Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

!No·KIDDiiig at.Terre Haute E By Gary Van Voorhis TERRE HAUTE, [ND., AUG. [7 Mike Kidd returned to National competition in a style that only happens in the movies with a flag to flag win in the AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series Terre Haute half-mile . Kidd h ung a Ieg ove r a bike I only three weeks ago, h aving been out for a year af ter breaking the same leg twice in six months. Although admitting that his leg muscles will take another six m on th s be fo re being "as good as before," Kidd was full of confidence that he could win before the event. "[ needed to win. I've made every goal I've set for myself sinc e returning. [ wanted to make the National at Santa Fe (where he broke his leg last year) and [ did. I wanted to win Terre Haute and [ did. I want to be Number One next ye ar and this is my way of showing everyone No Kidd-ing, it was Mike wire to wire in the Nati on al here after a good sho wing at San ta Fe. . I'm back for good. " Following Kidd 's Kruger Racing Team Harley were th e factory Harleys of Rex Beauchamp and Gary Scott, whose th ird pl ace finish , coupled with Ro berts ' dismal fourth in th e T ro p hy ra ce, lifted Scott to a 30 I-poin t margin over his rival in the race for the Grand National Championship. Oh, and for all y o u Harley-Davidson fans ; The Nati o nal contained nothing but the brand th ai made Milwaukee famous. That should give the tri via freaks something to re search. Hot and humid weather co m bined to slow th e Terre Haute Action Track and leave little John Hateley 's 1973 track record (24 :9 0.3 ) in tact. Corky Keener tripped the clocks at 25 :70.4 for fast ti me with Aldana, Hateley, Lawwill, H ank Scott and Jay Rid geway following. Darryl Hurst was cut-off man at 27 :10.8 . Co r ky Keener led the field away fo r • th e first he at, but it was th e Dud Perkins Harley of Frank Gillespie who led them to the checkers. Gillespie, who " snuck up on everybody." came fro m midpack in the restarted race to pick off Bill Eves, Gary Scott, Keener and Greg Sassaman o n his way to the lead. Gillespie m ade the low line grooves work on a rapidly changing track. Sassaman and Keener took tickets to the Main while Gary Sco tt went to the Semi. Dave Sehl ("II's late in th e seaso n and yo u can 't afford to fool around. " ) put his Jim Sehl Harley in front of th e seco nd he at p ack in turn one and never looked back. Gu y McClure (H-D) bumped Jim Zeigler (H-D) for second in th e early laps to sew up th at position. A few laps later J im Osborne (H. D) sliced into third and the transfer spots were set, David Aldana o n th e Bo ney ar d Special held off T. C. Racing'sJim Rawls for fourth in a down-to -the-wire duel. Hot tamales and Burrittos! It was Gene Romero and the " Alex 's Tamale Wagon Yamaha" speeding to the front of heat three. Un for tuna tely the hot sauce fizzled and Burritto fo un d himself losing ground to th e Harleys of Mike Ki d d , ' Re x Beau champ and J ay Springsteen. In th e late laps J ohn Gennai 's privateer Triumph ste amed by. While the trio of Scott Drake (H. D), Bubba Rush (Il . D) and Paul Bostrom (H-D) went at it in the ear ly laps of the last h eat, be h in d th em the action was hot and he avy. Kenny Roberts worked h is spare fac tory Yamah a high and low trying to find a line with some bite and a ticket o u t of traffic . (His good bike pulled up with transmission problems in practice. The spare was slow and Ken found, "You can 't fly without wings.") With both Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts in the Semis and only the winner transferring from each , the races took on a lot of importance. Jim Rawls to ok th e lead for the first Semi as Gary Scott wo rked his way to second in two laps with a pass o n the back straight. One lap later he grabbed the lead with a similar pass in front o f the gra ndstand. Bill Eves (Tri) , charging th ro ugh traffic, almost nipped Scott for the win with a drive from tum fo ur that carried the front end in the air almost to the flag. Romero 's final sem i holeshot "lasted u ntil the final fo ur laps when Mert Lawwill, who h ad been chipp ing awa y at Gene's lead , blew by com ing out of tum tw o to lead to the flag . Roberts again spent his time looking for a way an y way to mov e through traffic. Early in the race he had be en third and challenging, bu t with no room to pass, Rober ts en de d the semi in frustration. The Tro p hy even t was a Billy Eves benefit as the T riu mph rid er hooked up c o ming out of turn two and left the compe ti ti o n laggin g behind. Th e action, as it h ad in earl ier races, cen tere d on Eddie Wirth an d Dave Aldana with Roberts still looking for his line. Rick Hocking and Steve Droste played switch and swap with Hoc king taking the nod. N ick Deligianis, twisting the wrenches on Keen er's bike, summed up Heavy traffic, w ith Keener (62) an d Sassaman (!II, trashed his arm in the National) fighting for the lead in their heat, with a lot of would-be passers bunched behind. 6

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