Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

sand wash , plus man y o ther hin gs th at a top Expert knows even t , Rodd Saunders (Ya m) t ook an earl y lead, with a good battle for second developing between Gary Nelso n , Doug Quin tard , and Tom DeMarco . After the halfway mark o f the six-lapper, Nelson, ridi ng a Honda, b egan to mo ve a way from Quin tard an d DeMarco, and close th e gap o n the lea der , Sa unders . By th e white flag, Nelson was hot on Sa unders' heels, and the lead was up for grabs. Gary then moved u p alongside of Rodd . in the turns, b ut Saunders co uld take Nelso n down the straightaways. Finally, on the last lap, Nelson challenged Saunders on the outside in the fourth turn, and both riders came -, down the front st raig ht side-by-side. At the start-finish line, it was Saunders by the width of a wheel with Nelson ta king a hard-earned second and Q u intard rounding out th e top three positions. • ut a beginner m ust learn before he ca n o fas t. One of the st udents was Greg udousky who has just mo ved ou t fro m 'ew Yo rk. lie had ridden en d uros back here. but had never ridden a Hare cra rnb les, and had never seen the . ifornia Desert. He said. "I wouldn 't ave known what to do in the starting ne, also they helped me in riding in lis deep sand. I had to learn it all fast." Also 13-year-old Jeff Newhouse was linking of riding his first race the next ay, at the end of the five h ou r o rkou t, he said. "I real ly got my starts own good no w. Also I lea rned how to urn in a san d wash It was a lot of fun ." ere will be mo re Desert Sc hools with ie next one set for the middl e of letober. • The long & short of it ennis McEvoy takes RA desert bash cetion. Th er e was also a fas t fo ur mile ire road, fift h gear and 80 m iles an o ur if you had the gearing (and the ds . .. Ed itor) . There was a good ndwash and some rolling h ills and orne whoop-de-dos, Th e second loo p was j ust flat out pen d esert. La Po rte ca me in to th e start inish ar ea 4 5 mi nu t es after the start. is Dad J oe gassed him up and he went ut agai n . Conr oy had cra she d, and n ow ateur Dennis McE vo y (H us) was out two min utes beh ind. At t he three quarter mark La Po rte me into view w ith a flat tire an d b ig IcEvoy of th e Go bblemores MC t oo k ver th e lea d. His pi ts went wild . Twenty minutes la ter he pulled in to e finish line , p icked up a bo ttle o f am pa gne and a kiss from hi s wi fe , and id , "M an th at w as fu n! It was the first ime I haven 't had any trouble. I op ped it on that second lo op t ry ing to tch LaPorte, but I go t up and was able o catc h up to him aga in ." Mc Evoy had orne bloody bli sters but he said he ould be ready for the Grand Prix next eek . Tracey Walters (S uz) was second and ook first 25 0 . Ed Rodine (CZ) was text in and to ok fir st Novice. Mark .o ller on a 250 Yamaha cam e in next d took fir st Amateur Lightweight. randpa Gus Paull pulled in on his 400 Iusky, and claimed the Open Expert in, lie said, "It's a new ball game out u o CORO NA , CAL. , SEPT . 25 I The course h ad all types of t errain . esides th e rocky hill in th e fir s t o ..... Over 140 motorcycl es were o n hand as the hal f-mil e and short trac k riders mad e the sce ne on the fast Corona dirt oval in t h e first DELANTO, CAL., S EPT. 29 Wit h a good gro u p of go fast b oys c1uding Danny LaPorte, -Steve Staats, im Conroy, an d J eff Wrigh t on the lin e , e banner dropped and th e race to the o ke bomb was o n . Yo u could hear the oar fr om the sm oke bomb. The first ider to show up through the dust was o nroy, Wright was second by 20 feet d o n his rear tire was LaPorte. T wo iles ou t Wri!(ht took th e lead, and ueled with LaPorte u n til his su spe ns io n en t , then La Po rte had a good cush io n ad . At the first ch ec k (a s teep ro cky up ill), after the leaders wen t' by, the alan ce of the pa ck j us t b ounced all ver the rocky hill falling an d ro lling all ver the ro cks. It was like no o ne cared they hit th em or n o t. LaPorte brought he lead into th e pit ar ea in 25 minute s ime, went right through and head ed ut for th e second sectio n 'o f th e loop. ~ .!:l By Tom Blattler y Dick Wright 'he Hi Siders put on their first ) RA sanctioned Hare Scrambles, \\" 0 times arou nd a 30 mile loop; haped like a laz y "B " so yo u arne into the pits t wice o n eac h rop. T hat way you could' sho w ff in fro n t o f t he gang