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/125577
Despite the length of the event, no lap_ . ping occurred, and Bostrom, Haaby, Palmgren, Nicholson and Hardmeyer "completed the nnrsners, Both Odom Mann were torced 10 the pits with mechanical problems. A joyous LawwUl, when asked how he liked the track, exclaimed, "It was good tor me , wasn't it?" But NIxon, now leadIng Markel 553-519 in points, described the surface as " SLIC K!" Rayborn slipped back to third in standings with his 505 markers rema.1n1ng intact; Nix has 490, Haaby 355, Lawwill 347 . So the battle continues 10 rage, andlt'sst1llanybody's Championship. LAWWILL LEAPS TO 11-MILE NATIONAL WIN SALINAS, Cal. , Sept. 8 - [n a day filled with suspense and surprises, San Francisco's MertLa wwill hustled his Dud Perkins Harley-Davi dson to decisive victory at the 1st Annual Salinas ll-Mile AMA National Championship race. Held on the Cali fornia Rodeo Grounds half-mile dirt track and .presented by B and B Promotions, the wellron event brought changes in National points standings that tightened even more the epic struggle for Number One supremacy. Tight Amateur Finish First lap and #18 Mert Law wlll (H· D) already leads #20"Gen. Romero, #95 Fred N ix and #38 Chuck Palm&fen, on way to his 3rd Nat' l Championship win. Locked In a bitter four-way !Ight are defending cham p Gary Nixo n, Bart Markel, Cal Rayborn and Fred Nix. Only 71 points s eparated them pr i or to the ll- m ll er. But due to hi s gene r al allaround prowess on thehal!- mlle (suchas his !Ine showing at San J ose the wee k before), Markel loomed as the man 10 beat. And that's exactly what Lawwi lldid - rather unexpectedly, too . Three 100lap Expert heat saces set the stage t or the drama, funn eling the !Irst three !I nishers di rectly 10 the !I nal, and sending 4th, 5th and 6th place men 10 a s em i-main from which the t ront- running three would t ill out the 12- man !Ield . With 41 Experts on hand, enough top riders were eventually l eft In the pits to comprise a Na ti onal of the ir own. Nixon thrust ahead of tast qual1! ler Gene Romero and Jim Odom for a Tri umph sweep of the 1ni tial heat, La wwill ' s time was quickest as he too k the second event over Markel (H- D) and Dick Mann ( BSA), then Dan Haaby headed fellow Harley rider Nix and Triumph-mounted Chuck Palmgren In the third. Rayborn had tailed to transfer out of hi s heat, abruptly ending his hopes for further points that day. The 5-lap semi went to J i m Nicholson ahead of early leader Dick Hardmeye r and Paul Bos trom, thus r ounding out the National !Ield . All were on Triumphs, though Bos trom came close to losing hi s when he looked over his s hould er a t the finish, clipped the fence and ripped oft a tootpeg. i \ Melt All The W ay TOP : BailIe royal between Amateurs #47y Mark Brel sford (Tri umph) and #80y J im Rice (BSA). • AB OVE: H·D mounted Bart Markel (4) nayer found the ri ght &Tooye, wound up 5th. L EFT: Exper t semi winner #28 J 1m Nicho l son (T ri umph) took 9th In l1...lI er. 1l-11ILE SJ.L:nu.s .d& 1 J.1"IOX.u. ClldPI OI 3JIIP 1 1 ) 20 2) 9S 5) 4 4) t-, 1 '- 0) 18 T} 9) 77 10) 28 11) 697 ~ 1 2) ~ \'- \- rx \- ])1 tx~ flJua lOa29 . g0 IX '" 1 1) 21 7 " 2) 8157 5) 32:r • 1 0 ...,. X1xon ( ,.,.1) S) 6) 4 But ""01 (U -D ) Paul Ho.trOD! (TJ"1 ) 167 7 ) 22 DaD. Bub,. (D -D) 8 ) sa Chuck PolJogro. ( ,.,. 1 ) 9 ) 28 J1m . lobol . oD. ( Trl) 1 0 ) 5Qy Diok BU'dm .,..r (TJ"1) 11) 2 1 2 } 77 'I'sa.1 101 29 . 90 15 8 7 B 9 10 11 12 1:5 1. 