Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.;.:.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;. ;.;.:.;.;.;.; .:. :.; .;.:.;.:.;.:.;.;.:.; .:.: .:::::;:;:::::::::::::;.:.;.;.:.;.;.;.;.;.:.;.:.;.;.;.:.:.;.:.:.;.;.:.:.;.:.:.:.:.:.: .:. :.:.;.:.;.:.;.:.:.;.;.;.:.; .;.; .:.;~;.;.;~:.;.: :; .:-,,:.:.:::.:.:.;.::;:::;:::::::::;:::::::;:;:::::::;:::;:::;:;:;.;:;~;.;.:.:.:.;.;.:.:.:.;.;.;.;.;.:.;::::::;:::;.;.: .:.:.:.;.;.:.:.:.;::::;:;:::;.:.;.;.;.;.:.;.:.;.:.:.;.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:::.:.:.:-:::;:.:;:. :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.tt be hind Goar. As th ey lined up for th e Main , disast er stru ck Goar, his chain came off o n the line . Win ning t he ra ce wi t h th e t w o minut e hold , Ken t pr om p t l y holeshot :'IcWillia ms but found him sel f trapped getting through the ro ugh spots in t he first t um , and Doug grabbed th e lead . On the thi rd lap th e old fickle finge r got Go ar again as he th rew his cha in for th e second time righ t on th e fr ont st raigh t, just abo ut ge tt ing his han dl ebars amp utated as the p a c k t h u ndered rig ht o ver him . lII~Will iam s we n t unchalleng ed fo r the win. It d idn' t loo k like a single bike missed getting nerfed in th e firs t tum of the 250 Main . Steve Do lezal (Bul) q uic kly grabbed the upper h an d wi th H ond a -m oun t ed Phil Harless and Can -Am rider Ed Dun caJ battl ing fo r seco nd. What Phil's Honda lacks in power, he certainly makes up for with ha ir . At the c hec ker it was Harl e ss over Duncan fo r se cond . T he 1 2 5 class was co mp letely domin ated by Yam ah a-mo un ted Steve Coply, an extreme ly tale n ted young rider th at certa inly d ocs h ave paza z z, S te ve p u Ls hi s 125 into th e slidy Benton-Lan e c o m ers very much like A. J . Foyt with a sprin t car. Another 125 ' rider showing so me re al sty le was Bill McCo rmi c k. Co ming so mewhat to grief in the 125 class, Bill went on to make a flawless ride and grab the win with his Can -Am in the 200 class. Bill enjoys a straight u p , sideways tra ck an d feels the best tr action o n strai ghtaways is obtain ed with the front wheel sti cking straight up in the air. Benton-Lane Park is located just north of th e Eu gene /Springfield area which is the ho me uf Mark Williams. It was built in 1945 for Midget Auto Racing and held its first pro fessio nal mo torcycle race in 195 I. th e same year Mark was bo rn . • Result s in Results Section. Franklin takes two classes By Sallee Hilton HELVETIA PARK, CAL., AUG. 17 J ohn Franklin, riding a Penton th e Open class and a Husky In In Joh n Ta vis in a come-trom-be h ind ch arg e d ur ing hi s 650 heat. 25 0, took hom e first place money fro m both , with " Magoo" pu lling to p dollar in 125. 11, e 250 Experts were p lentiful but were top heavy with Fr an klins ! J o hn, J ac k and J im Franklin were all running in t he top of th e class . Bill Swar t z (Yam ) grabbed the le ad at the st art of th e first mo to and held it fo r ha lf t he rac e befo re J o hn Franklin go t to gassi n!> and wen t by first Don Sandre tto (Bul ) and th en Swartz leavin g t he tw o o f th em battling for second . Sandretto , Stylish Steve Copley dominated th e Benton-Lane 125s looking like a speedway rider. who had bee n pressing Swartz , fina lly got by him in front o f t he wh ite flag. J o h n Fran klin (Hus) fini sh fo urth , followed in by Mike J ennings (C-A), Ted Rogers (Hus) and J im Fran klin (Hus ). Swartz again h oleshot th e second m o t o b u t sl ipped back w it h J im Fran klin ta king up th e lead fo llo wed by Sa ndret to. Rogers, wo r king h is way up fro m a bad start , took seco