Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ w Z W ..J o > u .. By Bob F. Read Bart Markel has bee" showing up at National races such as Louisville and Indianapolis. He had stated upon leaving the hospital in Colorado that he would be ready to race by Columbus on June 25. But years of racing, into his mid-thirties, have slowed the charger down, whether he likes it or not. Bart did not race Columbus and will probably not race until August. Markel has been the "Iron Man" of racing in modem days, replacing Ed Kretz Sr. from another era. Strings, wire, elastic cord, tape and metal braces have kept Bart going over the years through many races he had no business riding - but he did and rode well. ' The clock and the calendar are starting to catch up and a cooler head sets atop the shoulders these days in the twilight of a long. colorful career that is outlined in the new book. "The Bart Markel Story" that is now on sale. The new Half-Mile National at Salem, Ore. will be a two day event, with an indoor short track and a motorcycle mow of sorts. It all takes place at the State Fairgrounds in Salem on July 8-9. The track has been there for -years with little or no cycle use. The Northwest is so IT nuts that they used the big oval a few years ago and instead of running the oval, they put hay bales down the middle and raced a IT...or something like it. For years the AMA national circuit was plagued by officials who could not seem to get the show started on time. Now that all three regions have competen t and experienced chiefs. some of the promoters are letting the officials 'and the riders down. At the Louisville National. the show was held up both Saturday and Sunday due to the fact that the promoter did not have the ambulances at the track on time. The AMA has been much quicker of late in flfting riders for violations; ~ow perhaps they should take a look at \promoters who are standing in line asking ,for national sanctions. \ A week later. at the Loudon National road races. the promoters forgo to line up a doctor for the Friday practice sessions. Some people fail to realize that riders break as easily in practice as they do' in the real race. Loudon has always been plagued with all the bums of New England and Canada. This year their favorite pastime was throwing rocks at the Junior riders during the actual final! The hordes of police who are well paid to control the crowds had somehow disappeared when requested to escort all four of the throwers out of the track. The most amazed winner in recent times was Jim Deehan. He was nearly a half lap back of the leaders in the Junior fmal at Indy. running third with less than two laps to go. It seems as though Jeff March and Howard Lyngaard had it won and only had to decide which was the winner when they both fell off. not at the same time but on two different comers! Deeh an , a veteran of many years of road racing. though t he was third when he rolled into the circle. He still can't figure out why he got the gift and au tomatic advancemen t to the Expert class next year. The win was not the only surprise. There was also about two thousand bucks waiting for Deehan from Kawasaki for the last lap win! Goodyear had their new dirt track tire available. It has been tried at Louisville and other tracks and the reports are good to excellent. Pirelli has had the market cornered since 1959 but it looks like they have a challenger now. Dunlop K·70 is still the choice under certain conditions. Goodyear has been trying for years to come up with an all purpose dirt track racing tire; it looks like a winner. Word has it that another first class National has been struck down. The Arlington Park (Chicago) mile for 15 grand is ou t due to pressures applied by the nearby citizens who stated the races caused, (1) noise pollution (2) dust pollution (3) lillht pollution. Now. that light pollution is something new. Perhaps this is what th.e Chicago area suIfers from the most. They need more instead of less light to make it safe to walk their streets at night. The suburb to the southside of Chicago. Homewood. is the site of the Washington Park Mile National on August 5 which sees it in a different ligh t (pun intended). The city council welcomed a nile National with open arms. Please. do not confuse the two: Washington is on - Arlington is off. By. the end of July, readers might start getting an idea who will be the Grand National Champion in professional racing this year. Nearly half , of the first part of the season was devoted to road racing where anybody and everybody can run in the final. July will find two