Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

off th e '74 Nation al seas on. From th ere, th e rid ers head eas t for more straight weekends of Na t ional events th a t in clude tw o hal f-m iles and two r oad races and m an y better th an average n on-N ational d irt trac k e ven ts o n th e r oad ra ce we eken ds a n d between Nationals . T he AMA National Champ ionship Committee will hold its fir st meeting late in Ma y to sta r t setting up the '7 5 schedule. More t han one promoter o f m ajo r status is re ady to j um p on th e cycl e raci ng bandwagon after looking a t th e cr owds th a t have alrea dy a p peared at Houst on a nd Daytona. San J o se an d Den ver should also pl ay ho st to overfl o w crowds as hal f-m ile an d m ile trac k racin g are reall y t he choice o f th e m aj ority. Riders in the we st now have every Friday nigh t at Ascot Park in Garden a for shakedown r un s. Ascot is pay in g t he highes t purses ever , with a monthly point fund t o the top rid ers. Ascot also ho sts a Regional half-mile on Friday night , M ay 17th, the we ekend of th e San Jose Mile National. The new half-mile , South Bay, d ow n San Diego way hosts another AMA pro eve nt on Saturday ni ght, May 20 with more at a later date. Novice-and Junior r id e rs would do well to get into th ese early season half-mil e races a t Ascot and San Diego, since more than one promoter is talking of s p ecial Novi ce and/or Junior "invitational" races to be run at Nation als or Ex per t-o n ly events lat e r this season. T he on ly way to ge t on the inv itatio nal list is to prove it on the ra ce track. One of the Sa n J o se Nation als last season had a Juni or invitational . It ended up as the closest rac e of the day and a real crowd pleaser. T hey invited the top twe lve Junior half-rnilers for that one , based on points gai ned in the previous even ts . Some comp la ints came in fro m outside of California th at '1'.'1'. Juniors we re n ot invi t ed . The pr o m o te rs wan t riders wh o ha ve p ro ven th eir abili ty in the t ype of racing th e y ar e runn ing. Rid ers ha ve to follow the race s, not th e othe r wa y arou nd. A w in ni ng half-m ile Jun ior will be a t a winnin g '1'.'1'. Juni or ni ne ty- nine out of one hundred t im es. Anyway, it's Nationa l d irt tra ck tim e o nce agai n under th e go od old su n, with San Jose o n May 19th an d De nve r th e follo wi ng S u nday on May 26 t h. Rocky Mountain an d surrou ndi ng area fans will have th eir only chance on th e 2 6 t h t o see th e best dir t tr ac k riders in th e world. Any body who lives east o f Kewanee, so u th of Vancouver, Canada a nd north of Corpus Ch rist i, Texas will be he adin g fo r San J ose on the 19 th, hoping to see a mil e trac k sho w th at on ly has to be half as go od as last ye ar 's to be th e best m ile of the yea r. I've go t m y bags pa ck e d al rea dy for bot h races. Bob F. Read - I !SPE AKINCOF! IS E Afj PE DW Californ ia S~way season begins A co up le o f things helped break up th e monotony through th e winter Speedway layoff. These were the Speedway in th e Houston Astrodome Sunday, February 3, 1974, whi ch was a very good meeting, as the World Champions Ivan Mau ger , Barry Briggs , and O ve Fundin, were all on hand to give us a run fo r o ur m on ey, o r sho uld I say we wer e there t o give th em a run for t hei r money. Then on Mar ch 15, 16 , 17, we m e t a European test learn a t Costa Mesa , Cali forn ia in a t h ree -day Tes t Match Series. Th ou gh th e U.S . lo st th e m at ch, it reall y wasn' t all th a t ba d , because the U.S.A . di d wi n in overall points fo r the thr ee days. Bu t that wasn't go o d enough . be ca use the European s won two o ut o f three . but just by the skin of the ir seats. Now a few week s after the Test Se ries we are in shape fo r hopefull y an other fantas t ic season . S tar ting ou t the season will be Bakersfield on Wednesday , April 17th, at th e Kern County Fa irgr o un ds , p ro m oted b y th e fam ed Digger Helm. T hen on T h u rsday n ights we go to Irw indale at th e Irwind ale Raceway o n th e one-fifth mi le oval. promote d by S teve Evans. Then of co urse Fri day nigh ts we run at the Costa Mesa track, p romoted by Harry Oxley, als o Mr. Oxley r uns t he tra ck a t Ven t u ra , . California on Saturday nights. These rac es run fo r a six-men th season every Wednesd a y, Thursday; Friday , an d Saturday n igh t. T he n a co up le o f new things ar e o n the age nda for th is season . One is that the AMA is slowly re-entering Speedway an d possibly se tting up America for a Wor ld Championship qu alifyin g r o u n d . I should have al l th e detail s a n thi s nex t month. Then, h opefully, m ini -speedwa y bikes will be runni ng a t a fe w of th e speed way tracks, as well as possibl y their own ni ght of mini-speedway . I will also have more infor mation and details on this ne xt week. See you all at the races! California's all new Dirt Freeway M aps Ya sa y yo ur teacher Miss Pendergast. keep s o n y o ur back ab o u t writing a book report ? Ya haven't fo u nd a book worth read ing e xc ep t Cycle News, an d she says it i sn ' t a book ? Have we got the answer (natch) to yo ur pro blem. Try the Calif ornia T railb ike Guid e by J oe Drisco ll. It'll t ell all about where to Iegally ride you r m o to rcy cle in Califo rnia, an d it's pl en ty acc u ra te. It 's wo rth a fortun e, but only co sts $5 .9 5 plus 75 cents tax and handling. A mere $6.70 to tal ! 