Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Ascot Invitational Half-mile Boodywins, bike claimed By Bob F, Read GARDEN A, CAL., SEPT. 26 It's Michigan 's ye ar on the halfmiles, so it seems. The Midwest's top ra ted Junior, Ted Boody ble w into the home of speed for the first time and came up a winner in the lO-lap yellow plate final . Boody , riding the former Corky Keener H-D th at is owned and tuned by Bart Markel, found the traction track to his liking and also had some obvious co ac h in g from Bart on how to ride the turns. Boody was on hand as an invited rider along with Bill Peters from Pennsylvania ; Bob Gr iffin of N.J., a nd Jeff Johnson from Or egon. San J os e mile winner Scott Pearson took th e fast time slot, topping Ascot point leader, Dan McWhorter. ' Steve Eklund, the nation's number o ne Junior dirt tra cker, blew h is engine in p ractice. He jumped o n a spare b rou gh t in by Mark Sm ith and we n t out an d won th e firs t heat ra ce with Boody i n seco n d, Pearson third. Easterner Peters was fo urt h an d Gri ffin was a ' di st ant six th. McWh orter topped Jim Wrigh t in the sec ond he at to set the stage fo r the m at ch -up in the final. Pearson finally q ualified for the fe ature b y wi nning t he Semi . Pe ters ran far bac k in seve n th fo r no transfer . McWh o rter , co mi n g into th e final only 10 Ascot p o in ts ahead of E klun d , jumped in front fro m the st ar t with Bo o d y sec o n d and Ekl und a close third. Just p as t the h alfw ay mark Eklu n d we nt to th e pits with a dead en gine , lea vin g the race to Dan and Ted . L ap s five and six found Boody sq uarin g t he co mer on th e so u th tum better th an any Junior this season . His p ower d rives onto th e backstre tch pulled him o n b y McWh orter on lap six an d to t he fron t , wh ich he held to t he fini sh . Bo o d y i s on l y the s ec o n d non-Cal ifo rni a J unior to ever win an Asco t Main eve nt, but th e cost m ay h ave been h igh. Im media tely afte r the rac e a claim was filed b y J im Wright, who fini shed fifth in the final an d has yet t o win an AMA ra ce th is ,y ear . The $3.5 0 0 cash was laid on the line and J im put the yellow Harley in th e bac k of h is m oto rhome and headed for Corona. It w as th e sam e m achine that Corky Kee ne r got off of earlier this year. stating that it was no t fast en ough t o win National dir t track eve n t s ! The Novice field was als o sprinkled , with o u t-of-state visitors . Bu t it was Californian Ted Davidso n showing the m the way for th e second straight ti me in the he at an d final. Steve Fortune won t he o pening heat r a c e . defe ati ng ' Bo b Th o rp e fro m Ore g o n , D ave Ch urch ill also fro m Ore gon , a n d t h e h i gh ly regard ed midwest No vice J ackie Mitchell from Indiana. Mitchell pulled a third behind TIm McWhorter. ' Ricky Gr ah am and Gord y Kidd did th e one-t w o ac t for California in the s eco nd heat with Oklahoma 's Bret Brad d y takin g a third place, b ut the tw o fas t es t heats we re tu rn ed in by Davids on and po int c ham p ion . Vince Mead . The Se mi we n t to Arizona's Martv Halkola with Bra d dy runn ing th ird again and Indiana 's Mitchell in fifth an d last transfer to the final, First .lap o f the final saw Gr ah am. out of control, lo se the m ach in e ,in fro nt of Ro b Murrav , Both rid er s we n t d o wn hard wi th no major damage to the rid ers, b u t o ne mac hine was totally destroyed . On th e re-start it jvas Davidson in fro nt looking like the earl y season wi n ner he was last Spring. Mead and Fort u ne swa p ped second place back and fo rth all th e way w ith Dan McWhor1llr leads winner Ted (84x) Boody and Steve Eklund in the Junior Final Friday night. ' Down to the wire - Terry (22) Dorsch chases TT winner Gennai as time runs out. Rick Hocking, big eyes an' all, flies away from John in the Trophy Dash. Mead ta king th e place by inches at the line. Oklah o ma's Bradd v came from the back and wa s running a closi ng fo urth at the fini sh . Arizona's Hal ko la fi nished in six t h wi th Indiana's Mitche ll right on his rear wh eel at th e flag. T he AMA pro ride rs have next Friday n igh t o n the half-m ile as a season finale which "ill be to pped off by a special Mic h igan vs. Cal iforn ia I O-lap match ra ce that wil l p it Sp ringstee n. Kee ner. Beau champ and Droste against fo ur Califo rnia Expert s. • Results in Results Section. Golden W TT est Experts only By Maureen Lee G ARD ENA. CAL., SEPT. 26 Th e Experts were hot to go alth ough man y wh o were in to wn for the National did no t enter, mos tly for the lack o f a TT bike. Skip Aksland (Yam) set the faste st time trial of 4 7.44 th en Rick Hocking (Yam) second at 4 7.5 2, To ro und ou t th e top four for the T ro p h y Das h came J oh • Allison (Yam) and th e lo ne Triumph of John Gennai . There were onlv two hea ts. Heat one Eddie Wirth (H-D) an d Jo hn Allis on dragged off the lin e bu t Allison wen t o ver the han dlebars in the esses, Wirth still held firs t. then ca me Skip Akslan d an d Mike , Myers (H-D ). Terry Dorsch (H· D) made his move pas t Myers into th ird t he n got b y Aks lan d to reall y st art p ush ing afte r Wirth . Aks land wasn' t ab ou t to stay back, gave ch ase, and passed Do rsc h on ly 10 find h e W .