Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Steve Stackable puts his Maico under a competitor. The title match in tile dosing laps. By Jody Weisel WHITNEY, TEX., J UNE 15 It was the Dream Mile, the Fight of the Century, and the best of all worlds as Tony DiStefano and Kent Howerton dueled for the 250cc Natio nal Cham pionship in th e sm all Texas to wn of Whitney. Howerton and DiStefano were , for all p racti cal purposes, alo ne on the fa st loam y Lake Whitney Cycl e Ran ch as n o one co uld, or wan ted to , match their b listering pace in the hot Texas sun. DiStefano came in to th e last 250 round with a mathemat ical edge of 60 points over Te x an Ken t How erton. T ony only had to place in th e top th ree to clinc h his and Suzuki's first Nat iona l title. Ken t Howert on had to dial his Husky in to first place and hope th at Tony wouldn't break into the top three on the lead erboard. Th e first mo to was o ff to a nerve wra ckin g start as Tony DiStefan o fell in the first comer as Steve Wise (Kaw), Mike Kessler [Hus}, Gay lon Mosier (Mai) an d Steve Stackable (Mai) led the parade lap. Kent Howerton, the crowd cheering him on, motored over DiStefano 's fallen bike as Tony was up and away in eighth. On the third lap DiStefano was up to fourth place and chargin g at a n unbelievable pace . Within three more laps DiStefano's momentum carried him into the lead with Jammin' Jimmy Weinert, Wise, Kessler, and Howerton follo wing at a respectable distance. In places six through 10 Stackable, Mike Hartwig Hus), Terry Clark (Hus) , Gaylon Mosier Mai) and Billy Grossi (Suz) were all showing signs of impatience with one another as they passed and rep assed. As the moto wore down to its final minutes Kent Howerton brought the crowd to its feet as he rapidly closed the gap between his Husky and the Suzuki. DiStefano said , "When I fell down in the first turn I got up and pushed to o hard. At the end I didn't have any thing left," Howerton had laid bac k in fourth throughout the first half of th e moto bu t with four laps to go he rocketed .past To ny and pulled awa y to tak e th e I 24 win by a safe margin. DiStefano, Weinert, Stackable , an d a surprising Terry Clar k wen t to th e pits with the ann o uncer ch anting their nam es as th e first five. Mike Kessler who ran in the top 10 throughout th e moto ran out of gas, Mike Hartwig he ld a solid th ird with one lap to go whe n his fro n t wheel broke, Stevie Wise led the fir st fourth of the ra ce only to succumb to a ratty engine, and many riders fell victi m to the 95 degree Texas sun. In the p its th e activity was mu ted as everyone kne w wh at th e nex t mo to would mean for one of th eir two How erton and DiStefano fri ends. walk ed around thei r vans as th eir mechanics Eric Crippa and Keith McCarty rea die d the two machin es for th e final showdown in Texas. At th e fall of the gate it was dropping th e hammer DiSte fano followed by Mosier, Jim Turner (Ho n) , Marty Sm ith (Ho n) an d J immy Ellis (C-A). As they came th rough the fine m ist of dust on the firs t lap T ony D. ' was 100 yards ah ead and Ken t Ho werton was a dis tant six th with Turner, Mosier, Sm ith , an d Ellis fillin g the ground in between. Gross i, Terry Clark, Mike Kessler and Mike Run yard rounded out the top 10. Th e pit boards and water cups were flying in th e mechanics ' area everytim e th e riders passed by. The Jammer jammed his foot and pulled in to get some aid , while Steve Stackable 's Maico stuck in th ird gear. Both Weinert and St ackable continued to race . The partisan Texas crowd could see that Tony had it wrapped as the margin continued to grow, but at the mid-way point Howerton turned up the wick and began to clo se the gap wi th Billy " The Bear" right on his tail . Howert on nipped past T ony at the end o f the long straight, but Tony took h im back in th e left hander be fore the tower, Kent slipped past again on the same lap as th e Tony DiStefano suiti ng up. two riders care ene d around the track with in in che s of eac h other. Neither rider shut off an d no one gave ground. Howerton had to win , for him it was do or die, but Tony cou ld run second and still take the Nati onal Championship on points. But DiStefano wanted to win the National Champion ship by winning th is race ! Four times th e two riders traded th e lead wi th Ho wert o n leading at the m echanics area. "They were th rowing water on Ken t, " Tony said after the race, "and when he took his goggles off I knew he couldn't see. I gassed it p ast him," DiStefano took th e lead from th e temporaril y dust blinded Howerton and the crowd sighedaS though it was allover but the shouting. Howerton was still pressuring with five laps to go when suddenly DiStefano slowed. His left sho ck mount had broken allowing his can tilever gas sho ck to come adrift. Howerton was by in a flash to take the lead and hold it . Th e question was would the other sho ck hold up to the strain? Would the slow pace allow the other riders to ca tch up ? They were all moot points as Tony DiStefano kept the monoshock Suzuki on the gas and well ahe ad of pursuers Terry Clark, Mike Billy Grossi, Runyard, Tommy Croft and J im Turner. Howerton got th e lion's share of the $8,000 purse for his two come fro m be hin d wins . This was Kent 's third win in the five race 250 series. To ny DiStefano of Morrissville, Pennsylvani a becomes th e firs t person to break th e Gary J on es stranglehold on th e 250 J im Weinert cooling off. Billy Grossi took tIlird. I National Championship in three years. Ken t Howerton is second and Billy Grossi nipped Jimmy Weinert for Nat iona l number three by virtue of his third place finish for the day. 500 Support Peter Lamppu won both motos of the 500 Support class today showing the kids how to go full bore for 30 minutes. In the first moto Ricky Kidd reeled off a giant lead by th e halfway point only to have Lamppu catch and pass him in the later stages . Don Kudalski was the faste st rid er with the shorte st fuse as his Rokon drove through th e p ack on ly to fall to the wayside. Lamppu easily won th e second moto af ter Kudalski ran out of gas on the

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