Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

CLASSY CLASS ACLASH AT WHITEMAN John A. Grout Photos by Dennis Greene By . PACOIMA , Cal ., Aug. l7-0nceagain the National Speedway League r olled out their rapid scooters last Saturday night at WhIteman Stadium and the methanol burn ers roared out an action-drenched, sixteen event program before tile wildly cheering Class "A" devotees . Fr om the dr op of the first flag, the entire issue was in doubt for the res t of the evening, as the racers r ipped thr ough six heats that channeled Into four s emis that finally reduced the field to the fastest twelve r iders for the three big Main Events!'I!!!!!!!!I!!!!!!!! ! Hleh llehl of Inlerml sslon activities Is appearance of fanlasllc ' P lnk Lady," the car with a surpr lsa for the crowd every time. r Hateley Hauls And from the start of the fir s t heat race, won by Chuck Jones on a JAP In a very fast 59:01, It was obvious that we were In for another exciting night of racing. The " new" Kei th Kruser was a strong finis hing second In this event, and about a half a wheel length behind Kei th came another r ider whn would have to have so me strong cons ideration for the coming Mains - Sonny Nutter . So, between Keith and Sonny, I' m certain that there was enough heat generated to let Jones know that he had been to the races once againl Then, out came the currentpolntleader, Jack O'Brien, and he was faced with the monumental chore of trying to take the measure of none other than the slidin', snortln' crowd pleaser: Jimmy Nlcholson ••.And don't forget another real hotdog In that heat: DeWayne Keeterl So, what happened In this heat? Well, you might say that Jack lucked- out (if you've got your tongue crammed Into your chee k) because he toured the four laps In 59:05, al lowing Keeter and Nicholson a fast closing second and third. CULVER CITY CYCLE CENTER 10248 CULVER BLVD. 839-9000 BULTACO- MiS - MAl CO- R.E. SPEED TUNING IS OUR SPEC IALTY Getting to the third race of the evening, we saw the holder of the one-lap track record (14.03) John Hateley, as he led Mike Bast, ChuckBerryandAMANatlonal Number 15, Ralph WhIte to the checkered flag. And this was a race well worthy of a little further conversation bec ause here were three vastly improved riders facing the ominous threat of trying to finish in front of a National Number . But the final thought on this event would have to go to Ralph White, as he was takIng his first ride on this kind of machinery, and his first ride at this trackwithout benefit of any practice - and the time, a very credible 59:36, left the distinct Impression that Ralph is going to be doing a lot of plug-pulling here at WhIteman In the weeks to come . Arriving at the fourth heat, agaIn we were faced with much the same ci rcum stance as prevailed In the preceding race. Big Bob Bailey, AMA National Number 33, was pitched agaI nst two r iders who were very high In the current point standings: Br uce Haserot and Pa ul Conser rlere . So, what happened? Well, BaIley - who was enjoying his fir s t full night of racing here at WhIteman - did a hell of a job as he ran a good thir d, behind Haserot and Cons er rlere. The fifth heat br ought to the starti ng line: Elli ott Schultz, Tim Bamford, Jon Thomas, Steve " The Bean Bandit" Scott, Tim Harris and Donovan Ccrsey. What a roar this race created, as Schultz got the jump off the starting line to lead Scott and Thomas to the final flag. But, this was only after lots of back and for th action for the whole four laps between Steve and Jon . In the sixth heat, " Mr . Motorc ycle " Don Hawley, took a night off from his sprint car racing to turn back Johnny " Wheell e" Carter, Stu Morley, popular Harlan Bast and Robbie Wells. Then came the semis which would transfer three riders only to the main And when the r iders cam e pouring Into that third tur n, Bast and Scott and WhIte were again trying to s tick thei r fron t wheels under the high fiylng Nicholson. But Jimmy wasn' t a buyer, an d agaIn he spit san d at the other r iders all the way to the final flag In what was to hold up as the bes t Semi time of the evening: 59:181 The third Semi saw Paul Conser rlere and Ja ck 0' Br ien going Into the fi rst tur n, side by s ide. But, as they left that turn, Paul got a lea d which he held to the finish . And then, to add Insult to Injury , 0' Brien got edged out of a second place finis h r ight at the wire by the strong fini sh of a former Pacific Coast dirt track cham pion, Stu Morley . In the fourth Semi, It was Br uce Haserot, all the "'3oy, over John Hateley and Don Hawley. G!llng next to the Trophy Dash, the four fast times of the nlghl came r olling out to the starting line: Hawley, Hateley, 0' Br ien and Jones. The flag sailed through the air, and 0' Br ie n sailed Into the lead at the first turn. But Jones and Hawley had an unfortunate unloading, and tho! race was declared a re-start. Again , O' Br ien was first Into the turn. But moving Into strong conten tion were Hawley and Jones. After completing the first turn of the course, Jack was being push- , ed so hard that he promptly broke the one-lap record the next ti me around. 