Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. -, , • lne-two-three Rock Ch uc k J oyner (6 0 ) won the Nat ional, but he couldn't qu ite hand le Ed Herrm an n (1201 in the second heat. Mert Lawwill (7) held off Camel Pro Series point leader Gary Scott's last lap charge to fin ish fourth . Diane Cox (6 6q) m issed making history and a d irect transfe r to the National , but still fi nish ed ahead of Romero (3) and Rex Bea uchamp (3 1 ) in the red fl agged second heat . These three pu lled o u t in a light lead gro up as t he no w-cu st omar y fast shu f fl i ng scri m mage went on in mid-pack be hi nd th em . J ohn Hartman wen t in to the bales an d restarted. Mor r is o ns Norto n began to go n oticeabl y so ur toward th e en d , an d as he fell off th e pace, fir st Williams, th en Romero rode aro un d h im . Cooling o ff after the tr ophy presen ta t io n, Williams said, " 1 d id n ' t use more than half th rottle most pl ace s. It's re ally ge tting gre asy out the re. " National Final The front row had Roberts o n the pole, with Randy Skiver, Ch arlie Brown, Mer l Lawwi ll, Ed Herrmann, an d Darrell Hendrickson beside him . A star-stud ded field had either been bumped ba ck or shunted o ut of the National entirely by h ot lo cal tal en t (an occurrence that's almost traditional to Cast le Rock by no w ). It look awhile 10 m ake up t he grid, wha t with the to pl ess lady pa rading th e fro nt st raight, bUI she faded under th e p rotective wing of a pa rtic ularly large , ugly consort after a how 10 say il ? - semi-successful pass by Frank Gille spi e. When th e nag did snap. however, most of th e BS ended, as Ro berts got a brief holeshot Ihal lasted o nly until Charlie Brown and Randy Skiver blew arou nd h im o n th e o utsi de edge of th e turn one groove . While Brown pulled abo ut a sec o nd's lead, Roberts be gan a rel entle ss four-lap pres sure ride on Sk iver with Mert Laww ill just a t ad back hold ing off Chuck J o yner who h ad in turn scoote d by J ay Sp rin gsteen in the dogleg. Fo urt h lap, the cro wd shrieked in unison - Roberts was pa ssing Ski ver on th e outside after squaring . the west turn, a bo bble, a touch , and sud de nly both we rc down - Skiver bouncing up hot with rage , thinking Roberts had cu i him o ff , Ken ly ing ju st ahea d of his Yam ah a, out cold. The race was red-nagged for a single-file restart (fo ur . laps sco red co m p lete ] as Ro bert s was chec ked ove r. Apparently nothing was broken and cre w members said rhe defending Champion was just very dingy from slamming the groun d , bUI wou ld be hospitalized 10 chec k for . possible concuss io n, (Ed. note - la te word is that R o ber ts suffered torn ligam ents and a sligtit concussion, but wa s released from the h ospital.} Ron Powell, who had been sidelined earlier, said il looked like Ke n hit a hole, straigh te ned up a b it, and when he d ragged it down ag ain . c rossed Skiver 's pat h where front and rear wheels kissed hard enough 10 pUI both riders down. Aft er eight minutes of frantic work. Rome ro (3 ) kept pressing, but William s (70) was in f ront at t he T rophy Race fin ish . Skiver was able to restart, Off th e resta rt , Brown kepi his lead , G ar y S coll a n d Corky Keener cap it alize d o n th e op po r t un it y 10 pi ck up several places. Nobo d y noticed poor o r Sonny Burres, bottled up a t or near last pl ace . Chuck J oy ner made hay on the rest art , lao, and q uickly go b b led Mert Lawwill to clear away and go after Brown's tw o-seco n d le ad. Ed Herrmann an d Co rk y Keener went in to a place-swapping du e l that lasted until they lo r ked horns and went down toge th er in th e d o gleg. Herrmann managed 10 rest art an d limp o ut th e race; Ke ener's fron t brak e w as too mangled t o cont in ue. Behi nd th