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/125610
f H Q ..... ~ By Carol Sims Pbotos by DennIs Greene lo:l ...:l ~ ""' GARDENA, Cal., April 4- Whenthefir.t balf-mUe dirt track event of li69 took place at Ascot Park last Friday niCht, it 1IILS more tban just anotbel'. season optll8l' • The whole atmosphere bad cIIanlred. New AMA rules now allow 650Cc &lid 750Cc overhead-valve machines to compete on an Inch-for-Inch basis with the 750Cc side-valve Harleys, and many felt the cIIanlre would greatly benefit larpr capacity Triumphs, BSA's &lid Nortons. Others, believe that only so much borsepower could conceivably be IIt1l.1zed, remained loyal to last year's SOOCc 8QU1pment. But wilen It came down for the mOlleY, .easoned veteran riders Dan Huby and Mert LawwUl, botbaboard Harleys, were the blg w1DIIers. The _tire program 1IILS cbanCed to accommodate more new AMA rulings. Qua1.If1cations for Expert and Amateur riders were held for the first time since early In 1965, &lid LawwUlz1ppedaround the well-prepared oval to fastest overall clocking of 22.il, only rider tobreakthe 2S-second barrier. Second qulcksst was 500cc BSA-mounted Shorty Seabourne (23.04), followed by Huby (23.53) and Geae Romero on the swtftest 4O-Inch Triumph at 23.54. These four men compri8ed the Tropby Dub, wblch LawwW 'lIOD over Seabourne and Baaby. Romero dropped out with cam tlmtne problems, as be did In his heat race, but wUl undoubtedly be a blg threat wb8D the d1fficultles are resolved. Mert and Shorty won their ...t races, and these were run off d11ferently, too. lnatead of the first two going directly to the Main and places 3, 4 and 5 transferrlllg to a semi as before, only two 1o-man Expert beats tookp1ace. Tbs fir.t flve flD1sbers In each made up the Main Event field - no semis. Just one accident occurred during the ...tire racing program. Tim Harris, rId1IIg a 4O-Inch BSA, wbacked the back atra1gbtaway tence and unloaded hard In h1s . . .t race. He 1IILS able to make the restart, however, and even manace<1 to grab the f1n&l transfer spot to the Main. Wben the 15-lapper 1IILS f1a&:Ied off, Haaby roared Into the lead ~ of Lawwlll, Seabourne, rapid first-year Expert Geezer Emick (SOOCc BSA), J'1m Odom (H-O) and sammy Tanner (50Occ Royal Enfield). In the Il!U'I1 going Mert eh. lJ enged Dan .troogly, butHubymanaged to lake his Harley cohort a little wide In the north turn and his lead was DllYer endangered ther ert settled down In second as E and Seabourne put on a good back-&lld-forth battle for third. ShortY clung stubbornly to the low groove wtaUe Emlck took the blgh road, and DOt until the:;ltte Iapa did Se&bourne f1nal1y 8bake . - his eager young adversary. Odom hung onto flfth tor the entire distance, but the rest of the field busily swapPed places behind him. Tanner, experiencing handl1ng problems as the track became somewbat choppy, sl1pped to the rear, eventuaUlf,pull1ng Into the pits on lap 13. EcId1e Wlrth (65OCc BSA) moved up to 6th ahead of Lloyd Houeh1ns, &lao on a 40-1nch Beeur, and then Roo Kruseman pushed his 750cc Norton past Houcblns staying 10 711 the rest of the way. Houchins and Harris rounded ou the f1n1sbers. ~ Aldana Tops "-tears Zooming Into prominence from quaUfYtng time on, Dave AldaDa did the deed decisivelY In the Amateur ranks. ClockIng fastest yellow-plate time of 23.76 (quicker than all but six Expertsl), Aldana wheeled his 4O-Inch BSA to Victory In his heat race and the 10-lap Main Event as well. Tbe 8- man Maln 1IILS made IlP of the first four flnlshers In each of two prellm1lJary events, and Aldana grabbed the lead.from Don castro (65OCc Triumph) on the second lap, Dever to 'be headed again. Castro maintained runnerup spot despite the concerted efforts of heat race winner Frank GWesple, also on a 40inch Triumph, wbUe Terry Donaher moved up to take fourth on a. 500cc Velocette. Two-stroke fans were disappointed when Keith Mashburn's 350Cc Yamaha seized In his heat race, but he'll be back••• Neat New Novices An exciting field of new Novice class riders turned out, and they supplied some of the closest racing ot the evenIng. Fighting hard through four ellmina.