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/125580
Wherefore Art Thou Romero? The third and !lnal outing, the l5- lap !lnal, had Lac her again In the lead for the first !lve laps. Then It was Romero taking over and moving out to make It three In a row for the night. His !lrst sweep ever as an Expert. It was another flrst as It was also Triumph's first time in front this year at the tralnlng ground of Champions. • Gene (20) Romero look II away from Me l (37) Lacher. SIeve Pederson and the Mellow Velo. Ph otos by De nn Is Greene Add ye t another na me to the fast growIng llst of pre- r ace fav orites for the Eight Mile Na ti onal on octobe r 12th. This time It Is Gene Rom ero and his Bill Love Trium ph fr om San Luis Obisp o, Cal. Romer o became the seventh Exper t to win a Maln Even t this season at As cot and he did it In a mann er that Is good en ough to Win the big one nex t week. The fast- go-from-SLO was the big gun all evening In the white plate class . Keith (101) Mashburn, almasl undelealable In the Novice class. First he stopped Mel Lacher's heat race win streak at ten straight, Melvin settled for s ec ond. The two met again, In . Mel's favorite race, the Trophy Das h. AgaIn It was "The Triumph Tiger" the winner with Mel having engine troubles and dropping back 10 fourth behind Shorty Seabourne and Br uce Holland. It was als o Gene' s !lr st Dash win of the season, Seabourne came up to grab off second with Dan Haaby holdin g onto third. Lac her s lip ped back to fourth after being pass ed by Romero but still holds the poi nt lead over De Wayne Keeter who did not make the !lnal. Conserriere Crashes Paul Conserrlere crashed on the 14th lap. He was Involved In a three way r un for fif th place and hi t the wallhard golng on the backstretch. Ernie Plco's "MellowVelo" Joined the winning r anks for the first time In years when Steve Pederson caught fire In the Amateur ranks and captured both the hea t race and the ten la p final. Point leader Don Harms ran second with Tom Rockwood coming from the back r ow to ta ke third . Ji m Rice again dr opped out with engi ne troubles an d Geezer Emi ck fell off In the south turn trying for the le ad while In a clos e duel with P ederson and Harms. Geezer again walked away . -Mash The Flash w Nabs Novice Kei th Ma s h b u r n posted his fifth stralght hea t race win and made It fivein- a- row In the Novice MaIn Event de partment on his Ya maha twin. His ten In a row streak again places hi m within stri king distance of another As cot green plate r ecord. Randy Smi th was a distan t s econd with Dave Aldana staying on the wheels al l the way to finish In third. Dave Stroman and Dennis Kanegae banged number pla tes with Stroman high-siding but later walkIng away • . (Re s ulls on page 16) WHEELlE'S OFF AGAIN! ...this time by canoe Legendary giant of motorcycling Frank (" Wheelle") Wheeler departed from Southe rn California Sunday, Sept. 29 for La Paz, Baja California, oniy this time his trip Is not by bike, but via canoe. Wheelle's round-trip sea voyage coverIng 1000 nautical miles will be powered all the way by a 3-1/2 horsepower outboard motor, manufactured bY Yamaha. The purpose of the trip will be to demonstrate the qualities of the new Yamaha outboard. Wheelle's seagoing l4-ft. fiberglass canoe was built as a special project by Wixom Bros. of Long Beach, manufacturers of motorcycle Wrings. He plans to "llve off the sea" by catching enough fish to fee himself and his only companion, a dog named Perro. Lodi Bowl Closes -- By Babs Chase LOD!, canr., Aug. 16, 1968- Some 1600 spectators watched as 188 riders competed In a very enjoyable and exciting night's scrambles as the last race of the Lodi Cycle Bowl season made everyone want to win more than ever . In one of the very fastest eVl'nts of the evening, the 250cc Expert race, Keith Carlson of Newark, Calif., Bultacomounted, got the lead right from the start with Phil Hinkle and Jim Foley of Lafayette following close behind. After some exciting fast laps, Hinkle went down, and with nowhere to go Foley ran right over him, new 55 feet In the alr, came down In a somersault. They were both badl y shook up and scraped and bruis ed, but both walked from the track. Honorable Mention There Is a fellow who deserves mention, B111 Whitlow of Napa, Calif. Bm has been scrambling about a year, rode his first Heavyweight race In this event. Bill brought out a Montgomery Ward Mojave, completely stock except for some Daytona handlebars, and out of a 10-man Main, he got a 4th. Not bad, huh? High Poi nt Winners All For the High Point Expert Overall, Paul Johnson of Lafayette, Calif. won that title as he got high point In both the 250cc Expert and the 500cc Expert classes . So Johns on went home with 5 trophies. Paul really worked hard for thes e a wards a nd al l are very proud of him . (Results on page 16)