIRD: Bob Braverman II-D 11. 00-121. Tri 12.31- 109. Yam 12.87 - 102.1 T OP ST REET: W ayne SIl)'der II-D 12. -18-107.5 RUNNE R-UP: Tony Dodge Tri 12.31 - 108.4 TllfRD: Le Roy Wy man Hon 13. 98- 95.2 A/STREET: B/ STR EET: C/ST REET: D/ STREE T : E/STREET: F/ST REET: W ayne Snyde r To ny Dod ge L e Roy W yman Ste ve Cox C. Prohas ka C. Pronaska II-D Tri li o n 110n Suz Hon 12.48 -107.5 12 .31 - 108 . 13. 98- 95. 15.3 4- 82 .1 15.42- 80.5 16.92- 76.5 A/GAS: Sonny Ra s l a wski B/ GAS: Willy Butl er C/ GAS: F. lIu nter D/ GAS: Di ck Jo nes E /GAS: Boh Bra verma n A/FUEL: Murray & Coo k B/FUEL: Don lIarri s C/ FUEL : Bo b Ebeling DRAG from page 1 and Cook with "Flustrat ion" made the A Fuel co ntest up to an d beyond expectations . Since the entries we re of an oddnumber(3), coins were nIpped to give the odd man a single run. Murray and Cook drew the single and promptlY pre pa red , staged and turned 9.80 E.T. , 155 .-14 mph. scotty and P er ry had pure lY cleaned the teeth off a mag gear and were given twenty minutes to re l?"ir it . for the elimination against Di ck Rios . UnfortunatelY they co uldn't make it des pite every e ffort a nd Rios made a single run of low te n seconds a nd 149 mUes per hour. T he n it was ti me for the rac e we all had loo ked forwa rd to Dick Ri os and Murray and Cook were t owed towa rd the starting li ne and fired without fail. Both bik es s taged. No one s pec ulated on t he outcome or gla nce d elseflas hed were. T he starti ng li ghts yellow , and the n gree n, Both bi kes moved out wit h Dick Ri os a few feat ahead but not enough to rea ch the winni ~g lights fi rst when Jim Coo k pull ed all stops out for a drag strip and World Record of 9.74 E.T. an d 156 .52 mph. For The Money Don Ha rris had easilY defeated the fuel Honda in a previous elimination and had to fac e Murry a nd Cook for $100 .00 (one hundr ed) dollars Top Fuel money . Don did n't give up d ue to a common infe riority complex felt In' other competitors (such as yours truly) but came ahead to make the match. It was a good race but the double made the quickest, fastest and straightest run ever pe rformed on two wheels for a qua rte r-mile (the new world rec ord of 9. 72 elapsed time and 157.06 miles pe r hou r). If anyone does not realize the awesome fact of these record times, then the best point of ref erence is the Bonneville Q)ing-mile rec ord for tht s ty pe and class machine . It now stands at a sp eed of 16-1.985 miles per hour. This, as you can see, is only; mil es faster tha n this new quarter-mile record. M urray an d Cook pla n an "assult on the salt," in August and man, it looks like they have it made ! Don Har ris turned 10. 81 - 137.82 in this matc h and stands proud with s uch a speed on a yet new single engine bike . T he money wasn't all in fuel as Top Gas winner, Sonny Raslawski ca n prove . Sonny's Harley-Davidson was placed on the li ne against WUlY Butler' s 650cc Triu mph. WillY is pit director at Irwindale Raceway a nd is not allowed t o enter his bike in competition at the home strip. Th e T riumph was " put togethe r" Saturday night afte r a period of bench time and waded th rough a tough competition field in B Gas for a t ry at the money . The fi rst money ra c e was WillY Butler against Bob Braverman's 250cc Yamaha E Gas winner , and it was T ri all the way. Sonny Raslawski had not too great a fear but did n' t slow down to see where Willy was in the final money round and as a res ul t took the golden coin turning 11.00 seconds E. T. and 121.62 mph. There we re eight entries in A Str eet and nine in B Street, which provided a good look at street bikes really fighting for the class win. Wayne Snyder rode to A St reet victory while Tony Dodge on T riumph , an d Le Roy Wyman on Honda , took B a nd C classes respectively. Le Roy and Tony were first up and Le Roy settled for third when Tony's Triumph turned one of its good 12 second runs . A lot of excltment su rrounded the next race between Dodge' s T riumph and Wayne Snyder 's Harley, for T ony Dod ge had tur ned almost twotenths of a second quicker and one mile per hour faste r tha n the Harley in the class elimi natio ns . At the moment of trut h, Harley's inc hes came on strong an d Wayne won the match . Records Fall Bob Brave rman established a new E. T . record for E Ga s on Sunday . Although third place in the money , hls 250cc Yamaha is the quickest in its class at the ne w E. T . of 12.87. That is a lot quic ke r than ma ny bigger machines . J i m Ray did not go home a c lass winner but he ca rrie d the pride of a record holder in E Street class. Jim has not been in this sport long and may get a lot quic ke r as time goes on, but an E. T . of 15.28 is okay for now. More Winners c. P ruhas ka entered two bikes at Lions , one in E Street and the othe r in F Street. T he E class Suz uki turned 15.-12 E .T. and 80.57 , while the F Honda ran an 16.92 and 76.53. Th e only other bike entries to collect two in a day was Sal E s trada at Irwindale last week , in classes A and C. H-D 11.00-121 .6 T ri 12.31 -109.7 Ho n 14.12- 94.6 801 15. 50- 86 . Yam 12.87-102. Tri 9.72-157.0 Tri 10. 81-137 .8' lion 13.00- FLOYD CLYMER SELLS nCYC LE" MAGAZINE /n an interview with Cycle News this Wednesday , Floyd Cl ymer, famous Los Angel es publisher, announced that Zitt-Devis Co. of 1 Park Ave ., New York City has agreed to purchase Cycle Magazin e for an undi sclosed amount. Clymer says "l regrett ed parting with Cycle, but Ziti-Devis made me such a good offer that / couldn't ref use." Clymer will be retai ned for six years as consultant on both Cycle and Car & Driver magazines, whi ch Zitt-Devi s also publis hes. For the coming six months, Clymer will continue to publish Cycle from his L os Angeles offices at 222 N. Virgil Ave. Th e monthly magazine claims the world's largest circulation , presentl y around 125, 000, says Clymer. Clymer will retain his interest in Floyd Cl ymer Books and hi s monthl y magazine, Auto Top ics. The sale will in no way affect Cl ymer's World Wide Cycle Clu b, except that now he will be able to devote more effort toit, Floyd says. • • • • • •