Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Drag Racing S'effan Grinds '0 Jaciass Enduro Win Welch Comes Wes', Tabs Lions a' 144 mph By Dan Zeman -, WILMINGTON, Cal. , Nov. 10 - His name Is Larry Welch and he rides a Sportster• In only one week of drag racing on the west coast, Larry bas earned a reputation for putting his opponents back on the trafler , Yesterday Larry returned to Irwma:ue and did the job to everybody he ran agalnst, turning a bes t E .T. of 9.44. He the n loaded up again, but only long enough lor a 35-mlle dr ive and a few hours sleep. His next s top was Lions Drag Strip here In Wilmington, where he unloaded again. Round number one found " H-D. of Fullerton's" 74- lncher staged with Disharoon's Sportster. The big 74-incher Is a new bi ke, an d a s many of us know, new bikes usually develop bugs . This one did too , and without the right bug spray. The 74 loaded up, and by the time It cleaned out Disharoon was turnlng on the white lights at the finish line. Next up was Bob Braverman and his twin -engine Kawasaki, next to Art Houston's Triumph. Bob's clutch was grabbing, but he finally got staged. Not for long, though. As he grabbed a handful of throttle It was too much to hold back and off he went, l eaving Art walting for the green li ght all by himself. Next up to the starting li ne was Boris Murray, mounted on Gordon Kately's 55Inch Sportster. To his right was Jeff Gough on his Triumph. Borts staged first and the revs were UP. But where was Jeff? A glance to the rl~t told the whole story. Jeff was dismounting his bike. It had loaded up and the fire went out. So Boris took a s ingl e on that one. Up came the last two bikes of round one . It was Ken Kotalac on his Vinc ent, and Larry Welch on his Harley-Davidson. They came out together, with Ken a sbade ahead of Larry. The Harley s tarted to ge t some real good bite, and It was jus t a ma tter of seconds before Larry cros s ed the flnl s h line, turning on his win li ghts. In about 30 mi nutes , the remaining four bikes wer e out In the staging area with fresh oil In their crankcase s an d a full tank of fuel. Sitting on the rollers and eagerly walting the start wereArtHouston and Bor is Murray . The rollers were s tarted an d In a second or two both bikes were turning over . A nip of the Igni ti on s witc hes, an d both engines fired . Then both bikes were on their way down the strip. It looked close. The fini sh li ghts came on and it showed Boris the winner. Next UP, and already fi r ed , were Welch and Disharoon. Both bikes r olled up to the fi nish line an d staged . Blink, bUnk, and on came the two greens. Both r iders dropped the hammer an d were on their way, both running s trong . Larry's ma chine pulled strong at the Big End , getti ng hi m across the fin ish line well In front. About 45 minute s , a coke an d ahot dog later, both wer e ready to go. The gree ns came on, an d both bikes llt the ir tires. Larry's bur ned half-way through, but he finally got some traction. He ate up the last Inch of the 1320-foot s trip with a 9.77 E.T., and turning 144 m .p.h. Boris finished, runner-up with a 10.99 E. T. and 133.77 m.p.h, Most entries In stock street were in the ' B' an d 'C' class . John Sprague took 'B' on a Tri umph with a bes t E.T. of 13. 54 and 98.00 m.p.h. ' C' class was won by Jack Linn, who had to pick on a Honda 450 r idd en by a young lady, Ca rolyn Johns on, who was trying out drag racing for her first ti me, and Terry Le e , riding a Triumph 500. Jack stopped the clock with a 14,43 E.T. an d 90.89 rn.p .h , Best OVerall E.T. of all street classes was turned In by WIll Hodge s , with a 13. 49 E.T. and 91.73 m.p.h, Will was mounted on his Sportster. All of the action In modifed was In 'B' class with two bikes entered, both strongrunning Triumph. One was ridde n by young Joy Houston, the other by Grant Hannah. Joy, who usually has no problems taking class trophy, had them Sunday. Her problem was Grant. Both bikesrun In the low twelves but Grant's ran just a little qulcker, stopping the clocks at 12.23 and turning 109.09 m .p.h, Moulders an d Reese turned In the best time of the day for Gas Class with 11.49 E .T. and 116.8 0 m.p.h. on their bikes, " Th e Snortln' Norton" #2. Then, with only a couple of runs to victory an d the money, Reese piloted the "Snortin' Norton" out of the chute. (R es ul ts on page 16) peclally If the weather is clos e to pe rfeet, as It was at Red Mountain, 50 miles north of Mojave . Lloyd Larson, #lA, was among the fi r s t of 490 riders to go off - at seven A .1'.1. Lloyd, over 60, has been riding ..ndur os for years . There were five riders to a group, three riders to a team. A group was set off every minute . The Chase Team was made up of Dic k Chase, Bud Houseman an d F r ank Chase . The Steffan Team had BobbY Steffan st ., his dad and John Mur rin. Th e course headed nor th for the first 50- mile loop, passed the eerie Pinna cl es , a high, spiral r ock forma ti on, then back around to the left through ti ght sandwashes an d r oc ky fire roads to the pits. A quic k lun ch is pos sible for anyone on ti me at the noon check. A half hour Is pr ovid ed fo r eating, gaslng up, an d starting the second half. And not many riders were early to the chec k. Cluttered Hill ! ' .. J .i:lii~~~~_ L.~",, ~~M:'t' , - ". " oJ>" T he beller ri ders didn't drag -thei r l eet on th ese narrow tr ails that dropped off on both sid es, they Just stormed on In second iear, le et up. Story an d Photos by Dick Wri ght RED MOUNTAIN, Cal., Nov. 3 - Triumph-mounted Bob Steffan won the 100mile Jackass Enduro with a loss of only three points. ThIs made the 1968 race for District 37 Number One Enudro r ider a very close one between Steffan , 1967 champ, and Dick Chase , 1966 champ, It was the second win for Steffan, the other was the Prospectors M.C. Gold Rush Enduro. Chase also has two - the Shamrock Enduro and the Greenhorn. The Jackass run, sponsored by the Foothill Hawks M.C ., was the last of the season, so the di s trict championship will be decided as soon as these results are tallied. Before the race it was Dic k Chase leading Gene Burcham next In line, then Bob Steffan, followed by John Steen an d Lyle Taylor . This 48.year·ol d rider Is just starlln i his de- sert career. Enduros are be co ming popular with the entire family because It' s not a race of s peed. Eac h r ider tries to malntaln the speed s et for each s ec ti on of the course . This is someti mes hard when the course ge ts r ough but no one Is pushing. And everyone gets a good s ce nic ride , es- On the second loop It was harder to stay on time. There was one steep, sandy downhill about 300 yards long and so rough they had the tie-breaker check at the bottom. Only a few riders were on time there . \. Bobby Steffan Jr. was one . He just pulled over to the r ight s ide of the cl utt er ed hill, let his Greeves go, and held on to ge t to the bott om on time. Bobby zer oed in on all the checks until coming to the wall-te-wall rock wash. His team was a little late and he took his eye off his watch , allowing the 250cc Gr eeves to ge t away with him. He came to the s ecret ch eck four minutes hot, los ing eig ht points all at one time and bl owing a possible win, as there were the only poin ts he lost. Bob Steffan Sr. too k the Sweep s takes win, co ming In at about noon after 4- 1/ 2 hour s of riding . Husky-mounted George Green, was the second place winner , los ing four points . He took B- Llghtweight hono r s . Lyle Taylor, was thi rd on a Triumph, los ing fi ve points . Phil Bowers on a Yamaha was first A-Lightweight with a l oss of six points. Sixteen-year-old Mark Heacox was the firs t A...Trail Bike in , los ing 11 poi nts . Dana Austin was first B-H eavywei ght, with a 13- polnt loss . The Team Trophy went to the Steff an tea m. Al Schu ltz took the F irst out-ofstate trophy. Elenor Houseman was Fir s t Girl, losing onl y 89 points - and on her own cl oc k because he r hus han d Bud ran with a team ten minutes la te r. E. Gardner, won the Sti c k- Wlth-lt Trophy, losing 456 points. Th ere were family teams like Lynn Wilson with her 12-year-old son and Pa ul Redwood with his son Btll placing 14th and 15th each on a Greeves. (Results on page 16) At the IIn lsh, the Foothi lls Hawks record two riders try lni to iet In on , he same minute. t ---- ------- INTENSIFIED == :: :: =: ===:: ~3!!:= HODAKAS by CROWELL Order your custom set up competition HODAKA NOW! Gl rll ni shocks - Extended Front Forks 19" Front wheel - BobbY· J" Air Cleaner s Chol ce of T Ires - Crowell Port Job Numb... Pl at e - Ski d Pl at e Crowell T uned Pipe - Forlt Brace Perris TT Scrambles - Nov. 9, 196 8 100cc No v ice A Moto 1st RICHARD M ATTH EWS- M S i M B SPORTCYCLES· 311 E. ALEXANDER AVE., TACOMA, WASH1NGTON 9842 1 10427 Prairie, Inglewood Phone (213) 673-5562 ~ ~ ~ ~ 0> .... v; ~ .Q ~ ~ 0 ~ r.J <: r.J ..:l ~ Co)

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