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OOOM SNATCHES SANTA ROSA SHORT TRACK SIZZLER story and Photos by "Cap" & Lori Clark ,- SANTA ROSA, c ai., July 19- Cycleraces held at County Falrs are shades of the Barney Oldfi eld barn-storming days of both aut o and cycle r acing. I t I s a part of the Am er i can Way that offers thrills to the spectators and additional " one nlghters" to the riders. On Tuesd:ly eveni ng, (Yes, Tuesday !) District 36 ofilcl als, with pr omoter Bob Barkhimer, pr esented an evening race at " the largest county fair in the state" at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa . The event was held in the horse arena on dirt. Not clay, but real honest dirt that proceeded to pile up at such a rate that the track had to be drug betwee n each race. This type of surface was new to most Novi ces and during the races most of them l ooked like NOVI CES or, per haps the Amateur-Experts' skill gave that illusi onl The N ov I c e s fur nished the thrills and the A mateurs and Experts pr ovided the real raci ng. T en r iders i n the Expert class si gned in with twelve Amateur s j oi ning them to compri se the combined Ama teur- Exper t events . Thirty-four Novice r iders made up the r emainder of the pr ogram . The track was a little less than a quarter- mile and Dan Haaby set fas t qualifying time at 12.40 . Jim adorn came i n with a close second at 12. 56. Butch Corder represented the lettered Experts and Amateur Bill Jam ison made up the quick four for the Trophy Dash. After much track scrapin g and dragging, the Novices opened the show to a full grandstand of falr-goers . Nick Theraux( 104y) l ed the first gr oup of rough r iders, won and qualified for the Trophy Dash and Main Event. A false confidence was felt after this race that the riders would get by wi thout mishaps . The second Novice heat changed all that. in the first lap, Jay Kanemoto some way got off and r i der l 49z bike's (sor r y , first time out) front wheel rode up over Jay , then caught him and drug him about 20 feet. Jay l ost his wind and will be sore for a few days, but did manage to walk off the track. A restart saw the ambulance make a second appearance when r iders l 86z and 203z. Ray Vatne, locked together and crashed i nto the fence. Again both r iders got up and limped off without that long ride in the ambulance. The third start saw the number two heat get through the magic lap and Ray Vatne finished first. The third heat was another spill-thrill on the fourth lap when Al Geisler and number l 63z went down and blocked the track. The heat was declared official giving the win to l 66z, Joe Henry. In the last Novice heat the present TT Novice champ Dive Hansen led all the way and suggested what was to come in the MaIn. Dive, a Sportsman Expe rt, i s very fluid on the track and the roughness of it didn't seem to bother him in the least. money f or the last finisher ••.an exampl e of good sportsmanship and an honest attempt to avoi d hard feelings . Fo r the Novice Trophy Dash, Dive Hansen, on the outside, crept forward several times and starter Les Morgan sent him to the penalty line where Dive also tried to get an edge. F inally after sev eral attempts the Dash did get off but there sat Dive with fouled plugs I Nick Theraux had gotten hot (both ways) with all the stalling and on the checker pas sed close to L es , Undoubtediy, it i s in order to say they reached an under standing then and thereI In the Novice main, Hansen took charge and led all the way . Dive is an excellen\ r i der and the 250 Kawasaki pr epared by Cancilla i s a r eal going machine. Ray Raaby Almost Does [t Dan Haaby drew the first AmateurExpe r t heat r ace and led all the way, ALMOST - in the last turn he coasted to a stop, jumped off and pushed across the fintsh l in e but not quick enough to qualify for the semi. His secondary sprocket came off leaving him without power. So we had the fastest qualifier ready to run (and win) the Trophy Dash. but unable to compete in either the sem i or Main. Bill Jamison who was second, and way behind, then becam e the heat wi nner . The second Amateur-Expert event saw the best race of the evening when Butch Cor der and Mark Brelsford fought all five laps f or the lead. Butch edged out Mark by a Wheel. Jim won the third heat and Brelsford with the field. On lap 13, adorn slipped inside and by to lead, and Brelsford's engine gave up, sidelining hi m . Jim adorn came across the finish line first with Butch a very close second and Amateur Bill Jamison third. Russ Powell followed I n fourth. With proper preparation and publicity the se fa ir races l ook like a real winner . The fair spirit seems to rub off on riders, officials, and spectators alike, makIng the events have a very exc iting holiday sptrlt. Promoter s - L et's go to the fairs I The horse arenas are fun and do gi ve an excellent showl 01 .... ~ co c, 00 <0 ~ • ~ iii S'o '" ""= (Re sults on page 16) 0" W§A . Honda. f t ~ul,er :I!~ ~ ' .. 4421 Sepu',eda 391-6217 ------~-- SAVE t on USED -: tHONDA PARTS T~~~:58 t W iImlngton O iscount C ycle Center 150 5 Avalon, Wilmington. Cal if. #22 Dan Haaby led Amateur/ Expert heat, only to lose counter sprocket on last lap. He did win Trophy Dash, however. Foll owing here are #16y Bil l Jamison, #16y Chal DeCecco, #82y Bill Lyons and #62y Tony W liams. il --------- Ji m Ddom (77) leads #58z Russ Powell and #29z Bill Verblscl o In heat race. Doom conti nued on to Main Event vic tory, passin g Butch Corder on 13th of 15 laps. INTENSifiED ~~ ~ ~ == ===~ =::~ HODAKAS by Cl osely-bunched group Includes Main Event winner Butch Corder (92y) Mark Br el sf ord ( dir ectly behind him), #74y , #36y Steve McCants and #23z Gene Conant. without trouble. but the action was at the pit gate . Rich Faria got to the gate a little late and steward George Alcala couldn't get starter Les Morgan'S attention and the race started without him . In an attempt to correct the mtsfortune, Ri ch was permi tted to run in the semi . He proceeded to displace Russ Powell f r om the Main, so both were permitted to run and the officials put up place Vatne rode to second . leading a fast but l oose gr oup of Novices . Odom Takes Main The Expert MaIn was a r eal crowd pleaser. Butch Corder got off the line first and led adorn and Mark Brelsford lap after Iap , adorn got by Brelsford. then put the Triumph's wheel up alongsi de Butch, and then would be cut off i n the turns. It looked like Triumph- 1,2,3.-just a matter of rider order. Butch and adorn put a little space between them CROWELL Order yo... custom set up competit ion HODAKA NOW! Glrllng shocks - Extended Front Forks 19" Front wheel - BobbY' J" Air Cleaners Choice of T ires - Crowell Port Job Number Pl at e- Skid Plat e Crowell Tu ned Pipe - Fori< Brace 10427 Prairie, Inglewood Phone (2'3) 673-5562 PROVEN America's finest Racing lubricant. Rough surface causes #l24z Dave Hansen(Kawasak l) to do a toe-dance on way to Novice feature victory. At present Dave Is the natlon's top green.plate TT rider. ADDZIP ADDITIVES 1433 First Street, Escalon, Calif. 95320 I t