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/125998
Fonda 'races liDl DIe Devil' By Dave Despain. AMA Publicity Dept. A Ho llywood m o vi e m o gul (or m ore c orre ctly a n assistan t t hereof) w as in t o uch t he oth e r day t o in q u i re abou t t he p ossibili ti e s o f u sing an AMA r ace as an ave n ue to p rom o te a n ew fil m " of interest to m otorcy clists ." , M ost impo rtant was to find a h ig h c once n tr atio n o f mo to rcy cle journ alists who migh t revi ew th e film . Visions o f " On An y Sunday " danced briefly , then we re washed away in a sea of scepti cism prompted by the anticipation of ano ther in the seemingly endless string of to tall y mindless ~ ' s ome th i n g angel s" o utlaw mov ies depicting bike-mo un ted thugs in vari ou s st at es of immo rali t y and illegality . We were assured however, th at th er e 's nary an angel either in the ti tle o r o n th e screen as Pe ter Fon da sta rs in .. Race With the Devil. " As outlined to us, .. Race With th e Devil " is abou t a co uple of guys, portrayed by (Wild Angel ) Fo nd a and Warren Oates (whe re have we see n his face be fore? ) who own a motorcycl e sho p . The film ope ns ,w ith our heros promptl y closing sai d mo to rcycle sho p, pilin g into th eir camper an d goi ng on vacati o n. Sh ortl y thereafter, t hei r Texas holiday is di sru pt e d when they hap pen upon Han occult ce rem ony" and presumably are witness to the type o f depravity n ormally associate d o n ly with D e vi l wo rsh i pp er s a n d the aforeme n tio ne d sundry types o f angels. H av in g b e en di s c ov er ed, the occu ltists ch ase the dynamic duo across the len gth and breadth o f Texas, caree n ing from a motocr oss to a flat track to a cro ss-co untry mot orcycle face and on to an auto thrill show. Th e lat ter proves a suitable sh owcase fo r the talents o f J oe y Chitwood, who d rives a car two whe els "for at least a mil e. " At so me point in all th is ac ti on , en ter Lo re tta (Ho tlip s) Swit, presumably to provi de either a romanti c interest o r co mic rel ief. A Texas car drag racing au thority reportedly preview ed th e film and allowed as h ow yo u co uld see the roll cage s b uilt in to a fe w of the stunt cars th at wer en't supposed to be st un t ca rs but th at would be all-righ t , At th at point we were hastily assure d t hat " Of co u rse , Pe te and Warren did all their o w n rid ing." We appre ciated th e implication th at mot orcy clist s have more regard fo r integrity than car cras h fans. Havin g launch ed into a seri es o f y ea h - 0 K · Y 0 u -b et - an d · thanks-a-lot-for-calling att emp ts to end on th e co nversatio n , "guar an te e d " th at w e were again " Race With the o z o :; ---------------_.. ~ J :> ... NATIONAL PAPERS "Add my name to the list I don't give a damn how they do it In California." That was a recent J quote in Cycle News by " ay S p ringsteen 's m e ch a ni c a ft e r the roo kie's firs t N a tio nal Win at L o uisville . Devil " in no way p ortr ays motorcycling in a bad ligh t, though presumab ly it won't do much for the image o f Devil worshippers. In cl o sing we were tol d that " there are a co uple of rattlesnak e scene s that will have you right on th e edge of yo u r • seat. " List en, I have m ore confide nce in th e rescue party than yo u think. l{') T he st atement, like m any o ther s, m ay have be en made d uring a burst of joy in th e winner 's circle and it may backfire in th e ne xt few wee ks. _ Perhap s th e mech an ic sh ould have added Washi n gton st ate to t he list as the red hot co mbin at io n o f Sp rings tee n, Harl ey and mechan ic have t o ge t by th e July 12th Castle Rock TT Nat io na l, and ' th e Asco t T'I' National t wo weeks later. The sam e mech an ic was heard to say after the Harrington, Dela ware victory, th e second st ra ight by th e kid fro m Michigan , "We will soon be Number One !" Sp ring steen has been a half mil e specialist since he first started