Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Jeff Vidic did h is fast riding act to win the sec ond, division two 250 race and Pierre Karsmakers crossed the finish line on top in the sec ond division r ace. Karsrnakers, though, was disqualified be cause he backed off the starting gate. Bill Rubly (C-A) go t the win because of Pierre '5 no-no. Ogilvie (H-D) following hi m in at third. Mike Echardt was first Junior/fourth overall. Sunday 's racing started off with the Ope n Novices. Paul Christenson (Yam) . won the 17 5 race on Saturday and figu red he had the course wired. A super start had him in t o th e tum one first, but he slid out with a big pack of Open class machinery bearing d own. When the dust cleared, there was Paul trying to get his bi ke started. He wasn't touched. Unbelievable. Paul got going and moved up fast but the handicap of dead last was too m uch to overcome . Richard Christenson (CZ) came around at the end of the first lap firmly in first place with Kevin Moore (Yam) trying to catch him . At th e end of the race nei ther one of them were front runners. The course was getting ro ugh and chewed up. Co m bin ed with the heat, the attrition rate was getting high. Rich Kovacs (Suz) motored in for the win followed by Bill Wright (Mai) and Jeff Tait (Yam). Next ra c e was th e Wom en 's Di vis ion/Senior Division bash which prov ed to be one of th e m ore p opular races with the spectators. J o h anna Stenerson (Han) smoked by everyone and charged to a two minute lead with Dawn Grant (Hon) in h o t purs uit. Back -packing were Seniors Dick Camp (H-D) and Bill Stewart (Yam) try ing to catch both the flying Puffers. At fifth was Kawasaki sponsored John McG owan who stopped lo ng enough to pick up KJ (Koo kie J r.) while the Invader pits wen t bananas. Kookie was spectating, alive and well despi te the nasty rumors to the contrary . Johanna had the race pretty well locked up , but with just two laps to go , a flagman who had been spraying the riders with a hose to cool them off, acciden tally sprayed her engine, and drowned it out. By the time she got it running again she had dropped to fourth overall /second Woman. It was unclear whether or not a protest would be filed. Dick Camp took advantage of Johanna's misfortune and rode to a first overall overtaking Dawn Grant who got seco nd overall/first Wom an. Bill Stewart finished third overall/second Senior. Final ly, it was time for the very last race at Rawhide, the Open Expert/Junior get-together. The course was now pretty well chewed up and flat tires were com m 0 n pla ce . Susp ension uni ts were bei ng tested to their fulle st. At th e first tum it was J im Jackson (Yam) with Dou g Winchell (Yam) hot on his tr ail. J eff Kurt (Yam) went down and go t back into the fra y dead last. In a ride that approac hed as fine a ride as I've ever see n, J eff en de d up in second overa ll at th e finis h . Craig Adams [Hus] pic ked up th e overall win with a smoo th c o n tr oll ed ride. Neal Nichols p ost entered and notched a th ird. CRC was under co nsiderable pressu re o Thorwaldson also won round two o f the division one, 500 Pros. Jim West and Ric k Burgett fo ught it out for the win in the second race. The big races of the nigh t started with the 500 Pro final event. As the gate went down J im West was out in front with the holeshot, Gary Ogden was right on his tail, with Rick Burgett in third. The three diced it o u t with Bill Ru bly an d Robert Elli ott (Mai) not too far behind. Burgett's lu ck ran o u t an d he crashed. West ke pt the lead and too k the win, with Gary Ogden in sec on d an d Ro bert Ellio tt thi r d. Th e 250 Pros lin ed up an d the race o f the nigh t go t underway . J eff Vidic got th e holeshot w ith Bill Rubly n ot far behi n d . Vidic hel d his lead wh ile J eff Je n nings started co ming o n strong. J ennings picked off Val Tamietti and Bill Ru bly wi th some very con trolled and thought out riding and was catching An oddity at most summer time races. a mudhole added to the fun of the course. up with Vidic when he fell. J ennings went sliding off the track an d then th e bike, wi th J ennings draggin g by the side , came bac k on th e track. He remounted and kept on going, still in seco nd place. The cr owd went wild as Jeff Vidic crosse d the finish line and took the win. -The- las t race of the night w as the 125 Pros and glory for David Taylor. Tay lo r got the holeshot, with Bob Welch (Hon), Chuck Lun de (Hon) and J im Do mann in a tigh t pack right behind. The battIe was on for second place as J im Domann and Chuck Lunde got down to it. On th e third lap Lunde passed Domann in mi d-air off of Bert's J ump, only to be repassed as th ey entered the corner. Th e two dic ed it out with Domann taking sec o nd and Lunde th ird . David Taylor rode to a smooth and easy overall victory. • IT's are "IN" -Again- at 395 By Phil Carpenter ADELANTO , CAL., AU G. 3 1 Randy Griffith won th e IT and as they were on probation from their Hare and Houn d, they came through wi th a good race and very few co mplaints. One b roken collarbone was the extent of the injuries that was reported by I R RC. Oh yeah - c ome hell or high water - Barstow to Vegas is on! All finishing positions mentioned are unofficial. • Taylor, Vidic, and West win CMC Night Nationals By Jon Hayt IRWINDALE, CAL. , SEPT. 5 The night started out with the minis going for it and a smili ng Mark Maxstadt (Hon) taking home the ove rall win in the Mini Exper t class; The 125 Intermediates saw Pat Nash (KG) m ak e it to the m ain and walk ho me with th e overal l. T he 1 2 5 P ro class was Do n Bongiornos (Han) in the firs t division race as he got the ho1eshot an d never lost the lead. Righ t behind him was David Taylor (Ha n) and Tim Lun de (FMF). Taylor slipped by Bongiorno with Lunde right behind. Taylor los t it though on the fou rt h lap, and Bongiorno to o k the win with Lunde righ t behind. Division two belonged to Warre n Ried (Han ) with Mike Bell (Hon) right on his tail. The first round of 250 Pros gave the crowd a glimpse of the berserko riding that was goin g to be seen in the main event. The place to pass seemed to be Bert 's Jump. Jeff Jennings (BuI) managed to pass both Mike Steams (Mon ) and Stev e Russell (Mai) f6r a second. J eff Vidi c (Mai) took the win wi th Val Tamietti (Mai) getting passed by Jennings on the las t lap and ending up in third. Division two had a late en try the name of Pierre Karsmakers (Han). After a poor start, he blasted his way into the lead and showed the crowd how a seasoned International class rider gets to whe re he is, a clean win. Th e 5 00 Pro class brough t au t another ho t shoe, Rich Thorwaldson (Suz) . After dicing it out with Gary Ogen (Yam), Thorwaldson p rocu red the lea d and the win. Di vi sion two lo o ked as if Ric k Bur gett ( Ya m) would win , but super-shoe Jim West (Mai) got by him jus t as they cro ssed th e fin ish lin e. Round two of the night 's racing saw David Tay lo r win the first division and Jim Do ma nn (lIon). aft er an inc re di ble battle with Warren Ried, win th e second division. ........1''" : . David Taylor snuggles up to Molly Blue after his easy win in the 125 Pro class. Jeff Vidic pulled aw;ry from the rest of the ,pack to take the overall win at the Irwindale Night Nationals. f- > C( r c > Z C( > III III o fo 5: L_::"-_~=_-'i.. _ _ ---=:""'::::::""=-:E...:::t._---,~:....::........=:.::~_BJ::!J!! 19

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