115 115 Diok Mum (BS A ) • .... \Id em (,.,.1) • • Did lot 1"1n111h l"1Dll1h 1 ) .77 lIark Br ele t ol'd ('l'rl) 2) . 1m Rloe (BSA ) eo:r r)( .. • I) .7:r V 7) 49 X IX rY' I B) .., 9 ) 20% q x -K 12) II I • Did l o t P1Zl111b P< f0- eo:r 10 ) 51 11 ) ll:s: Then Ric e began to close on Br elsfor d, challenging hard for the lead on lap 10 until slipping off the gr oove and los ing about 8 lengths in the process. Undaunted, J im pressed on, regaining ground with each cir cuit until, with one lap togo, he was r ight on Mark's rear fender . The outcome was in doubt until the checker flew when, despite a valiant try by Rice, Brelsford ern e r g e d victorious once more . Harms hung on for a rather distant third in front of Triumph- mounted Chal DeCecco, who got past Bernhelsel on the last ti me around. Top U ,S . Amate ur Tom Roc kwood, plagued by mechanical difficul ties with his Triumph, was ne ve r a threat. Thre e Nationals remain on this season's Championship circuit - the 25mller on the one-mile Sac r amen to track Sep t . 15, and two hal!- mlles - the 9mile at Oklahoma City Sept . 29 and the 8-mile at Gardena, Call! .' s Ascot Park on Oct . 12. Tens ion mounts with each even t, an d plenty of !1r s t- rate competition is yetin store . (Res ul ts on page 20) 5) 217 Don Bara. (H-D) . ) .7 15 ) 2 S I 1/ -. jj I I ll-1lILK IIlLIIIAS AJIA'I'EIlR PIIIAL start ' IX rY 1 -1' 1 / '-r I ~ !'X'- ~~ I At the dr op of s tarter Tony Emler ' s flag, Lawwili lunge d Into the lead and there he stayed for all 22 laps , carving out a fast, smooth gr oove . Dili gentl y dogging him for the di s tance, and ve ry close at s ev eral po ints was Romero, but toward the end Mert stretched it out firs t to 8 lengths and !1na1ly to hal!- a s traightaway . About the same dis tance behind came thi rd place Nix, followed by Nixon, who had worked his way fr om 6th . Markel wound up 5th after trying every groove on the race track and ti nding none that suited him . ("I co ve red mo r e ground than anyone," quipped Bart, philosophically ac c epting a "bad day at the races," ) Pre-ra ce contemp laUon by Dan Haaby, filth In NaUonal point standln,s, 7th place Sali nas fi ni sher. O. n e ROID8ro ( Trl) 4) I I/' I" P1Dl ab 1 ) 18 )I.rt Laww Ul (D-D) 2 ) 20 I 1 / 22:r r- I_ J_ ~ " I IX r- . ) 85:r Chal DeCe ooo .( 'l'rl t- 15) 49. Art Berah.l • • 1 (H-D) I ) 52:r steT. Bale . (BSA) 7) l)< I C>< I I I I ~ 0; Q; .a ~ <:) '" ~ 22:r Bob self ) (R. R.) B) 47r Barr:r Buolmer (B3.\) 9 ) 97. Ran Pi.roe ( Yam) 10) 11% Dan smith (BSA) 11) Slq J aok lIUk1n.an ( Ban) 12) 20% '1'01II Rooklrood ( 'l'rl) • ~ ~ Closely-matched Amateur contendera, ~ Mark Brelsford (Triumph) and Jim Rice U (BSA) supplied an abundance of action in the 16-lap yellow-plate t lnal. Both had earlier won their 10-lap heats (Mark's was over 2-1/2 s econds taster) , and both were also previous Na ti onal winners. Brelsford got a beautiful starttrom the outside of the tront row and led Don Harms (H-D), Rice and heat race vic10r Harr y Buchner (BSA) after one Iap , Front-running positions remained the " same until lap 5 whe n Ric e roared a round Harms, an d Art Bernhelsel (H-D) overt ook Buchner tor 4th . 5) 9S Fr.d 11% ( ti-D) I I I 1 1\ 1Y - I I 11 I L1P CRiR'!'S b ,. ClU"ol S1Ju 8 0' 10 11 1213]A 15 1el '118UI2 0 2122 . f)( IX I\. 2 e) sa '1 I I I I N .t '- 6) 22 e 2 3 " 6 co . ~ , st u t t a.EoI -d:: By Carol Sims Photos by Jim Chini •j LQ "" Intent &Toup Incl udes current point leader and defending champion Gary Nixon (1 ), Pau l Bostrom (38), all mounted on Tr ium phs. Ni xon &Tabbed 4th, Bostro m 6th , Palm&Ten 8th.