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/125658
Payne At Sanction Meetlng~ By Diane Seifert Scorching the strip In the Top Fuel division, Larry Welch pulls the trigger on his Sportster. Gauntlet Dropped For Sunshine Nationals "A tt e 0. t i 0 0.: Riser and Barker wherever you are•••" , headlines the Wes t to East challenger. "Att ention Boris Murr ay, Joe Smith, Sonny Raslawski, wher ever you are •••" , answers the Eas t, as the drag racing s cene turns electric over the forthcoming Sunshine Na tional motorcycle drag races scheduled March 7 and 8 at Galnesvllle, Florida. East vs. Wes t feeling has run high a mong top fuel and top gas moto rcycle drag racers ever since Leo Payne went wes t s everal years ago and laid low the California Triumph doubles with his big Sportster . Now, Leo Payne, the Riser and Barker team - object of the Wes t' s challenge, Sonny Routt - unofficial national record holder, and other eastern drag nota bles are all pre-ente red in the Sunshine Nationals. With that line-up of " Easte r ners", the balt of a $4000 cash purse, and the " new rule" Daytona Speed "Week following , it is li kely that some of the big California bikes will show at Gainesville. Adding to the atmosphere of anticipation surrounding the Sunshine Nationals is the expected introduction at Gainesville of the long awaited M&H ' motor cycle drag slick. Drag racers have contended for several years that they could post better speeds with a higher traction tire. M&H, a brand famous for automotive drag racing slicks, appears ready now to make such a tire available. Even with questionable traction, current top fuel motorcycle performance has been creditable. Sonny Routt's double engine Triumph with Larry Welch aboard his turned a 9.10 E.T .and 165.70 mph. On the West Coast, Boris Murray's Triumph double has run 9.34 at 165.74 mph. In the Sportster clan, Jim DeSalvo has posted 9.23 "- 155.70 mph; Guy Learning and Bob Barker, 9.26; Nick Palmerone, 9.30; Leo Payne, 9.30, Larry Welch, 9.28, Wal te r Yee , 9.40, and Gary Ackerman, 9.42. With the new M&Htire and the superior traction at GaInesville, there ts every reason to expect that the nine second mark wl1l be shattered, and motorcycles will be running in the " ei ghts" before the mee t is over. Considerable s ignificance wl1l be attached to records " turned during the Sunshine Nationals, as this will be one of the few times during the year that motorcycle records will be certified and recognized by the National Hot Rod Association, largest drag racing sanctioning body in the world. Street (modified) and dragster classes will run under new 1970 N.H.R.A. rules . Stock motorcycles will run under local Gainesvllle Dragway rules. Free copies of both sets of rules can be obtained by writing to Gainesvllle Dragway, P.O. Box 1646, Galnesvllle, Flor ida 32601. At $4000, including contingency money, the cash pur se for the Sunshine Nati onals is one of the largest ever. Of $2550 in the guaranteed - to-win purse, $2050 was contributed by the GaInesville Dragway and $500 by Cycle Magazine. The M&H Tire Company has posted $1250 in contingency money, and the Kendal l Oil Company $200. " The top fuel winner, it he is r unning an M& H tire and Kendall oil, will carry oft $900; top gas will gross $450. It both should, additionally, s et low E.T. and top miles per hour for fuel and gas they will garner $280 and $100 more respec tively . Twelve limited dr ag ster clas s es will pay $50 ea ch for win or record on an M&H tire. The street division pays $150. Round and runner-up money in top fuel and top gas divisions totals $1000 top fuel and $520 top gas. - Facilities at the GaInesville"Dr agway are reputed to be among the best in the Eas t. The strip is 5000 feet long, has five paved turnoffs and a fully paved return road. Paved pit area totals 486,000 square feet, and power starter rollers will be available. Tim ing Is Chrondek with pretige and dual lane haitdicapping• . AMERICAN CYCLE ASSOCIATION WILL HOLD AWARDS BANQUET Saturday eve ning, February 21st, the American Cycl e ASSOCia tion will hold its sixth annual awards banquet, honoring the top competi tor s during the year 1969. Also to be presented at that ti me will be the perpetual trophies in Motocross and the Six- hour and Twleve hour production road race eve nts. Many other special a wards wl1l also be pr esented at thi.!' banquet. An invita tion is extended to all members and enthusiasts to attend this awards banquet. There will be a cocktail hour from 7:00 p.m, to 8:00p.m. DInner will be at 8:00 p.m. , with the awards presentation beginning at approximately 9:00. Anyone unable to attend the dinner is wel come to attend the awards portion of the evening. The banquet is being held at the Holiday Inn, 1500 S. Ray mond, Fullerton, Calif. (East St. oft-ramp, Riverside Fwy.) The price of the dinner will be $5.75 per person including tax and tip; the entre will be braised tenderloin tips burgundy with rice and all the trimmings. If you wish fur ther information, or would Uke to place a reservation, please contact Beverly Cooley (714) 528-4290. Reservations, including money, must be in to the ACA, P .O. Box 247, Full er ton, Calif. 92632 by Feb. ise.. ANOTHER FINE PRODUCT Di .' lrJ h lJ!t'<1 h\ " Motor~~~I: J:~ilers n~~~~N B uy - Sell - T rade 1 - 2 - 3 bike trailers wi th the Wholesa l. ONLY Maj or changes in the Pr ofes sional rules wer e: The raising of the cc li mit for Road Races to 750cc in the Heavyweight Division - Exper ts only, and to 360cc in the Lightweight Divis ion. Also there will be no mandatory gas stop at Road Races. Any Novice or Amateur winning a Road Race National Event will automatically advance in class the next year • The requirements for class advancement have been doubled - 40 points to advance from Novice to Amateur, and 80 points to advance from Amateur to Expert. Racers from foreign countries, including Canada and Mexico, can hold Expert licenses only, and in order to get an A.M.A. license as an Expert, they must be similarly rated by their own racing association. " Then the sky fell in," A representative from Bellingham, Washington (Harley-Davidson