Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Hank Scoll used the final opportunity to grab third away from Keener. Be au champ w as jubilant "Beautiful, beautiful!" And, "Oh, my leg. " li e had caugh t and twisted his foot unde r a footpeg during th e National, "Though t I was going to cry for five laps." . An equally jubilant Corky Keener vaulted to the winners' stand to hold a sparkling new Number On e plate over Gary Scott's head as his ch ampionship was confirmed. Asked if he minded not winning, he laughed, "Two in a row is good enough fo r a nybody. Who cares, were gonna' have a good time." • Results 2. The climax of the Junior Invita tional, as an out-of-shape Peanon (4 2) effectively (though unwittingly) blocks Eklund's charge. all just went by with one amorphous ro ar. At on e time or ano ther, Terry Dorsch, Chuck joyner, "r Bruce Hanlon managed to insert themselves between Ha t e l e y and adorn, H a n l o n b y slingshotting five riders in one swoop. Bubba Rush was in there, too, drag racing with adorn whenever he could find a hole. There weren't many holes. Last lap , adorn disappeared, Hanlon and j oyner finished two-three behind Hate ley (who h ad somehow managed to bulldog first the whole time) . Aldana scooted to eigh th ahead of Scott Brelsford, who spent most of the race with his han d s full of Kaw and Burritto, alternately. Romero rounded out the top 10 as Rick Ho c king, Randy Cleek, and Skip Aks la nd fre ight-trained a brace of TZs be hi nd h im. F ve laps from th e end, Gary Scott i began to slow. "An exhaust pipe had cracked. It was makin' bad noises, but it was still running. I was scared for a bit . .. " Even though the lIarley eventually burnt a valve, Gary still hung on for fifth . Brother Hank, after playing "move o ver" with Gary . stayed with the lead group. As the lap s ran down, the top three got really tigh t. Beau champ would g e t bumped to third repeatedly as Springsteen or Keener bracketed him . They'd be three abreas t as often as not. Whi te n ag, Springsteen was han gin g the ou tside groove, h o ld ing it through tum two, then Beauchamp got one las t drafting pass down the back chu te, 25 Mile National On the surface. things seemed fairl y loose in th e pits - Dro ste's me chanic ask ed Corky Keener if he 'd had one of the small Harley tan ks go a full 25 miles ; Corky 's laconic reply, " Yeah , but yo u better fill it full." Rick Hocking was getting the '11.: tech manual read to him hy a crew mem ber {'lIn case of emergency, (urn right .. . ") as his other cre w m e m be r did a final fiddle to the front end geo m e t ry . Notable exception : the Roberts /Y amaha paddock, where an extensive l a s t -m i n u te tire/re ar susp ension experiment was being tried , of all times, just before the National. Rear spring rate went up, preload was cran ked down a notch , and the rain Goodyear was replaced with a special grooved ro ad race slick. Kenny's last words as he began to suit up : " I sure hope that tire works." . Annou ncer Roxy Ro ckwood was assign in g a possible spoiler ro le to Scott Brels ford (it didn't happen) as the Nation a l was being placed on a seven-seven-six grid. Bob Malle y did his cartwheels, bounced to the box with the n ag and suddenl y the BS st opped. Out of the cro wd came Scott and Lawwill again, just like in th eir heat, with Mert bl asting around the outside of tum one-two. Gary drafted him. and then ca m e the m ob. En d of lap o ne it was Lawwill, Scott , Springsteen drafting by into second a t th e end o f th e straight, th en Roberts, wh o h ung th e in side (su rp rise) o f tum o ne -tw o an d in stantly lost position to Beau champ and Paul Bostrom . Out of traffic ca me Hank Scott and Corky Keener, as Roberts' slow slide began. Up front, it was Scott a nd Springsteen, side b y side into turn one rep eatedly. matched up m ov e for move. Beauchamp hung tigh t a nd wat ch ed. By lap 10 Corky Keen er an d Han k Sc ott were up on Rex 's fender and th e front five wa s set fo r a 10-1;,1' drafting duel th at wo uld see all o f th em b u t Hank Scott in the lead