Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126014
E • a ~ E • ~ ~ l-< Il.l .0 S U Il.l > o Z Touring through the Saguaro cactus, the Open Production mid-pack shuffle between Goldsby (93). Collins (530), Basinski (186). Phoenix AMA Qualif-er By Lane Campbell PHOENIX , AZ. , OCT. 25-26 The ' sign at the airport ought to read "Welcome to Phoenix where the air is still clean and sex IS still dirty". Picture a sprawling Run what ya brung. 24 it rejects freeways on principal. If you believe the brochure left in hotel rooms, you can, by dialing a certain n um ber , meet a "warm, exciting Southern Comfort Girl " (?) or yo u can dr ift down by the Un iversity of Arizona in near by Te mpe, drink beer from a Maso n get ' loose listen ing to jar and country-folk music . It's a wie rd town - and o ut o n t he edge of it, some 25 miles from Groun d Zero, is this neat racetrack. Fastrack International Raceway " is of d ubious registry at the m o m en t, being a part of the crumbling Bric klin empire. (The Bricklin car co mpany we nt into receivership recently, casting an uncertain pal l over the trac k. ) For now the track is the site of the Pacific Region 's o nly two AMA Amateur Ro ad Race Qualifier mee ts, and as suc h , it was t he place to be for those who want to ride Daytona ' s Amateur Day March 3, 1976. Though the facility is we ll over ten years old, this weekend marked its first use for full-scale moto rcycle road racing. It's like a "Mini-Dayto na" - a short Indy car oval with a road circuit attached (the track is still part of the USAC Championship Trial); and o ut-of-state road racers weren't quite sure what to expect of it. The result was pleasant surprise. The road circuit leaves the oval for a long tour of the surrounding desert washes, has several change-of-camber variable rad ius turns going o ut beyond the motocross hill, then a long fas t straight back t o the oval, wh ere it doglegs across into the infield, lo ops o nce an d rejoins the oval at the front st raight past the pits and stands. As th ey gained experience with the track d uring Saturday's practice, it wasn't long before the riders we re all grins. It was a fun day and a learning day, as visiting Experts Pat Evans and Phil McDonald helped the p ro moters "tune" the track by placing much-needed shutoff markers in critical spots; while nearly everybody was set to scr o unging for big enough jetting to cope with the co mbination of altitude, heat and super-dry air. The race drew riders fro m Col o rado , New Mexico, Texas, California , and the No r t hwest; some of wh o m b ro ug ht , so me really unusual motorcycles out of the woodwork . There was a 250 TSS Bultaco with super-cherry Ceriani wheel/brake asse mblies front and rear, and two 34mm Mikunis feeding a common piston port intake. As owner Richard Magner explained, "If TZ250s can breathe through two 34s. so can city of a million plus population where cowboys who don't smoke no funny to bacco but pay for female companionship coexist in uneasy truce wit h studen ts who get it free and list en to th e midn igh t dope report on KR IZ while brooding, sullen Indians begin to scare their white neighbors with new-found voting power. It's a place that welcomes Federal defense spending with all the high -rollers who follow the money while A sequel to phone booth stuffing - minibike load ing with Pat Evans. Phil McDonald and friend .