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/126004
-------. They ca ll t h ese guy s the " Ove r-t he-h ill gang, " no t because t hey' re old , but be~u se th e y co me , lit erall y , fro m over t he " H i ll ." Nea r ly every race night they truck o ver t he Sier ras from Ren o , Nevada t o leave t hei r m ar k on N orthern Californ ia speedway . Th is yea r. more th an ever. t he " ga n g" has eme rged as a dom inant fo rce. Whe n yo u con sid er.t hat t hey o ften pass up San Jo se becau se of the d istance , earni ng the ir p o int s on two of t he three track s on t he Norther n cir - cuit , their acco mplishme nts take o n eve n greater weight . By Sneaky Pete BarclayTrehal JohnCunningham RichMacMurray MacMurray began riding Speedway in 1972, the second year for the class 'A' bikes in Northern California. By the end of that year he was in the first division. Although the number one rider title for S.R.A. (North) overell points hes eluded him in SBasonS past, the end of June found him leading in points for the Sacramento, Napa and San Jose tracks. At the pace he is going this yeer, he hes to be considered almost certain to nail down the number one spot for 1975. . During one stretch th is year, he was a starter in 22 out of a possible 26 Main Events. The h igh point in his Speedway racing to date was in 1973 when he made it to the National Championships at Costa Mesa ..d ended that meeting in a tie for n inth. He is the only Northern California rider to ever ride in the National. Currently the only rider in Northern California whose sole income during the season is his race earnings, the off season will find him employed as an eutomobile painter in Reno . Sponsored by the Leonardo LlncotnMercury dealership in Napa, he is very ably assisted in the pits by h is dad, Pete MacMurray. Often the target of menv jeers from the fans, Rich sums it up as "Iet ' em boo, baby, cause I'm gonna laugh all the way to the bank." In the summe r of way promoter AI of the Southern Sacramento for a 1970, former SpeedLauer brought many California riders to one·time·only show. The first race was no sooner over when a District 36 sportsman rider from Fallon, Nevada commented, "Those guys have to be crazy!" Less than a year later, John C~nningham took his fim ride on a Speedway bike and returned the fo llowing week with his own class 'A' machine. Since then, John has grown to be one of the best in Northern California. 1973 hes to rete es his best season to date. John competed in the State meet in Bakersfield where he finished in a tie with Alan Christian for fourth . At season's end he worked his way to the Na tional Championships at Costa Mesa as a reserve rider. As well as being high ~ point rider fo r the Sacramento and Napa trecks, he was also the S.R.A. (north) h igh point rider. 1974 brought many di_pointments. After weeks of changing forks, frames, wheels, aggraveted by Injuries, he decided to call it quits. He announced his retirement from Speedway and h is last race meet for the season was the Wine Cup Championships at Napa. He won this meeting against the best Speedway riders in Northern California. Cunn ingham came out of retirement this year and is perform ing as well as ever. Unable to make the long trek to San Jose and racing at Sacramento and Napa only, the latest point release . has h im in the number six spot overall. Alan Christian It was a cold winter day when previous sponsor Joe Cesey spotted Alan Christian ·styling· on Reno's icy streets aboerd a . 100cc two stroke. Casey leter asked Alan if he 'd like to ride a Speedwev bike. Near the end of Alen's second year of Speedway racing, current sponsor John Fisher attended his first Speedway race. Frsher was quite impressed by the 17·year-old kid from Reno and returned the following week eager to get invq!ved. Quoting John Fisher, "Until then I had attended every type of motor racing event possible. put in over a dozen years pitting for A. J. Foyt, and none of it amazed me like Speedway racing." Following that second night at the races. John Fisher was introduced to Alan Christian by Rich Lear. During that in iti al conversation. Alan was asked a question that every Speedway rider dreams of: "How would you like to ride for me next year and have two machines to rider' With John Fisher the sponsor and engine builder. Rich Lear doing the p it work and Alan doing the rid ing, th is trio makes up one of the most efficient teams in Northern Cal ifornia Speedway . 1974 was their first year together and et season's end, ,A lan finished number one in overall points for Northern California and also made it to .the National Championships at Costa Mesa es a reserve rider. A regular on the Northern California Speedway circuit since its beginn ing five yean ago, Trehal got h is start in motorcycle racing some 13 years back as a sportsman rider in motocross. short track end scrembles. After ei~t vea... of sportsman racing, he was given a chance to ride a Speedway bike by the same man who also gave Alan Christian his start. Joe Cesey. Barclay adjusted to the class 'A' machine and very quickly developed into ; top performer. Always emong the top 10 in point standings, 1973 ended with him in the number two spot. 19 74 wes e herd year for Barclay, trying to serve es both Secretary for the S.R.A. (north I and race too. Ending on a very painful note, he was racing in the final meet of the season at Sacramento and had laid his machine down to miss a rider in front of h im . He in tum was hit from behind and suffered a back injury that had him hospitalized for some time. The back is now healed , the Secretary's duties belong to someone else and based on his early season performence, 1975 might be a good year. Trehel is sponsored by Kerl He imburg whose Speedway days go back many years to when he was still growing up in h is native Germany. Kart is also the 'wrench' in the p it crew and h is many hours on Speedway machines is very evident in the well kept ESQ. An employee of the Neveda Air National Guard es a photo systems repair tBchnician. Trehal is also the in te llect in the ·gan g' with five yean at the University of Nevada end a degree in w ild ·life management. 31