Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

A Poppin' Goo·d Time SonnJ Nult.r 1 1$ S_J Tann. In an .zIIlbltlon match race. Th. I• • at thl ... d cot oust.d •• off bacllJ but the rut loy.d It! Story and pbotos by Dennis Greene and Doma Lucas LOS ANGELES, CAL. July 4, 1969Motorcycles started the show with a bang at the 37th Annual American Legion Fireworks Display at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The graud entry parade was led Into the Coliseum by no less tba.D 4 new Rocket 3 BSA's and a 5th equipped with a sidecar piloted by Joe HOPe and carrying Carol Olsen. Carol was to later present trophies to the winners of the Class A Speedway eJdI1bition event. As an additional part of the program, a drawing was held for a new BSA Victor presented by BSA Western with Mr. Pete Colman presenting the keys to the lucky number holder. end, first the motorcycle on the top and then the trapeze on top. They made several revolutions and the people went wild. The brakes were then released and the btke rolled swiftly backwards down the cable to the fioor of the Coliseum, where they dismounted to a standing ovation from the crowd. The show continued with marchlng baDds, drill teams, cirCUlI clowns, magic acts,animal acts, and all the rest of !be normal family entertainment. Then it was speedway time! An eldlibition by California's finest Class A Speedway riders got IIIIderway with Sonny Nutter lea,ping out In front and staying there for the entire 4 laPs. An unforseen development came UP. Dustl It settled on the first 30 rows of jampacked bleachers. Above !be sound of the motorcycles, ,a discontented moan and scream came from beoeatb the settling sod. Undaunted, !be racers continued into !be 2nd lap. As the violent motion of programs, jackets, and any type of mat- ter suitable for maldng wind was thrown Into use, the tans on the front stralghtaway enjoyed two shows at the same time, that of the Class A Speedway machines and the fan dance of the corner crowds. The flag came down on front running Sonny Nutter as the dust came down on the crowds. The next event was a match race between Sammy Tanuer and Sonny Nutter. As the flag was ra1sed for the start, so was the corner crowd in protest. The voices were soon silenced by the roar of !be motorcycles and the enthuslasm of the front straightaway crowd. Sonny Nutter also won this eftnt. E------ -3 .-----·----3 .---------3 F------- By Leon MacDouffe n.ue alii 1wmt.toAscot Part, 1epDd Shortly after the grand entry parade, a hlgb wire exhibition starring Carl and Hans Winn rot underway with one of the brothers wa1Idng from the fioor of the Coliseum on a tigIlt1y stretched cable to the top m06t wall wbere !be cable was attached to one of the light standards, wbile the other brother started down from the opposite end of the wire. The1I: , paths crossed over the spectatorS' heads more tba.D 100 feet In the air. 'Ibis was a spectacular feat and sat the spectators on the edge of their seats, but It was just a warm-up for what was about to happen. Both brolbers returned to the bottom of the cable where they mounted a speclally equipped motorcycle with a trapeze suspended beneath it. They started up the cable once again with one of the brothers dangling from the trapeze as the other brother piloted the machlne up the oarrow strand to the ba1f- way point. They both proceeded to do gymnastics; band stands, roll overs, and pull-ups, all stunts standard to the normalfioor gymnast. Just as the crowd thought the act was coming to an end, the bike started to tiP to one side. A scream of horror came up from the crowd as the brothers started spinning top to bottom, end over D.IdeYIl. and hl&l!-wlre artlsls C.I .d Hans WIn motorcJcJId to the outer rim of the CoII.IIl.. In I thrlllinc ublbltlon. Fresno TTers By Tim Thomas FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, June 28 - The Pathfinders bad their best turnout of the year with at least two hundred riders competing at Kearney Bowl Saturday night. It was a night for come-from-behind wins with Leon Cotton doing his thing In the l25cc Am-Ex. Timmy Tomlinson nearly locked up the 250 Novice class but James Ward rode a smooth steadY race and took over the win. Then Steve Snider came from behind to win the 250 Amateur MaIn over Don Hughes and an a1llng Kenny Hale. Heat winner Cbrls Rice fell wbile trying to make up for a bad start. The 250 E:rpert heat and main were taken by Tod Sloan but not without a tussle. M1ke Middieton came from last, after a fall in the heat (which sent Richard Perlera to the hospital in critical condition) to lose by a half a wheel. Harvey Bakker brought up a close third after overshooting the right-bander once. New Expert Dale Graham looked real sharp laking his first expert win In the 500cc Am-Ex. and Stan N1lIlI!s(Trlumph) took an open Am. main win. Kenny Owens was Impressive in a close second on his newly-acquired BSA. Your reporter got some of the bugs chased out of his new BSA winning the open Expert heat and malo with TodSloan chasing me home In both. Keith Thomas took over my normal position as Official Track lnspector and High-Side Flier by balling off in the malo. (Results on page 20) About 80,00 tans witnessed the show. We hope they will all be there far the first full racing procram shceduled at the Colieum next month. TheLosAaples Police Department's outsta.ndlng moturcycle drill team PIIt 00 a flawless uhlbWon of ridiD&' aIIllity and lDtrtcate patterns. The show was topped oft by !be wor1l1's greatest dreworks eztrlL'npllza. It was an outstaDding family's D1Cbt of entertainment climaxed ooly by the red flashing tall lights of the homeward boUDd crowd. -3 .