Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Nortb ~ w ...J U > U Pros Dazzle Graham TT By Dick Sjoboen GRAHAM, WASH., July 30, 1971 Gary Brown (Nor) made it win number two at Graham Speedway this season as he led Chuck Theilke (Tri) and Gordy Ochs (Tri) to the checkered after having led most of the way. John Bromley (H-D) broke in to the lead for lap three, but could not hold against the pressure from Brown and his Norton. Emil Ahola (Tri), fourth at the time, crept up to take the lead on the inside on lap eight and led until machine problems developed in lap 10. As Emil dropped out, Brown was in good position for the win. In a thrilling dash, Bob Fievez (Nor) took the trophy in what appeared to be Chuck Thielke's race. Fast qualifier Thielke led with Fievez right on his tail until the last turn to the finish, where Fievez slipped inside and brought the crowd to it~ feet; he picked up all the ground he needed in a very close finish. A spill by Randy Skiver (Tri) in the last lap of Junior Heat One brought a spectacular crash and painful injury to Harley rider Don Noble. Don had the lead for laps one and two, bu t Skiver nipped him on lap three. Noble wasn't far behind when Skiver fell going into the last straight, and could not avoid a crash. Randy and his machine did not appear to be too badly hurt, however. He jumped up and pushed his bike over the line and was eligible for a shot at the semi which he won putting him in a back row position in the main. Tom Watterson (Yam) was going great in the main, leading for seven laps, but Randy was wheel to whee! with him going down the front straight ending lap No.8. A good move on the backside put Randy in spot number one for his fifth main event win here for the season. Steve Baker (Yam) again won all novice events. In the dash, Baker was clocked at 18.85, only .05 slower than Brown's winning lap in the Expert Main. Jim Einarson (H-D), who took seconds behind Baker was the big Novice money winner however - he won $68 in a wheelie contest, besting Junior rider Alan Hemstreet, who performed some beautiful Eve! Knievel style wheelies on his big H-D. (Results on page 28) Foreman Upset By Steve Young RENO, NEV., July 30, 1971 - Expert Windy Foreman suffered his first loss in recent history in the 250 Junior-Expert short track Main Event. He and the eventual winner, John Cunningham, spent so much effort racing against each other that the rest of the pack almost caught up with them. Dave Brant won a first place Junior trophy for following the closest to the two Experts. He rode very sm oothly to maintain his lead over his nearest competitor, second place finisher Wild Bill Daane. The 100 Novice Main, which for some inexplicable reason followed the 250 Junior-Expert Main, was fast and close with John Munson's Yamaha coming out ahead. Dorothy Smalley made a concerted effort, but couldn't quite keep up with the male-chauvinist leaders. Tim Bell rode a typically flawless race to triumph over Ron Skinner and Jack Pine (Tree), who got his worst start of the evening in the 200 Junior Main. The spectator and rider attendance was rather minimal, which was unfortunate because the track was in good condition despite the prior rain. Apparently Reno was jaded by the previo... evening's exciting Speedway prograifl. The next Sportsman short track two weeks after this one will surely be more successful. Harry Dring Shows how to really lay her down going into the corners at Hayward Speedway. Hayward Point Battle Continues By Bill Spencer HAYWARD, CAL., July 31, 1971 Starting ou t the evening's 650 Expert heats was a big lead for Los Gatos flash Jerry Chadim over Campbell flyer Bill Landsborough. Landsborough wasn't having much to do with that though and ~o on the second lap, Landsborough turned up the wick on his BSA and did a lively pass number through the spectator comer. He held the lead over Chadim and Steve Hernandez for the rest of the heat with Mike Sarandria bringing up the fourth spot. In the 'second beat, Tiffen Mullenax jetted into the lead and stayed there with Ron Talbot bringing in second in front of Bill Budde and John Gennai. Starting out the 650 Expert's 15-lap Main saw Tiffen Mullenax take the lead up 'til the first tum of the second lap when Ron Talbot took over. Talbot held the lead until the last lap when his rear sprocket gave up the cause and broke going over the jump, throwing the chain and causing some ungodly noises. He coasted into the last tum and pushed the bike across the line to finish fifth and get the last-place trophy. The breaks of racing were certainly not with Talbot for this day but the opposite was true for Budde. He had started off the line in fourth and consisten t1y worked up through the Burres Leads $3000 Classic By N. A. Williams CLACKAMAS, ORE., July 18, 1971 With a 102-rider turnout the battle was strong and fast in all classes as each rider tried for top money. Six national numbers were among the 26 Experts riding for the lion's share of the purse. On the first start, Glen Adams went down in the first corner and the race was stopped. Glen seemed unhurt and after a little adjusting, his Norton was ready to go. This time they jumped the starting line before the flag was dropped and Adams went down again; this time he took Bill Elder (Tri) with him. On the third try the race was off and running as everyone made it around for the first lap. Sonny Burres took the lead and held it with Mark Williams and Bill Elder running close behind. Elder and Williams shifted back and forth until after the halfway mark. Then Elder dropped back a little and Williams went after Burres. Williams got the lead away from Burres but could only h it tor two laps. With ons: lap to t th e first. As Sonny recieved the checkered flag the crowd moved onto the track to honor him. Sonny was paid $766 purse plus $210 lap money and a $300 bonus for winning both the Castle Rock National 3nd tonight's race. The two Junior Scotts, Randy and Gary, were well matched. At the start of the Main Gary got his Kawasaki out into the lead right at the start and Randy was stuck back in fifth place on his Triumph. Gary held the lead and Randy started moving up. By the halfway mark Randy was in third. By the end of the 12 laps Randy was in second and gaining, but no time was left and Gary got the win with Randy second and Rick Newby (Tri) third_ Novice Steve Baker (Yam) added another win to his already long line of them. He won the Main with very little trouble but Fred Siegel (Yam) was not to far behind. Jim Einarsson (H-D) was expected to give Baker a run but Jim was caught back in the pack and had to work his way out. Jim finished third, after putting out an excellent effort. (Results l(m1'age ~8'~',.... , ·/J. pack so that on the last lap, he was closing in on Talbot. Whether or not he could have closed the gap enough is unknown for Talbot had to push across and the name of the game is to take the checkered first. Finishing a strong second was Chadim with Hernandez tbird and Gennai fourth. The point count is still close for all of these riders and the top man here is usually the top man on the West Coast. In 1969, when Bob Scally was high point man, he also took the National Championship with him. It will certainly be a thriller for the year 1971. For the 250 Main it was Jim Foley off the starting line as in his heat, like a jet, and beld it for the distance. Bill Budde held second for most of the turns but two laps from the end,John Gennai put a wheel underneath Budde and moved him wide enough for both Gennai and Rick Hocking to slip under. Budde recovered to finish fourth with Malynn beating out Peters.en for the fifth. Budde took his trophy and mumbled some innocuous thing for Gennai to hear and left. Gennai shrugged his shoulders and smiled. The battle for points isn't just contained to the track and that is too bad, for this sport was meant to be fun and some people take it differently. Mike Cochran's win in the 250 Junior was a timely one as the five points he gets for that win.puts him into first place in that class for the high poin t award.· Cochran beat out Mark Jensen and Roland Kutaka with Greg Thorton pressing in for the fourth spot. Jeff Pacheco returned for another win in the 250 Novice class and tonight was one of the rare times when only one division of Novices was run, so that makes it doubly great as he did the same thing last night at Fremont. Joe Sickle won another 175 Novice run and he should take over the lead in that class since he is gettin lot of practice at winning at other ks like Uvas and Fremont, which he also won last night. (~~LQn,Pl'irI g§)/.)

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