Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125997
AMA Pros back at SoCal tracks Skip Aksland in clo se-up o n his way to winning South Bay Expert Main Payoff t ime after Novice and Expert Trophy Dashes Fr iday night. Novice winner Vince Mead, enjoying h imself immensely, Jorgy loo ks w inded. Gettin' old, huh AI? By Pattie Prestidge GARDENA, CAL.,JUNE 27 With the return of the National • circuit racers, Californians were In for a surprise. Local talent prevailed, as this is definitely the year With the return of the National circuit race rs, Californ ians were in for a surprise. Local talent p revailed, as this is definitely the year for 'the classy kid' rookies. Friday night's half-mile at Ascot Park showed what ·r o o k ie Alex J orgensen 's been up to while everyone's been away. J orgensen won his heat ab oard the Wood/Norton and held it through the featur e . From lap one to 15 it was J o rgensen . Veteran National Expert Dave (Mr. Bones) Aldana got his Harley sorted and down to business, at second. with a bit of a problem holding it lo w settling for six th . The Juniors lined up and as all year would have it, Steve Eklund was on the pole followed by Mark Sm ith , Dan McWhorter, J im Wright and new Harley rider Scott Pearson . At the drop of the flag the first row was a five-abreast fre e for all . By lap three the dust had settled a n d it was McV.' horter with a quarter-chute lead , Eklund ru nn ing second and Pearson a solid third. At the one where it counts it was still ~1cWhorter with Eklund pulling out all st op s to finish second. The Novic e race looked like a Vin ce Mead benefit. as Mead won the heat (although not the tastest] the Novice trophy dash and the eight lap Main. Mead (Yam) di d a fine job of riding under pressure fro m "Lone Bulta co " ri der Ricky Graham. In third was Gordie Kidd (Yam) and in fourth at the line after ru nning a solid third for seve n laps was Roger Slac k. Otay Mesa, Califo rn ia June 28 Novices we re t rac k-for-lunc h bunch at So ut h Bay. Ch ain -re action crash involved (188) Roger Slack , (130) Steve Car illo , (177 ) Mike Devlin. By lap t wo Skip Akslan d was wal l-wheeli ng hi s Yamaha, wo rk ing his way fro m fif th starting posit ion to third pressing sec o nd. At the black an d whi te it was Jorgensen , (schoomarm) Alda na, (p upil) Akslan d fo llo wed by Eddie Wirth and John Gen nai Uo hn we might add is back to his Junior ride, the Ron •. Moo re Triumph) . an d Frank. Gillespie 8 • •• • I • • •• • • •• • • • . .. ~ •• , Classy Kids o n th e loose again, altho ugh Skip Aksland q ual ified (26:23) as the sec o n d · fas test Ex pe rt beh in d Ha rley-Davidson's Frank Gillesp ie (26:21 ).. Skip came into th e secon d heat line up to tak e the win fro m his pole position, second was Ed d ie Wirth ah oard a H-D, Rick Hocking missing Friday act io n a t Ascot, and having co me o n stro ng to ta ke a heat over Har ley moun te d Tom White. While first to third from th e heat transferred di rec t to th e Main the sem i was made up of the rest of t he field and off the line in ' road race ' fo rm was National . racer Mike Clarke aboard a Dick Keirn Yamaha. In second Dennis Briggs on a Wend y Yamaha. By th e third circu it it wa s Clarke high and wide, Briggs co cking it as if on a short tracker, pulled low groove for the lead with J o hn Allison