halI-miles, a IT, and only one road race. August is aIl'dirt track. The current point payoff. which seems to change every year, pays top heavy to the first three riders in any' Nationa! fmal. There are a lot of good riders who have yet to win a national race. Their tum is com,ing in the next five or six weeks. Riders like Gene Romero, Dick Mann. and Gary Scott are duc, or maybe overdue, to start grabbing off a big one. Who is the best road racer this year after four national events and 550 miles of actual main event racing? Based upon actual results and not on paper. it is Gene Romero who has finished in the top three places three out of four times. The Trident has not missed a beat since Day tone and Gene is scoring better on pavemen t than he is on dirt. Castle Rock. Wash., the smallest town on the national racing map, hosts the 8th Annual National IT championships on July 15. Californians won there six out of the last seven' years. Last year Oregon's Sonny Burres topped California's John Hateley at the line in a race that all Hateley backers are still disputing. It made John so mad he went out ana swooped the troops at Houston. John is still mad and Burres is still available' in the North",:est to try and stop the money-riders from the money state. The national up there is one of the few still promoted by a club. They, the Mt. St. Helens MC, do one fine job. The place will be packed on the 15th to see if once again the good guys from Washington or Oregon can beat those bad guys from California. The fans don't give any other states a chance any they are probably righ L MILE NATIONAL CAL-EXPO? .. ' 1972Y2 175cc PUCH Still not convinced? Read on. If you follQ!N the racing scene, you know the all new '72% Puch is a real winner. For those of you who don't: On February 20, 1972 Jeff Wright became the first person in California history to win a desert hare and hound race overall aboard a 175cc machine. A Puch of course. Jeff has been putting it on them at Ascot Park's night MX series, too. To date Jeff has put together an unbroken string of 6 wins. luck you say? Read on. At the annual Elsinore Grand Prix this year, Jeff beat all but one Df Saturday's 1.000 entrants, for second overall winner. Sunday, Jack Morgan, on a 175cc Puch, won overall in the 250cc Open Expert Class. Currently Bill Friant is leading the AMA 37th District , Division 2 lightweight class on a 175cc Puch. . If you're still not convinced, come 'into your nearest Puch dealer and see one. Seeing is Believing. PUCH DISTRIBUTING 9825 MASON AVENUE CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA 91311 PHONE: (213) 882-8272 OUR '71'S WERE GOOD, BUT OUR '72'S ~RE FANT'ASTlC! Your Official Western States Puch Dist. FOR A National Championship motorcycle race will be allowed on the one mile dirt track at Cal-Expo if a bill introduced by Senator Ralph C. Dill (Dem-Torrance) is approved by the legislature this year. Senator Dills in troduced Senate Bill 790 at the urging of many professional motorcy,cle racers and fans who participated in the annual Sacramento One Mile Championship races previously held at the old State Fairgrounds. U For twelve years motorcycle racing fans enjoyed the yearly championship race at the old California State fairgrounds, and I can see no reason why this new facility at Cal-Expo should exclude this segment of our citizens from using our publicly own.ed and taxpayer supported state facilitie.... said Senator Dills. Dills further explained that the California Exposition and Fair Board of Directors have refused, to grant a one day motorcycle race on the one mile horse racing ""ack.. apparently because of some opposition on' behalf of thoroughbred owners who race and train horses at Cal-Expo. Dills contends that the position of the Cal-Expo ,Board is unrealistic, that the Cal-Expo facilities should not be reserved for ant one segment of our citizens. and further that this one day a year use of the Cal-Expo track would provide some much needed revenue to a state owned facility which has run at a deficit since its inception. A he.aring on Senate Bill 790 has been set by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources for June 29, 1972, AMXT CONTRIBUTORS: MR. HANCOCK, Washington. D.C.; DAVE MINNICK, Fountam Valley. Calif.; TERRY REZEK. Lancaster, Calif., FRANCIS J. GILLESPIE, Downingtown, Pa.: MILLIE SMITH, Roseville, Calif., HEINZ BECK, Baltimore, Md., STANLEY C. MILES Ownlngs Mills, Md.,' LE ROY FORBES wfiSl Covina, Calif.; MARK BLACKWELL. Mission Vle/o, Calif. and KEN CASE, Los Angeles, Cal f.

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