Dealer) jumped up, brandishing a fist full of letters fr om irate Canadian motorcycle clubs and individuals who resented being " sold down the r iver " by the A.M.A., and who were determined to have their hearing right then and there and get the matter resolved for once and for all. After a few questions fr om Mr. Payne, it was finally brought out what the nature of their complaint was. Quiteafewyears ago, in the 1930's, three motorcycle clubs were for med in the Vancouver, B.C. area, and received charters from A.M.A. Their members were all A.M.A. members, and they promoted sanctioned events, and the sport of motorcycling in speaker J without any reason or explana- tion fr om A.M.A. Mr . Payne tried to get him to s it down so that the busines s of the meeting could go on, that of is suing sanctions, but he said that Mr . Payn e was the nearest thing to an A.M.A. r epresenta tive available - and he was r eally sorry that Blll Berry was not there because they had come to the meeting " loaded for Berry!" Much shouting fr om both parties continued for several minutes , a nd finall y Mr . Payne told him that that was enough, and if he did not sit down and shut up the meeting would be ad journed immediate- ly and no club pr esent would have a sanctioned meeting on the calendar' and would not be eligible for National points! Then Mr. Payne proceeded to give an expianation for the " s elli ng down the river ". According to the by-laws of the A.M.A., they are not allowed to sanction events, or charter clubs beyond the boundaries of the Unit ed States. It has always been this way, but in the past, when these particular clubs joined, this matter was overlooked - perhaps by someone eager to get as many A.M.A. members as possible, even though it meant brushing aside the rules. However they becam e members was immaterial, because the rule was there and it was going to be enforced. This rule had become even more impo r tant since the recent agreement with F .I.M. And he stated that the Canadians had their own group - the Canadian Motor cycle Ass ociation - to which these cl ubs, individuals, and riders could belong. But the co mplaintentS were not satisfied , and made It per fec tly clear that all they would be satisfied with, and the only explanation they would accept was the renewal of the Canadian Club Charte r s . Then, as Mr . Payne was ready to begin the role call of the calendar dates for the purpose of sanctioning the Nor thwest Motorcycle As s ociation presented him with a Calendar of Events which they wanted unanimously approved. (The N.M.A. had held a pra-sanctton meeting and drawn up their dates. However , their assoclatton is composed only of clubs in the Seattle, Tacoma area, "arid District 22 is composed of Oregon and Washing- " ton. Oregon clubs who had not been invited to attend the pre-sanction meeting were not about to have any other Calendar approved until they had an opportunity to bid on the available dates. And Mr. Payne agreed with them - in fact, . he was very disturbed over the fact that some other group was trying to set up the Calendar for the A.M.A., and said it would be done his way, day by day, or he would adjourn the meetmg.) There was much discussion back and forth, till the N.M.A. clubs present (compos ed primarily of Road Clubs) realized he meant business - and let him get down to business. At the end of the very long, drawn out meeting, the Canadian complaintants were again waiting for him- and insisted that he do something about them! Mr. Payne stated that he could do nothing but he thought they should write to Blll Bagnall, A.M.A. President, and express their opinions! One final rule change was then brought up - in order to maintain a National Number, a rtder must fini sh in the top 100 r iders in National Standings I u~~r:!~~~HA!~{~e~OOfl. _. ~ COMPLETE WITH BUI LT-IN HEAT SHIELD. BOLT ON· NO MODIfICATIONS REQUIRED. $39.95 T.N.T. A ragon Circle of Excellence 22 3 W" CA M IN O REAL . MON ROVI A. CA LIF . 91016" - The District 22 sanction meeting was held at the Holiday Inn in Portland, Oregon with Gary Payne, Deputy Dir ector of the American Motor cycl e Association , presiding. There wer e about 24 clubs with r epres enta tives in attendance. Following a brief a wards presentation by the Nor thwest Motorcycle Ass ociation, the meeting got down to the purpose for which it was s cheduled . Mr . Payne gave a short breakdown of the A.M.A. s tructure, covering the types of member s , the staff, and the Competition Congr ess. One interesting point brought out was that, based on the number of sanctions is su ed in 1969 for both sportsman and profess ional events, there was an A.M.A. sanctioned event being held every hour. and 40 minutes throughout the year l Mr. Payne stated that the rule books would be late this year - they are gener ally sent out in January, but it was not known exactly when they would be availabl e, and for that reason he was going over some of the changes. First of all he brought up the rule change concerning sportsman racing which states that no r ider under 16 may compete in events where speed is the deter mini ng fac tor including scrambles and hill climbs. He fur ther stated that the rule change was arrived at after much dis cus s ion, and many facto rs con"trfbuted to the decision - s uch as the safety factor for the riders; the liabllity aspect - to clubs and. sponsors ; and the financ ial responsibility of the clubs . Jay Upton added the poin t that many clubs in many areas of the United Sta tes had adopted this ruling on their own becaus e they wer e so conce r ned over the possible complications r es ulting from serious injury or death to a younger competi tor . Another factor possibl y of inte rest to the Compe ti tion Congress was the youngsters are permitted to drive at age 16. their area. Then, in the last two years, they have bee n unable to renew their charters, and therefore cannot hold sanctioned events. Furthermore, a well known Candian racer who had held National #22 for years hadhis nurnbertakenaway. And all of this went on, according to the 213-44H1 342 RTE. I, 1248, McMINNVILLE , ORE. 91128 en := kJ ~ kJ d >.. U