eac h 15 riles. If y ou broke down it made t a lot easier to get in to the pits. :.. Winner McE voy lusts afte r the Ga torade while Ro n Burpo gree ts hi m at t he end. her e now. Th ese guys are go ing real fast. " Jim Rober ts was six th on a I75cc Pent on and ' took th at clas s. Wes Anders on, Jr. came o u t to give it a go on his Dad's Hoda ka an d too k first 100cc. . Anoth er hero o f th e day and a favo ri te o f the tro ph y girls was Bre tt Round, o ur first beginner, on a 125 Honda. lie said , "I took the lead at th e bomb but a gu y on a 4 0 0 Husky was pushing me hard. I held the lead most o f the wa y. " Brett is 13 years o ld and he was s till a little di zzy from the long hot run. li e also was no t ready fo r th ose kisses at t he finish lin e . First girl on a mini wa s Kim Johns, age 13 , on an 80 Yamaha. Kim 's not m uch o f a ta lker , but sh e did say th er e ar e a co u ple of bo ys in her life and they don't m ind her bea ting them o n h er mi ni. J eff Newhouse, age 13 , an d t he you nges t st udent at th e Desert Racing School, w ent th e en tire ro u te and finis he d his very fi rst race o n a 125 Yam ah a. " I just we nt fo r t he finish, and didn 't get a race fa ce o n like they sai d. • It wo rked." Results in Results Section. Going fast and getting sprained at Corona By Tom Blattler CORONA , CAL. ,SEPT. 18 Travis Pelton, riding a 350 Kaw asaki, took over the Open sho rt track lead fro m David Rees on the first lap here at Corona Ra ceway, battling with J im Wrigh t (750 Yam). Wright clos ed th e gap on Pelton each lap with the p ower o f th e big 75 0 , but j u st co uld not get past. Gary Davis is a Hollywo od stuntman and a t op m otorcycle jumper. Gary th ou gh t of go ing back int o the jumping bu sin ess to show ho w not t o ge t hurt. But to nigh t wh ile lead ing t he Op en short track h eat race, he to o k a h ard fall in th e sou th tu rn , and sp ra ine d h is ankle. As Gary says, " I d o th at abo ut o nce a mo nth." In the 125 Novice sh ort trac k main A ty pical ha re scra m bles st art in the Adelanto desert. weekly hal f-mile program of t he fal l season. In th e Open Expert Half-m ile m ain event, a super, three-b ike bat tl e was st aged throughout, as two San Diego County riders, Jim Crowley and T ra vis Petton, an d Riverside 's Terry Griner really put on a show, Griner, who is one of th e top Expert riders at Corona Raceway, had to figh t his Yamaha through the pac k, got by five or six riders, and then began ch allenging Crowley and Petton. Crowley, riding a super-quick 350 Kawasaki out of Motorcycle Specialties in Chula Vista, had the lead with Perron, also aboard a 350 Kaw, starting to close the gap _ On the last lap, it was Crowley , Perron, and Griner battling wheel-to -wheel, but Petton and Griner let .it all hang out through turns three an d four. Coming out of th e final tum, Crowley drove low and held the groove to ca pt ure the main event. Petton was able to hold off 17·year-old Griner for second place. The half-mile and short track events had five double winners, as Doug Davenport, Mike Tidwell , Mike Ochs, and Eddie Beeson all scored two main event vic tories. Davenport, riding a Shell Motors Yamaha, scored both of his wins in the 250 Novi ce class, as he ca p tured both the sho rt tra c k and hal f-mile feat ures. Tidwell , th e 13-y ear·o ld fro m Upland, rode his Mo ntclair Yamahas to vic t ory in th e 125 Expert h alf-mil e and th e 25 0 Exper t shor t t rack , an d also took a second in the 250 Exper t h alf-mi le aboard J im Wright's wat er -co o led 250 Yamaha twin. Oc hs , ano th er San Diego County rider, Yamahad to th e wins in the 125 Novice short track and half-mile and defeat ed Honda-moun ted Gary Nelson in both events. Beeson (Yam) captured the features in the 250 Amateur and Open Novice half-mile. • Resul ts in the Results Section. "No Competition at Corona" By Terr i Buchanan CORONA, CAL., SEPT_ 26 In the 125 Senior class of the R.A.C.E. MX, David Williams (Han) claimed first In all three motos. Williams, who claims there is Uno competition at Corona," went on to explain, "right now, I'm not riding as fast as I can, but if there's someone out there who is goi ng as fast or faster th an I am, then I have to wor k harder at winn ing ." He added, Hit 's good to win, but it's good to be beaten, too." • Resu! ts in the Resul ts Section. r 37

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