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Photo by Bob Ebeling Rick" Flash" Gordon rode his gas burning Harley-Davidson through a field of eight top contenders at Lions Drag strip for top bike honors. Subtle, and yet even brazenly-exposed combinations of fuel bumpower were thrown up to prevent the Harley-Davidson team from making another victory. Ed Kretz & Son' fielded two machines, one the Triumph of Bob Ebeling and another, Boris Murray's twin engine Triumph. To further effect a block on these headlong victory dashes of Harley C'8.vidson, Don McEvoy obtained the rider services of Don Harris and entered the big "Jack Shaft" twin engine Triumph. One additional entry against the Harley clan was Bob Braverman's 10-second twin engine Yamaha. All of these well armed drag strip warriors stood back and looked with a trace of humor at the Harley entries. There was Rick Gordon, good Harley but only running gas; Don Lingo, also on gas and slower than Gordon; Joe Smith, the only fueler and real threat felt by the opposition. Mel Disharoon (he's on fuel but only 55 Inches and just under the qualifying wire of elapsed time). Eight entries that quallfled below 11.50 seconds , pair 'em up.and you have a first round of eliminations that bring the specators off their wooden perches like birds of prey as the races are won and lost In the last few yards of the qulck quarter mile. Round One - Triumph vs. Harley Ebeling and Disharoon were the first opponents to fire on the "Sure Start" electric rollers and proceed to twist throttles until cylinders and headers became an Ir Idescent glow of combustion temperatures. Just like trattic, only one yellow light before a green. Have to be on your toes to get out of the gate first. When It came, they were out of the chute together, but Disharoon was taking the long-distance route for the quarter mile. Back and forth fish tail left and right was Dish's plight, but Ebeling shot straight and gained a qulck lead. That straight sprint was good but only until the last few yards as Dishar oon' s Harley-Davidson began pumping Igniting like something with super energy. The Harley swept past the Triumph with a run of 11.23 seconds at 129.68 miles per hour. Yamaha vs. Harley Next up for a race to those glorious timing lights were Bob Braverman and Don Lingo . Yamaha vs Harley and Van Nuys, Calif. Is no loving sister city to Chicago, llllnois. Call It what you will, city vs city or brand against brand or even yet rider vs rider , it was another contest decided in the last few feet and fractions of a second. s Lingo and Braverman were out of the gates In a simultaneous movement. Wheel to wheel , shifts made In slick moments of time but somewhere Don Lingo's Harley hesitated for 9 hundredths of a second. Braverman tripped the winners lights with an E,T.of 11.09 seconds and Lingo lost out at 11.18 seconds. Don Harris fired 'the big twin-engine Triumph of Don McEvoy as "Laidlaws" Joe Smith brought life to the 80" Inch "Knuckle Head" Harley that has so many times found Victory In the quarter mile. The twin engines of McEvoy are phased 180 degrees apart and they make an Offenhauser sound tame In comparison, but those sweet sounds don't win a race. ll's power that does the job and it has to be transferred from engine to gearbox, to the wheel and then directly onto asphalt. That's where Smith's Harley-C'8.vidson lost out on this race, for half way down the strip, power transmission was lost. The big Harley jumped out of gear and McEvoy's double was ridden for a victory in 10.79 seconds at 132 miles per hour. Only one race lett In this first round of top bike. One Triumph and two Harleys are out of the program. The strategy to put the Harley- Davtdson supremacy down seemed to be working! Boris Murray and Rick "Flash" Gordon now fired up. Boris sat unconcerned just off the rollers, tweaking the throttle and waiting for engine heat to build up. 'Gor don pulled up about thirty feet and his assistants grabbed hold of the machine to hold the gas burner as the rpm came up, clutch dropped and the rear slick revolved into a smoking, tractiongrabbing pulp of rubber and asphalt. ~ r.J ~ r.J ...) A board a eas-burnlne Harl.y-Davldson, Ri ck ·Flash· Gordon turn.d back the cream 01 the ClOp to lak. top blk. honors at Uons Drae Strip last Sunday. Whether twl ....nelned Triump/ls or fu.lf.d Harl.ys, Flash lOt lh. best of th.m all. First r ace found Braverman and Harlye's M. Disharoon side by side on the line. Braverman put the Harley down with a winner's E.T. of 11.10 seconds at 128.31 miles per hour. Second race of round two and only Rick Gordon's Harley C'8.vldson remains In contention and what an opponent he has! Don Harris Is doing an excellent job of piloting McEvoy'S twin engine Triumph against all comers. Eighty Inches of 9,000 rpm , fuel-bred Triumph, against a s i m 11a r displacement of Harley- C'8.vidson on pump gas. CrlmlnlUey! , they were out of the hole together and the double was run ning like Al Capone with the FBI on his tail, but the winner's light goes on the Harley-C'8.vldson side. Yep, Gordon Is the "Flash", for his Harley won with an E,T. of 10.93 at 131 miles per hour. He put down two twin-engine Triumphs In a row and only one twin-engine machine barred the path to top bike honors. The plucky Yamaha of Bob Braverman. Wait a minute! There were five fuel burning machines here In contention but now none remain. The two surviving contenders, Braverman and Gordon are on gas ! Flash Gordon Earns His Nickname Well, the fuelers are all oul and Harley has only one opponent left. How can I say only one, this guy Is unlike real! Low ten seconds at his best and poor runs net high tens. Bob Braverman, your work Is really cut out to put down the Harley-Davidson hold on top bike honors. They' r e fired up and on the line, a yellow skips to green and rpm's fluctuate as the slicks spin madly trying to melt Into the asphalt. At the eighth mile Braverman Is behind as Gordon throws his full weight Into a power shift and misses the lever . His face comes down and smashes Into the fork crown, splitting a lip like an over ripe cherry pinched In the super market. Braverman gains and then catches the Harley but Gordon goes again for ' the shift and makes It. The fabulous Harley picks up what had been lost and takes the winners light by a hair. Rick "Flash" Gordon turned 11.09 - 129.00, while Braverman's E.T. clock showed a run of 11.26 seconds. News Flash! This weekend 's top bike runoff was such a success and good racing that strip manager C,J. Hart has posted $900.00 (nine hundred dollars) for an all bike meet on March 23rd. Plan now, for the winners may need every extra pinch of preparation and power to secure a piece of this big pie. It's an all bike meet for ail machines of every kind and size on the fourth weekend In March, saturday, the 23rd. Tell your friends. Harl ey Twin Eats Triumph 4s O. K., now they were both ready and rolled forward Into the staging position, Zap!, the green light and they're both out and on the way for 1320feet. "Flash" Gordon made the lights first with a fantastic 10.71 in comparison to Murray's 10.75. Gordon's gas burner had clocked 133 miles per hour while Murray's four fuel fed cylinders stopped the clocks at 148 miles per hour. Four were all that 's lett for Round Two. Two Harleys yet in contention and matched against two able adversaries , the twin Triumph of Don McEvoy and the twin engine Yamaha of Bob Braverman. s ... ... ROSS I CJ ;:.., CJ