Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• 00 l 102 MPH AVERAGE-Rayborn ~ Laps The Field , ::: Harley-DlvldsonJ Yamaha and Honda came home the winn e r s this year from Q. the annual AMA Speedweek at famed and ~ fast Daytona International Speedway. H- D rega1ned the winner's circle after ~ a two-year shutout. Yamaha kept right on r.:I rolling an d won the lightweight division :i!: honors for the four th straight year . And r.:I a Honda, without aid or assistance, scored for the fi rst time In Florida. ;:..., The 200- mile Na ti onal was supposed U to be a Harley-Davidson runaway. It was, but not of the size and magnitude that was p r e di cled early In the week of speed. Cai Rayborn added his name to the list of stars that have won the biggest road race of them all. He did It In grand s ty le, lapping the entire fi eld and turning in a near flawless r ide on one of the seven Harley faclory team entries. Even with one s pill early In the race, Rayborn s till bombed the banks for a r ecord breaking ride and an averag e speed of just under 102 mph! It now give s Cal three Na tio nal road racing wins and H- D the Na ti onal point lead after two e ve nts In '68. Th e s urpri se of th e 200 was the Yamaha 350' s. Th ey ran li ke bombs, eve n though gi ving mo re than twi ce the cc -s away to the Harle y team. Th e s econd time effort paid ort with a second and lhird place finish and two of th e choice three spots In the winner' s ci rcle. T he 53-lap grind found the Harley team grabbing off th e front four places from the drop of the flag. Rayborn, Mert La v."WIll, Fred Nix an d Roger Reiman were the front running fou r that broke track records right from the opening lap. Rayborn was in and out of the lead and the firs t five rounds but took over for good on lap six and raced to hi s tor y . The first half of the race was all Harley with Yamaha playing catch-up although due to a series of dropouts and mechanical fai lures defending champ Gary Nixon did manage to move Into second place briefly for three laps before ma ki ng a gas stop and then later dropping out of the r ace e ntirely . By the end of the 43rd circuit Rayborn ha d lapped the entire fie ld a nd there were still ten laps to go . England's Phil Re ad supplied the crowd with late lap a c ti on by overtaking and passing Rayborn not once b ut three times as the t wo riders chose to due l each other - although Re ad was many laps behind due to a pit stop for gas that found the engine unable to r estart for an extended amount of time. It was a big day for Califor nian s as the y grabbed off five of the top len finish spots . This also gives the Western r ider s a bundle of National points and a hea d start for the yet-young season. ~ cj Amateur loo-Miler Cailfornia sent new road racer Bill Lyo ns Into the win circle on the priva te ly entered Honda 450 . It was to be another record-breaking ride and an easy r un for the 25-year-old mechanic from san F rancisco. Lyons was off like a shot for the th ir d r ow starting positron' and was never in serious danger of losing the lead and the win. He now Joins Walt Fu lto n Jr. an d Ken Ri dder as the three who hav e built up an Amate ur big bik e win s treak that ma y never be stopped. Veteran Florida road racer Ra y Hempstead rode Int o second on the east coast fa ctory backed BSA that was formerly r idden by Jody Nicholas . Fast qualifier Art Nlnci , H- D mo unted fr o m Kansas Ci ty , was a distant third. The Honda ridden by Lyo ns , an d sponsored by Precision Machine Co . , Is the same 450 that carried Ar t Bau mann to two Amateur road race National wins in '67 . It was one of only a total of five Honda's entered In the race. Ninci broke the old one - lap track record set last year by Honda-mounted Jimmy Odo m with Nlnci ge tt ing the ne w ma r k up to 133- plus mph. Hard luck Californian was Bob Mc Elvain. Pulling In fr om hi s ti me trial effort he was hit by a car In the pits an d s uffer ed a broken colla rbone. set ba ck In '66 by Walt F ulton when the Calif ornian rode a team Suzuki fr om last to first and a record that s tood until last saturday. The en tire week of racing an d tuning was done under foul weather con di tions until t he fi nal da y on Sunday. The 200mller was run with what was perhaps the be st weather ever and the records proved It. The largest crowd (17 , 500) to ever see a cycle r a ce at Daytona was on hand fo r the 200 . (Re sul ts on page 20) or the field and again 11 was a record breaking ride. Hollingsworth comes from the racingest family In America. His fa the r Is an H-D deaier and Don an d two othe r brothers have all been co mpeting at Dlylona many times In the past In the s portsmen and Novi ce races. Town;;ley ma y have ha d ' th e horsepo wer to win the race but Hollingwor th just plain outrode his nearest competitor for the win In the 78- mlle chase that Is yearly made up of the future Na tional c hamps . Hollingsworth shattered the old recor d -0 . • ,- The Combined 250cc Race What was to be a th ree- way due l be twee n Yamaha, Kawasaki a nd Suzuki in the annual l OO- m il e race for the 250 ' s failed to materialize . Yamaha grabbed off all rou, A the heat r ace wins earller In the day , then came