Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125875
How sweet it is! Ri ck Ca mpbell , . Troph y ra ce wi nner. collects. . from the pack to nab Randy Scott fo r the sp ot. Georgian Roger Crump, back in form after a crash earlier this year, put on a hard charge in the Trophy final but it fell short as he and Ricky Campbell raced to the flag only feet apart. Campbell barely too k the win. By now the crowd was limp from cheering and excitement, but the best was yet to come. The pits were a flurry of action with new tires, gearing, suspension changes and a dozen other jobs going on among the 20 riders in the National. Jim Zeigler, whose ti me-trial settin gs had not worked in the heat, was very busy . Chuck Palmgren and his m echanic were busy making sure that an exhaust megaphone would not come off as one had i n the heat race . Gary Scott changed tires and gearing as did John Ge nnai, but he adjusted h is chassis also. John Hateley was double checking his rea r axle nuts and liberall y coating them wi th Loc-Tite, Han k Scott, in his firs t , race back on th e circuit since h is back injury, was saying " I fee l good a nd I'm go ing to go as fas t as I can " w h ile smiling Don Castro was go ing to "give it a wh irl." _ Mark Willia ms, John Ge n na i, Ed Wi rth a nd Terry Dorsch found themselves immediate victims of starting line creep and lan ded on the penally line because of it. Hank Scott, favored with a fro nt row starting position on t he ' 8-8-4 man grid, found himself without Romero takes Corky Keener along in h is slingshot drive to fi rst . low gear a n d was almost last rid er away. Gary Scott immediately jumped into the lead but his tires, which were sticking for the opening laps, sta rt ed to fade only laps later. Rex Beauchamp bumped Scott for the lead on the third lap with Keener. Palmgren. Hatel ey , Roberts, Romero, Doug Sehl and Don Castro making up the leading group at better than 91 miles per hour average speed. Instead of spreading out, the pack tightened and the suspense grew. The race became an epic battle played out at 120 miles per hour with chins on the tank and left hands clutching the front fork tube. Drafting th at in early laps had contained only two or three riders, we re trains of five and six by the halfway point. Leading coming out of tum two was no indi cation that you would even be in the top five by the time you reached tum th ree. It was that close. Rex Beauchamp he ld the lead (at least where it counted - on the finish line) until th e n in th la p with Doug Sehl moving up in to the Keener, Scott, Palmg ren pac k by lap seven. Robe rts , who h ad moved in t o sixth on lap four p ulled off around th e te n th la p wit h a sus pected blown head gasket. Jim Zeig ler dropped out a few laps earlier with mechanical problems. Keener took over the lead on lap ten han ding it over to Palm gr e n and then Beauc hamp tben back to Keener. By now the front-running pa ck consisted of (in no particu lar order, since it changed Just before the battle, Romero flashes the "try harder" sign . He did. co nstantly depending on where you were on the track) Keener, Scott , Doug Sehl, Beauchamp, Ch uck Palmgren and Gene Romero. Gene got lo st in the early lap shuffle but was making up time for last week when "all I got was my leathers dirty." Doug Sehl pulled a sli ngshot on the pack and emerged in the lead on lap 15 and through the next five laps seemed secure as the positions behind him cha nged so often that it was im po ssib le to keep trac k, Terry Dorsch rode a lone seven th while Dave Sehl was trying in vain to get past Mer! I.awwill; he had the drive but his bike lacked the power. John Gennai, the victim of a badly ch un king tire, was dropping back as was J ohn Hateley, who was plagued aga in with the axle nuts coming loose. Ed Wirth's engine gave up the fight, but Ed found that it was a lucky stroke since his rear wheel spokes we re coming ap a rt. Han k Scott dropped o ut a lap later. Castro kept pluggin g away , but without the stamina to ride the fast high line he was mired back in tenth. Doug Se hl contin ued to main ta in t he lead th roug h the twe nty-thi rd la p whi le the eve r-c hanging scene beh ind h im set for the las t big push. Beauchamp, earlier a.. prime co n te nder, was now suffering from an on-again, off-again one cylinder engine a nd his first was over , althoug h secure in sixth place. Exiting turn two on lap 24 Romero pulled out of the draft and, taking Keener a long, went into the lead dropping Se h l to third. T he trio then pulled a few feet ahead of Scott and Palmgren who were charg ing as if t heirs were the only ra ce. Romero held the lead on the whi te flag but only by the barest of margins and Sehl tucked in past Keener for second to start a 120 mile peI:.' hour charge, handlebar to handlebar, with Ro mero down the back straight . They raced into turn three side by side and. from the deafening roar of the crowd. you could tell neither o ne was giving an inch. ' , Emerging from tum four Romero took the inside line and, wit h a better drive, pulled a bike-length lead over Sehl at the flag . Keen er , only feet from Sehl's rear wheel. was third. Scott and Palmgren crossed almost in' a dead heat with the nod to Scott for fourt h. It was one helluva race! Winner Gene Romero, mentally a nd physically exhauste d from the race as well as co nce rned for t he co n di tion of fe l low Team Mexican ride r Dave Aldana. su m med it .all up. " I d o n 't want to ha ve to go th ro ugh that again." Ther e is no ra ci ng like t he mile. • Results 1. Gene Romer o (Yam); 2 . Doug Sehl (H·D); 3 . Cork y K e e n er (H-D): 4. Gary Scott (H-D); S. Chuck Pa lm gr e n (Yam ); 6 . Rex Beaucna m p ( H-D ); 1. Mart La wwill ( H· D ): 8. Terry o c rscn ( Y am ) ; 9 . Dave Seh l ( H·D ); 10. Do n Cast ro ( Y am ) ; 11. John Gennai ( H·D): 12 . La rry D arr ( H~ D ); 13. Mike Caves ( H·D) : 14. James Ma ness (H- C); IS. Jonn Ha te tey (Yam ); 16. M a rk Williams (Ho C); 17. H en ry Scott ( H·D); 1 8 . Ed wm n ( H·D ); 19. Ken Ro ner ts (Ya m); 20. Jim Zeigler (H-D ). 9