Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• ._._._._._._._._._._~._._._._._._._._._._ ._~ ~._._._._._._._ ._._._ '._._._._.- =Western hotline ~. g t Je ff Fo land lit the fu se to his KTM rocket and bla sted off t he Ca rlsb ad be rm s for a w hang -bang Bicentennial Fourth of July win w ith AMC . Foland's AMC fireworks By Mike Vada CARLSBAD, CAL.,JULY 4 It's a lucky thing that Thomas Jefferson decided not to han g around for America's Bicentennial celebrations (along with all the unorthodox foo-foo and overall ga-ga atmosphere) , be cause he probably would've been stricken with grie f trying to figure out all th e flyin g machines zipp ing through the air on the Fourth of July at AMC Carlsbad. On the o th er hand, Tommy might've been tic kled with delight and amazement, ju mp ing up and down lik e a five ye ar o ld kid watching Bozo on the b oo b tube , overwhelmed by the co mpletely fascination of a ll the neato bikes an d Jeff Foland 's domination of th e combined Pro class aboard his p o ten t K.T.M. flash. The best possible co nditions in troduced the riders to the AMC happenings on the Carlsbad G P co ur se , with David Gerig (Suz) taking full advantage of the new gate in setting up the opening lap pace for the 500/2 50 and 125 Pro skirmish . Gerig failed to complete the first tour, as he got off allowing the factory K.T.M. rider Jeff Foland to skip on by. Fo land steadily built up a monsterous lead, as he blazed across the tops of the lap charts in pursuit of the moto win . Meanwhile, Mike Ste arns had been picking up from his seventh p lace start, getting by both Chuck Pettigren (Mai) and Peter Ma ly (CZ). Randy Burns (Yam) held Stearns from taking over second spot for a sh ort while, but soon settled into third behind the Husky vet, formerly on a Suzuki. Joe Santich (Hon) was able to first moto 125 win , as Marty Miller (Hon) dropped off the second p lace running on the fifth tour. Motocross Action's famed test rider Peter Maly presented his fans with a picture ·p erfect holeshot in the final moto , but Foland's powerful charge soon simmered the MXA rider's blitz to no more than two lap s. Foland kept up the fireworks and blasted a fin al good-bye to the pack. Mike Stearns kept a consistent pace which directed him past Maly and into second sp ot fo r the day, netting the 250 Pro winnings. On the other end of th e track, Englishman Andy Bain es had to tangle with t he ever fam iliar Miller Man o rid er s, Mike Raines (Suz) and Marty Miller (Suz) . After th e trio's see-saw act ion su bsided, it .was Marty Miller o ut in front , with both Baines and Raines (does that rh yme ?!) tr ailing Santich, who had slipped o n by to haul in secon d - enought to land him the 125 Pro overa ll. To o bad Thomas wasn 't ar ound today. At least he cou ld've learned wh at "Gas It!" meant. • Results in Results Section . ~hange of scene at Ascot MX By Mike Klinger GARDENA, CAL.• JUNE I Every Thursday night Ascot Park revises its motocross track to keep the regular "shoes" from winning week a fter week. This past week's actio n had the starting gate moved to the straightaway, in front of the grandstands. The biggest grandstand effort for the night went to David Taylor, first in the 250 Pro and second From past experience, everyone knew that the real 125 Pro contest was going to be between DG racer David Taylor and Honda rider Tim Lunde. Taylor won the first moto handily with Lu n de riding to a st rong second, one-half lap ahead of the field . Moto two was a different story. Taylor again pulled the holeshot but Lunde made a desperate surge on lap six to overcome Taylor. The two Experts were side-by-side co m ing off the hill when Lunde literally pushed his way in to the lead and wen t on to win the moto . Lunde's tally of 2·1 finishes resu lt ed in the o verall win. T aylor was second with a 1·2 score. In the heated 250 Pro co m pe t it ion, Taylor again w as a crowd pl easer. The top spot was a fou r man b attle involving T ayl or, Morris Malone (Hus), Joe Johnston (Oss) and Val Tarni etti (Mai). The first moto win went convincingl y to Ta yl or, Malone was second and Tamietti tr ailed in third. The moto two holeshot again went to "Mr. St yle, " Dave Taylor. As the moto progressed, Malone took the lead from Taylor for only two laps, but the Yamaha pulled th e Husqvarna on the pit sweeper straight. Taylor won the moto and the overall money with a I-I results. Malone was second. • Results in Results Section . Firecracker Flat Track Championship By Maureen Lee CORONA, CAL.,JULY 3 Corona Raceway gave flat trackers a Bicen tennial salu te Saturday Coast Firecracker Flat Track Cham pionsh ip . A $1000 purse drew many top riders but Wayne . Rainey put it all together and collected $275 after winning the short track and half-mile mains. Those who didn 't ride the money races went home with pl enty of trophies. There was a good array of talent slamming around in the Pro class short track heats. Th e first one had Tim McWhorter (Yam) ch asing Mike Tidwell (Yam ) home and the second was a wild chase between Don Grigsby (Yam) , who won ne atly, while Rainey and Eddie Laws on (Bul) rea lly worked it out behind. In th e semi AI Glover (Yam ) set a new th ree lap re cord o f 1:01.98 as he won ah ead of Dennis Briggs. After the 'fi st turn scramble in the r main it was Rainey out front, then Walt Foster (T ri ), Don Grigsby and Eddie Lawson. "TvBone" Gri gsby took second away from Foster and then went after Rainey. As fast as Grigsby was, Rainey was quicker, he reall y had his fire lit! There- were two h eats for the half-mile Pros. First heat, Doug Hannon (Yam ) shot for th e low groove, followed by Tidwell, Foster and Steve Fortune (Yam). Fortune, still hurting from a previous crash worked up to the front, but all eyes were on the batt le you ng Mike Tidwell was having with Walt Foster. Tidwell would outride Foster's big bore through the turns and then Walt would go fo r it down the straight and Mike would have to pass hi m all over again . Finally, Mike's Yamaha let go, much to everyone's disappointment. Craig Armstrong (H-D) and Rainey fought it out in the second go, a race that saw several crashes. Glover, Lawson and Rich Warren made it out of the semis and it was time for the main. All evening, a nice breeze had been ..eat for the spectators but not so neat for the

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