Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N .... '" ~ t> o f;@ w Z ~ ~ (J JERRY GREENE: "IT'S GOING TO BE HARD:' by Art Friedman The first National road race that I ever saw was at Laguna Seca and I didn't expect to be terribly impressed \>.y the Juniors. I wasn't either. Jerry Greene just took off, pulled' out a lead and settled down and won. He didn't need to do anything spectacular to win av.d so he wasn't particularly exciting to - watch. It was in the Junior-Expert 250 Combined race that he made an impression. When the flag dropped, it was Jerry Greene who led all the Experts, everyone, into the first tum. There were only two riders who got past him for most of the race; Yvon DuHamel and the winner, Gary Fisher. A few l~ps from th.e end, Mike Lane, last year s super JunIOr road racer, also squeezed by. Still he had beaten the entire Yamaha team including Kel Carruthers who is the master of that class. I was impressed. Jerry also won at Road Atlanta earlier this year, and most recently at Ontario, where I met him. I asked if he would consent to an interview. He agreed and we got together a couple days later. I found that he had quite a few insightful and interesting things to say about racing, his ambitions, and where he's been. ON RACING: "I think that the Combined class is th.e toughest, the most competitive. Or it was until Carruthers put thai Missile of his together. Otherwise, the machinery is pretty equal and the rider ..............................................................0 : PRE-REGISTRATION FORM • • FOR "CYCLE SAFETY CLINIC" _ • : DATE: 28 OCTOBER 1972 • TIME: 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. ASCOT PARK • LOCATION: , : 183rd & VERMONT • GARDENA, CA. • MAl L COMPLETED FORM TO: : • .""' . "\'~ " J • : • CLOSE OF REGISTRATION: 15 OCTOBER: "BRING A SACK LUNCH" CLINIC OPEN TO ALL AGES NO COST - FREE • • Irv KanernotO. • • MACE :, really has to work." "When [ was running local races I 2819 DALEMEAD STREET • "I don't like being an outcast used to ask (Art) Baumann to come ~ORRANCE. CALIFORNIA 90505 : because I'm doing something dangerous. along. He never would; he always said • NOTE: Registration IS on a first come, first ser.ved baSIS, so end your regls.tratlon form in • People think that there is something that it wasn't the same kind of racing. [ : before 25 October 1972. Seating capacity is limited. so those who register will be seat first. • wrong because you do something conldn't understand un til I got to ride ·Names will be check at gate. • d I don ' t wan t to die. ] • angerous. the Nationals myself. It's completely • : : couldn't race again if] got killed." different. "Local races won't prepare you for • 1. NAME • "We really owe something to the the Nationals. If you want to be : 2. ADDRESS : people who put up contingency awards. competitive in the Nationals, you have • • I really want to thank them. : 3. AGE • Contingency is good for the' sport. Even to ride. Nationals. It is completely • 4. CHECK SPECIFIC AREA OF INTEREST: : if it is only Ilfty dollars, it means so different. " Jerry's desire to win and the feeling • STREET RIDING 0 • much to know that somebody : : appreciates what you're doing out there. he has abou t wan tin I,' to win kep t • DIRT RIDING 0 • We need more of that sort of thing in popping up throughout our : MINI·BIKES 0 • the sport. One of the things thatlliked conversation. "You have to want to win. Look at • 5. MAKE AND SIZE. OF YOUR CYCLE : about Laguna Seca, and was upset about Emde at Daytona. His bike seized and : • at Ontario, was the champagne. It felt • 6. AT WHAT AGE DID YOU BEGIN RIDING? so good at Laguna to have champagne he had crashed hard the day before • 7. ARE YOU NOW LICENSED FOR STREET RIDING? • afterwards. [ told Don Woods about it but he won. He wanted to win." : : at Atlanta. But things got messed up at "I haven't worked for two years. • • On tario and it didn't get there in ti~e. That has been two years of scrimping : If under 18 years of age, please request your parent's signature at bottom of form. • It was a disappointment. The little and saving. No movies or going ou t for dinner. All the time was spen t working • • • • things really mean a lot." My. son/daugher, has my permission to attend and participate in the "Cycle Safety Clinic" on on the bike. But it has been worth : October 18, 1972 at Ascot Park from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. • "I like fast comers the best." everything we're sacrified." • : "Irv (Kanemoto, his super tuner) and "If you want to win, you'll get it • • 1 agreed. If I had a big lead cool it. DATE • Records don't matter if you don't done." : SIGNATURE· • : fmish. Winning is what counts." ON BECOMING AN EXPERT: : • "I don't like feeling unaccepted by Jerry isn't eager to become an • "BE AWARE" : society. That is why things like Expert. He knows that winning will be • printing paid for by: • con tingency money and champagne much harder. So will other things. : . DISTRICT 37 SPORTS COMMITTEE : mean so much. It's important to know "I hope I get a ride, but I'm not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that some one cares." . that I'd give a ride to a first year = , by Bob F. Read The National season is over. A long one that started back in January and came to a close in early October. N ow it depends on what the AMA Competition Congress comes up with in mid-October that will tell us what's in store next season. The word is out that there are far more requests for Nationals than can possibly be filled, As I recall, a couple of years ago there were voices saying th a t if purses were raised and long-standing, . low-paying Nationals eliminated then the en tire National picture would darken, Well, purses have been increased, not enough, but increased and some long· time tracks have been cut. Yet, there are still mo,"e and more requests each year. The AMA is the only organiza,tion involved in professional racing that considers itself in the major category that still is ruled by a democratic system. History lIictates that nd successful racing organization continues unless it is under the guidance of a few knowledg!,able people. To many in the AMA ranks, the purses now being paid appear to be the end of the rainbow and:'!i pot of gold at each finish line. This is not the opinion, generally, of the riders that race for the money. The purses are perhaps on par with what they should have been six to ten years ago. Playing catch-up when it is all uphill has proven to be a long tiring battle. Many riders cannot afford to stay around long enough to make their time and efforts profitable. A !Dng-standing problem is that every rider, regardless of class, wan ts .