Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Trojan TT en ~ lo:l ~ By Mike Capal1te lo:l ..:I U By Jerry Greer :.. u Wo.lls An" O'lr;e Taie H.nors At Whiteman Stalliu. 8OU11:I GATE, CAL., July 3, 1969- With Trojan Raceway opening Its arms to the beansbooters and the th1rd of July, who needs fireworks on the Fourth? Tbere were ba1f as many bikes tra11ered In, compared to the week before, but tbere was twice as much action. (Motorcycle law of Inverse Proportion, 'I). The Trophy Dashes turned out wild, as usual, and Jim Raymond was the owner of a sheepish smile after he won the 100 TT Trophy Dash. 'Bout burned his Jaw muscles out smilIng the rest of the n.lgbt, too. By the time he had won the 250 TT Trophy Dash passing Erwin Moon on the last lap, taken second in the 100/125 Flat Track Trophy Dash behind Scott Autrey (you done right, kid), taken secOnd In the 100 TT main, won the 250 TT main with Erwin raising cain behind him again, sneaked a fourth in the Midget Main Flat Track, a!Jd won the 250 Flat Track Main, the ends of his mouth had c\isappeared from sight uP into his belmet somewhere. SmilIng like Liberace all night. Hear he's been reading scriPture to 'em at Orange County too. Thou shalt not outrun, etc. The 100 TT Main got the fans (what few there were) on their Tenny Flyers when Gary Scott on his really fast Cimatt! called the boiler room for more steam and missed the hairpin off the jump. Paul Wilde, who didn't make the 100 T.D. and who hit a tire and re-tired (ahem) from the 125 T.D., was right behind Gary, and decided to mosey on Ido the first hole. Old smilln' Jim was right behind and was smi11ng so hard he almost lost It on the next lap. Cool shows lIP every time though, and be saved Itfor second place. Gary thought It would be nice to get back in since Raymond was smiling so much, and he picked up third for his effort. Behind him were five separate races. Everybody had paired d1 and was goin' at it hard. Fans thought It was mildly, entertainIng. They stood uP for most of that race! During the 125 TT main, I was talking to my bike In the pits, getting It psyched lIP for the 250 TT main which was next. So 1 went to a n usually reliable source (my wife) for the 125 TT report. You bow what she said? "It looked llke htmgry ants going after Paul Wilde." Very f1atiering. Jim Dawson, Bob Young, HalIk Scott, you have distinctive riding styles, kind of llke ants. Lets work on It. Okay? The 250 TT main was pretty wild too with Smiley Raymond and Erwin Moon thrashing around for first and second. Raymond swears his Mbntesa is stock, and everybody swears at Raymond. Mine was going so fast that It blew a foot peg; really wowed 'em on the jumps too. Side glances after the 125 and 250 flat track mains revealed the following: Gary Scott & Bob Hardison shaking bands after a sone-two finish of hard riding. They're young and they're doing It right. You older guys listen uP. Item two: Tom Vardeman showing uP to run the 250 Flat Track after a long absence. Trouble was, J"1.IIl Raymond was smiling. Better keep coming back Tom, second doesn't suit you well. If you've got a 250 flat tracker, blow d1 the cobwebs, and bring it down! It's a tun track! (Results OIl page 20) elmRTrI PACOIMA, CAL., July 5, 1969 - Rick Woods again looked Uke the Rick d. old Saturday night as be stormed his way to victory In his heat, semi and main, but Jack 0' Brien kept him from making It a clean sweep for the evening by taking the trophy dash. In hfs semi, Rick came from last to first in fine style, but be really bad to push it to make It arotDd Norin Elledge who be1d the lead for the first three laps. Sammy Tanner just about missed out on a main event as he switched from his style d. last week and stuck to the inside instead of going wide llke he does at Ascot. With only two laps to go and running in fourth, he decided that what went good last week might go good again this week and went to the outside groove. He made the change just in time as be was able to ace John Carter out In the last corner to move Into the C maln. Lonnie Arnold had a stroke d. had luck in the second semi as he moved uP on the outside around Larry Heinselman to take the lead on the outside and was really storming and it looked llke no one would be able to toucb him when he just pulled off t1ie track and into the pits giving the win to Helnselman. He had turned the throttle on so hard that the cable broke. The trophy dash was an all-star lineuP as on the pole sat Rick Woods, Sonny Nutier, Paul Consernere, and Jack 0' Brien. As the flag was dropped, Sonny was first Into the corner but Jack had taken the outside and just left the throttle on and when they came out, O'Brien pulled away down the back straIght. Woods got just a Uttle too anxious and as he irled to get around Sonny in the corner, he lost it. He and his machine were lying in the mIddie d. the track so the race was stoPPed at three laps and Jack was declared the winner. The C main was JIm Greshams as be led I t from wire to wire and although Sammy Tanner pushed him all the way and -was riding the high groove, he just couldn't make it around JIm and bad to settle for second. He was followed across the line by Terry Graham and Gary Bray. Another surprise was