em, Gar y Scott had been lying in wail while Sonny Burres had see m ing ly c o me fr om nowhere into a three-way hassle with Ge an nai and Hatcley . Gennai's engine wen t sour aga in , and as he faded, Burres passed Gary Scott 10 move into fourth b eh ind Lawwill . Chuck J o yner used Ih e lime to close Brown's lead. Just befo re th e halfway mark, Jo yner d uc ke d under Brown exiling the do gleg , only 10 be repassed en te ring tum one. Joyn er an d Brown duelled past the crossed-n ags sign. until on abo u t the 14th lap , J o yner forced Brown well to the outside in the decreasing-radius hook ju st after turn one and cleared away. Brown ca m e back once more in the west tum, bUI lost drive on the slic k; co b b ly blue groove th at was forming there, Two laps later, Burres was pressing' Lawwill for third, as the Ieaders began lap p ing t he limping wounded . Burr es main tained the press ure o n Mert, finally getting by in th e wes t turn, No w it was Bu rres a nd Bro wn. as the rest of the fie ld degenerated in to a parade of survivors. Burres passed Brown go in g out of th e dogleg, and for th e remaining laps, ro de like a wi ld man Iry ing 10 catc h J o y ner. Th e laps fe ll and th e ~ap closed, and Burres (as he lold us later) came out of the west tum each time praying he wouldn't see th at whi te flag. All 10 0 so on for Sonny , th e white and the chec ker ca me o UI, and Chuck Jo yn er won it with a second to spare. Brown cam e ac ross. t hen Lawwill with ba rely a front wh eel ahead o f Gary Scott , wh o had go tte n th at last-minute drive jus t split seconds to o lat e. On the vic lory stand. you'd never k now So nn y Burres had finished sec o nd, After co ming fro m last place, he was ecsta t ic, shouting, "We d id it ,.. to Ch uck Joyner. who was still q uietly le tt in g it all so ak in. It had defini tely be en a su rvivo r's rar e. J o yn er said . "I kepi m issin " gears. End of the straigh taw ay, sh ift in' down and it wou ld go in to neu tra l. It was all I co uld d o to hold t he front brake o n and keep th e throttle up ." Ch uck had decid ed at th e las t minue t o sti ck wi th the Go ody ear Drrs he 'd qualifi ed on, cre di ting th at deci sion for th e outcome o r th e ra ce. "Kind of a head game. to h e said . as his Toreeo sponsor beamed in the back gr o und . "I seen eve ry bo dy ch anging t o Carlisles, Mert was don ' a big swi tch-o de al. 1 thought m aybe he kne w what he was doi ng, bu t p r e v i ou s ex pe rie nce co un ts . . . to Yes it does, and end ura nc e, as well. Brown's bike was miss ing shifts. too, and Sonny Burres was running with wast ed rings after his Triumph went "erk l" on the straight duri ng practice. " I was really sick, " he said - bu t t hat was after the pay window h ad bro ugh t • fast relief. Results E X T RO PH V RACE : 1. Mark William s (N or). 2 . G en e Ro me ro (Ya m). 3. Rob Morr ison (No r). 4 . Don D oge rtrl ). 5. Pat M c CaUl (Tr l) . 6. Ike Reed (T r l). NAT IONAL F INAL : 1. Chuck Joyn er T r l ) . 2. Sonny Burre s (T r l) . 3. Cha r li e B rown T ri ). 4 . Me rt Law wi ll ( H - D). 5 . G ar y Sc ott H -O) . 6. Joh n H a tetey (No r) . 7. Randy ki ver (T r l). 8 . John Genna i (T r i) . 9 . Jay Sp r i ngs teen (H·D). 10. J im Jones (T ri) . 1 1. Da r r e II H endr ickson (Nor) . 12 . ~ ra n k GlUe s-pie (H-D). 13. Stev e D rost e (H· D ). 14 . E d He rrm ann (Tr l ). 15. Co r k y K eener (H-D). 1 6. K en Ro bert s (v am/. . CA MEL PRO PO NTS (Un officia l) , 1. Scott 71 3. 2 . Robe rt s 48 3 . 3. Sprin gst een 464. 4. Beau champ 34 0. 5. Sassam an 32 8. 6 . K eener 313. 7. Rom ero 2 76. 8. Williams 2 56. 9. Cl ar k e 24 9. 10. La wwlll 2 34. Joyner m ov es i n t o tie fo r 12 th at 165. Bu r res moves t o 15th ~ at 133. 7

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