Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

This is the winner, Gary Scott, trimming away rival Roberts' Grand National Championship po ints lead Sunday . And th is is the runner-up, the Kidd from Texas, pitch ing it sideways at over 100 MPH . Ride ' e m and weep. John Gennai and Danny Hockie finished one-two in the Trophy race after not"qu ite making the National line u p . They won some mo ne y, though. Race within a race eo-starred Frank (761 Gillespie a nd Pat (67) Mar inacci. into th e numb e r three corner fence an d flew completely over th e wall, narrow ly m issing a tre e, and lan d e d in a ne ig hb or 's bac k yard. Larry was reported to have suffered a "cut leg." Gary Scott sl ing-shorted past Mi ke Kidd, tak ing th e chec kered flag by inches afte r " ten-lap batt le th at saw th e a lead change eleven times and gave a preview of the National final duel between these two c hargers on th e factory Ha rley and Triumph. Castro snatched third and Dave A ldana fourt h transfer away from Rob Morrison o n the Norton. AI Gunter e scaped t he crashes and finished next to last. Hea t fou r started wi th a crash tha t put James Rawls a nd Dic k Ma n n out Mann wi th u n d isclo sed ankle injuries . On the restart Frank Gi llespie led th e charge followed by Ri ck Hocking and Terry Dorsc h. Urged on by the cheering c ro w d , San Jose' favorite J im R ic e raced up from fift h to take th e win away from Gillespie in a la st lap thri ller when Frank 's Ya maha threw its chain. 1\toments la te r, a cheer of relief as Rice is seen up and wa lking. As the ra cers line up for the restart, I\lert emerges from the a m b u lan ce and anot her cheer goes up. It's going to be okay after all. Starter Bou ncing Bob turns c ar t w hee ls on th e track. Th e gree n flag dances and they're o ff! S cott aga in s treaks to the front with Kidd and Roberts close at hee l, followed in a bunch by Sco tt Brelsford, Keener. brother Hank Scott, C astro. Morrison and Romero . As th e laps unwind th e Nationa l sorts out into fou r separate races. Scott and Kidd, the Harley and the Triumph le ad the charge with Ha n k and Kenny lur king in th eir draft. Then a gap and a snarling pack of motorcycles ' le d by Morrison, Castro and Keener, wi th Palmgren an d Romer o hanging draft . Another gap, then Frank Gillespie and Pat Marinacci wheel -to-wheel in a private duel. Space. the n thunders Rick Hoc k ing, Terry Do rsch and .I ohn lI a te ley having a race of th eir own. Mi le after mile th ey speed in th e warm California sun . Pa lmgren's m o to r seizes sending him very high, almost into th e hay bales ; he barely save s it. Twenty-three mi les. twe nty-fou r. It is clear tha t Gary Scott w ill not be de ni ed his victory this day. Gillespie slingshots past Marinacci a t th e c hec ke red flag and Morrison ha s held ba ck his pack t o win tha t race -within-a-race. Roberts p lays his ho le card that wor ked last month, drifting out of Hank Scot r's draft to slingshot him pa s t the checkers, but l lank was expec ting tha t and clung to third by a tire-tread to share t he victory c h a m pagne with h is brother. T he cro w d pours over t he fences to mob the winne r's platform wh ere their he roes arc. It was nu l a replay of last ~ Iay a t all. • slig ht edge over his rival, so Hate ley wen t to the National and Gennai went to the Trophy fina l. Trophy final and J un ior invitational It was pass and repa ss in the Trophy race . Dewayne Kee ter took it away fro m J ohn Gcnnai hut fe ll back smoking to let Danny !Jockie f ight for first at over 100 miles per h ou r. Gennai led it to the ch ec ke re d flag , h o we ve r. Semi finals I t was Odo rn versus Gi llespie in th e first Sem i. hut Rob Mo rriso n bc rse rkcd his w a y in tu the lead and won a spo t on ' the Na tio na l star ti ng line, much to his cornpr ti tions -d isrnay. The ot her Se mi was ano ther thriller with J oh n l la tc lcy and John Gennai goi ng nec k an d neck. hu t Bob Sanders proved again th at he knows h is way aro und San Jose .. a nd a ro und the two Johns .- hy p assin g them bo th for the lea d spo t ha lfway th ro ugh th e race. " Ge nnai got in front of Hat e ley final ly for the second and last transfer posi tion on lap eight. but he re a crash interr upted th e race andit was s topped . Un fort u nately for Ccnnai. the rul e says you score the fin ish by the order the y passed i he na~ line of t he previous lap . a nd on tha t seventh la p, Halt- ley had a Gary Scott advertises impartially. T he .Junior invita tiona l race was another Sk ip Aksland be nefi t as Wa lt Foster chased h im 10 the flag, followed by ten other tale nted young- ra cers get ling valuable ex perience on the mile . National final E xpecta tion was h igh " they lined as up for the bi "~ 25· lap race .• \ 1 the green flag "it was Gary Scoll, Kenny Roberts and Corky Kee ner away like shots from the same gun. Twcn ty motors snarled around the track and then a giant gasp as the grands tand IC

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