Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

""u e "" '" 0- • 00 ... se 0> ", ' r- eu l:: ..., ::I =: '" t.J :c: t.J ..,J U s, u Momen t of truth for Harl ey-mounted Dan Haaby as he storms underneath Mert Lawwlll (HoD) to take the lead.. Amateur A scot actio n between Geezer Emick (27r), Mike Morton (2 5 1) Jack Wilkins on (31q) and Alex Chlnowski (351 ). Expert heat race pits Pat Gosch (47), Eddie Wirth (84), and Mike Yarn (46z) agai nst winner Shorty Sea bourne (8). HISTORY MADE Ott ,A SCOT ItALFMILE: HARLEY-DAVIDSONS HUrl 1-2-3 ! Slo ry by Ca rol Si ms Ph oto s by Dennis Gree ne Ascot Park, long the realm of the BSA, became strictly Harley territory last Friday night, May 10. For the first time in the famed Gardena half-mile's illustrious history, Harley-Davidsons ran one-two-three in the Main Event AND the Expert Trophy Dash. Suspense began early. Dan Haaby, current point leader and winner of the last two Maln Events astride Gary Br ay' s haulln' Harley, won his heat race declslvely•..as usual.Then ca me Mert Lawwill's heat, and the san Francisco ace caused more than a few r aised eyebrows when he clocked the fastest s-lap tim e of the night . It was Mert' s first appearance on the Ascot oval this year, and he looked both eager and confident. Not to be overshadowed by the Norther n California and L.A. conti ngent, san DIego's Mel Lacher wheeled his Harley to heat race vic tory too, as did BSA riders Paul Conserriere and Shorty Seabour ne , termlned Haaby and Lacher. For twelve laps the top three r emained in thei r respective positions while much placeswapping took place between the others. Jones, seabourne, Conser r ler e ( untrl hts machine sickened and retired), DeW ayne Keeter (BSA) and Cal Rayborn (H-D) fiercely fought back and for th, s tagi ng their own private battles behind the • fr ont-runners . Changing his gr oove to compensate, Lawwlll went a little higher, and that was all Haaby needed. Dan bored thr ough, taki ng over for good on lap 12. Mert maintained second spot and Lacher hung In for third at the checker ahead ot Though history had been made by the 1-2-3 Har ley sweep (and probably surprised even a few people In Milwaukee), It left one with the feeli ng that this was less an upset than a sign of things to come. Lawwill Leads, Until .. . Amateur Ups ets Though Haaby challenged strongly it began to look like Lawwill's night. But Mert, though leading, wasencoutneringa problem . So far did he lea n his machine over In the turns that the cases were hanging up , and at one point both wheels were lifted completely off the gr ound, In the Amateur diViSion, however, there were literal upsets. Unbeaten Tommy Rockwood's 5-ln-a-row win streak came to an abrup t halt on lap two of the yell ow- pla te Main when, clos ely pursued by Geezer Emick's BSA, the young Triumph pilot slid out In the south turn. T hree abreast through the tum, three Nati onal Numbers - #25 Cal Rayborn, #. 7 Chuck Jones and #24 Jack O'B rie n. Emick , In an et!ort to avoid his fallen foe, r ode wide, gr a zed the wall for some dis tance, appeared on the verge of r ecover y - then went down. Neither r ider was injur ed, but both were out for the night. Now Mark Brelsford (BSA) came into his own. The pro mising young Nor ther n Califor nia r ider, undaunted by a bad s tart, began methodically threading his way through Ihe pack and took over fir s t place from Rick Elisarraras on the fif th time around. There he remained, in command, for the rest of the race . And he' s now moved up to second In point s tandtngs , Eli sarraras' BSA was followed across the line by Jim Rice, al so BSA, and Triumph-mounted Mike Morton . Keith's Cookin' The fight for Novice Main Event s upremacy sha ped up between three heat r ace winners - Keith Mashburn, Dennis Kanagae and Don Dudek. Kanagae led the first lap, Dudek took over on the second, then Mashbu rn walled by both of them and stretched It out to the finis h. Kanagae' s Kawasaki got the best of Dudek's Yamaha on the last lap, but nei ther could catch Mashbur n' s yowling Yamaha. Not only did Mashburn, Kanagae and Dudek complete the s- Iapper In that orde r, they are also Identical ly-po sitioned in curr ent point s tandi ngs. And a win by ei ther of the runne rsup could change the whole Novice picture, so closely are they matched. (Results on page 16) Tremendou s Trophy Dash Mor e than the usual excitement preceded the 3-lap Expert Trophy Dash. On the pole was Lawwlll; al ongside was Haaby. Next to the fence was Lacher. sandwiched between the mighty Milwaukee machines was BSA-mounted Chuck Jones, only man to defeat Haaby so far this season, and that was In a Trophy Dash. Ot! they flew for the gold and the glory! Into the first turn went the fastes t four, With Lawwlll leading, and there he s tayed thr oughout the 3-lapper . Fig hting hard for second spot, Lacher got the better of Haaby, while Jones had to be content with fourth. The stands were buzzfng' with anticipation as the Main Event riders lined up. Many a partisan bet was placed and predictions as to the outco me were freely and variously expressed. Then all . eyes were on the IO-man field as five Harleys and five BSAs took off with a thunderous r oar . And Lawwlll was In fr ont! Stylishly swinging thr ough the turns and tucked In close down the straights he sailed, leading a mos t de- Goln' group of Novices i ncl ude #207 Dennis Kanagae, #128 Don Dudek, #465 Rory Randall, #102 Don Castro, #232 John 511berbauer, #196 Fred Edwards, #139 Daye Stroman and Main Eyent winner #101 Keith Mashburn.

• Cover