0 ' Brien 's time, an astounding 13.09 for one lapl And who got to the finish first ?? Well, after a lap like that, if you gues sed Jack 0 ' Brien, you were rlghl . Grabbing a strong second was young John Hateley. ThIrd went to Chuck Jones. The final time? Almost track record again : 58:37. The " e" Main Event then went to Jack 0' Brien In 1:00.05. In for second and third were Steve Scott and Don Hawley. In the " B" Main - and it goes to show you what a real r ider this lad Is developIng Into - John Hateley took the measure of the veterans: Stu Mor le y and Johnny Carter (Carter f1nlshlng second). In for the four th was Steve Bast. Conserriere Wins Heartbreaker And here, we got to the real heartbreaker of the night... the "A" Maln Event. For It was In this event that Ji mmy Nichols on led three other racers for a ful l three and a quarter laps. But, at the end of that time, J im' s bike started to misfi r e . Going Into the eas t tur n on the final lap, Nicholson might as well have gotten off the mac hine and walked all the way to the finis h, becaus e he was barely crawling. But, In spite of a s eized engine, Jim managed to finish second behind Paul Cons er riere, in the time of 59:05. Imagine what the time would have been, had Nicholson maln talned his lead to the finish! ThIrd was DeWayne Kee ter wi th a very good r ide, and In fourth, was Br uce Haserot. Woooweel After the final race, our lovely Trophy Girl, Rose Wood, hosted quite a few of the r iders and their gues ts at Snoopy's Oper a House In North Hollywood where a good time was had by all. Also, It was decided to Initiate team raci ng at Whiteman next week. So, we'll look forward to having " you all " out there! (Res ults on page 16) r···---.------------··.··.· :'; . '·~,9igr~ym,~,~ice EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT:'. NOW ! Westmini ster Sport Cycle Guy R. L oui s (714) 893-7057 757 4 W estminisler Ave. Westm inster, Cal. SAT, NIGHT SEPT, 1111 SP ECIAL ADDED ATTRACTION SIDE HACK RACE S ON TT COURSE MOTORCY CL E SUP P L IES NGK PLUGS . 15~ RACERS PIT STOP (11,i MILES EAST OF NEW ORT FRW P Y) On your way to Saddleb ack Park 42DO E. CHAPMAN AVE. - S38-42l2 ~\ttfORAMAI CONCENTRIC CARIURETORS Extended P i lot Jet ( si zes 20-50 In slep s of 5) He lps ellmlnale loa dlne up problems whIch occur on up and down erades and · al lower speed ranee. The PILOT JET I' elves an even flow . f fuel at all ti mes. Throttle Adjusftnent and Idle Air A djusting Screws Exlended for f1nee r adJuslln e or with screwdriver. Adjustable F loat Needle T his nee dle ellml nalas f1 00dlne and ..cassl ve leanness al all r.ll.m. P ack aged [or attractive di spl ay. Watch th is space for other NEW and excitingproducts fromBarnes EnL AIR FILTERS (a ll fillers washable and Iwo staee depth not a surface filler) Ho d ak 3--9o 4. 100 (with or wllhout batlery ) H0 ndlt-160,17S,CL7 2,CL77 ,C B77 Tr ium p h & BSA-Slandard Repla cemenls GreeVe5-64-68 Replacements B UllaCo-{ She rpa & Matrella) Replac emenls MonteSlt-175 4. 250 Replacemenls SSlt-17S Repla cemenls Othe r univers al fill ers availa ble (10 numerous 10 menllon) o FORK BRACES Ch rome plates - High quality - ready fo r easy installation(no holes to drill)formed to fi t the individual m achine. DEALER INQUIRES ONLY CA LL or WRI TE BARNES ENTERPRISES T. T. RACES DUN E BUGGY KITS & ACCESSORI ES Hotlu ku \ l ol o r<:~' e1 ll s Greeves Monlesu Kawasaki Fastest Semi to Nicholson Veleran vs, newcomer - Don Hawley (lell) and youne John Hate ley have II oulln fierce semi strucele. Haleley wenl on to win '11" Main. Bashfu l Tr ophy Dash winner J ack O'B rien backs off from T rophy Girl Rose W ood, so Starte r Tony Drake ( left) look ca re of the klsslne dept. events. So, the firs t three to ge t transferred, wer e DeWayne Keeter , Johnny Carte r and Chuck Ber ry . But when we got to the second semi of the night .. . the r ockets sailed Into the still alrl Formed at the s tarting grid, were Keith Kruser , Jim Nicholson, Sieve Scott, Bob Bailey, Ralph WhIte andSteve Bast (and you might consider this a Main Event _ In any book.) Fi rst Into the turn was Steve Bas t, Scott to the outside of him, Bailey on the Ins ide of Scott, and on the FAR outs ide (peg- s cr aping the crashwall) was Jimmy Nicholson . And appare ntly at this exact point, Nichols on got real serious aboul the whole thing; because, winding the stick out of the wick, J im my or bited down the bac k chute like a s idewinder barr age . I mean, literally, Nicholson was sldewindlng In a lock to lock s lide down that back straig ht! 1046 E. Hyde P a rk S I yd. Ing le wood, Ca li f. 90302 (213) 678-7406 ------ .. ---_._------------Habot 6. San Dieqo Frwys. For a sal esman 10 show and demonstra te the full line

• Cover