Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

... .... SIIZUIIIMIS lEW SAW EJECUTIVE Evel Knievel set a new jump record, BUltacO. Montesa and Ducati shared the winner's spotlight and a rank rookie plus a seasoned short track veteran took home most of the money in the opening round of the new indoor season at Long Beach. Movie and TV star John Derek was on Scrambler Keith Mashburn, competing in his first professional race, was the big winner In the new 125cc class as he powered his BuHaco to the win In the heat race, Trophy Dash and Main Event. Mashburn breezed to easy wins In the heat and final and was only pressed in the four-lap dash that pitted the four heat race winners against each other. This was the first time on an Indoor track for the 4th ranked lightweight scrambles rider in So. Calif. and It was a big inellcation of things to come In '68 when Kei th also turns to the eIlrt track ovals in the area. Rick WoodS, the well seasoned short tracker and Lee Wehrman shared the honors In the 250cc class. Both riders won their respective heat races before meeting head on in the dash. It was Wehrman and his Montesa in for the dash win over Woods and the Ducat!. But in the 15-lap 250cc final Woods jumped to the front and was never headed although he was challenged in the early laps. Gene Romero took his first ride since last spring when he was Injured at Tulare. Gene came up as a heat race winner in the 125cc class buta mechanical problem kept him back In the fiDal. He also rode the 250cc final bat favored the newly-mended leg and played It Heool" most 01 the way. Ron Kruseman, Clyde Litch, Lee Wehrman, Art Barda, Lee stumpenllaus and many more of the experienced racers found the going rough before the evening was over. Slumpenhaus and Wehrman both fell off in the 250cc final but were able to remount and finish the race. Butch Corder, the 1966 Long Beach point champion was back (or his first area race and also received the championship point trophy during intermission. Butch pulled a second place In the heat race before running Into heavy traffic In the final. hand to film the 92 riders in action and was accompanied by BarbaraSlanwyck's TV "daughter". Once again the Long Beach Arena indoor events extended their perfect safety record and there were no Injuries of any type. Indoor racing now swings to san Jose this coming Friday night and Fresno on Sunday night. The Hit & Miss Department ' .•otherwise known as cleaning out the desk at the end of another year. Rumor has it that the Portland mlle has been sold for over three million .••• No word officially one way or the other ••• Butch Corder blew his winning short tracker from last year and is now racing a eIlfferent one which doesn't appear as fast•••.san Jose indoor pro mot e r Bob Barkhimer more than pleased with the turnout for the first three events •••• Barky is now looking for many more tracks of all types to run cycles on during the '68 season •.•Evel Knievel now takes his jumps to Las Vegas, Caesar's Palace, where they expect record turnouts .••Evei' s new attorney is well- known criminal lawyer, Marvin Belli.,.Evel eIld not take even one practice jump at Long Beach before he tried under the roof jumping for the first time .••The slick floor was more· of a problem than the fans knew about••• Once Around the Nation A m He and hal!- m he oval in lllinois that has sat empty since 1947 will be brought back Into service for cycle racing next summer •••It Is located in the shadow of Chicago and yet most people never knew it was there •• .Another mile track cycle race for the Northwest this summer •.•This one will be in Washington around portland and Castle Rock time during July ••.A new mlle track being built in the Northwest but not as yet completed•• .A good chance that cycles wlll also be on this one •••The long time favored mile tracks that have been extra scarce for so many years now startiog to boom ••• People in the News LAWNDALE CYClE 15324 HAWTHORNE BLVD. LAWNDALE, CAUfORNIA 616-0161 l'='} 51'2-1822 cOfItour cwt short nse - ,10.- Ie~ IRON CROSS BELTS , 2•••, stretch 1 piece .~,.... Sltih Send 2S, tor Color PIIoto e..t.... PARR '700 s."t. of ArizG.... w. Hollywoocl. Moniu Blvd. Open frid.ay eye,",", ACHTUNGl AVISO'.. HEY, THEREl Porting and tuning 2-strokes is our specialty. Compression releases expertly installed. 2·STROKES RUN WHEN WE GETDONEl SUPER TUNING by Culver City Cycle Center 10248 Culver Blvd. OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK 9 a.m. to 6 Po... AND l1lURSDAYS 9 a.m. 10 9 p.... (213) 839-9000 Big rumors floating around about how much Gary Nixon has been offered to race next year by various brands ...Don't believe them until Nixon says so as the Internal Revenue boys may wonder just how much Triumph is paying him to pass up all those way-out, rumored offers._Cycle News to break story soon on two of the best known riders that will be forming a new tearn for next season •••Chicago short tracker pat McHenry In town last weekend to pit crew for Jeff Sperry at the Indoor races ••.Pat, long one of the Midwest's top short trackers, now lives In Tucson •••He was so well thought of around the santa Fe Park track that they named an annual race after him - and he didn't even get hurt to get the honor ••.He' s the only guy that ever made a BMW look good on the old beach course at J:aytona.