- --- -H ,--- Alternate Roots .-t -..t nat tract racing, this past FridaY. Hoo Boy! What a night_bad. Whlzzer (the pet pig) tried to bite the ruY who charged us fifl¥ cents to park the Matchless In tbeir motorcycle parking lot. He didn't want to let Whlzzer In but we explained he was a guard pig and we would leave him tied to the bike !be whole ntebt. Boy, nobody touches our pride and joy when Whlzzer is standing guard! We plunked down some mare cash and were allowed Bdm1ttance to this nearshrine of 'CbunWig wbeels. We were surprised that m06t of the people sat near the middle wbere you can't seeanyl:h1ng. We went down to !be south turn and found a spot wbere you could walcb !be bikes come down !be straightaway aDd beel over Into the turn rigbt In front of us. We sat and watched a hell of a show. The speed and noise and dicing for position were all breal:htaldng. And this was just !be spectators at the concession stands before !be race! 1 took Whlzzer a bot dOC and an ice cream and got back to my seat just In time for the qualifying runs. Some gays can really fly when there ts DO traffic wbile the really good ones can fly with or without company on the track. They sit there in a line, belmets off, and wait lbeir turn. The starter waves !bern on the track when tbe1r turn comes and the track is .clear. Two bikes are always on the track, one is aboUt to cross the timing lights and really screws It on coming out of the last turn and the other is still feellni out the track and how his blJi:e Is going to run. It's usually apparent who is going extra fast aDd you can soria guess who will be in the trophy dash. Masbburn has turned some fast times In late weeks. He really ZIngs that Yamaha around corners. A lot of people cheer for Keith's 35Occ's to take the bigger machlnes when he makes the irophy dash. Guess It's because they fell ltke underdogs themselves, sitting among the splinters and drlnklng that 20 cent coffee. Roland Seaborne makes the dash with regularity, along with Mp! Lachel when he can take time out from Ius studies. Mel usually wins but he'S been'so busy studYing to become an alcbemist he's missed quite a few Friday nights. The novice riders always put on the same show. Don Emde, Freddy Edwards, and John Hately fight for the leadand the rest of the pack strings out. There's always somebody who falls way, waybehind and no matter where you sit, there Is a clod behind you who laughs and says, "Look at that clumsy clod." Somebody behind us did ·and Denise gave It to him good. "If you know so much about racing, how' come you're not out there, you phoney big shot." It really burns us to of PII. Col• •, _ d fnI. 11ft, pre••ts kif' to tlle luckJ wln_ 01 a . . . II.$.A. Col• • I. Vlc..pruldlllt 0' II.S.A. W.It••• Joe HOP.. pRllc relation. director lor B.S,A. Tri.ph ch-.fferld lropbJ &Irl C.ol DI_ alIund the CoIl.lIlm tnck. Mar lIOmeooe wbo raced a ~ station -em 011 the street 0IIl! time taD: about a gay wbo's at l8ut cot the ...,. and desire to try !be real fh1DC. That brtnes to mind lIDClCbeI" of CIlIl' pet peeves. The vultures 1Ilbo swam to the fence at !be corners wilen a rider Is down. 'I1MlY flasb their little IJlstamatlca. bq>1ng to get a little blood In tbe picture so they can brae to lbeir fr1eDds... ~ a 1lttJe blurred aDd tInda dark bat tbIs Is when Sam Racer fell down In the coruer at Ascot." The Amateurs are all mak1JIc _ while Aldana Is back east, aDd putt1Dcaa a good show. They are sometimes _ _ exdting than tile Experts becauBe lIIey /lave lost lbeir Not1ce fear aDd bawa't yet 1earDed Expert caut1oD. The Experts are lII'CIoabtedI7 juIIt lIIat. They run fast, ~ SlIfe 1'lICelI, goiDg hlgb against the back waD, aDd churn1JlC out of !be corners. After the beat races and before lie main, events comes the low point of lie eventne. As soon as !be Interml_OIIIs over the tropby dash Is run.1'hlsfsoftea the f1nest race of !be even1DC bat wbat spoils It all Is the trophy presenbHOII. Where do they get those girls? Bey fellows, let's do something for !be old motorcycle lmage and get some deceat looking girls out there. Maybe airliDe stews or something but those girls are the object of derlsionfrom a lot of people. The three main events tbeo nmaDd!be excitement mounts up to the ExpertftDal. There /lave been a lot of different wlnners this year. Seaborne has out-COllsistencied Tanner lor the Ascot point lead. Paul Conserrlere has been I"UIIIIiDg better but something always _ _ to break on his ancient Harley-DaYldlrclll. There bas been some talkaboutTr1uDJpb aDd BSA 'Three's being prepared far Aacot but so far DO one has brougIrt one oat. The race ends and !be even.l.og ts over for those who file out of !be stands and out to the parldng lot. Those who cross the track and check out the pits /lave a real treat In for them. They can rub elbows with the racers as llaey relax a minute before loading uPandcotDgbome. You can hear some really dumb qoesttCMIS and walch !be riders disPlay a lot of self-control. Drunks stagger up to !be likes of Tanner, throw a sweaty arm around their shoulders, and demand to know why they didn't win. They also ask for lots of free tickets. Eddie Mulder might be there if you are lucky, long hair, fiowered pants, and all. If you are really lucky, his whole _ tonnge will be !bere•.Mulder ls maIdDC movies and living lbe hlgb life. The lights go out soon and w1l:hIn a ba1f hour the pits are empty and it's all over until the next Friday nigbt. If you go to Ascot, be sure and loot for the Matcbless In the parldng lot. Look out for Whlzzer though, he bites. -- -

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