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THE LAWWILL-HD REVIVAL-IS IT ATREND? ~ w Z W .J c.J ~ c.J Mert leads Bugs Mann (11, Gene Romero (31, Chuck Palmgron (381, and Gary Scott. and Mann farther back. Columbus is normally a semi-soft cushion track, but by the end 'of practice a hard groove had formed. At riders' meeting the racers were asked if they wanted to run it that way or have it conditioned. Most said run it as it was. Tires, always a deciding factor, were even more important now. Comments on the new Goodyear Eagle D/T ranged from enthusiastic to disgusted, but by race time nearly everyone had switched to the Goodyear All Traction, Dunlop, or Pirelli; except Cal Rayborn. On the line, Dick Mann jokingly told-Cal not to gas it too much or he migh t get hurt. Rayborn just smiled. • Dave Sehl (H-D) set fast time with a 26.15, followed by Gary Sc,ott (Tri) , Rex Beauchamp (H-D)", and Dick Mann last third of the-field. Rockwood and Castro were having a wheel-to-wheel battle for third until the ninth lap when Rockwood lost it in tum one ana went down. He was uninjured. Darr, Palmgren ana Castro transferred. 10 MILE NATIONAL AT COLUMBUS 1. Mert Lawwlll H..c 2. Gary Scott Trl 3. Chuck Palmgren Yam .4. Don Castro Trl 5. Dick Mann BSA 6. Frank Gillespie Nor . 7. Gene Romero Tri 8. Larry Darr H-O 9. Cal Rayborn H·D 10. Rex Beauchamp H-o 11. Dave S""I H-D 12. John Hateley Trl JUNIOR EVENT By Tod Rafferty The first Junior heat got underway with Bert Cummings (H,D) and Mike They can't both be going the right direction. -~~~~--.:= Then the battle for third place was between Dalgamo and Crenshaw, with Crenshaw moving by on lap nine. Rawls con tinued to widen his lead and took the checkers well ahead of Droste. Crenshaw finished third, Dalgamo fourth, and Poovey fifth. Both Bugs and Frank Gillespie (76) got around Gene Romero (31 but they never caught Don Castro. (BSA). The partisan Harley crowd immediately picked Sehl as the odds-on favorite-. After one false start and a red flag, the first heat got away with Sehl and Hateley first into tum one. Sehlled coming ou t. Sehl con tinued to open up a good lead until Dick Mann appeared. Bugs was riding flat out in the turns, taking the high, line and passing everyone in sigh t. By the fourth lap Mann was in the lead, pulling away from Dave and Doug Sehl. Mann, Hateley, and Dave Sehl transferred to the Main. The second heat put Scott on the pole and Lawwill alongside, in what proved to be a preview of the rmal event. . , Kenny Roberts and Scott got away first, followed by Rayborn, Dorsch and Lawwill. Lawwill moved in to third on lap three and began to press Roberts. They began sw apping posi tions, and on lap seven Roberts slowed in tum one and LawwilI was by into second. Scott, LawwilJ, and Rayborn transferred to the Main; Roberts, Palmgren, Castro and Mick Green went _ the semi. Gene Romero set fast heat time to win the third round, but had to overcome a poor start to do it. The 'Semi was a must for National points leader Mark Brelsford and runner up Ken Roberts. Neither was runniPg well, and only three riders would transfer to the last spots on the grid for ,the Main. ;. Pole sitter Larry Darr and Roberts were even into the fust tum, with Chuck Palmgren going' low to squeeze into second ahead of Roberts. Darr began to open up some breathing room as Palmgren, Roberts, Rockwood, and Castro raced for second place. Roberts began to fade on lap five, falling back to fifth place. Brelsford never really got f{oing, lingering in th~ Willet (BSA) leading the pack, but Cummings dropped back and Steve Nichols (Tri) moved into second spot. Nichols got by Willet and held on for the win. Willet was second, Steve Gardner (H-D) third and Cummings fourth. In the second heat, Junior favorite Scott Brelsford sJ;lloked the field and established himself as the pole sitter for _the Main. The Steves, Droste and Dalgarno, battled for second. They hung 'tight until the seventh lap when Dalgamo took over second. Droste· rmished third, and Ted Poovey (H-D) was fourth for the last transfer spot. Mike Johnson got a good start in the third Junior heat, bu t wen t wide and allowed Jim Rawls (BSA) and Jim Crenshaw to take over first and second. Rawls stretched his lead as Crenshaw and Vruce Townsend diced for second position. Crenshaw held on until the last lap when Townsend pipped him on the front straight. Mike Johnson (Tri) could only manage a fifth place finish, but the course of events would see him make the Main as an alternate. There seemed little doubt· that Scott Brelsford had the Junior Main sewed up, since his heat time of 4:31: 21 was faster than any of the Expert heats. ·Brelsford got a good bite at the flag and led the field into the first, tum, followed by Nichols and Cardner. Then people started falling off; Nichols and Gardner were down, hard, then Cummings went down and the red flag was ouL The three alternates at the re-start were Mike Johnson (Tri) Gene Campbell (Yam) and Bob Tram!Del (Yam). Again' Brelsford got a rme start and held the lead coming around foc the second lap, followed closely. by Droste' and Dalgamo. lntq tum one again and Brelsford went a mite wide and lost his line just as he started the tum. He came off and slid into the haybales. He wasn't seriously injured. Droste, Dalgamo and Rawls were running tigh t for three laps; then Rawls passed Dalgamo in tum one and started inching on Droste. Two laps later Rawls moved by Droste into tum three and started stretching out. Things don't look well for John Hateley.