••• Rumor is that John Wayne and family will be out in force for the next Long Beach Indoor event_.John· still ta1Idng about the one and only cycle race he saw there two years ago•••Program manager from the new Forum in Inglewood, CaJI!. also at Long Beach looking over the show and possible dates for the new Prairie Avenue palace that will open the end of this month .• .A lot of thanks to the few from the MRI that hurried around and made the annual riders' banquet possible •••The all-important award night has run into problems the past few years but still could be the biggest affair of the year It one and all will start thinking about it before the season ends ••• It's rumored the Ascot record holellng Suzuki in the novice class will be challenged next year and challenged by a rider and machine that have been getting ready for two years .••Black will be back . but can he find another Durkee? .. The new Suzuki 500' s now being tuned for Daytona .•.At least a dozen, so they say ..•The san Jose race Injury to Jimmy Odom kept him from being drafted two weeks ago .•• The same for Gene Romero and the Tulare spill •••Far more acceptable than burning the draft card .•.Back to Fresno this coming Sunday night and the fast short short course that really gives the fans a ringside thrill-a-lap••• Practice starts at 3 p.m. Gene Trobaugh has been named Natiooal Sales Manager at U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp. and will head an accelerated marketing program based \IPOD the firm's seven new 1968 models and a major racing program that Includes participation of a U.S. Suzuki SllDDSOred race team In all top National road racing events. The firm's President, Osamu Suzuki, added that the U.S. Suzuki racing team would be under the direction of E. Yokouchi, designer of the race-developed X-6 Hustler, which recently set two new 250cc records at Bonneville. Trobaugh, former footbal1 and baseball star from Detroit, Michigan and a racing enthusiast himself for many years, announced that the "talk of the industry - the 500/Five", will be raced at Daytona by no less notable riders than Ron Grant and Dick Hammer. Both, accorellng to Trobaugh, are "signed Suzuki contract riders" who will be "joined soon by other riders of simitar top calibre." The new National Sales Manager moves up to the top spot in the Suzuki sales organization, replacing Ken Smith, after previously serving as Assistant Sales Manager for three years. SliP CLARI RESIGNS Skip Clark, formerly of Plco-Rivera, California, has resigned his position as Sales Manager of Kawasaki East and plans to return to the West Coast. QUARTER-MILE RACES SET FOR PETALUMA IN 19&8 A weekly series of AMA professional motorcycle races are set for the 1968 season on the fast eIlrt quarter-mile oval on the Petaluma, CaJI!ornia fairgrounds. Two such events were held on saturday nights during OCtober of this year and riders claimed the track was better than the famed Belmont oval of some years ago. Racing will start in May, on saturday nights, and continue for a period of 20 weeks. AMA Referee John Pires predicts capacity crowds of 3,000 after the first few weeks of racing. He further states there will be increased activity in Northern California's Distric t 36 during 1968. The Petaluma Fairgrounds are located west of the freeway between san Francisco and santa Rosa. fUll ~ .'DI'" os l1. .... b ..; ... .. CI> ..Q e Cll FOOTHILL TRAILS '" CI> 13240 Rul.cers "e. Do_y, cauL 90242 Q U) ~ fo:l z BRIDIESTOIE - fo:l ..,J U >. u -_. for'" _ I _ _ roll So, Cat 1IcCla1..... Dlilr. Ioc. (213) 77NHI ... Cal: Coo. . .cCal..... (")U.WS21 ~*****************l : THE TWO-WHEELER & : SUZUKI * ~: * ReaQ" I_Hiate Deliv.,y ! * ** 167 •• CollOll A... SlIIl Bomanllao. can,. (7141 IU-344S ~***************** 1I0.! ! lIake sure JOu ...... JOur ad spac. lSlII lor OIIr 40 pace .poelal I SIU.. II)' Doc. IIOW!! .,', - ,,', .. YAMAHA DEALER .. SCRAMBLER MOTORCYCLES 1101 •• Burbank BI.d. IlurllaBk. Calif., ae-e07 or 145-1731 Ext.. 7 -- STUNT MAN STARTS NEW SPORT ··PAVEMENT SKIING? Shown here in action (above) being towed by his Triumph Bonneville while a pair of Maely skid shoes leave a 10foot trall of sparks, is stuntman Kenny Brown. Kenny says that the 40 mph towjob really thrills the fans. Also in his bag of stunts is backward donut-burning" (left). Kenny claims to be the only man in the world who can perform this stunt on pavement. Brown will do these and other stunts, Incluellng wheelies and pavement slides, at Lions Drag strip in WUm ington this saturday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. _and on Sunday, Jan. 14, 1967 atcarlsbad Raceway In a daytime show. .-

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