Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125553
I ,. "Cl :r " S a .., VI e " as 0... ~ '" c>O .... ";: Q, '"C '" ~ [oJ Z - [oJ ..::l (.) :... o '< :;Q ii! '< " " Co e !:: :; ;Q ;; '" " '" 'The Thing" - three wheels powered by Harley-Davidson, built and owned by Gerald Banks. By Bob Ebeli ng LIONS DRAG FESTIVAL Ten ellninator brackets and one-hundred fifty-eight entries really filled the program of lions $900,00 bike meet, lillie ones and big ones, same with two wheels, some with three, Novices, pros, boys, girls; same slow and others quick, "~ Of cours e, the quickest were pros and two men who had trekked from out of Small part and parcel of the 150 entries at Uons all·blke dral meet. Ble bikes, IIltle bikes, slockers, exotic !hr_wheelers - everyone was ther.. sta te spllt the honors and cash for top elaps ed tim e on satur day, March 23rd. Dave Campos hai11ng fro m Albuquerque, Nex Mexico, and Leo Payne of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, groomed and curried their Harley- Davidsons for ma t c h e d elapsed times of 9.78 seconds . Payne cranked out his 9.78 as the pr oces s of e11mina tions deman ded, but Dave Campos had been put down early in the series of matches . Campos came back later for a 74-inch banzai r un that tied him for the top honors. Second half of top accomp11shments was secured by DonMcEvoy and his rider Buddy Martinez. Don and Buddy were e11minated In the next to Iast run with their twin eng in e Triumph matched against Leo Payne and Harley-Davidson. That e11mination in no way dulle d the f1n1sh they put to the day's action in a top mile per hour run of 151.26 mph with a 10.06 elapsed time. Big money was posted for elapsed time bracket number one as all machines that turned better than 10.75 seconds staged and did battle for $200.00 to the top man and $50.00 for runner- up. Twelve machines in all had posted quick enough sprints to vie for all the green gold. A few of the twelve never appeared for round one as engine pieces had given up on qua1.lly1ng trials. Leo Payne, Bracket #1 top bike, lied lor laslest elapsed time with his Harley-Davidson, came all the way from Cedar Rapl ds, Iowa to do It. ~ II> Qll $900.00 ALL-BIKE MEET • "" - Those who did try were put down one by one and tJnal1y as time grew short three remained. Leo Payne, Joe Smith and McEvoyMartinez. A toss of the coin, a gamblers race, gave Joe Smith a single run and McEvoy- Martinez t r l e d to stop Leo Payne's methodical e11mination of all contender s . it was close, but that's never a win and Pa yne stood undefeated. Harley vs, Harley is a pretty picture for H-D fans. Mr. Laidlaw, Joe Smith's sponsor, stood beside and behind the so-men fueler, sure of the engine and trying his best to eke out a bit of extra from the rider. Payne was all alone but some of us swear that If confidence can be seen, it was standing there as real as Smith's sponsor. After they had left the starting 11ne, smoke lingered to testlfy to the 1111t1al acceleration both men and machines had put down in the attempt for the big wiJIner's 11ghts in 9.90 seconds and Smitll drew the runner-up card with a 10.28 second run. Payne's mUes per hour ticket showed 144.68 and Smitll clocked 142.63. Bracket #2 It's pretty obvious by the number one elapsed times and speeds that strip traction had kept performances below the best we have seen. Bracket number two required runs between 10.75 seconds and 11.50 seconds. Nine quallfied and as the pr oces s goes, In the f1na1 round only two remained. Bob Braverman's twin-engine Yamaha and the big 61-inch Vincent of Ken Kotalac were mere fractions of a second apart in elapsed ti mes . The big inches of Kola1ac were puWng hard on the top end and producing a pr etty superior figure in the mUes per hour depar tment. If Bob Braverman couldn't pull the Vincent out of the hole It would be all over and a win for Kotalac. But if' s don't count as Braverman was to prove when he out- accel erated Kotalac with a 11.06 - 122.22 r un. The Vincent played follow the leader with a 11.11 - 126.05. r Even the littl e Yalllahas had a chance, thl s one ridden by prelly Penny Burnett. She didn' t win, but ma le onlookers considered her a REAL winner. ·Flsheye··lens view 01 Bob Braverman and his twln·enelne Yamaha, on hi s way to Bracket #2 winni ng tim e of 11.06 seconds and 122.22 mph. Grant Van Tech MOTORCYCLE CONVERSION KITS Grant Ind us tries. 3680 Bev ~rly Blvd .• Los Ang eles