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SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALJA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONA • ~ SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAL SEDALIA NATIONAl w Z W ..J U By Andy Whipple >U Jim Rice readies to capture his third place finish and boost his point standing. 1. Jim Rice •...•..••......470 2. Gene Romero .•.•.......405 3. Dick Mann* .•••..... : ...390 4. Dave Aldana ••.••....... 348 5. Don Castro •••...•..•.•.254 6. Mert Lawwill 235 7. Yvon Duhamel ••..••....210 8. Dave Smitht •.••••...... 158 154 9. Gary Nixon t 10. Chuck Palmgrent •.....• 150 *Injured tMathematically eliminated from race. Dave Aldana and Jim Rice share a chuckle. ""- Don Castro, Jim Rice and Cal Rayborn tuck up for the front straight. - SEDALIA, MO., AUGUST 30,1970 Dick Mann, veteran of the AMA National Circuit and one of the major contenders for the Grand National Championship honors suffered a broken leg today and will be forced to retire for the remainder of the year. The 37·year.old Mann went into today's action holding second place in the battle for the coveted Number One plate but had to tum over the competition to current leader Jim Rice and today's winner of the 20·Mil~ Dirt Track Championship, Gene Romero. By winning, Romero has taken over second, pla<;e from Mann and has also moved abo{oe the 400 point barrier. It was only the fIrst National Championship victory in the past two seasons for Romero, who has won only one other National during his five·year Expert career: the 20·lap Dirt Track Championship at Lincoln, Nebr., on August 11, 1968. To gain the checkered flag, Romero was not very hard pressea except in the early laps. As the Experts perfonned their ritual of introduction, a lot of Jim Rice vibrations were in the air, as might be expected with his six National's already won this year. But as the leaders went away and appeared coming out of turn four, it was Roger Reiman, Don Castro, Romero, and Rice in the Expert Main. Reiman and Rice had each broken the 40 second mark in the time trials, which is very fast for a mile track, an average of about 90 mph. Reiman received about $200 for his 59.96 clocking for the pole position in his heat. Romero had moved past Reiman by lap two with Castro on his rear wheel. Rice also pass~ him on the fourth lap to move into third. But, now with an open- trac·k in front of him, Romero pulled away slowly but surely for the rest of the race. Although he did lap one rider, the rest of the field was less than half a lap behind at the finish. Castro held a secure second midway in the race, which was his best performance on.dirt this season. In the flag lap, Romero went. by, then Castro, and a few second later in a tight group followed Rice, Larry Palmgren and Mert Lawwill. Mert, fmally, was rewarded for his thinking·man style as his Harley·Davidson XR carried him from sixth to even with Rice and Palmgren on lap 19. As the trio headed for the flag it looked like a dead heat until Palmgren raised his hand, indicating a blown motor. Mert shot by on the left and Rice did likewise on the righ t. Rice was awarded third, Mert fourth, and Palmgren fifth. Dave Aldana was next just ahead of Ken Pressgrove. It is interesting to note that Pressgrove, Aldana, Rice and Castro all had beautifully prepared three-cylinder machines on hand and rode them in practice. Only Pressgrove, however, used his in the actual race. Eveidendy, the others opted for the reliability of the twins over the power of the triple. Bart Markel, Walt Fulton and George Roeder rode KR'. today, and,' even more surprising, perhaps, all but two of the XR'. survived the day without breakdown. . The Expert heats began about 11 :50 a.m. as the thermometer at the Missouri State Fairgrounds pushed methodically toward the three·figure mark. Larry Palmgren, Rice and Romero were heat winners with only Palmgren having trouble. Reiman led the first heat for about six laps until the younger brother of Chuck slipped past on tum one. Outbraking the Harley rider, Palmgren led the pack along the narrow groove for the remainder of the race. Pressgrove reached the Main Event only after he rode his BSA 3 to victory in the semi. Chuck and Larry Palmgren, having both earned spots in the Expert feature, watched happily as brother Dennis paced the field in the first Amateur qualifying heat. Dennis rode agressively and used his head, moving through the