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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125874
T he race for t he rest of the finish pos itions was to ugh. Ch uck Palmgre n initially held the lead for the first two laps before Roberts got by in the quick switchb ack af te r the jump. At that time Chuck joyner was ho lding third with Caves in a close fourth and Mark Williams, G ary Scott, Ran dy Cleek and john Gennai in a bunch beh ind. Dave Aldana and Rick Hocking were fighting traffic way, way back. joyner lasted only a couple more laps before he dropped o ut, while Burres develop ed a sick engine. Gary Scott, putting constan t pressure on everyon e in front of him , was making his way through traffic picking off a rider a lap and chargin g as hard as he dared to close the gap o n second place while Roberts cooled his heels with a six -second cushion . Aldana, riding in obvious pain and actually gripping the han dlebars with only one hand w henever possible , was cutting his way t hrough the pack followe d by Hocking . Scott aced Caves for second near the halfway point and set out after Roberts while Caves chased in th ird, fo llowed by Chuck Palmgre n. In the last laps Roberts cooled it as did Scott, nei th er one wan ting to risk a foolish acciden t with th e top two places securely in hand. Caves and Palmgre n were having a third place battle as were Alda na, Clee k and Williams. Aldana picked off Cleek and then Williams with Cleek followin g to pass William s a lap la ter. R o b e rt s, in acknow ledging the victory, ha d the grand slam in "the back of my mind. n Ho wever t he was more interest ed in his string of three victorie s. " I knew I had it today," he said . Ga ry Sco t t, altho ugh second, felt that "Peoria treated me better this year than ever be fore." The fin ish kept Gary in the hunt , althoug h Roberts gained another 30 points to give him a 331 point cus hion 1587 to 1256. Roger Reiman , sponsor of Mike Caves, joked wit h Mike and told h im that next year .. that's where we want to e " (meanin g sipping the c ham pagne). Back in fourth , Ch uck Palmgre n was making refere nce to "feeling like I got y butt busted out t here." john Buddy (18h) Powell, winner of the Trophy Race, leads this one. Motorc ycle racing plays very well in Peoria. Hateley , who had gotten as high as fifth, foun d that everyth ing that had worked in the heat and semi wen t to pieces in the m a i n . jo hn Gennai echoed Palmgre n's sentime nts on the roughne ss of the track in the late stages of the race. Randy Cleek smiled and enjoyed his best finish ever with a co ld drink. Oh yeah, Roberts is also the first rider to win the Peoria IT on a bi ke of japanes e manufa cture. • Results NAT ION A L FINAL: 1. Ken ny Rob erts (Yam!. 2. Gary Scott (H-D!. 3. Mike Caves (H-D!. 4 . Chuck Palmgren [Yaml , 5 . Dave Aldana (Nor). 6. Randy Cleek [ Yam}. 7 . Mark Will iams rr-n. 8. Rick Ho ck in g [ Ya rn} . 9. T erry Dorsch (Yaml , 10. Randy Scott (Yarn) , 11. John Hate ley (Yam). 12 . Pat McCaul (Yarnl , 13. Scott D rake (T ri). 14. Jo hn Gennai (H-D) . 15. Sonny B urres (Yaml . 16 . Chuck Joyner (Tri). AMA NATION AL POI NT S (Unoffic ial) : 1. Ken Ro berts 1587. 2. G ary Scott 1256. 3. Gene Ro mero 718.4. Mike Kidd 677 , 5. Mert Lawwill 358. 6. Chuc k Palmgren 341. 7. Dave Aldana 3 32 . 8. John Hate ley 281 . 9 . Gary Nixon 275. 20 . Dave Hansen 271 . T RO PH Y RACE: 1 . Buddy Powell (Yaml, 2. Rick Robert s (Tri) , 3. Frank Gillespi e (Yaml , 4. Charlie Brown (Yarnl . 5 . Punk Well s ( H-D!. 6 . Mike Gerald (Yarnl. 7 . Jo hn Ski nner rr.n . 8. Dou g Sehl (H-D !. 9 . Max Horton (Tri) . . 10. Pat Marinacc i ITri!. 11'. Tom White ( H-D!. 12 . Jerry Pow ell (Yam!. enny Roberts comple ted his Grand Slam at Peoria, meaning he has Nationa l Champi onsh ip wins in mile , ha lf -m ile , short track , road rac ing and 6 races since Octobe r, 1973 - six of which he won . Those were Roberts d id it in just Ascot ¥.z-Mile, San Jose Mile, Atlanta RR , Laguna Seca RR, Santa Fe ST and Peoria n . n. 7