Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

LQ Q) l:lC ea J e, ~ Q) .,; .tea ::I .Q Q) ... c... • Elt U) tz:I :c: tz:I ...::I U >.. U All tour 01 these men have cal ned the AMA Grand National Cham pionshi p and the rlCht to carry the coveted'National Number One In recent years. He.., In this spectacular shot 01 the 1'66 Sprlncneld 5~lIe National finish are ( fr om lelt) Bart Markel, Gary Nixon, Racer Reiman and Dick Mann. For the story behind the Clary, read the haws and wherelores 01 their climb to the top. Di ck ' Bl ncham' s photo Is the wimer In Cycle News' IIna l monthly action photo contest, and he recei ves $10.00 lor his sterllncellorts.lnlo on new-type photo contest can be lound on pap 8. HOW PROFESSIONAL CLASS POINTS ARE SCORED ••.AND WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE NATIONAL NUMBER ONE. By Carol 8im s Suppo s e you 've decid ed yo u'd like to be a profes si onal motorcy cle ra cer . You ha ve a machin e, ta lent a nd desire. Now what? ell, If yo u live in the Dis tr ic t 37 W Southern Californi a area, you mus t fi rs t possess a c urrent Ama teur or Exp er t AMA s portsma n c ar d before you c a n put a wheel to the track i n Novi c e profe s s ional competitio n, be .I t AMA fiattrac k, IT ,short track or road rac in g. The reasoning be hind thi s rule is 'sound . A few years a go , equip ment fo r Novi c e rid er s was redu c ed i n size to machin es of 250 cc limi ta ti on in an att emp t to cut down the hi gh ac c ide nt ra te of inexper ien c ed rid ers. And it work ed . .A ye a r or s o of scrambles or dese rt e xpe rie nc e sorts out the s eriou s rid ers, and due to th e s pe c ialized compe tition and fin e-line type of profes s ional riding required in Dis tric t 37, especi a lly at we ekly Ascot flattrack e ven ts , it tak e s a better caliber compe ti tor to fit into the profe s s ional rank s. AMA Distric t 37 Refere e Bert Brundage feel s that the required sportin g expe rienc e .Is a sort of voluntary tra ining program - the rider may a dvan ce t o Class C competition if he choose s • .And Brunda ge also HOW SPORTSMAN CLASS POINTS ARE FIGURED By Maureen Lee We' ll s tart 'With s cr ambles points !lrst as these are different fr om the desert events . To transfer from Novice to Amateur you have to ride five 21- point f1n1sbes or better. To transfer fro m Amateur to Expert takes ten 2l- polnt f1n1s bes . These transfer points carry s ta tes tha t by th e ti me a yo ungster has ra c ed in scrambles or the d es ert for a season or two , he ' s a l ready had hi s' s ha re of tumb les , lea rned how to reac t in an emergency and in ge neral know s the rules, s ince AMA-san cti one d s portsman events a re n't too much d ifferen t from C la s s C ra c e s as fa r a s the bas ic mechanics go . Okay. Now that yo u 've gathe red the nec essary knowledge to be eligible for prof essional status , what's the next s te p? .A pp llcatlon mus t be made to the .Ame rican Motorcy c le Association . P .O. B ox 231 , Wort hin gton , Ohio 43085, for a C la s s C lice nse , which c os ts $20, pl us the annua l $2.00 AMA dues . T he a ge minimum is 21 , or 18 wit h notarized par enta l consent • .A physica l e xa mination i s a lso required. T hen you a re assi gned a number whic h , within the j uri sdic ti on of Di strict 37 , will proba bly be a threedi git on e , plus the le tter X or R, and this mus t be pa int e d on thre e gre en number plat es. (The co l or signifie s a Novi c e ri der and the letter d enotes the ar ea in whi ch he re s id e s: for example, Nor the rn Ca li forni a rid er s carry a Y or a Z ; T e xas, New Me xi c o an d othe r nearby s ta te s a re gi ven an M or an N, etc.) .All this has ta ke n pl a c e be fore yo u' ve even e ntered a prof e s s iona l race, and now t he test final ly be gins. For a Novic e rid er to progre s s to .Amat eur (yellow number pl a te ) status , he must a c cumulate a total of 20 points. T hese ar e s cored a s follow s: 5 poin t s for fi rs t p lac e, 3 points for second pla ce,2 poi nts for third pl ac e over fr om year to year s o suppose you made two 21 or better point finishes last year and In the ftrst part of th1s year you make three more In a r ow; then up you go to Amateur . Shouldyou make your next 21 or better finishes the same year adding up to ten, then you'll make Expert, and the steward keeping the points in your dlvts lon will sen d you those new colored plates. The points earned for your r iding number however , do not carryover fr om year to year. This Is where the greatest misunderstanding takes place as to just how the points are earned. We hope you have a copy of the District 37 rule book to look at and if you don't we'll try to make th1s as clear as poss ible. Imagine a 250cc class as just an example where there Is a Novice, Amateur and Expert divis ion. There are 80 entries altogether 50 Novices , 20 Amateur s and 10 Experts . The winner of the Expert cla ss would r eceiv e points for the total entry of 80 (column 6 in the r ule book point chart); a total of 80 points . To pay Amateur points move over two columns, In th1s case to column 4 where the winner would receive 70 points. The Novtc e winner r eceives points from column 3 anda total of 50 points for his win. in a class where there Is no Novic e divtslon such as the 125- 175 cla ss, everyone gets Exper t points. It ther e are only seven r iders (who will r ide motos , not a progressive program) the first place man w1ll re ceive 30 points as column one Is fr om 6- 19 starters, fir st place pays 30 points . This is how riders in certain classe s end up with a nd I poin t for fourth . Th is applies to fla tt rack , TT and roa d raci ng. F or s hort track rac ing. the system is cut in two - 2¥.z points for a win, l¥.z points for second , I poi nt for third a nd half-a-p oin t for fourth . P oin t s a re awarded in all classes for he at ra ce s , semi-mains a nd Ma in Ev ents - a lso Trophy Da sh e s whe n prize money is pa id- but co nsolation races don ' t co unt . Whether a rid er gathe rs the requi red amount of points in one mont h or one season , he must compete fo r a full ye a r as a Novic e before being a dva nced to Amate ur. If he d oe s n' t make eno ug h points the fi rst year , they a re ac cumulated th rou gh the followi ng s eason or unti l he does move up••• or dec ides to ha ng it up. L et 's prete nd that yo u' ve re al ly got te n wit h it du ring yo ur fi rs t se ason and ha ve gaine d more than e nough points to ad van c e to Ama teur. Now , alo ng with your y ellow number p la t e yo u' ll probably re ce ive a lowe r number. a ga in with the letter des igna ti ng your home a rea. But the poi nt situation starts all ove r again. To pro gre s s to the e li te E xpe rt class (the re are le s s tha n 400 Exp ert ri der s .In the entire United Sta te s ) y our task is mor e diffic u lt. You're bac k to no poi nts at a ll , a nd mu s t ac hie ve a tota l of 40 poi nts before mounting the coveted white a nd blac k number pia t e s on yo ur machi ne . You' ve cast a s id e yo ur 250cc bike (e xcept for sh ort track) a nd are now rid in g with at least twice the former engi ne capacity . A nd once mo re it ta kes a full year to move up in ran k. reasonably low n u m b e r s sometimes without havtng to r ide a prog resst ve pr ogram, but when you do r ide a pr ogressi ve pr ogram you will earn a lot more points for a win In a matn than a place in a moto, The Powder Puff are being classed as a Novice l OOcc class even thougb they bave Amateur riders in it. Things are a li ttle different In the heavyweight divisi on. The total number of riders are added up for the 500Cc and Open classes and whichever is the highest In number will pay full points for both. It you have a total number of entries In the Open Expert class numbering say 58, points will be patd from column !lve (55- 69 s tarter s) even If the Open Exper t class has a matn event , their winner will r eceive no mor e points than the winner of the 500cc cla ss which could number 53 (column five 40- 55 starters), and ru n motes , So there ar e possibly times when Open Expert r ider s who do not make the Main Event would r eceive no points even though their entry was gr eater, while the 500 Exper ts r iding motos would r eceive points however far back they placed. Desert points are again completely different. In 1968 a rid er' s twenty top r ides are what he will be patd points on for ' his foll owing year's number . The work for the stewar ds will be hard but It was felt that th1s would all ow a des er t r ider to stay home once In a while and not lose out as a desert ma chine cos ts quite a bit to matntain - due to the use It gets In only one weekend! And a r ider A gre at many riders ne ver make it past the Amate ur stage. Some try for ye a rs , some rec ogni ze immediate ly tha t they ' ve reac hed t hei r limit. And it's even more of a fea t to become a wi nning Exp ert. Countless rid ers qu it profe s s iona l ra ci ng as soo n as they rea ch Ex pert s ta tus . re a liz in g they haven 't a chance . But the hard co re , true - blue ra ce r kee ps goi ng. de sp ite injurie s , mecha nic a l setbac ks , heartbrea ki ng losses and slim fina ncial ga in. Hi s goa l i s to be a Na tional Numbe r-one of 99 s e l e ct E x p e rt s who have ac hie ved e nough poi nts i n local a nd/ o r Nati onal Championship c ompe tition t o erase the le tter foll owi ng their numbe r. This in it self may take ye a rs •••or ne ver happe n . And then , fi nally , the re i s the Gra nd National Champion - the rac er who won't be s a tisfied with anything iess th an Nationa l Number one . His is the toug hest roa d to trav el , for no t only must he ha v e fi rs t- rate equipment , s ponsors hip , a bility , guts and plenty of lu ck, but he ha s to compet e a t all Na ti onal Championshi p race s on the crowde d coast- t o-coas t ca lenda r. It is ne c es sa ry tha t he also be an all-around rid er - no t a s p ecialist at j us t one form of co mpe t it i on. His s kills an d talents must ra nge from flattrac k to IT to s hort track to road ra cin g. And most importa n t. althougf fully awa re of the ma ny ha zards i nvolved , he mus t ha ve a burning des ire to be the very be s t of a ll • . Are you s uc h a man? You ' ll ne ver know until you try . so metimes jus t can't afford to keep going week after week however good a man he Is . In the deser t, the beavyweight or lightwe ight class pays points only ac cording to finishi ng positions In your classification (Novtce , Amateur or Exper t.) You may be fir st 350 Novice but yOU'll only be patd points according to your over-all finishing position whicb could be 28th In the Novtce class, regardless of your engine size. 'Fhe Experts receive points for the total heavyweight or lightweight entry just llke they do in the s crambles, the Amateurs move over two columns on the point chart and the Novices one mor e. Ther e Is quite a possibility that on one of those long desert races where they also have a tremendously high entr y you may finlsh and receive no points at all! Most Important, due to the high entries In some of the deser t runs a Novice could earn enough points to transfer to Amateur way before he was r eally r eady for it - just by finishing . So the s tewards have been moving r iders up only when their cards show that they can really take care of themselves and are ready for a transfer. However , In re por ting on the point struct ures on both desert and s crambles we mus t mention thai these can change abruptly If a Competition Committee meeting takes place and the Committeemen feel that a change could benefit every one. in fact, by the time this goes to pre ss, a change may already have taken pla ce , but we' ll try and keep readers pos ted . Otherwi se all changes are always In club minutes eacb month.

• Cover