storming back to take eleven of the first fourteen posl tions In the race that was stopped after only fifleen laps due to a typical Florida type cloudburst that called a sliding halt to the show. The first eight laps found Gary Nixon, Mike Duff and Yvon DuHamel putting on a "picture" race with the three riding as one on every turn an d every straightaway. The lead changed hands many, many times the first nine laps before Nixon dropped off the pace and left the two Canadians to battle It out. The rains started shortly after and both Nixon and Duff fell off on the first turn le aving DuHamel way out In front as the water increased in flooding quan tities. The race then reverted to the new battle for second place between former winne r Bob Winters and ex- World ·250 champ , Phil Re ad . Surprisingly, Winte rs Increased his margin as the rain became hea vie r an d the Arkansas road runner was a solid second when the r ace was stopped. Four of the top eleven places went to Callfornla riders with Bakersfield's Ron Pierce easily the highes t ranking Am a teur In a well deserved fifth place finish on his self-sponsored Ya maha. It was the first time In the history or the Speedway that a cy cle race has been stopped due to rain but It was done with wisdom as many riders fell orf during the last four laps-or after the rains came . The Novice 250 Race This event was the closest duel from star t to finis h with a surprise win for H- D and the Sprint model 250 . Veleran sportsman road racer Don Holllngsworth from florida came from behind many times to go on for the win over Yamaha riding Dave Townsley from Louisiana. n e two riders far outclassed the rest Here'. Mike Duff'. 350cc Yamaha, one of the . izz llng seereners that really lore ' e m up at Daytona, going taster than two-.trokes have ever gone at the famed Speedweek event s, RES ULTS OF THE~ 8. 7o.. M l LE NOVICE CHAMPIONSH IP RACE RUN OVER THE 3 .8 1 MILE INTERN ATIONAL ROAD-TRACK COURSE AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ON SATURDAY , MARCH 16 , 1968 AT 1:00 PM Pas I 2 3 4 .S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 H 23 24 25 ~9 NO 87 121 36 . 149 47 14 0 43 84 155 56 53 25 86 94 67 5 42 510 0 13 14~ 5 I 6 82 152 RIDER & HOME MACHINE Don Hollingsworth , St . Augtl stlne , Fla. Harley-Davidson David Townsle y , Metairie. La. Yamaha Yamaha VvUllam Pew, Wayne I'll. Duane Santee Belo1t, Ohio Yamaha Nick Weiss , Na s hv1lle , Tenn. Yamaha John Cooper, Niagara F.lls , Ont , , Can. Harley-Davidson Dennis POn elelt , Sarasota . Fla. Harley-Davidson Frank Bee cher Wooding , Woods Hole , Mass. Yamaha Yamal:a Robert Undsey, Ptttsburqh , Pa . Wllllam Hinson, JacksonvIlle, Fla. Honda Wade K1lIen, Milwaukee, Wlsc . Harley-DAvidson Wendell Tisdale , Rogers , Ark. Dacufl Walter Finnegan, Gibsonia. I'll. Bultaco Harold Heitzman ·, Jr., Evansville, Ind . Suzuki Michael KavanaJ/n, Brampton, Ont., Can.Greel'es Freddy Richie, Jol1et, III Harley-Davidson Richard M1\chn lak, Inkster . Mlch Yamaha Graha :n Ja mes , Florence, Ala. Ynma hs Joseph /j11the , Chester I'll . Har!~ r- Da·.rtdson Ia~ ZuraffJ Sioux Falls, SD Bu tta co P:;fydJ~~~k '@>~eSfFn9 ~ : f:~ ' Robert Wa rzek. Cohoes NY Norris Hughes, Birmingha m, Ala. Darrell Brown, De s Moin e s, Iowar ~'ffe~~David:Dn Ya mana Harle y- Davids on Suzuki Wrzfcf UJcJtrcirg!b;;SJceneetadY! NY Bai'tg~ Thomas Eit e l, We s t PalmBeach, Fa. Honda Ducat! Arden Jensen . Jr. Mlll ml, Fla. John Long. Miami Betsch , Fla. Ducat! James Allen . Toronto, Ont , Can. Su z" ki Frank Dever. Nashv1lle . Tenn. Honda Dave Brown. Sarasota . Fla . Suzuki Keith B1lIlngs , Wa ter loo Iowa Yamaha Ducat! . John Gregory. Kenosha. Wlsc . John 5,,:unidt , Elg in , ill Honda Yamaha Burns Wm. Moo re , Syracuse NY Richard Cobb , Fran' l:lgham, Ma s s Harley-Davidson James DaOk, Oxnard, Ca ll! . Ha rJey-DiwidSln tarrY Ynrbroun, l, e ·A· Yor:C , NY Hdrl.,Y-~i,,\·!C son 57 Dennf s RtZ::lO, Mleton, NashVille, Tenn . Hon~ ', 75 153 BoYd Uzzell. Sa bring , Fla . Y"maha 76 115 Robert E. Lee, Bedf ord , Texa s 77 134 James Bowman . Delra y Beach . Fla. KiJwasakl Yamaha 78 83 Samuel Sisson, Morris town. Tenn. Bene ! ,t 79 3 John Sk' nn er . Auburn, Ala . Yamaila 80 154 Steve Iillszel, Grlfflth , Ind. DNS- -Did Not TIME OF RACE : 50 mlnutes,4 7 .047 s econds AVERAGE SPEED: 92. 9 82 M PH NEW RECORD OLD RECORD set In 1966 by Walter Fulton on a Su Z'~ki a t' 8 9 .1 22 mph 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 ?:O t"B 44 40 85 41 52 37 10 1 45 33 22 122 66 63 103 65 24 70 139 14 8 46 80 88 62 75 30 19 112 29 27 125 107 109 78 I Novice 78"",lIe champions assume 1'2-3 positio ns at the finish. From left, #87 Don Holling.· worth(H·D) who won and broke the track record by 3 mph, #121 David Town. ley, 2nd on a Vama· ha, and 3rd place #36 W illiam Pew, al50 Yamaha. ... 6 IAPS 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 22 8 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 U 19 • " • • 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 16 15 14 14 13 13 12 11 11 11 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 - g 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 I I DNS DUS DI'S DNS DNS DNS Start . \

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