nd from San d retto halfway thro ugh t he race. Jim Franklin, still in the le ad with tw o lap s to go, disapp ear ed fo r a DN F leavin g Rogers in first with J ohn Fra n klin (who had fo llo we d him up th rough th e pack) challe nging in th e last lap to ta ke over the lead at t he end. With hi s brothers sitting o ut th e Open Expert rac e , J ohn Fra nklin p ulled o ff another firs t overall with a pai r o f second place fini shes. Kevin Henry (Bul) m ade his holeshot payoff, leading the field u n t il t he hal fway lap when Franklin go t by, b ut only briefly . Hen ry got on it and redeem ed h is lead, holdi ng on to it in spite of Fran klin staying close and applying pressure frequently. Casey Vail (lIIail , Mike Haynes (Mai) and Ro ry Ru ndle (CZ) fini shed t hird, fourth and fifth . In t he seco n d moto it was Hayn es holding Fran klin off, with a repeat performance at the hal fway lap when Franklin brie fly took the lead and Haynes to o k it back as Hen ry had in the first ro un d. Henry , having problems at th e start, w as dead las t for two la p s, then started p icking off o ne a t a time to work up to a third pl ace finis h. Bill Grigg (Bul), after a DNF in the first m oto, fin ished fourth th is tim e, and Run d le agai n was fift h . Vail was out of t he race wi t h a bro ke n b rake ro d . The payo ffs w en t to Fran klin , Hen ry, Haynes an d Ru ndle in th at ord er. Mago o (Danny Chan dler ) fle w his Yam ah a to a double vic to ry . Seco nd place m on ey went to Lo n Wardell (lio n) ;', his first rid e as an Expert, fin ishi ng t hird and second, with som e leading lap s, m aking Magoo rea lly work fo r hi s wi n. Dr. AI Bau mann, who took a seco nd in th e Veterans Expert cla ss, was hailed a, I ~~ WI] 1 5 hie, ~~seld) V\e ,ch ec f:el~~ fl.~~ F his second moto, to tend a crash vict im . Just p art of a day 's raci ng for the MX-MD , who alw ays m a kes himself avai lable to assist the am bulan ce or t he Natio nal Motorcy cle Patrol. The riders reall y apprecia te havin g him aro und , as they ca n relate to a doctor in leat hers, with a face as grim y as their own, who understands what they mean when they say they "en d oe d" o r ar e suffering • '''tan k slap !" Results in Results Section . Elkhead MX By Lynne Diltz YO NC A LLA, OR E., AU G . 25 Rain showers put th e Elkhead trac k in pe rfect co ndit io n (m uddy) and clouds gave way to afternoon suns hine as 119 ride rs and a I • who le Io ta ' spectators turned o ut. Riders hollered for three mo to s but ti me and the number of classes j ust wo u ldn 't permit. As a compro mise, Novice and Jun iors ran two motos and all Experts ran three . Action started with the Mini s, as Scott Toy and Ro y Davis passed and repassed over t h e whole track. Co ming down the la s t short way to the flag, Toy's bike q uit, leav ing Davis to ju mp home free with Wayne Church in second. Nine 10 0cc Jun iors crowded the first turn s and o n t he w at er h ol e 'straightaway' all but two ri de rs stacked up in a heap . Fra nk Rei d wen t o n to win that mo to with Kevin Anderson right be h ind . Mo to two saw Anderson be n t o n reven ge, flying aro und the track in fir st un t il his gas ca p came off and he slo wed to ge t help fro m the sid elines . He fini shed ano t he r second, soaked with gas. Th i rt y -eigh t rid ers separate d into three di vision s of 125s and one Expert class rid er tied (fo r awh ile) with an Open bi ke for unofficial fas te st laps. St eve William s on a 12 5 Suzu ki wa s cl oc k e d at 1 :24 a s w as Mik e St ubblefleld .on , a, , 40 0, . M0 l'0 ~hoc k. • • • • • •• • • • _ •• • • • a 27

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