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By Stan Coffee
IIIIt certlill, ..Sf ...lifJ IS die tltlest CIIIIi .. IVW iB Cali""'l
. . . . tllt . . . . elcllllll_ IS well........ Taft M,C, 11I14 tlleir fll1ll
Custom Seats· Motorcycle Painting
Pickup & Delivery Service
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SAN GABRIEL
VALLEY RACEWA Y
T
1/2 Mile 2 Jumps6 Turns
Saturday Nite Oct-22
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BRIIG THIS AD FOR A5IC DISCOUNT,
GOOD THIS WEEK OILY
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G& A $2.51
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Jr.8-12 $La
u....... Free witll P-.t
Gates 0.... It &....
First Race It 8:15 ...
~es
Om. ai.....
During practice much grumbling was
heard concerning the rou gh tightness at
the course (three tight rlghthanders,
three one eighty letts, and one loog
sweeping lett, all thrown together in
five-eigt!is of a mile). But as soon as
tile first beat got underway the smoothtrack lovers began to change their tone.
Althou gh the track was tigh t there was
plenty of passing room and it soon became apparent that this was to be a
riders' race and horsepower was secondary. Some of the boys who usually play
the waiting game and hang back to strike
the underpowered gang found this none
to easy. as it was necessary to ·dial it
on- in tile garbage as well as the long
stuff to remain competitive.
After the first go-round, comparative
times revealed that the lightweights
were going to steal a lot of the thunder
from the big guys with the.tr superior
han dUng and tract! CII.
The outstanding race of the prelims
developed in tile 200re novice-amateur
go when teammates Everett Binkiey and
Tracy Brlgh t staged a close battle un til
the last lap when Binkley went a little
wide and Bright slipped in for the win.
Other impressive heat wins were turned
in by Mike Taylor and Jim O'Hara on
250's, Mike Keen on a new Matchless
Scrambler. and CZ's flagwaver, Joe
Brown.
Duels in the Sand
As nain event and final IIIOto time
rolled 1IftMIIId, it bec_ ~ that
....- real dDels were to occ... and lbe
crowd was .-It dillllllPOUded as Randy
MatUtews led lbines off wilb a good ride
in lbe 58cc class followed by' tile first
novice Jeff Jobnsoa. Matlbews lad
fall en orr in lbe second beat and lad to
finish first to Wl'llll 11II tbe trophy.
Tbe 90cc oovice race was a near runaway for Bob Elisarraras on a SUzuki
followed qy stan Coffee on a Brldgestone
Scrambler am Terry Cox on a Honda
(Cox was moved up to second spot when
Coffee was accused of short coursing
and didn't want to argue the point).
Young Mike Lane turned in another of
his flawless rides to take home the
- gold- in the 90cc am.-exp. race and
Richard Newby and Rick Blake ran onetwo in the anateur category. Lane has
got to be one of the youngest riders anywbere to hold an Expert card. They say
he is only nine or ten years of age.
What promised to be a fierce battle in
the 200 novice-am. race ended UP as a
walkaway for John Oliver on his Sherpa.
Binkley took the lead off the line and
lasted just one-half lap before unloading in the right-hander after the jump,
allowing Oliver to take over. Scotty
Coyne and Tracy Brigh t waged a hattle
fcc secom with Coyne just nosing
Bright at the checker.
Comfortably Charging
The 250 Novice race was a real slamhang affair with Jim O'Hara jumping
ir!to the lead and Mike Couch pushing
hun hard, oot all eyes were on Mike
Taylor who had jumped out of gear on
the line and gone into the first turn last
and very mad. Taylor quickly moved
Into fourth and O'Hara got into trouble
and dropped hack. moving Taylor into
third. Couch and the second place man
could not hold off though and he took
the lead wi th a lap to go. With Taylor
comfortably entrenched (oot still charging) in firs t place, the rest of the pack
seemed to come unglued and everyone
started falling off letting Don Upshaw
in for second 011 his Yamaha.
Look for big dUnes flam Taylor, a
saJesan I'rom lIaIIenlfteld who was
raised about a mile rrom lbe track. He's
no IUd at dUrw, . .t be bas to be classified as Ole -oldest- y - c cllarKer going.
Waltzing aad Wi.Bi.g
The two-litty AID.-Exp. ligured to be
an easY vic tory for Joe Brown on hi s
CZ, oot although he began to waltz once
he took th~ lead, it wasn't easy getting
qy Wayne Schmidt or GEroce Francisco,
neilber wanted to band it to him. Joe
turned out to be the crowd pleaser of the
day with an average of five gigantic
wheelies a lap.
The Ope n Novice race belonged to
Don Cameron all tile way, bot Mike Keen
made his prescnce known throughout
trying the insid'" outside, and a couple
of times aimost the over-tile-top roote,
oot to no avail as Cameron rellJsed to
make a mistake and wouldn't open the
gate.
Gene Chandler was big in the Am.Exp. main and had little trouble holding
off Ray Anderson who likewise was
staying ahead of 01' Skip Saylor, the
first amateur in.
This event wrapped it up for the day
and the crowd seemed well pleased and
eager to move on to Bakersfield for the
scrambles on the sixteenth. The Taft
M.C. did an excellent job on the track
considering the surface (which drank
water like it was going out of style) and
an able assist was provided by the Taft
Two-Wheelers •
(Rnalts oa page 16)