his racing ca reer . It is true tha t he di d an accep tab le and perha ps surprising job at the Houston TT Na t io nal earlier this y ear but he was by no m ean s a con ten de r for the win. Like mo st racers, Sp ringsteen is somewhat m odest in front of a microphone, but his mech anic has not been noted for los s o f words since the start. of last seaso n . It co uld me an tro uble at Castl e Rock an d Ascot in J uly . At a glan ce th e Castl e Ro ck co urse lo oks simple. T wo years ago it recorded over 3 0 sp ills durin g th e Na t ional program . It 's a track th at can bite you hard an d , like Asc o t, t here are alway s a -Iew unknown riders th at m ake the program , ride over their he ad, and kn ock hell o ut o f t he Gran d National troops. It was at Castl e Rock last year th at Gary Scott started his three-in -a-row win st rea k. It was at Cas tle Rock th at Kenny Rob ert s go t kn ocked off t he tr ack o n the first lap o f th e Main, remo unted an d fell off trying too hard to ca tch th e flying Scott. Sco tt h eads fo r Cas tle Rock leading the Natio nal standings by ove r o ne hundred and sixty po in ts. It's th e first time in three year s th at Roberts will not be leading the Natio na l standings at Castle Ro ck . In ove r 1 0 years of Nat iona l racing a t Castle Ro ck only So nny Burres, wh o won in ' 7 1, and Chuc k J o yner, the vi cto r in ' 7 3 h av e scared the Californians. Un like Castle Rock, As cot h as sharp lef t and right hand turns and that famous ju mp that nobody east o f the Mississippi has ever been able to go over the fast way . Gary Sco tt, wh o now lives in Ohio , is also th e defe nding cha mp at Ascot. But, perh aps the mos t asto un di n g thing abo ut the Ascot TT is - Kenny Rob erts has nev er wo n a TT race there sin ce he j oined th e Expe r t ranks ! It's a fac t. So it appears th at a fte r nearl y four years of trying, Scott will , if he runs true to fo rm, have a point lead by the end of J ul y tha t Ro be rts can no t , o vercome . Th e two July even ts will also serve to brin g Sp rings teen ba ck down to earth and sho w him that rookies have to learn ho w to ride all eve n ts under th e present poi nt system . T he top 10 Na ti o na l points rid ers will receive th eir first Camel Pro Series payoff, totaling $14,000, th e day after th e Asco t Natio nal at a special gat he ring of riders, industr y rep s and the press in nearby Torran ce. It should be a breath o f fresh air for Sco tt when his name is called fir st , in stead of second. Agai n t his yea r, Scott is proving that you do n't have t o win th em all, or co mpete in ro ad races, to be a con tende r or even th e point leader. Ro berts is riding harder than ever and gaining fans by his efforts in spite of the fact th at h e has pocketed the most money the last tw o seasons. He m ay h ave gained more fans in los ing than he did by winning the last two years. Ke nny turned in a brilliant ride at Harrington, co mi ng from dead last on th e first lap , running wa y back at the halfway mar k and then ne arly taking th ird away from Scott at th e fini sh'. No w as the riders head for the July Natio nals, Scott is in the driver's seat and Kenny is th e o ne th at has to pl ay cat ch-up. Th e tab les are turned. Gary ne ver . gave up the se p ast y ears and Kenny won't ei the r. But t he yo ung man wi th th e roughest way to go may be J ay Sprin gsteen who is caugh t righ t in th e middle of the best po int race in ye ar s. lIe 's also ca ugh t with a ba tc h of National points heading into st range territory ca lled TT racing at two co mp letely differen t tracks where no q uarter is given by a t least two dozen rid ers th at can ride one or both blin dfo lded. Scott knows he has to build his cu rren t lead as the next National is the LagunaSe ca road ra ce August 20. If all goes according to for m he can sit an d watch _ j ust like he did at Daytona earlier this year. If it doesn't, he 's in a heap of tro uble. Bob F. Read 39