- piece of the pot. The more the better. Take any AMA purse today, National or otherwise, and split it three ways and nobody goes home with enough to make it worthwhile until the next race. The Ontario winner left the track with over $30,000, but more th,an half of it was contingency money. The rider that finished tenth got $900. The five hundred might look like a pile to the rider that races for trophies every Sunday or the hundreds of motocross riders that stand in line to sign up every week for a couple of hundred bucks, but in neither type of racing are they demanding a good dollar just to get in and watch. In some cases they are, but the sign·up lines get longer instead of shorter. Proven riders, no matter how fast or slow they go, tend to become recognized and eventually obtain winning equipment. But to be paid for it from the start is an anchor that is dragging down the riders that have made the grade. There will never be enough good equipment and mechanics to go to every rider that thinks he is a winner: Professional cycle racing and especially National events are at the crossroads. They either will con tinue to be a "holiday" for every guy with a license that can drag two wheels to a major event or it will b~come a major league aspect of racing where there are qualifications that have to be met in order to ride. One event that has established qualifications is coming up on Sunday, October 22. It's the annual "Race of Champions" on the San Jose Half-mile. The event has a history that dates back four or five years. . It started in Louisville, Ky. and was first won by a guy who had never won a Half-mile race. The next year, it was again won by a rider who is not a household name from coast to coast. The promoters were getting upset as the race was televised each year and each year the few stars that were on ha~d were getting defeated by unknowns. Last y,ear found the mce being moved to San Jose because the promotion suddenly realized 'that West Coast riders were winning anywhere from 90 to 100% of the National Half-miles and Mile events each year and they weren't willing to pack up and go to Kentucky for travel money and a title. So the race was moved west last year. The various winners of the National Half-miles and Mi[es were invited and on hand. But the event continued to be a "come one-come all" affair and as everybody knows by now, anytime you open the door in California to all of the Experts there is bound to be surprises. . And there was a surprise. At the start of the race, a non-National ,.,inning rider shot to the front and led all the way ~o the finish. It gets sticky on television when you interview a guy who says he has never WOrt a. big race before. TV is supposed to be the ultimate and only show the best. This year's version will be a first in racing, both cycles and cars. The San Jose "Race of Champions" will be just that. Eigh t riders won Half·Mile and Mile track titles this year and they will line up in a separate race to decide who is, based on previous· oval Nationals only, the best flat track rider this season. There will be a separate program for all of the Juniors and Experts to go along with the "Race of Champions" that, for the first time, is what it says it is. It's a first for 'cycles and the ear people are missing a bet by not coming up with the same idea in the future. The idea of a one row equal start for all with proven talent in the event has merit. It will be shown "live" on television for the first time by a syndicated television company. It will not have to wait and be shown weeks later when everybody knows the results. But it will only be shown in selected cities that contact the AMA and arrange with the TV people and their local TV stations. If you don't see it in person on the 22nd or if you can't get it on your local tube, then read all about it in Cycle News. local tube, then read all about it in Cycle News. The rid.ers eligible this year are: Mark Brelsford, Gary Scott, Gene Romero, Jim Rice, Dick Mann, Mert Lawwill, Chuck Palmgren and the only non-Californian, Canadian Dave Sehl. For prancl lovers, that covers BSA, Harley-Davidson, Trium-ph and Yamaha. It's a 'bench racing topic until the afternoon of October 22nd. We get the word that the whole show will start earlier than usual up there due to the various time zones and the fact that easterners do not like to eat dinner and watch TV at the same time. II' you plan on attending, lea"e a little early this time. For the fonn sheet, Romero won the Half-mile National at San Jose in July and Rice won the Mile in May. Rice returned and won the most recent Half-mile, a non·National, in September. 111 go out on a 'limb and predict that neither Romero or Rice will win this one. The regular firta] for the non-National winners will be worth the trip and I hope they can get it on the tube. Guys like Kenny Roberts, Cal Rayborn, John Hateley, Tom Rockwood, Mark Williams and Dave Aldana will be in there trying. And there is one more. Terry Dorsch, the rider that won the "Race of Champions" last year but has still not won a National race, will have to try and beat a host of champions in anybody's book. They just didn't win the rigb t races this past season.

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