Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

THE RACE MUST St ory by Bo bb le GO ON , K elly from showing up to cheer their favorite r i der s to vi ctor y . Fo r Sutter M.C . was in charge of the races and as usual th ey put on a fine show for the spectators . The racers were turning laps in record times ( maybe they were trying to keep warm, too), but due to this fact I t seemed there were a few more spills than usual, fo rtunately none serious . Super Spark y Th e calendar says it i s M ay, the weather man says It i s May , butsomeone sure m ust be mixed up, as any one of the close to 1200 people who came out to Sacramento's Eldor ado Raceway f or the cycle races Friday, May 10 would tell you tha t it was more like a winter ni ght. l{owever, tha t didn't stop the vaid fans Sparky Pinola didn't tr y any of his wall jumps this week. He did take a sec ond In his heat race but when It came to the fi nal even t what do you suppose he did? He fell down! Maybe he sawapretty gal In the spectator section and couldn' t keep hi s mind on what he was doing. (Just kidding, Sparky, hones t . Dale Me Kinnon told me he teases you a lot so though 1 might try, too.) Jimmy Kimura of Vallejo (he owns a cycle shop there so If you' r e ever that way you might stop in and see him) , riding a 250cc Harley-Davidson In the A mal eur bracket, has now turned Exper t . Congratulations, Jimmy. Great Los s To Racing This part of th e r eport 1 hate to write, si nce having been closely associated with Ker ry Clark. El dorado Raceway's Manager of both the drag strip and the oval tr ack, i t is extremely hard to keep one's composure at a time like this . As mentioned In th e first Eldorado article, Kerry was in the Veterans Memorial Hospital i n Martinez. Sunday morning May 12, j ust a few mi nutes before the gates were due to open for the drag races, a call was re ceived from the . hospttal notifying wife Betty that Kerry had passed on. In the true tradition of Suny and Photos I1Y Len Fallscheer The «mak e up" [or the ACA «Challenger road rac e that was schedul ed [or last April 21 at Willow Springs, Cal . and was cancelled because ot high wi nds, was run on Sunday, May 26 in perfect, wi ndl ess weath er. After a morni ng ot practice, the 3l ap heat races were run to determine the gri d posi tions, [or the main event and [or the ri ders to mak e l ast minute check s on their bikes. , #3 Dave Damron (Suzuki) was first 200cc In GP class, firs t 250cc In Heavy Produc tio n ev ent behind #57 Jerry Green (350 CC Brldgestone), and first 200cc In Li ghtweight Production race. racing sports, and knowing that Kerry c> would have wanted it this way, the gates lI) were opened and competition went on as ~ usual. During the midday br eak the cus - I:\., tom of the track was observed. A walk down th e strip was conducted in mernort- ~ um to a gallant friend and boss . ~ And motorcycle racing will continue each Friday night under the stars at ~i Eldorado Raceway. (Results on page 16) f-NGK--7-5~-15 I; f SPARK PLUGS '" f2441 LongLE B ROWN Long Beach, call1'lI G DA MOTORS t Beach BIveL CJ --------- The first Main Event was the 15- mlle, 6-lap combi ned 50cc class 1 and 2 (class 1 mac hines have more than 4 speeds.) and 100cc GP . Mike Lane from Bakersfield won the 100cc GP on a Hoda ka wi th second place ValHo wer d (Yamaha) some di stance back. In th e combined 125,175,200 GP Dave Damron riding f or Ocel ot Engineering, built up an astoundIng lead over the rest of the rider s on his 200 Suzuki twin. In the fifth l ap, wi th onl y one and a half laps to go, one cylinder cut out and he slipped to a thir d ov er all, as he came limping across the start-finish line. Despi te th e engine trouble, he still finished fir st i n the 200 class. The 250 GP Main Event as usual was dominated by Yamaha, taking th e first four places . No . 80, Mike Lane grabbed his second win of th e day aboard his Yamaha l eading alm ost the entire race. Buddy Parriott of La Puente finished a healthy sec ond, also on Yamaha . One of the most ex citing r aces of the day was the 350 GP in which Jimmy Chen ( Honda) and Jerry Green ( un-fair ed Brldgestone) see- sawed the lead r i ght down to th e end. Green trailed Chen th e fi r st fo ur laps by never more than two or thr ee length s. I n the last two laps the lead changed several times, but Chen cross ed the line only a few i nches ahead of Green to win . In the 500 and Open Main eve nt, the two 500s entered were both fas ter than any of the Open Class entries . Tony Murphy (Norton) and Dick Kilgroe (Hon da) both finished ahead of Open winner Roland Pagen (Triumph) . The lightweight Production r ace again saw Dave Damron far i n the lead on a 200Cc Suzuki . A t times, he l ed by nearly half a l ap. I n the Heavy Production, Damron (this time on a 250cc SUZuki) came very close to beating Jerry Green on a 350cc Bri dgestone. Both r iders won their class whi le Roland Pagan (Triumph) again won the Open Production. The day of racing went very smoothly and efficiently. The ambulance never moved, fortunately, as no one went down throughout the entire program. We'll l ook fo rward to another smooth event by the ACA at th ei r tz-nour endurance r ace on June 2. (Re sults on page 16) IN LANCASTER IT'S HODAKA Don & Ray 's Mot orcycle Shop 1223 W.A ve. I, Lancaster, Cali f. (805) 942-9624 monttsa MEN WHO KNOW M OTORCYCLE S SELL M ONTESA KEN ROSS KNO S, it' s a fine maW chine of good qual ily and minute detail. 0 It has proven 1 be a winner in dependability and appearance as well as in coupeti lion. We're proud 10 be part of the fast growi ng ' M DNTES TEAM ". A UNIVERSAL MOTORS 109 Easl Saner Sl D allas. Texas VIV4 MONTESA MOT9RS , INC. Sole U.S. Distributor 3657 Beverl y Boulevard Los Angel es. Cali fornia 90004 Second to Tony Murphy's Nor'on In the 500ce:-Open cl ass at W llo w Springs ACA 'Challenge r" i event was #6 Dick Kllg roe (Honda), here shown get ting down to biz on the Bill Robe rtsonsponsored bike. Yamaha-mounted Steve Froschauer (99) wa s runne rup to Suzuki ri der Alan Spears In the 125cc Lig htwei ght Productio n cl ass. Dan Guinn (64) and his Honda took 4th place In 175cc GP div is ion. Ducatl ri der Ralph LeC lerq won. *******************~ :: THE TWO-WHEELER ~ * : SUZUKI ~: * * Ready for IlIIl1ediate Delivery! * : 867 W. 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