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/126040
Ama1l!ur road racing - Texas style on a track designed for super stock cars. W /ERA opens Texas World By Steve Ueckert COLLEGE STA., TEX., MAR. 27-28 World Speedway with the ' sights motor racing. NASCAR Grand 38 was again alive and sounds of However, the National stocks and the USAC Championship cars were not present. Instead, the Central Texas track, located 90 miles south of Houston, opened its high-banked oval turns and winding infield esses to the motorcycle enthusiasts of the Western/Eastern Roadracers Association. Riders in all classes, Street, Cafe and the exotic Grand Prix bikes, challenged each other and the track, one of the fastest of racing's super ovdls. The two mile course with its seven turns and steep banks offered something different for every class. For the 400s and smaller, the esses laid out on the infield allowed them to use their great agiIity and quick braking and acceleration to snake through the tight turns. The oval section with its banked turns and long straight allowed the bigger bikes long stretches of red-line running which produced some exciting top speeds in the Grand Prix classes. For many riders, this was their first experience at running on a high banked ov al track. O. G. Fox, of College Station and a long time competitor in the motocross ranks was on a cafe bike and said that he just hit the banks wide open and let the machine run. The banking did, however, present a problem in that the start/finish line was originall y situated on a banked portion of the track. But in a riders' meeting it was proposed that the start be moved down onto the flat pit road and a majority of the riders approved the move to case and expedite the placing of the bikes on the starting grid. In Central Texas there is an old saying; " If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. " The rules of W/ERA say that neither rain nor sleet nor de ad o f night shall keep the racers from running. With this iri mind and 'tfie fiel ' that the Saturday quaIifying heats were run under beautiful sunny skies, it may be - assumed that the Sunday championship races were run in the rain. . T o be exact, five minutes 'p rior to the drop of the flag for the first race, the sky opened-up and)n that five minutes the type of racing turned around 180 degrees. From a hot, dry and slightly dusty track with racing sIicks doing the trick, it suddenly became a cool, damp blacktop. Although racing " in the wet" was exciting for the riders it was very boring for the ambulan ce crews - not one call for their services once it started to rain. . Virgil Davenport on a Kawasaki Z»I drove to the track late Sunday morning and just barely en tered himself in the co mp e tition on time. But he really made his presence felt as he won both the Open Cafe and Open Grand Prix races hands down with h is pink Z-I . • Ed Gree n, fo rmer Team Duck ride r, high bars 125 Kawa at Texas Wor ld . KMSA point opener. MX By Bill Shumate WICHITA, KANS., MAR. 7 'If today's race is any indication of what's to come during the course of this K.l\LS.A . point season, it's going to be a close race in every class. One hundred and thirty-five riders en tered ' today and, even though everyone couldn't win, they all had fun. The 125 Junior class had quite a few new faces among the 23 entrants at the gate, Gary Deckinger proved he knew the gate and the first turn better than anyone as he holeshot both motos and started pulling away right from the start. Back in the pack was a young man named Jeff Russell who had just today moved from the Beginner class to the Juniors. He let it all hang out and rode his tail off trying to catch Deckinger. He fell shy in moto one b y less than three seconds. Moto two was different. Deckinger had again pulled out quite a ways but Russell was not to be denied: He had only managed to get aw ay from the first turn in sixth but it was obvious , 'to'eVe nemat 'he-,v ryo oiiIdcatch or ·up, crash trying. Abou t two-thirds of the way through, he caugh t and passed Deckinger and took home first place overall with a second and a first. Terrific ride and a well deserved victory for Russell, If he can get his starts down a little better, a lot of people will be seeing only his re ar tire . The 125 Expert class looked like a national qualifier with the likes of Gary Witt, Craig Bills, Darren and Troy Rhoten, Jim _ Bebe and Randy Kirs chbaum on the line. Sixteen riders in all were trying to place in the top five to earn a little cash. Earn is the word all right. Gary Witt proved the master right from the start of moto one. Darren Rhoten did all he cou ld to catch up but when Witt is on the gas, all anyone else can hope for is second. The real race this moto was ' for third and fourth between Bills and Bebe. Bills finally pushed his new Honda past Bebe to take third behind Rhoten and Witt. Bills p..u!I ~~ out first in moto two but Witt mstantly got b and the race ' was now