· lS goi ng a bit to o fas t. lIe tri ed a berm sh ot o ff th e duck pond ri m an d fell , p ut ti ng him ou t o f th e evenin g's ac ti on. Second heat Rick Ho cking (Yam) used h is pole position to full advantage and go t into tu m one ahead of Gennai and John Hateley (Nor) . Hoc kin g had the lead down nicely, then slid out and it was John Gennai out in front. He finally went wide and John Hateley waiting just behind put the big Norton into the lead. Paul Bostrom (H-D) made the third transfer. It was six transfers from the semi and naturaIly Rick Hocking was one who wanted in to the Main. He had taken second in the Pacific Co ast Regional and planned on a win this time. Hocking took the lead followed by Bob Sanders (Tri) , Randy Skiver (H-D) and Dennis Briggs (Yam). In that firs t so rt out John Alliso n came u p ve ry quic kly fro m h is last row starting position, als o wantin g one o f th e transfers . He , like Hocking, was in the Semi due to mistakes in th e heats. Ho c kin g was h auling and built up a nice lead. Righ t afte r th e jump Briggs go t by Sanders in t o third. Harley rider Tom Be rry shot on up to ftfth and as the flag fell Randy Ski ve r (H-D) was holding onto sixth and final transfe r. John Gennai jumped the gun a t t he T rophy Dash but the four riders fmally go t aw ay . Due to his earlier crash Aksland had been replaced by first alternate Eddie Wirth. Ho cking took the wi n looking back at Gennai over his sh o ulder. Then came W"Irth and Allison. Things happened quickly at th e start of the main. Tom Berry in the back ro w really shot for the front in th e first charge but as th e pack got in to where it tigh tens up th e pileup started. Three went down and Bo b Sande rs an d Mike My ers made it back for th e re-start. Unl ucky Joh n Allison co u ld n ot and first alternat e J o hn Sperry (Suz ) t ook his place . This time Gennai took th e lead , then Wirth, J o hn Ha teley , T erry Do rsch and P a ul Bostro m . Coming out of the h alf-m ile Wirth go t a d rive and ran side by sid e wi th Gennai d own th e fr ont ch u te taking ove r th e lead as lap two started. J us t a bi t later it w as J o hn Ha teley shoot around Gennai o n th e half-mil e , almost catching an d p assing ' V"Irth in th e p ro cess. He wen t to go o u tside of h im o n the so u th turn b u t Geen ai seized t he opportuni ty ' t o ni p by. Aro und lap four Gennai got Wir th on th e o utside and a t once point the ba t tlers went throug h part of the la ke . tu rns with Gennai as a sandwich filling between Ha te ley and Wirth on the ins ide line. They were flat having at it with Te rry Dorsch lurkin g j ust behind o u t of the battle zone . Still . they sh uffled aro u nd. Hateley passed Wirth on the straight and ca ught up to Gen n ai appro ach in g the jump with his fa ns screaming. He flew high and fa s t, passing Gen nai in the air b ut Gennai just left it o n as they sh o t for that righ t hande r. They bo th go t around it wi th o ut a tu mble or a skid , Hateley in fro n t. Hatele y then start ed pulling away from Gen nai bu t fou rth pl ace Terry Dorsc~ was dogging '~irth. ~ehind them was Rick Hocking With MIke Myers in p u rsuit. Wirth wen t out with me chanical p'roblems an d h is disap poin tm e n t as he coas te d in to the pits was mirrored in the stands . To m Berry wa s the next cas ualty and th ere was lIatel ey rompin g away in front but sudden ly in th e la ke tu rns he p ulled ov er, the stands roaring in di s belief and John showi n g in tense frustration . I co uldn 't verify it but we be lieve th e chain came o ff. Again ! With only seven bikes left in these very la te stages. Te rry Dorsch p ul led out al l stop s on Gennai b ut just didn 't have ti me to get a real chance at John. as Rick Hocking cam e arou n d fo r third and Mike Myers fo urth. Ge nnai happily accepted the trop h y as Gol den West TT cham pi o n . No w that he is Expert it's eas y to forget tha t as a Juni or on th e half-m ile he sm ashed e ve ry record in the bo o k bac k in 19i3 and still hol ds the m . Not o nly that t h os e times are f a s t e r than the co m p ara ble expert lap s held b y Mert La wwil l, Rex Beaucham p and Gary ' Sco t t ! For Tf fans it was go o d ra ci ng. r--- ,.. ~ ..0 o -+-' u o Resu lts: TROPH Y DAS H : R i c k Hocking (Yam ) , Joh n G e n n ai {Trl} , Eddie W irt h (H· D ) , John Alli so n ( Yam ) T ime : 1 : 3 8. 50 M AIN E V E NT : John Gennai(Tri) , Te r ry Dorsc h ( H-D ), Rick H o c k i n g (V am ), Mi ke M y ers (Nor ), Den nis Br iggs ( Ya m) , Ra nd y $I(ive r (H-D) . Joh n Sperry (Suz), Jo n n Hatetev (Nor), Tom Ber ry (H· D), 'Edd ie Wi rtn (H· D), Pa ut Bost rom (H-D ) . Bob San ders (Trl) T ime: 12 :06.71 9

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