at lea st o nce . Ke ener go t under Gary an d j ay a t o n e tim e in t u rn t w o , but go t hor s e powe red away. It s t aye d an ybody 's race as the real ization grew that, win or lose, Gary Scott h ad the champi onship in the bag as long as be finished. Roberts had finally pulled in ncar mid-race, as the tire e xperiment had failed dis astrously. lie had zilch for traction . As all this was - go ing o n, Me rt Lawwill had slipped out o f th e lead five but would slip no farth er, holding o rr T om Berr y at si xth-seventh. Paul Bostrom a nd john Gennai would go out with me chanical s, the latt er during a renewed duel with Gen e Romero . Dave TR O PH Y RACE : 1. John Hateley (Y am ). Bru ce Hanlon (H-O) . 3. Chuck Joyner (H- D). 4. Chuck Palmgren (Yam). 5. Terry Dorsc h (H-O) . 6 . Denn is Briggs (Y am ). 7 . D avid Rush (H- D) . 8. Pat McCaul. 9. Darryl Hurst (H-D) . 10. I ke Ree d (Trl) . 11. Bruce Hanl on (H· D) . 12. Roger Stanley . Winning Time: 8 :05.45-88 .99 0 mph. N ATIONAL CHAM PIONSHI P , t. Rex Beauchamp (H-D) . 2. Jay Springsteen (H ·D ) . 3 . Hank Scott (Yam) . 4. Corky Keener (H-D~. S. Gary SCott (H · D). 6 . Mert Lawwlll (H · D • 7. Tom Berry (H·D). 8. Dave A l dan a (H-O). . Scott BrelSford (Kaw) . 10 . Gene Romero (Yam). 11 . Rick Hocking (Yam). 12. RandY Cleek (H ·D). 13. SkI p A kslan d (Yam). 14. Mike Kidd (H-D). 15. Don Castro (Kaw). 16. Steve Droste (H · D) . 1 7. Ste ve Morehead (H-D) . 18. John Gennal (Trl). 19. Paul Bostrum (H-D) . 20. Ken Roberts (Yam). Winni ng Time : 16:21.30-91.715 m ph. Junior Invitational Pearson hangs on lor Mom By Lane Campbell to win the- 16 -m an junior Invitational race by less than a bike len gth . The small field ti med in for start position only. Pat Guthrie (Tri) came in from his trial lap complaining, " 1 shut off too early for tum one , it gets me sh a ky still. And it's bogging coming out o f tum four. Wish we had a 47 tooth . . . " What to his surprise, he turned fast junior time of 39 .80. Guthrie was in the hunt off the start of the junior race , tucked in behind Scott Pearson at the end of the fir st lap, with Mark Smith (Yam) just o ut of reach behind. That terrible twoso me, Dan McWho rter (Yam) and Steve Eklund (Yam) was scrambling mightily up through traffic. When they did clear away. they muscled Smith and Guthrie both aside to go after the big fish: Pearson. Scott . motored much of the race unaware of the draft ing duel behind hi m : McWhorter would enter tum three hotter each time , dragging low as Eklund highlined around. They ca me right up on Pearson late in the race, and looking at the white nag, bracketed him coming out of tum four. The surprise of seeing McWhorter with a wheel under him got Pear so n momentarily sideways, effectively shutting the gate (drastical ly) on Eklund's outside · p ow er play . Pearso n collected himself and m o tored clear as McWhorter drafted him for second. Mark Smith finished well orr the lead trio 's pace, an d Guthrie, who had a comfortable fifth going, pushed a dead bike back to the pits on the last lap. Pearson, who still doesn 't have the points for Expert standing, p romised he 'd co ncen tr ate on being nex t year's number one j u n io r. Sounds like Mom raised him right. • Results SAN J O SE, CAL., SEPT. 21 "My Mom is in the h ospi tal ; I wan ted to win this fo r her. " Wh at eve r the reason, Scott Pearson (H-D) hung on .to o th an d toenail J R INVIT ATiONAL: 1. Scott Pearson (H· O). 2 . Da n McWhorter (Yam). 3. eteve Ekl u n d (H- D ). 4. Mark Smith. 5 . D on Carl y le (H-O). 6. Ji m W,ight ( Y am ). 7 . Bud Sm ith (T , I ). 8. Ch u ck Mil ler (Trl). 9. Bill O li ver (Tr l) . 10. L ee sei de l (Tr l) . 11. S teve T oftda h\ (Yam ). 12. Frank Word (Trl). 13. Brad H u rst ( Ya m). 14 . Earl Ro loff (N or ). 15. Pat Guthrie (Tri ). 16 . Nick Nazzlsi (Y a m ). Drafting was the way to go. Romero and Gennai do it out of tum four. oJ UJ J: f- er: :;; > a: a: .., "' o/l :J oJ aJ "' a. :;; er: u "' z er: oJ > aJ III a f- a ~t..:::i::...!lO!!!C..._.c!i::.. ---"~ ~ 7

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