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/126025
Meet "Cr " The real 125 GP National Olampion. Freddie Spencer. gets the once over by Rusty Bradley's sister. Becky Sterling (64 ). Tum seven reverberates with the sound of GP equ ipment. SIBlIest Championship Id ace By Joe LePelley HENDERSON. TEX. • DEC. 14 It was a st artlin g even t for rural East Texas. A beer drinking crowd o f over 1,000, right in th e heart of the Bible Belt, posit ioned them selve s aro und 25 ac res of rolling h i1ls on a warm afternoo n wh er e yo u need a special perm it to journey any where o th er th an ch u rc h o n th e sabba t h. The race rs , 122 strong, awo ke th e 'lazy , swaying p in e trees with a co nst a n t roar o f engine s o n a d ay which is u su all y high lighted by a Texas ch urc h picn ic o r afterno o n qua il hunt. It is a tr ack in th e co un try where m any fo lks st ill cra wl out of bed at 5 a.rn. when the ro o ste r cro ws instead o f se tting a n alarm clo c k. But th e riders an d crews ca me in dr ov es - fro m Ca lifornia, Mississippi , Kansas. C ol o r a d o , Ar kansas . M issour i . Louisiana, Oklahoma, a nd o f course , Texas. As the American .Mo to rcycle Asso ciat io n and Centra l Ro ad Racing Club . co -sponsors o f t he even t found ou t, the Tex as sun d o esn 't tar ry lo n g in December. All 13 races were o rigin ally sched uled fo r 10 lap s b u t were re du ced to eight. six and finally five as the da y I gave way t o night. The final event o f the Southwest Championship Road Race at Oak Hill Raceway, a sparkling new 1.8 m ile, eigh t-tum asphalt trac k, was a five-lap affair where three classes were grouped together. Randy Cleek, the pride of Shawnee. O k lahoma, set the o ne-lap record of 1:39 in the preliminaries and then crashed his TZ-750 on the eighth tu m of the penultimate lap in the Open Gran Pr ix while leading the race. After Cleek's cras h Jon Minonno of Dallas came on with his Triumph to ca p t ure the top prize at dusk-dark in the fea tu re event, out-distancing Paul "Hogm an " Stephenson of Fanners Bran ch. "Ho gm an" ra n in to t ro uble on th e third lap when h is Howling 900 Honda jou rn eyed o n to th e red dirt infield o n a downh i1l stra igh ta way. St ephenson was never ab le t o reco ver the val uable lo st ti me and Min onno , w ith the S tevenson error a nd t h e Cleek c rash , wen t on to win t he Open Gran Prix. Freddie Spen ce r , the teenage se nsat io n from Shrevep ort , Louisiana. put o n quite a sh ow on h is Yamah a as he cap tu red th e 25 1-3 80 Pr o du ction. The rei gning United St ates 12 5 Gr an Prix Cha m p io n , t hen ca m e back to cap tu re h is sp eci alty in th e 12 5 Gr an Prix with o n ly a wh isp er of a t hreat from Mark J o nes o f Overland Par k. Kan sas. T exas already has virtual ly every th ing any o t her sta te ca n offer. Now it says "brin g it o n" to road racing. It s ini tial recep tio n wa s warm . Texans liked it a nd they mi gh t eve n wager their beloved Dall as Cowboy b umper stick ers th at this new sport will be a succe ss in t h is sect io n of the co un try. • Results in Results Section. ' •. and his friends in our next subscribers photo page! Just send your favorite photo along ""ith a subscription to ~- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OFFER ENDS JANUARY 10, 19 76 DEPT. SUB. P.O. BOX 498 LONG BEACH. CALIFORNIA 90801 o HALLELUJAH ! $11 .50 Here 's $11.50 . Send a gift card & subscription to my fri e nd listed belo w . 1I already subsc rib e.! 0 HUMBUG ! $11 .50 Here 's $11 .50. Just send me one year o f Cycle News and fo rget t he card . (Sa ve $1 ,001 o HOOHAH! Thi s is a renewal. Your Na me _ Your Address _ Your City St ate Z ip Friend' s Na me _ Friend 's Address Fr iend's Cit y _ _ Stat e Zip _ Gift Giver's Na me _ Gift Giver 's Address _ Gift Giver's City I I ~ St ate Zip _ ~~~~--~~-- ---- - - - - - - - -- --- - -~ 5