Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.-._._._._.-._._._._._._. 1:1 Western hotline . ~. E z o II) "' s C( -s .J "' o ., Lyle Babi sty les to a 100 Jr. ' win at AMC/ night MX. S1IIft Miner heads the 250 Am-Ex in the Dunes Combo-Cross first tum with rapid Ronnie Gibson (AI after him. ur John scores big 0.37 combo win By Dale Brown VALENCIA. CAL., FEB. 29 National star John Hateley dominated the Open class at the Viewfinders/Santa Barbara Starters 0-37 Combo-cross at Indian Dunes. At the start of the single 40-minute moto, ru n through the Shadow Glen track . and out into the sandwash, Hateley (Suz) followed Chu ck Pettigrew (Mai) for abo ut a lap . Then out in the sandwash, Hateley surged past and then led for the remainder of the ra ce , lapping most of the co mpeti t io n . Pettigrew kept Hateley in sight until he had problems underneath the gas tank. Former desert star Dan Dawson (KT M) ran in second until the many water-crossings apparently got to his engine as Well. Paul Thede (Cl) was the next rider to try his luck at second ; his luck held and he finished there , abo u t half a lap behind the flying dirt-tracker. Steve Miller (Mai) too k an immediate lead as the 250 Amateur/Expert p ack negotiated the 9O-degree left firs t tum. Ronnie Gibson (Kaw) found himself just aft of Miller, which he didn't like at all, but it took him several laps to finally get by Miller. His lead was short-lived when he tangled with a Day!! Taylor swept the Irwindale Raceway 125 Pros. lapped rider. down a sandy straight and both riders went down hard. Although Gibson was apparently unhurt, the Kawasaki was severely tweaked and he ended up pushing back t o the pits. Miller went on to win easil y, with Fred Griego (Ya m) inheriting the runner-up spot. Tyrone Brown (Suz) started off the 125 Amateur/Expert ra ce by leading, with Lois Darling, the reigning D-37 125 champ, aways behind in second. Darling soon closed the gap and at the midway point, he was in the lead . But it was not to be for him, for a little later the le ft shock came adrift from the Honda's frame. Brown charged by for the win, with Joe Kehoe finishing second. Sue Fish (Yam) charged off to a runaway win in the Women '5 Division race. Sue had already built a comfortable lead when she sp un out on an uphill left-hander. Kim LaVigne (Ha n ) flashed by but it took Fish less than a lap to retake first. and pull away. LaVigne soon re ceived a spirited ch all eng e fr o m Nov ice (in classification . not abili ty) Rhe Glierni (Han) . Glierni too k secon d spo t an d kept it for th e duration of th e race . Ralph Whitney an d Ru ss J ones took off with an early lead in the Sid eh ack race . John Palfreyman and J oe Gardber ex tracted th emselves from a thre e-way battle for second, moved in on th e leaders, then flew by for the win. Whitney and Jones kep t second and the Blum /Pe ck team ca p tured first No vice honors. • Results in Results Section. AMC night MX By J oe l Jamieson IRVINE, CAL., FEBRUARY 25 A good show of racers made f~'r a full evening of good racing which the MIC crew ran smoothly . Lyle Babi , who told me in the , 18 pits that he 's in great nee d of a sponsor of so me sort, shot roo sters at the 100 J un iors all night aboard his DG Perform an c e /J e f f Ward equipped sleeved Elsin ore, scoring three mo ta win s fo r a total sweep of the class. his prem ier Morris Ma lone had Cycle Research RM 250 hooking in the 250 Pro race, putting together two holeshots an d a come-from-behind w in to notch the overall victory. Tom Cross (fe R) and Mike McGowen (Hus) picked up sec ond and third beh ind the Suzuki p ilo t. FMF was well represented in the 100 Pros as Flying Machine aces, Warren Reid and Jim Gallagher were sure to be locked in battle. Gregg Toyama, another FMF'er who 's unbeaten so far in 100 Pro AMC night racing, got banged up at Escape Country and was unable to mota tonight. Gallagher's tire deflated, leaving Warren to smoke 'em after shaking off an impressive looking Jim Murphy (Hon). • ""Friday night MX: Taylor territory By To m Blattler IRWINDALE; CAL., FEBRUARY 27 It doesn't ' make much difference how one juggles the names or what circumstances come about, David Taylor and Gary Denton do minate the 125 Pro class every week at Irwindale. On ly. once this year has another rider taken a win in the most exciting division each week. In the first mota Denton, aboard the D & G Honda, took one of his patterned holeshots with Ta y lor right on his rear wheel. T he two riders battled side-by-side until finally , after five laps, Denton held on for the win with Taylor and John Atwood (Yam) following. Eddie Clark, t he only rid er to defeat Taylor .and Denton this season, took the lead in th e first turn of the second mota followed by At wo od an d Denton. Where was T aylor? David was dea d last. The P·K Ra cing rider had forgot to tum on the gas. On th e first lap, Taylor p assed four riders and on the next lap was chal len ging Vince Van Hoo k (Yam ) for fourth. At the end of lap three Taylor mo ved by Denton for third and s t a r t e d apply ing the pressure to Atwood. In th e final turn, as Atwood tried to hold off the challenging Taylor , John went over the handlebars at the finish line. It was Clark for first, Taylor second , Atwood third, and Denton fourth . Taylor had put on one of the mas t remarkable come-from-behind performances ever seen at Irwindale. In the final mota Taylor p ulled away for the easy win and overall honors. Denton finished seco nd overall and Clark t hird . Taylor easily defeated Denton in the two-lap "King of th e Hill" sprin t , which is run backwards o n the hal f-mile track. Maico-mounted Dave Car lson to o k the 250 Pro go with tw o firsts and a second in the three five-lap races. Second over all went to current CMC poin t leader Val Tamietti, on the Track 'N Travel Maico, with third to Chuck Lunde (Mai). Tamietti had it pretty easy in t he 500 Pro s after "Jumpin' Joe" J ohnston

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