'C c, -c Mik e Bast Orders yours now! Rider safety courses West Valley Occupational Center a unit o f Los An geles City Schools, offers co urses in motorcycl e rider safety severa l times each year. The purp ose o f the course is to help b e ginn e r s lear n th e b e s t mo to rcycle safe rid ing practi ces an d to assist them in passing th e motorcycle riders license test. There is also instruc tion in the basic proced ur es f o r ke eping m o t o rcycles in go o d operating co nd itio n . Persons e n rolling in the c ou rse ca n use their o w n m o to rcycl es with the instructor 's ap proval or those furni shed by t he trai ni ng cen te r d urin g r iding prac tice. Each p erso n must wear a safe ty helm e t furnished by th e school or his own helmet if app ro ved by the ins t ructor. The motorcycle safety co urse was developed under the gui dance of the Ca lifornia Mo torcycl e Sa fe ty Counci l, State Dep artm en t of Mo tor Ve hicles, A u to mo bi le Cl u b of Southern Cali forni a, Lo s A nge les Cit y Sc hools Safe ty and Dr ive r Ed uca tion Sect io n, Lo s A ngeles Po lice De partmen r, and Ca liforn ia Sate University , Northridg e, Enrollme n t is open to a ny pe rso n 16 an d o ver, o n a first -com e b asis. Each individual must sho w a Cali fo rnia m o to r vehicle dri ver's license. Pe rso ns st ill attending h igh school m ust also show p ro o f th at th ey have co m p le ted d river education and d rive r safe ty co urses. Persons be twee n 16 and 2 1 years o f age must submit a parent ap p roval fo rm . T he co st of t he c ou rse is $5 for th ose un de r 2 1 and $12.50 for -those 2 1 and over. The m o t o r c y cle safety course co nsists o f five, five-hour training sessions held o n co nsec utive Sa tu rda y m o rnin gs fr o m 8:00 a.m, - I p .m, in Room 42. The next program w ill be o ffere d Ap ril 20 through May 18 , 1974. For ad di tional in fo rmation co n tact th e regis t ra tion offi ce 9 a. rn, to 9 p .rn , Monday through T h u rsday, or 9 a. rn , t o 4 p .m . o n ~·r ida y . West V all ey O ccupational Cente r, 6 200 Winnetka Ave. , Woodland Hills, CA 91 364. (2 13) 34 6·3540. • HOT HATS Money back if n ot sa ti sfied. .- ---------- ., HOT DOG! $1.00 _ _ _ _ California Trailb ike Guid es @ $5 .95 pl us 50 c en ts tax & ha nd ling ( 6.45 t o ta l) total Ho t Ha ts @ 1. 00 ea . . . . . . . . . . .. . total _ __ _ F REE STICKl ES Which mus t be ac co m panied with I S .A.S.E. Name ,..- I ---I I Add ress ..... town Classi c at Ply m o u th. Califo rn ia . li e will be o u t of ac tio n for • - approxima tely six weeks. .._... . " ,. ...... - - . , ; " ,;" - ........ _~ .... ... _ A llo w t w o t o th ree weeks fo r ou r so metimes post office. Sen d che ck or m oney order to: I CYCLE N EWS STUFF P.O . BOX 4 98 , LONG BEACH, CA . 90801 _ _ _ _ Please print c1earlv_ _ _ _ .J Presion Petty Supports . ... M.G.R.E. non profit Petrochem CHROME AND ALUMINUM LIFE aid s i n keep ing cycl es and snowm obile s in to p cond it ion . Sprays Can yoa do any ....?e ",0" o n , leaves a clea r p last ic coating to provid e a m irror f in ish w ith I I si. co rrosio n an d rust p re vent io n q u a lit ie s . Rej u venates ox id ized pa inted surbces plus chrome and aluminum pa rt s . M.O.B.E. A ~ of California 11 29 N. 11th Sacra mento , CA 95826 $ 10 a year prevents bad laws and gets yo u all the state news. Ash land Ch em ic al Compan y Injury ha s taken its loll of th e Yam ah a m ot orcycle racin g ef for t for the seco nd t ime thi s season with motocro ss sta r Ti m Ha rt no w temporaril y relega ted to th e shell'. Hart, 24, of Torrance , Cal ifo rnia, suffe re d a b roken right wr ist in a f••11 d ur ing last week's Han g- _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ Zipp. L I I I I _ Yameha MXer injured BUE NA PA R K , CAL., APRIL 10 _ _ Ashl.nd. Divis ion 01 As h la nd 0 11, Inc. Santa Fe Spr ings, Ca 90 670 DR~CO'S 18 50 East Ed inger Santa Ana, CA 9 2705 ,~ (7 14) 541 -5217 In the market for a Pursang? ~~~NO~Am eU~T~CO -_ 1140 "G" Cyp r ess, La Habr a,Cali1. 714· 87 0- 9910 -,_ -_ .. . 15

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