Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

! Howerton takes over ; points lead at t Blue Grass National l!) r- O'l By Gary Van Voorhis - The o ~ NEW CASTLE, KY ., MAY 25 Blue Grass 250cc National Motocross Championship was money green for Kent Howerton as the talented Husqvarna team rider put together second and first place finishes to clinch his second overall win of the series and boost himself into the lead in the National point standings. Suzuki teamsters Billy Grossi and Tony DiStefano took the place and show positions at the Kentucky circuit which lies in the heart of an area that is more accustomed to thoroughbred horses and aged bourbon. Howerton, when asked what the secret to his victory was , replied he got scared. A very novel answer. He then elaborated "No, I didn't really get a second win in the final moto, I j ust got scared that I might not win and I knew I had to do it. " Kent also frightened th e opposition with some good old fashioned slam-bang, rattle the handlebars and pull out all the stops kind of riding that left a dry mouth, tongue-in-the-dirt feeling in competitors and spectators alike. That and the 90 degree heat with humidity to match. Th e race could actually have gone to either Howerton, DiStefano, Grossi or bashed, bounced and blasted th rough using anything for a berm including other riders. If Tony D's opening laps were to be any indication of what was to transpire later on in the day, then most of the crowd would have been well advised to go find some shade and a tall cool one and wait for the checkered flag . DiStefano, with two laps down, had an almost seven second lead in hand and looked ready to keep on cooking. Pierre Karsmakers (Hon) ran a swift second, followed by Ken Zahrt, on a Montesa whi ch he was quickly getting used to after changing from his previous Bultaco mount, and Gaylon Mosier. BiUy Grossi was chargi ng also. While Howerton, Weinert, Runyard, Hartwig and Stackable were all locked in traffic. By lap five it was a trio of Karsmakers, Mosi er and Grossi play ing cat and mouse for second place while Staekable was drawing ever closer. Howerton and Weinert were moving through traffic and slippe d into the top 10. Two laps late r Grossi made his move J im Weinert and Tony Distefano we re at it aga in in bourbon country. ... (an d luck) as his impromptu refill got him disqualified . . . Bil1y Grossi took the lead and the pressure started building as Howerton began to close the gap that separated the pair. With less than 200 yards left to the flag Howerton pulled onto Grossi's re ar wheel only to have a slower rider balk him as Grossi shot underneath in the their way to ward the front runners. John Savitski was truckin ' in fifth with Mike Hartwig and Steve Stackable roaring behind. In the sp ace of a lap Weinert dropped to fourth and Grossi banged his way to second with Ho werton following into third. Weine rt, Savitski, Hartwig, Stackable, Runyard, Mosier and Zahrt made up the rest of the top 10 at this point. At the two-thirds point Howerton moved in to challenge DiStefano with so me daring head to head riding. The last laps were anti-climatic with Howerton maintaining his hold on the fro nt positi on followed by DiStefano, Grossi, Hartwig, Stackable, Runyard, Savitski and a tired J immy Weinert. "I don 't believe it," was Kent's remark as he tried to fo rce a smile without co ntorting his de sert dry m o u th . 500 Support Howerton shook off Grossi an d wo n. Pierre Kanmaken had p roblems all day. finished out of th e top te n. 20 Weinert, but Lady Luck and some fantastic determination were on Howerton 's side. In spite of the soaring heat the Castle Point Motor Sport Par k facili ty remained almost dust free fo r the entire day. The track was an undulating, twisty mile plus nightmare of whoop-de-doc, on the pegs riding with little or no areas where a rider co uld draw a quick breath in relaxation. The weeks of work put into the track by the sponsoring Abel Brothers rated high with the riders. Tony DiStefano got a tremendous start in the first National m o to , leading the field down the hill fr om the starting line and into the rapidly closing off-camber right hand up hil1 tum . Dick Mann, who rode the Support class , described it aptly. "The thing is I know everybody can't make it through that small space at on e time, the rest of those riders haven 't learned that ye t." Still, the majority of riders bunched, and bumped Pierre to th ird , with Stackable now zeroing in . Slowly th e trio . of Weinert, Ho werton and Mike Kessler were making th eir way in to contention whi le DiStefano maintained a comfortable margin out fro n t of all the action. Shortly after t he hal fway flag, things started getting hectic as mechanical and physical gremlins be gan to take their toll. The heat sapped the stamina of many of the riders and those who had pit crew s with water got every lap baths, with buckets, fire extinguishers, cup s and pans bei ng used to douse them. In quick succession Peter Lamppu took crash of the day award with a spectacular endo that left his CZ and Peter soundly thrashed . . . Pierre Karsmakers, who had begun to lose ground, lost more . .. T ony D twisted his knee, slowed co n side rably and Steve Stackable swooped everyone for th e lead .. . no sooner had Stackable begun to enjoy t he lead than he ran out of gas last tum for the win . . . Weinert, a good distance ba ck, took third . . . Marty Smith, in and out of the action all day took fourth ahead of Gaylon Mosie r. The pits looked devastated after the 40 minute plus two lap first moto as mechanics sought to revive both bikes and riders. DiStefano, with an ice pack on his knee, grimaced and decided to rid e th e second moto. It was DiStefano, once again, lead ing the pa ck from th e starting gate , but once clear of t he traffic jam Jimmy Elli s emerged in th e lead. And, jus t as quickly, dropped from sight. Th e real bash began just as the second lap started with Weinert moving to second and then into the lead. Position changes, in th e opening laps, were frequen t with riders gaining or losing places two and three times a lap . Weinert and DiStefano engaged in some of their famous handlebar bashing around the track, causing the cro wd to run from one fence to another to watch the duo perform. Meanwhile, in a p ack a ve ry short distance behind were Howerton and Grossi or Grossi and Howerton banging " I just tried to ride a safe race and finish " was Chris Berg's way of describing his pair of solid second placings that pu t the New York State rider o n top of the overall standings. Brian Merritt, wi th a win and a fourth, took second and Ricky Kidd, with a third and fourth , took third place in the standings. Dic k Mann, on a BSA Gold Star with a frame of his own design. made believers of kids more than half his age as he ran in third and fourth position in the opening moto until electrical problems forced hi. re tirement. An undisputed Ted Fischer went on for the win with Berg fo llowing him around for second. Mike McIn tosh, a young go-faster from Mich igan ra cin g his first Pro event (o n a borrowed bike no less), picked up a six th and added a fifth to that for fourth overall. Th e second moto became a Brian Merritt benefit when his closest co m pe titio n, Te d Fischer, dropped out early with a broken chain. Berg moved into second a few laps later and the pair cruised to an easy fin ish ahead of John Stone, Ricky Kidd and Mike Mcintosh . . Results SOOcc C LASS : 1. Chris Berg ( H u s). 2. B r ian Merritt ( Kaw). 3. R icky K ldd (Mal ) . 4 . Mike Mcintosh ( Y am). S. Joh n Stone (Ma l) . 6. Davi d B y rd (CZ). 7. Tony Irwin (Bul). 8 . Robert Meyers (Hus) . 9 . M ark Johnson (Hus). 10 . Hayworth Jones (Hus). 25 0 NATIONAL CLASS : 1. Kent Howerton (Hus) . 2. B ill Grossi (Suz). 3 . Tony D ISt e f an o (S u z). 4 . M ike Hartwig (Hus). 5 . James We inert (Vam). 6 . M ike Runyard (C · A) . 7. Gaylo" M osi er (Ma l). 8. Marty Sm ith (Hon) . 9 . John Sav ltskl (Bul). 10 . Gary Semics ( Ka w).

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