Norm Elledge in the B main as he was secood d.f the lIne behind Dennis Gildenhaus and proceeded to take the lead away from Dennis with Sonny Nutter following him underGJldenhaus. This seemed to rattle DennIs as he drifted a little wide and Bill Todd took him as well so Gi1denhaus went from first to last in one lap. Elledge bad stretched his lead out abead of Nutier and try as he COuld, Sonny could do nothing but stay on his heels as Norm carried it all the way to the checkered flag with Nutier going along for second. The A main almost had a spectacular crash, in fact, if It had not been two seasoned veterans, it would have surely resulted in a had spill. As they charged into the first corner, Larry He1nselman grabbed the lead with Woods, O'Brien and Conserriere side by sIde. Coming out, Rick pulled abead a little while, Jack and Paul got tangled uP with each other and for a while it looked llke they were going to go down but they did everything right and kept them upright and got them separated. It was a little late though as Larry and Rick had put a lot of distance between them and it was just a lltUe too much to make lIP. Rick dogged at Helnselmans' rear wheel until he found a hole and took over the lead to hold it to the finish line. (Results on page 20) Story and Photos by D and D One d. the biggest crowds to attend Ascot this season really got their money's worth. They saw a new world'S record by the king of the stuntmen, Evel Knievel, as he succes~fully jumPed 17 cars. It thrilled the thousands that turned out for the regularly scheduled car show and was a very personal satisfaction to the King himself, Evel Knievel. The jump was fax from routine; Evel approached the ramp at 90 mph plus. The take-off impact and speed forced Evel to wresUe the bike into position in mid-air and he landed spot-on, though a little sIdeways. A "little-sideways" at that speed could have been disastrous but his tremendous riding abillty saved the day. He screwed the throttle on uPOn landing to effect a slide around a tele.phone' pole barrier. His speed carried him out on the halfmile oval where he stood the bike up on its rear wheel to aCknowledge the standing, screaming fans. Orange Co. Speedway - Flat Track - TT By Jim Vardeman EL TORO, CAL., July 2, 1969 - Jim Raymond, Montesa rider, domInated the 250Cc class in both Flat Track and TT. Riding in all classes, with the exception d. the Open Class, Raymond proved his 125cc F.T. Main, withBobFrauneberller 2nd, and Taylor running a very close 3rd. The 250Cc F. T. Trophy Dash was almost too close to call, with Jim Raymond edging out Tom Vardeman by a fraction. The 250Cc F.T. Mainwasareal JI", R~nd dominated tile 250 class at Oranee County Thursday nllbt on his Montesa. ability to do a quick change with much the same agility as Ray Vanderpool, who is another young man who manages to run in, and most often wins, the 125cc and 250Cc classes. Tonight was an exception to Vanderpools winning streak. Ray won the 125cc TT Trophy Dash, 125cc TT Main, and the 250 TT Trophy Dash, but when the checker fell for the 250Cc TT Main, it was Raymond who saw it first, barely edging out Vanderpool and his Bul. Ron Taylor gave an excellent account of himself as always and came in 2nd In the 125cc TT Main. Randy Ellis ran 3rd to Raymood and VanderPOOl in the 250Cc TT Main, but was once again sIdelined for the evening In the 250Cc Flat Track events with anaillng Bultaco. #52 JIm Petersoo, for the 6th straIght week has cleaned house 00 the open class TT'ers. RIding a Triumph and sporting a beautiful set d. green and white leathers you will always find this young man lIP froot and that's where it counts. This week AI Smith ran 2nd to Jim and Sandy Robertson made it in for 3rd, which was no easy chore considering the amount and speed of those big boys on this very small TT course. The 125cc Trophy Dasii, Flat Track DIv OJ went to Roo Taylor on his very fast Yamaha. Mark Kruse, on a Kawasa/d., put ' " a tremendous tIlttle and won the scorcher with Raymond coming OIl strong to win and Peterson following to take 2nd. But the real race was between Mark Kruse and Tom Vardeman. The two boys were nip and tuck for several laps with the contest ending with Kruso running 3rd and Vardeman on that very hard cement wall. Tom received no injury, at least where it would show. Incidentally, these two boys are good buddies and there were certainly no hard feeling in the matter. They are both just very fond of running in the same groove and uPOn occasion something or someone just has to give. The evening was SuPer warm In comparison to the cold winds that we had last week and one of our riders strolled in wearing his bermuda shorts. Correct me if I'm wrong but we think it was Chuck Saxton, who incidentally has not missed a race at Orange Co. in many . years, and always makes a good showing for himself. Our weekly WbeeUe Contest, during intermission, is becoming more challenging each week. The number of bikes are mounting and it provides our future cycle riders a chance to get feel of performing in front of a grandstand full of people. AI so, there is always a big Trophy for the winning young fellow. (Results on page 20)

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