!Slushway? Fridge track? C
t
Hey, now just a gosh dam minute you guys, I wasn't even ready yet. Besides, I forgot my mittens!
California Ice
Racing debuts
By Charles Clayt on
LONG BEACH , CAL. , SEPT. 19
" ... Guaranteed to make hockey
look like a Girl Scout picnic" declared the ads, so we trucked
down to the Long Beach Arena to
see this new attraction of Media
Max. Indoor short track racing on
the rocks. It was a warm summer
night in the 80's, but rinkside the
1
2
air was nippy. Promoter Mike Goodwin
worried about the thickness of the ice
(only one and one-half inches owing to
a broken freezer) and AMA Referee
Chub Kellam wore two pairs of sox for
insulat ion. About 3,500 people
attended the action as six-racer grids
skid 16 round-robin ,
six-lap heats
around a dinky rink. The poles were
moved apart as the groove turned to
Rob Mo rriso n
1251, giving
"Uttle John" Hateley (98) the col d shoulder.
slush and the racing improved as the
track lengthened. Semis and Main Event
ran a l m os t to the rails (a b o ut
one-tenth-mile oval) and gave great
promise of things to come on thicker
icc.
Racebikes were conventional 360cc
formul a short tr ackers, with 1,000
half-inch, hex-head sheet metal fasteners
screwed in the tires. Winner AI Gaskill,
an East Detroit motorcycle shop owner
who just happened to be visiting the
Coast, renewed his AMA card just for
this r a ce , He h ad hung up the
handlebars since 1969. Gaskill won nine
in a row, including the Main tonight and
didn't even know how much the purse
was. HIt's just for fun , Ice Racing,"
Gaskill informed us. "Back home we
race half-mile on frozen lakes. When the
ice gets one or two feet thick, there's
nothing else to do, so we go ice racing.
Not for money, just for fun." Gaskill
admits no secret technique, "Just
experience . I get good starts."
Ai's winning BuItaco , "The Lone
BuI" of Ascot novice fame, was tuned
by Pete Pistone of Canoga Park. When
.the races were over and fans filled the
pits, .Pi st o n e was found taping
innertubes over the studded tires. "Is he
doing that to hide your secret stud
