Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• eener WInS , By Gary Van Voorhis TERRE HAUTE, IND ., SEPT-.22 ,.....;. The -rescheduled ram date for th e .D o .... last race of the Camel Pro Series . . u o was worth waiting for, especially if y our name w as Corky Keener. ~ ~ Corky uncorked a ride on Terre Haute's Action Track hal f-mile that left everyone else so far behind - there seemed to be two' races - hi s and th e rest of th e field 's. Kenny · Roberts Yammed his way to another Grand National Championship with a second placing and also took the biggest share of the Camel money. Dave Aldana put in the charge of the day with a rid e that carried him from last place to third at the flag. . T err e Haute was the last dirt National for the '74 season on the East Coast, but the al l-night drive after Toledo's National left little sleep ing time for many of the riders and cre ws if they were to be prepared fo r the rac e. Rex Beauchamp, still up from his win in Toledo , .was buzzin g about the pits. "I 'm ready for an other win , I didn't get much sleep but I'm running at 9,500 RPM ." Practice thinned out th e ranks as some riders found their machinery not up to taking another round of beating. Corky Keener's mo unt gave up the hunt with a burnt valve whi ch he and sponsorftun er Bart Markel replaced while the cold wind left everybody bundled like Eskimos. The chill didn't cool off John Hateley , who took an immediate liking to the track by setting a new track record in time trials and dragging the sidecases in the process . In the beginning the track shaped up so that you could ride a high line in the loose cushion and make time, but as the day wore on the cushion moved out farther and farther while the groove got wider and wider. "There 's .so many lines it scares me," said Kenny Roberts before the final . Indeed there must have been a dozen lines through each turn and it appeared that n obody rode the same one twice. On ly 40 riders qu alified for the heats ; the previous night had taken its toll. Steve Droste, John Hateley and Dave Aldana scooped up . the transfer spots in the first heat with Hateley a constant ch allenge to Droste, and .Aldana moving to third from fifth via some fancy work in traffic. Kenn y Roberts got off the line badly in the second heat, but buzzed his "Yamaha into the lead on the back straight, leaving Gary Scott and Rex Beauchamp to see whose Harley would occupy second place. Beauchamp took the nod on the fourth lap and held fo r the remainder. Scott, apparently sore from Toledo's beating, took an easy third. Corky Keener was the master of the third heat, running his rebuilt engine away from the pack and using the high line on the edge of the cushion to get plenty of drive. Chuck Palmgren moved from fifth to second by lap three dogged by Mark Williams and then Gene Romero in third when Williams rolled to a stop on lap seven. Dave Sehl put a ho leshot on both the start and restart, followed closely by Triumph-mounted Steve Morehead and John Gennai. Bill Schaeffer was mired in traffic in seventh on the second lap but was ready to move. Schaffer worked up to third on lap ,six, pressured Morehead out of seco nd on lap eight and then put a drive on leader Dave Sehl th at left Sehl looking at Schaeffer's dust co ming out of turn tw o o n the next lap. Morehead then put the pressure o n Sehl enn and almost nipped him at the line for second. John Gennai led wire-to-wire for his win in the first semi while it too k Hank Scott five laps to get past second semi leader Don Castro in the run for the last transfer spot. . Rick Hocking, who ran fourth in his heat and second in his semi, finally got everything working in the Trop hy ra ce as he put in a high-line, broad sliding ride. Hocking was chal lenged early by both Randy Scott and Tom Cummings, but easily held on for the win . Mike Caves rode hard to capture third. Opinions on ho w to ride the final were varied. Heat win ner Billy Schaeffer said "I'll ride the lo w line because not everybody can make it work." Corky Keener, obviously enthused about the way the track set up (he was about t he only who fel t that way) was go ing for the cushion. "The cushion will last and that's . where I'll ride." Not so for Beauchamp. "The cushion won't last so I'm set to ride on the slick groove." Gary Scott was ' ready to "just gas it up." If there was one thing that was certain abou t the starting riders in the Nationa l it was that none of them (except possibly Corky) had any idea ,wha t they were going to do when the flag dropped. The charge into turn one was led by Corky and Chuck Palmgren with the rest of the field fanning out in one line that led to an ever-narrowing ex it out of turn two. Keener led the charge with Chuc k close behind, then Dave Sehl , Corky (62) Keener leads this bunch, including Mark (70) Williams, Gene (3) Romero and Rick (31z) HockingFor the second t ime in 24 hour s. 6

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