- ':r1~t~7w1) b dlCl k, Dan (t1~ HaUY, Sborty (I) Seabourae and lI.t Lawwlll spin Is.. tile lIaln Evellt. Ascot purse wu n. . $3,000 and lans we" ... th s _ t .....b clipped lrom Cycl. N.ws. Start Ilf tile Troplly Dasll U lIert La_III, slaps Iutller with SIIort,y S.allou_, ces.r asd Dan Haall)'. Not sIIown Is GIl. 1t000sro. tlon events and twg b_ts for positions In the lo-man flnal, the newcomers displayed real professlonal1sm - reflecting much experience and preparation In the sporting ranks. Freddie Edwerds (Yamabs) and Rick Talbot (H-O) took the last two elimination h_ts, serving notice of their Main Event Intentions. But It was Suzuklmounted Don Emde, son ot former racIng gr_t Floyd Emde, who pulled off the big one. Moving througb the field with style &lid skW, Don snagged the leaf from Edwerds on the last turn of the last lap, and brought the crowd to tbe1r feet, cheering. Talbot followed Edwerds to the line In the 8-lap rouser. It AUIs,II.t, II. Troplly Qu... and llert's sidekick ch.lsh II. CIoI1 01 wlsslnc the HUon's lint tnlphy da. belore a clast s lz. Ascot crowd. Post-Race Postcript was Interesting to note that although rear brakss are now optional for all forms of oval track racing - and some bikes did have them Installed - nobody bothered to use them. Another AMA rule for '69, this one reearding purse structure, was personall)' modlfllld by promoter J.C. Agajantan. Though sanctioned as a 4-Star 900 event, In wII1ch money Is paid only to the first four fln1shers in heats and MaIns, Aggie decided to add overage to the Id tty, thus giving more incentive to everyoneespeclally those running farther back In the pack. Up to a. total gross of $5000, 32% of the ptes goes Into the pot for all Maln Eventers, and If the crowds are big enough to bring in over five grand, the percentage Is ra.1sed to 40%. Since no provisions are made for Trophy Dash money In the standard payoff, the first $50 of overage money Is divided among the Dash runners. Whether the riders make a. bundle or struggle to break even Is now strictly up to the fans. A big turnout means a blg purse - and admission prices have been lowered from last season to make it more fea.s1ble to bring the whole family. Fifty-cent discount passes are a.vallable in every Issue of Cycle News, and 1n1t1aled business cards from any authorized motorcycle dealer a.re also good for 50 cents ott the regular $3.00 tab. The competition Is top notch, the equipment is new and interesting, the '69 Ascot sea.son sbows great promise, so ••. LET'S GO RACINGI The Saturda.y night TT program was ra.ined out. (Results. on page 20) They sun doIl't RIDE like Novicesl Don (135) EIIldt and Fred (101) Edwants fishbed o_two In tII.lInaL. Number 31. Dav. Aldana Is tatllnc Don (11Y) Castro h.r., but laltr h. swooped '.m all to tilly BSA's lint 40" lIallrack win. Turner Expansion Chambers Specialist in tuned exhaust for most two strokes. Por~ Polish and five porting, also complete hop-ups for Hodaka. 6025 Maywood Ave. Bid. 11, Huntlneton • Park, CallI. Thr•• blocks oil Slauson 519·7717 Hours 10~ Penton - Hodaka Yamaha - BSA Husqvarna Norton 1223 Av•• I Lancuter (aOS) 942-9624 36153 N. SI.ra Hwy. Palmdal. - (105) 947-73iS