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Indoor at Portland: Hansen again! Dave Hansen doesn't care about the brass - he 's collecting tootsies! By J. K. Lacey Photos by Keith Davenport PORTLAND, ORE .• FEB. 7 Bringing the 1973-74 American Indoor Short Track Ch am p ionships to a close officially in the record books, several things come to mind. San Francisco, Dave Hansen, Honda, Doug S chwerma, Detroit, Champion Frames; Portland, again Dave Hansen. Not necessarily in any order but without one of them perhaps Te am Honda's David Hansen wouldn't h ave This funny looking two stroke is the fastest enduro bike we've ever seen. How come our test bike wasn't like th is? been crow ned the new Am erican Indoor Champion. T he curtain fell on this year's events early, the energy crisis scaring promoters into canceling, and only three race meets we re held . Hansen won the first in San Francisco, Mike Gerald the second in Detroit (bo th aboard Schwerrna-Champion framed Hondas), and th us th e stage was se t for th e reall y big shoot-out when promoter Bob Knowles brought the show into Portland's Memorial Coliseum for th e i-:-. .... I UI~ . While the sun shown on th is beautiful winter day in Oregon, (which is certainly a rarity), without a doubt the two other hottest things in town were Hansen and Ger ald . Both were riding the high wave, having both won a National less t han a week ago down in far-away Texas, but both cooled off q uickly after qualifying times wer~ posted . Hansen clrculated 20th fastest (8 .73) wh ile G~~:;:: could do no better th.~ ~;th (9.11). Short track racing, especially in doors , b eing what it is, is always a no-bet d eal. One never knows. Hansen proceeded through his heat race to a second place (and did this from the third-row penalty lind), won his semi , and then d id t he same in th e Main goi ng away. One, tw o three. What Dave did was ad d Portland to Houston and the Cow Palace. Perhaps Hansen is the real comet of 1974. Meanwhile , fast qualifier Junior Nick Nazzisi (Bul) copped the Trophy Dash, third in his heat but got stuffed away in his semi. Seco nd and fourth fas test (Yam), who got only to the semi, and Steve Eklund (Ossa), who charged hard enough to get sixth in the all pay ing Main but was beate n out of fifth by the only other Novice in the Main, Char lie Miller (Ossa). Expert Gary Lozano (Bul) was the lo ne Expe rt in the Dash, the third best time of the evening, but h e went the way of many others an d his fourth in his semi wasn't good enough fo r a berth in the Mai n. W h i le one member of the Schwerma- Honda team was getting it on, the o thers weren't qu ite as h ap py . Rookie Exp ert Rick Ho cking came w ith a chance to take th e p oint lead an d thus the Ch am pionsh ip. But his hopes went dow n th e Willamette River when his 350 tied up duri ng h ard prac t ice. Competi to r Jack Heeter from Eugene unlo ad ed a use d bu t fresh 250 Suzuki that his b uddy, who was so mewhe re dow ntow n in a b ar , used at th e lo cal in door sportsman races. Hocking got n o practic e, stopped the clocks at 8.47 fo r seven th fastest, an d wo n his h eat. Then, like the re was nothing to it , followe d Hansen h om e fo r second in both the semi and 20-lap Main . Could there be two co mets? The other two of the Honda Team were luckier, or were they? Louisiana's Mike Gerald was second in the points and for sure the man Hansen feared most but it was not to be . The likeable Gerald spun-out (literally) while running second in his heat. He kept it going and returned to action