Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i CAL. SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP .... o - Gl ~ o ~ w Z W ..J U > U Steve got off the line rust and turned four of the fastest laps ever seen on the fast Bakersfield track and retained his title of Class A speedway champion for another season. Larry Shaw bad things go as well as could be expected, considering that he wasn't in the final race: he wound up second with 13 points. Bill Cody was third with 12 points. Riclt Woods was a distant seventh. (Results on page 20) Not Elough. Bast, Cody. Nutter and Woods go into the final tum. By Dennis Greene BAKERSFIELD, CALIF., Nov. 20, 1970 - In the last and most exciting race of the speedway season, Steve Bast demonltrated to a record breaking crowd that indeed, Bast is Best. To keep the excitement at a fever pitch the promoten instituted a new scoring system whicn was not necessarily any better than the old system but which has the advantage of keeping the winner a secret until the very last nce of the evening. In the new system each rider is given a certain number of points in each event, depending upon where he finishes. First gets 3 points, second gets 2 points, and third gets I point. With the new system, the last event was, as planned. the mOlt exciting. Not planned, but· contributing to the tension, was the fact that probably the best four' American Ipeedway racers were on the line for the last event of the season. These were Rick W,oods. Sonny Nutter, Wild Bill Cody and Steve Bast. Meanwhile, sitting in the pits chewing his fingernails, or smoking furiously or whatever his thing is, was Larry Shaw, who just happened to be in fint place with 13 points. Larry was going to lose flrst if anyone but Rick Woods won, so depending on haw things tumed out, he might wind up anywhere from flJ'St to fourth. By Alex Arr SAN GABRIEL, CALIF., Nov. 12, 1970 - He saw a need and has built a thriving business in meeting that need. That'l Glen Specht and his firm 'is Glen's Rentals here. The need he saw was for trailers to haul motorcycles to races and rallies and recreational areas. Within a year he has built up a fleet of nearly thirty cycle trailers, adding about two per month, from his fint Aragon 3-rail cycle trailer. The demand for rental of these cycle trailers has become so Itrong that Glen'l now requires advance reservations for their use for weekends. Specht has been in the rental business for leven yean, specializing in transportation equipment, including furniture dollies, two bars, motor hoists, and car trailers. He said that he expects the cycle trailer rental demand to continue upward and that he plans to continue to adding to his cycle trailer fleet to meet such a demand. Many weekends, he says, he just doesn't have enough cycle trailers. two rna riders are the to motocross combination in the business. PERRIS REVIEW By E1aineJones PERRIS, CALIF., Nov. 21, '1970 Doug Mason rolled to victory again in both 100-I25cc and 250cc Amateur-Expert classes to make it three weeks in a row. They were smooth rides as he never made any apparent mistakes. In the 100-125cc class Larry Schwimmer and Paul Lambert were going round and round with Schwimmer pulling that one out for the second spot. The 250cc cJass saw Skip Gallagher hold off the rest of the fleld for second and Mike Hogoski third. Skip has just earned his Perris Amateur rating and is doing well in his new class. Mike Posey came out for the second time this year and led the big boys around for the win in the Open Am-Ex. class. Two Novices, Boyd Mason and George Gillespie each took turns trying to knock him out of the spot but were't successful Mason ended up second and Gillespie third. Both Andy Skeel and Tony Denius were having machine problems which kept them out of contention. Dean Mackelprang, who hasn't been out for quite awhile, took his CZ and kep.t it in fro~t more than anyone else to win the Open Novice. Jim Hayes, Triumph mounted, got out there once but it wasn't enough and he bad to lettle for second. Ray Shafer was third. Walt Foster said he was going to win and that's exactly what he did in the 350cc Novice class riding a fine out in front by a good distance race. Walt has just moved up to the bigger machine and looks like he is going to be right at home with the big boys. Ken Miller was second and Helbert Hessehive third. Bob Bramlett took the IlJ'St Division of 250ce Novices over Mike Wilson and Michael Horton. Terry Traver was the winner of the second Division of 250cc's winning over Bob StnblingJr. and Bill Hisey. Jon Mudd seemed to have no trouble winning the 175-200cc class. Bob Frauenberger was the only one who ever got close and reaJly never did put any pressure on Jon. Corky Bellah has third place nailed down as he has been there for three weeks running. Roy Addington moved up the ladder as he copped fIrSt place honors in the 125cc Novice class. Norman Blake was second and Jim Ashley third. Rick Draudt came back in spades this week after blowing up last week with two wins in his hip pocket. Nobody got even close and the 100cc Navice, second Division was his. Steve Bales was second and John Shipley third. Keith Paxton was the big winner in the First Division topping last week's winner Ken Miller and Danny Horton. (Results on page 20) Asco' Pedes'rian lobs Wrig" of Win World champion Bengt Aberg outdueled Ake Jonsson to win the Phoenix Inter-Am on November 15 in as tough a race as you're likely to see anywhere. Aberg and Jonsson both rode magnificently but the Husqvarna speed capability was too much for Jonsson in the end. Husqvarna mounted Bob Grossi finished a strong fifth to take the top American spot. Penton Imports. 1900 Elvria Avenue, Lorain. Ohio 44052 Eastern Distributor: Western Distributor: Mad-International, 4790 Palm Avenue, La Mesa, California 92041 Canadian Distributors: North Yark World Trade. 1-5 Essa Road. Barrie, Ontario Steen Hansen Motor, 3619 l09th Street, Edmonton 73. Alberta GARDENA, CALIF., Nov. 20, 1970 Weelr.Jy motocross at Ascot Park is always a wild affair, but seldom more so than last Friday night. AJI the classes were up for grabs as crashes and bad luck knocked out some of the top contenders. Rich Thorwaldson was caught out of gear on the starting line as the 500cc Senior event was waved off. He valiantly played catch-up, but luck was against him this nigh t. The night got worse after Jeff Wright, Rickman-mounted, and Greg Cunningham (Yam) were duelling hot and close in the 125 Senior class. Wright bad taken the fD'St two matos, giving Greg two seconds. Then in the flnal mota, Jeff had the lead, closely followed by Cunningham, when a stupid Spectator strolled across the course right in front of Wright, knocking him off the bike. Jeff remounted and came from dead last to flnish fourth, but it was not enough. Cunningham took the mota and the win for the night. The errant spectator could not understand why the Wright crew was so mad at him. "So you lost one little race," he said. Jim Heath, CZ-mounted, won the first mota of the 500 Senior class, but Mike Cram (Mai) took the next two with speedy style and outpointed the expert big-bike c!,ntenders. The 250cc Sr. series was also a wild and wooUy go. But in the flnal taUy, Bob Messer had taken the class' win on his Maico. Steve Ellsworth wound up second on a Bul. (Results on page 20)

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