Yamaha told Gene Romero to get down to business. He did,
as f irst non-Harley rider h o me in the National .
III
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Gary Scott: Do n't call me " Mr. Avis"
anymore .
comfortab le lead an d took t he win .
Ridgeway then had h is hands fu ll
holding off Han k Scott for t he next few
laps , finally giving way o n the sixth lap .
Ridgeway then had Randy Cleek, who
was doing some charging of his own
with Bart Markel's Harley, to co ntend
with. He succeeded. So, Eves advanced
to the National ; Scott, Ridgeway , Cleek,
Stev e Droste and Paul Bostrom to th e
Tro phy race.
Trophy race
With money final ly on the line , the
10 Tro p hy race riders were all hoping
for a top three finishing spot so they
co uld pick up so me co n tin gency bucks
in addit io n to a share of the $ 16, 0 00
purse. J ay Ridgeway was hoping a b it
too much as he jumped Mike Anthony's
gree n flag and was pl aced on the penalty
line . Hank Scott led all 12 laps, but was
nearl y blitzed by Paul Bostrom on the
final lap. Bostrom had spent the
majority of the race fighting over
second p lace with Mike J ohnson , and
their battle kept them near Hank.
Bost ro m did get by Scott momen tarily
on the checkered flag lap , but Hank
held on for t he win . Ridgeway d ro pped
o ut on the third lap with a flat ti re, and
behind the first three fin ishers - Scott ,
Bost ro m and J ohnson - a close race
too k pl ace betwee n the remain ing
riders, but fo r th e m ost p ar t it was, on ce
agai n , a fo llo w t he lead er gro o ve " road
race."
National
With the ex ception o f so me first and
seco nd lap shuffling between Corky
Keener, J ay Spri ngsteen and Rex
. Beau champ be hi nd the all-the-way
leader, Gary Scott; a las t lap pass into
fifth by . ?reg . Sa..s~man o ver Chuck
o
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Even Chuck Palm gren (18, chasing Beauc hamp ) borrowed
a Harley fo r th is race . Is th is an omen?
Palmgren; and a 15 lap battle between
Gene Ro mero and Billy Eves, th e 20 lap
Main was a ho-hum affair.
The Rom ero- Eves battle was a
thriller, if one realized th at j ust moving
a tad off the groove could cost dearly .
Mert Lawwill found out o n the ninth
lap. Mert slid off the groove in turn two
an d nearly ate the ha ybales , but the
fo rm er
Grand National Champion
pulled his Dud Perkins Harl ey -Davidson
ba ck down to the groove only to find
th at he had lost mucho yard s of
Columbus real es ta te.
Eves, who had finished eighth at
Louisville and 1 I th at Harrington on his
privateer Triu mph, had broken a valve
spring in practice and acco rd ing to his
mechanic, Larry Mohan, .. It wa s really
ticking, bu t Billy qualified well - 16th
- an d then I tore into her. We did the
best we could, but too much metal had
go ne upstairs and I could only hope it
would stay together. Billy pulled it
before it real ly got to m up. "
Ro mero, with the a fo rem en t io ned
pressure of Yamaha on his back, was the
Romero who always see ms to be at his
best when he is pressu re d . He finished
first
non-Harley-Davidson
rider
eighth.
Sassa man 's getting by ve teran Chuck
Palmgren on the fina l lap was his fo urt h
straight superb Natio nal per form an ce.
Follo wing h is San J ose Mile win, th e
Georgia yo ung ster finished six th at
Louisville and seve nth at Harrington
going in to t he Columb us race.
Steve More head, the only no n-Harley
rider to score a heat win, turned in a
strong first half race , but apparently his
ti re we nt awa y as he had difficulty
ho lding t he groove. He slipped to 11th
far ah ead of the las t finisher. John
Hateley , wh o took ho me 12th pl ace
poin ts and m oney . Lawwill was sco red
ahead of Eves, bu t Mert joine d Eves in
th e DNF colu mn o n th e 17t h lap when
his Harley's oil re turn line cam e off,
m aking hi s rear tire slicker than Saudi
Arabia. He earlier had to de al with his
disc brake separating from its adapter.
Rick Hocking rode a hard race,
invovling himself in some close running
with the Ro mero-Eves and sometime s
-Dave Sehl fight, and finished lOth.
Gary Scott was as h appy as he has
ever been when he mounted the victory
podium, and he quickly told th e crowd
th at he was " real glad to have won
Columbus, since I almost co nsid er it my
hometown be cause I live right down the
ro ad in Sp ringfield , Ohio ." He thanked
his tuners Bill and Lee Werner, "all the
folks at Harley-Davidson, especially
Dick O'Brien," and we added his name
to the list of guys who don't care how
the he ll they do in Cali fo rnia.
The Grand Natio nal circuit is no w
head ed wes t for t he Castle Rock an d
Ascot TIs, which will take place afte r a
two we e ks b reak in the h ect ic sched ule.
Scott w on both eve nts last year, an d
this year he will enter the first with that
17 0 poin t lead. Our p res en t Numbe r
•
On e has hi s wo rk cut o ut fo r him .
Resu lts
NATIONAL
FI NAL (20 la p s ),
1. Ga ry
Scott (H·O). 2 . Cor ky Keener (H-D) . 3. Jay
Sp ringsteen (H·O) . 4 . Re x Beauchamp (H·O) .
5 . Greg sa ssaman (H·O) . 6 . Chuck Pal m gren
(H-D) . 7 . James Ze ig ler IH-D). 8. Gene
Romero (vam]. 9 . Dav e Seh (H-O) . 10. R ick
Hocki n g (Vam • 1 1. Steve M ore head (Tri) . 12.
J o h n Ha teley N or) . 13 . M ert La wwlll (H·O).
14. Bil l Eves rr ru,
T ime : 8 :50.5 43.
E XPERT T RO P HY
RACE (1 2 laps ) , 1.
H enr y Scott ( V am ). 2. Pau l B o st r o m . 2. M i k e
Johnson.
T ime : 5 : 24.450.
F A ST E ST QUALlFER : Jay Sp ringsteen
(H · O) 2 5 .8 52 sec.
29
