Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125795
~ w Z W ...J tJ > tJ THE Contrast: Eddie Wirth.and Tom Rockwood pick their lines to suit their styles. M I L E Gene Romero. who can "hang it out" with the ,best. must follow the leader as choice of lines becomes severely limited on the pavement. In contrast, Dick Mann demonstrates the more sub u cornering on the pavement at Ontario, last year. Kenny Roberts shows how to "hang it out" in classic dirt-track form on the mile. Announcing the All - New Hi-Performance Cycle Center a division of LONG BEACH HONDA \ Jim Macdon.ld. Bobby Hosford, Bill B.II and John DON WELLS G.nenl Manater BILL BELL Racing M.n., Ric. dyno·tuM Bobby HOlford's wlnnin, Long Such Hond. XL-250. Specializing in RACE READY/DYNO-TUNED r.;.;. HONDA x MAICO x DKW x HODAD , r1 . , Get Acquainted Special Offer t' r----------With this Coupon-----------i We will DYNOTEST· Your Motorcycle (any maka or modall and give you $3 95 ACTUAL HORSEPOWER todayfor appointment call 12131 423·1433 I L Bobby Hosford takes Ascot EKpert eMe Motocross win on Long Beach Honda's new Xl·250. Rating to Rear Wheel! • With this Coupon - - - - - - - - - - - - ' -Special Discounts To All Competition Riders!Visit us today for your special racing needs Hi-Performance Cycle Cente~ DIVISION OF LONG BEACH HONDA 5105 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach Phone (213) 423-1433 Open Weekdays 9 am to 9 pm -,Sundays 11 am to 4 pm By Sam Mangalin After a lengthy absence of fourteen years, "The Mile" returned to San Jose last May 21, aild it came back big. An overflow crowd of en th usiastic fans jammed the historic fairground structure and the ensuing clamor. must have registered high on the Richter Scale in Berkeley. It's- all history, now, and everyone has probably either heard or read of the fantastic display of mile-track racing that went on that day. For promoters Barkhimer and Soares, it was a dream come true, with all box and reserved seats selling out weeks in advance, and an almost immediate sellout of general admission tickets shortly after the box offices opened that morning. Faced with the envious dilemma of what to do with the hordes of people still converging on the gates, the promoters opened the gates to the infield area and standing room only tickets went on sale. Such is the drawing power of a mile. Attracting capacity crowds wherever they are run, "The Mile" must go down in the AMA record books as being the greatest single attraction for a one-day event. Back when the Sacramento mile was running, promoter J .C. Agajanian pulled in a packed house every year and out drew the USAC Championship cars with their star studded field of Indy drivers. While the mile track spells success for the promoters, to the fan it is more. To every bike rider who has ever touched a wheel to the dirt, ''The Mile" is the mecca of motorcycling. The hIsh of magical excitement conjured up by the mere mentioning of a miler casts a childhood gleam in the mind's eye of every man, young or old, who has fostered visions of great cxpectations from poster size hcroes at home in the garage. The "magic milc", a tapestry of speed, thrills.and excitment, combining the artistry of dirt-tracking with the hypnotic fascination of speed.· Its charismatic power supersedes all we have come to suspect of tribal behavior in this modern-day age of moon exploration and compu terized thinking. And they return again and again. They return because the mile is where it all comes together, the speed, the action the drama. They dorr't spend their hard earned working dollars to hear of wind tunnel testing, G-loads and factory strategy, or tire wear, or fuel loads. They come to see the down-home, violent, knuckle bustin' action that was born and bred on the dirt-tracks all across the nation, from Ascot Park,. California to Sturgess, Kansas, and Santa Fe, Illinois. The fans expect a battle and they get it in the best tradition of the sport. .. f'The Mile", then, is success to the promoters and a mecca for the fan, but what is it to the riders; to the men who put their ambitions and dreams up for grabs just for the thrill of pulling it all together and tucking-in behind the bars, chin pressed to the tank, at 120 mph down the long back chute, or powering on-the-lock through a 90 mph tum? To the men who must chase their elusive goals within the shadows of the wind, the mile is whcre you can make it or break. It is on the mile track where fame can be won and reputations earned, the kind of reputations from which legends are formed. In 1968, the great Fred Nix pulled off what would have to be termed the "Grand Slam" of motorcycle competition by winning all four mile-track Nationals held that year Portland, Santa Rosa, Sedalia and Sacramento. In doing so, Nix earned himself the title "Mr. Mile", king of the milers, and established a reputation as prestigious, if not more so, among the racing fraternity as that of Grand National Champion. Today, the "Grand Slam" has become legend, and none have been able to equal the late "Mr. Mile". So it is, that "The Mile" captures the interest and fascination of people from all corners of the motorcycling world. Money, fortune, fame and thrills are certainly powerful forces on their own, but "The Mile" goes beyond these individual pursuits, molding them together in to something far exceeding the definitive bounds of a sporting event. That something is the last remaining vestige of this sport as Americans have come to know and love, the last fading link with· the past and rugged traditions of dirt-tracking American stylc - big, rough, exciting