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/125672
(83) Aldana leads Walt (63) Fulton, Mark (87) Brelsford, Mert (1) Lawwill, Cal (25) Rayborn and others into a curve at Talladega Sunday. Nixoo had everything going for him nnW the 17th lap, when strange noises started coming from thegearbox.Aldana bl'oke aWay from Castro to close the gap and was right on top of Gary on the 2200 lap. " Nixon' s throttle then stuck open on a tricky infield turn, causing Aldana to run into .him. Nixon sailed off the track and crashed, leaving Aldana as surprised as reallY out in -froot anione- tliathe with nobody around to claim different. was Nixon remounted and with an assisted push from somebody standing close by, was 00 his way back to the pits for repairs. Three laps later he was out of the pits and on his way only to be blackflagged per instructions from the referee for getting a push start. From then 00 it was Aldana and his BSA three on the way to his f1rst national win. Castro made an attempt to catch Aldana and actually led for one lap across the Ime, Then Nicholas naUed Castro for second, mOVing his Suzuki 500 forward. Romero had dropped off thepaceearly but was stUl holding fourth place ahead _of Art Baumann, Jim Rice and Dick Mann with 20 laps to go. Coming up from the back Yvon Duhamel, Roo Pierce and Tom Rockwood, all on the smaller Yamaha 350's. With only six laps to go Castro and his Triumph gave up a certain third place as the machine slowed to a crawl due to clutch problems. Somewhere along the way Rice slipped into third place unnoticed, with Baumann catching and passing Mann during the final two laps. Duhamel dropped out with five laps to go and Rockwood passed Pierce on the last lap to round out the front runners. joined the rest of the Harley racing team in the pits. In the winner's circle Aldana was handed ' an extra surprtse, when race manager Pete Colman announced that Dave was to receive an additional $5,000 bonus tor" bringing the BSA three in for the win. This placed the young Californian's total take at over $8,000 for the afternoon job that took less than two hours. Perhaps the most surprised people of all- even more than Aldana and the BSA peQPle - were the promoters. It was not a secret that little effort or mooey had been extended for_the f1rst race at the new track. It was more or less an experiment for them. However, - nearly 13;00 people paid their way through the gates and came from at least ten d1fferent states to watch. Imagine how many will be there the next time - if the word leaks out ahead of timel Now comes a gap in the national schedule with Aldana, LawwUl, Brelsford, Emde and Tom Rockwood all returning to Ascot Park this weekend. The national scoreboard now stands at Callfornia 7 wins the rest of the worlei-zero. (Results on page 26) Aldana bombed the banks for a record speed of over 104 mph, over two mph faster than the Daytona record set two years ago by Cal Rayborn. Rayborn went less than 20 laps on this daY and was never higher than f1fth place before he in the 200 mile event, goes into a comer ahead of Suzuki teammate Art A Harley Davidson mechanic surveys the damage to one of their engines.