Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

cas race rna es By John U lrich PORT LAND, OR ., AUG . 19 ... ' <:J ..c E <:J .... 0.. IIJ en Quentin Hogan (Kaw 900) lapped everyone on his way to a runaway victory In the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing ·Association's $1,000 purse exhibit ion race ran today. The 50 mil e race, hel d in co nj unction with a NASCAR st ock ca r race at scenic city-o wncd Portland 24 In ternati onal Raceway, featured slick rubber and o il laid d own d uri ng ca r quali fying co ated wi th a fi ne rain o n so me pa rt s of th e bumpy riv er-bordering co urse. Two classes. 3 50 -500 an d 50 I -Open . wer e run toge the r. separate d at t he star t by a few seconds between waves . Both Hogan and ligh t weight class wi n n er Bo b Tigert (Yam 350 ) won first place in class an d $ 135 wit hout th e benefit of the fastest machines in their classes. T he first tim e the ra ce was started. Hogan . Bob Crossman (Ka w 900) of Ca lifo rn ia Kaw asa ki, J am ie McC o rn ack (Ka w 750). an d Ar t Fried ma n (Ka w 750), Associa te Edito r of Cycle Guide , were first in to t he first tum . Of those four, on ly three made it to the nex t turn. It seems hIcCornack was worried abo ut his H2 no t maki ng t he full 50 mil es on the stock gas tank ca paci ty, so he rigge d a n auxiliary ta n k hal f into the tail sec tion of the bi ke. hal f where the stoc k seat usuall y fi ts, secure d by a bungee co rd. Th e o utfit. according t o D av e H a g e n (w ho was beh ind McC ornack o n th e grid) , "was dripping gas o n th e starti ng line." The go -juice fo un d its way onto the re ar tire, so he slid off th e trac k wh ile braking after th e long str aight, piled in to soft dirt. and flipp ed e nd o ver end six or e igh t times. The bike was d em olish ed, a nd th e ra ce was res tarted after McCo m ac k was hauled a wa y. He was foun d to be un injured a nd later re turned to the track to spec tate . T he restart was a little d ifferen t. Crossman led th e 'c har ge . with Hoga n taggi ng alo ng a fte r being pulled on th e start straight and Fri edm a n third. Exh ibit ion Engineer ing 's Scott Clo ugh (Ya m 350) bea t arch rival a nd 19 74 AF M 350 Prod uct io n class Points Leader Bob T iger t ( Yam 3 50) and hi s Harry Hu nt tuned RD away from the start and held first 3 50 -50 0 class machine for almost o ne lap. Crossman kept his fas t ZI in the lead the second time around , but Tigert , with e xperien ce rac ing ' at Portland, passed Clough 's faster mac hine and star t ed stretching it o u t in the 35 0- 500 battle . Gene Brown (Ya m 350) pressured Clough a t the same time for second. One lap later it was the way it would be for each class u ntil o nly a few lap s from the finish. Ho ga n was bl as ting a wa y from the big bikes, trai led by Cro ssman and the n Fri ed m an farth e r back. and T igert was already heading up in to th e slower O pe n ' class bikes as he led th e 350-500 cl ass in front o f n o w-seco nd -place Brown and th en . Clo ug h. . Hogan almost los t it as the first d r i z zles fl oat ed d own from the gat he ring clouds , gassing it t oo early o ut of swee ping t urn fo ur . He sa ved it, and was lapping backmar kers by his fif th tim e around th e t wo mi le course . T ige rt was putting th e pressure on fourth Open class rid er G il Ortmayer (; 50 Kaw ) as t he pai r mo ved closer to Friedman, who started to sec how slo w he co u ld go a nd s ti ll hold hi s p osition o n th e ever-slickening tr ack. By th e time Hogan was about to lap tbem near th e ha lfway point , Tigert in fourth was wh eel to wheel wi th Friedman in th ird , wi th Ort mayer right beh ind. Hogan lap ped the m all. Bo t h T igert a n d O rtrna ye r passed Friedman soon after wa rds, a nd havin g discovered j ust how fast he had to go, Art gassed it up and ret oo k t hird. Cru ising th rough th e in field in search of ph o t os, train of thought was suddenly in te rr up ted by th e wafting sound of the PA system . "And here co mes Larry Lim , Nu mbe r Fo ur, of Team P u rpl e Toad." Wo nd er m ent at last place getting su ch good pu bl icity as his bike b lew up disappeared suddenly. The rain cam e tumbling down , and with it three rider s and a lot of cash. Clough. still in thi rd even though Brown had ru n off the wet an d slip pery tra ck at one point and lost a few sec onds ge tting back o n co ur se. entered tum six on both wheels and exited sliding sid e wa ys into the dirt. The ra ce , whic h acco rding ' to riders meeting ann o uncemen ts was La have been called in event of rain. was in its 23rd lap for Clough. A few riders managed to co n tro l their slid es as they went through the corner s lower t han Clough tried to, and Sco tt had en ough of a cus hion and was up an d raci ng quickly enough t o o nly lose o ne pl ace to Mike Wh ittlesey (Ya m 35 0), b efore th e fin ish o ne la p and three t ur ns late r. Secon ds afte r Clo ugh had go tten go ing again, h is b udd y Bob Cross m an, alm ost a full lap ahead wit h o nly o ne lap an d t hr ee turn s t o go before he co llected $ 10 0 fo r second pla ce be hi nd Ho gan. cam e thro ug h the same turn o n th e sam e lin e a t the sa me speed wi t h th e same resul ts : Slide, tu mble, and ro ll. T ry as he m igh t, both p ush ing up a nd down and across the trac k and h itti ng the electric starter, Crossman could on ly wat ch as \l ogan lapped h im well ahead of al ready -lapped Friedman, who cruised by, fo ot down, crossed up a tad , a nd sliding as he wrestled his s toc k-bar equipped Kawasa ki through three mo re slides int o th e SIOO Open clas s se co nd place spo t. with Ortrn aycr r ight behind. Crossman 's Kaw sti ll sat with the points ca m pro truding o utside the po ints co ver a nd bent upward wh en G ary Bade (350 Yam ) ca m e through th e co rn er and c r a s h e d. Three bike s down and co un tl es s ot he rs slidi ng in o ne co rner wi th nar y a ye llow fla g see n ! Even th ough Cr o ssm an's Kaw asa ki was hauled into the pits aboard a tr uck. he pi cked up fourth pl ace money since he had lapped all but three in the class. Later in t he pits, T igert 's lady sh owed a four lea f cl ove r she found before the ra ce. Ma yb e th a t's why Bob never erred all t he way to the purse' m oney pa yoff. Even Team Pu rp le Toad pi cked up S I 0 fo r a DN F - everyone who finish ed o ne lap got pai d something. T hen the s toc k ca rs sli there d out o n to the co urse . an d the hike pi ts t hi n ned ou t. It had been a real trip. • Resu lts 501-Q PE N : 1. Quen tin H oga n (K aw 900 ) . 2. A rt Fried man ( Kaw 750 ) . 3 . Gi l Ot tm aye r ( Kaw 750 ) . 4 . B ob Cr ossm an (Ka w 900). 5 . Ste ve D aw ley ( K aw 750). 6 . S t uart Moss ( D ue 7 501. > Eu ge ne B r own (Y am 350 ) . rt . Mike W 350). sey. 350-500: 1. B ob T ige 3 (Ya m hi tt le 2 (V am 350) . 4 . Sc ott C lo ugh (Ya m 350 ) . 5 . To m R oth ( K aw 350) . 6 . St eve Sc hae fe r (Kaw 4 0 0). 7 . G ary Bade (Y am 3 50) . 8. B ri an Oa kes ( Y am 350). 9 . Jack Ro ss (H an 3 0 5) . (/) CJ 1 0 . Pa Ul Wrignt (Yam 350) . a ~ a I: • c. 1:=======_ =

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