drafting for seco nd. Gillespie was hot on the 'kids' heels for third. A last chan ce e ffo r t for the b ucks ca me at the checkered, Briggs holding his own at the finish line while veteran Gillespie did some slip shots for sec ond and Darke a rebounding third. Expert Trophy Dash lin e up wi th three veterans and one 'kid '. Fastest to th e pole was Gillespi e eyein~ Aksland (Yam ), Wirt h (H-D) , \\'h ite (11·0) . At th e pop of the flag at the end Fran k Gillespie (H-D) received the Leonard Andres Har ley-Davidson de aler trophy from Mr. Everett Brashar. Going into the Main it was seven Nationa l n umbers and th ree rookies at the start. Terry Dors ch's quick getaway saw him stay in the lead until Aks land turned th e wick up. Lap two fo und Aks land pullin![ his lead while Rick Hocking (Ya m) pulled Do rsch. Th e fo llowing five riders, all o n Har leys, (White, Wirth, Aldana, Berry and Gillesp ie ) were having a bit wh ile the groove had slickened. On lap 12 Wirth went wi de and Aldana made his m ove to also pass Wh it e at the same moment. At th e finish Aldana settled fo r a third while Hocking was in pursuit of lap breaking Aksland and h is wall-racing Yamaha (clo cked a t 25 :80). The J unio rs p ro ved ra t her in teresting as this track so me two ho u rs south of Ascot has its own riders. From the start to the finale it was Pat Guthrie putting on a spectacular ride. Phoenix's Mark Mitsehelli (Yam) was doing a fine job to hold off fellow Yamaha rider Mark Smith until lap six when Smith got under Mitschelli, Novi ces had some upsets. Vince Mead won th e Main with most of the race-action spot lighted on (eventual) second place Steve Fortune (Yam) and t hi r d Terry Griner (Yam). But problems, fathers , and sponsors go to extremes. Ron Glas cow, ac tin g referee, accepted a protest from Novi ce Ted Davison who failed to tr ansfer from his heat due to an accident, red- flagged and no restart. So that means no positio ns • are official in the Novice Main. Results A S CO T. J UN E 27 N OViCE TROPHY DASH : V i n ce Mead (Yam) . N O V ICE MAIN : 1. V ince Mead (Yam ). 2 . RickY Graha m (Bul). 3. Gord ie K l d d (Ya m ). 4 . Roger Slack ( Y am). 5. Steve F ort un e ( Y am). 6. Terry Griner (Y am) . J R. M AIN: 1. Da n 'McWhor t er (va m j , 2. Steve Ek l u n d (Y am) . 3. Pearso n. 4 . Mar k Smith. 5 . Fra nk Ad am o ( Yam ). 6. J i m Wri ght ( Vam ). 7. M i k e T homse n ( V am ). 8. Jim Cr o w le y (Y am) . 9. N ick N az z tst ( Yam}, EX T . O . : 1. Alex J orgensen (Nor ). 2 . D av id A ldana (H -D). 3 . E d die W irth (H -D). 4 . Joh n Ge n na i r t r l ). EX M AI N : 1. AI Jorgensen ( Nor). 2. D ave Aldana (H- D). 3. Sk i P A k sland ( V am). 4 . E ddie Wirth (H-D). 5 . J ohn Gen nai (T r i) . 6. Frank Gille spie (H-D ). 7 . A lli so n . 8 . John Hateley (Trl ). 9. Rob Morrison (Nor ). 10 . Ge ne Romero (Yam) . S O UTH BA Y S P EE DW AY . J UNE 28 EX M A IN: 1. A k stand . 2 . Hocking. 3. Aldana 4. D orsc h . 5. Wh it e. 6. Wirt h. r , ~ rlggs . 8 . Cla r k e. 9 . Be rry. NOV M AI N : 1. Me ad. 2. Fortun e. 3. Grine r. 4 . H a l co lm . 5. Mu rr ay . 6. McWhor te r . JR M A IN (U noffiCial ): 1. G u thrie . 2 . Sm i th . 3 . M itsch elll. 4 . W r ight. S. Nazz tst, 6 . Ekl un d. 7 . M cWh orter. 8 . Adamo. T R OPHY DASH : Gillespie . The perennial McWhorter-Ek lund battle renewed at Ascot