but could only work his way up to fifth by the checkered. This regulated him to the Consolation Race, as did a fifth place finish in any heat for the riders, but he failed to show. No points, no championship, no cash! John Gennai, last years Junior terror o n the dirt tracks, finished a close second to his heat winner Pat McCaul (Yam ) (w ho went on to fourth in the Main) and again was battling for second in the semi with charlie Miller (Ossa) when suddenly Gennai and Honda were end-over-end down the track. A nd again, for Honda team member number two; n o p oints, no championship, no cash. While the Main turned into a parade, with Han sen and H ocking o ut front followed by Dana Perri (Yam) and Pat McCa ul, little, (if any), passing was going on . Han sen ke pt just fa r enough ahead to assure himself of first place and Hockin g looked very pleased wi th himself on the borrowed bike. La p 20, at the finish line, saw Hansen do his first wheelie of the night, as did Hocking, and a late charge b y Steve Foster (Bu1) saw he an d McCa ul come together sending Pat down the concrete in a shower of sparks an d a crash as h e hit th e hockey retaining wall. Pat was up and okay; Foster re laga ted to nin th positi o n . So ends the indoor season with perh ap s the m ost successful te am ever to attack the indoor circuits. For there is only one more Short Track National left in 1974 and surely each ride r will go his way, each on different brands to vie with one ano the r on the Dir t T racks and Road Races. Will Santa Fe b ring the m all together aga in in A ugust? If so, o dds are that it' ll be o ne of th e Schwerrna-Team Hondas w he n the flag drops, and that's getting to be old hat with th em . "My style is o ld, my scooter is new," laughed Hansen after putting together his latest win . But what is really ge tting old to most of the riders o n t he to ur is Dave Hansen winning Short Track races. Results H eat One 1 :11:41 : 1. De nnis Robinson (Yam); 2 . Charles Miller (055); 3. Nick Nazzlsl (Bul). Heat Two 1 :12 :31: 1. Manuel Crummett (Bul); 2 . Pat R ose (Yam); 3. M itch Perri (Bul). Heat Three 1 :09 :26: 1. Dana Perr i (Yam); 2 . G ar y Tonday (Yam): 3 . Gary Lozano (SUi) . Heat Four 1:01 :96 : 1. Steve Ek l u nd (055); 2 . Fenn Pervier (Bul) ; 3 . Chris Hu dson ( Bul). Heat F ive 1:09 :19: 1. Gerald Kale (Yam) ; 2. Larry D rew (OSS); 3. B ob Sully ( Bul) . Heat 51)( 1:09 :98: 1. Steve Hernan dez (Bul); 2. Mark Will iams (Kaw): 3 . N eil McGregor. . Heat seven : 1. R ick Hocking (Suz); 2 . Ro n Kole (Yam); 3. sonny Burres (Kaw) . Heat Eight 1 :08 :05 : 1. Dave Lewis ( B ul); 2 . C av e Hansen (Han) ; 3. Steve F o st er ( Bul). Heat N ine 1 :07 :92 : 1. Pat McCaul (Yam) ; 2 . J ohn Gennal (Han): 3 . A I King (Han) . Sem i One 1 :26 :63 : 1. Pat McCaul lYa m); 2. Ch arles Miller (ass): 3 . Jerry Kale ya ml' Semi Two 1 :25 :52: 1. Da na Per r i (Ya m; 2. M anuel Crummett (Bul ); 3 . Jerry Kale (Vam). Semi Three 1 :2 3 : 3 6 : 1. Dave H ansen (Ha n); 2. Rick HOCking (5uz); 3 . Steve H ernan dez (Sui) . TrOPh y D ash : 1. Nick Nazzlsl ( Bul) ; 2. Pat Ro se (Y am ) : 3. Gary uzano (B uf } . M ai n Event 2 :44 :10: 1. D av e Hansen (Han); 2. Rick H o ck i ng (5uz): 3 . D ana Perr i (Yam); 4. Pa t McCaUl (Ya m) ; 5 . Charles Mi ll er (ass); 6. Steve Eklu n d (OSS); 1 . Steve H erna nd ez ( B u l); 8 . M an u el Cr um me tt ( B u l ); 9 . Ste ve Foster ( Bu l) : 10. Gera ld Kale (Ya m) . Hmmm, Indoor Short Track ...this must be the underground parking lot at the Department of Transportation Building in Washington .