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/126054
.. .. . • • II III lIB ~ t ~ r-- 0) ...-( ~ eo ...-( >"'3 e. ... . . *1_"oOt 0\ lo . aeco co l---:l z ;: o a: III UJ .J ~ ,. C( o > III III o I- !::.. o .....J O' J: at at t he OR A Firecracker 76. Firecracker 76: Balentine's Bicentennial bash By Dale Brown CALIFORNIA CITY., CAL. , J ULY 4 In celebrat ion o f the nation's 200th birthday, firecrackers ex ploded th roughout Saturday even ing. The following day, Bob Balen tin e exp lo d ed for a no ther win, le adin g DRA 's Fire cracker ' 76 all the way , ab oard a new 400 KTM. Bale ntine hit th e bomb wi t h seve ral o the r racers an d o u t power ed them to ' ~ t on th e marked trail fir st. Bill Conroy (45 0 ViI) , win ner of t he previou s Firecracker, was am ong th e leaders un til he got to o far off the t rail an d lost a little tim e. J amie Avels (4 0 0 Ya m) hel d second fo r a while, b ut Ben ny Padill a (250 Yam ) go t by at t he halfway point on t he 25·m ile lo op . A fla t so o n slowed Padilla and Ave ls held second at th e e nd of th e loo p, a bout a m in u te beh in d Balentine . Tom Kelly (25 0 KTM) m oved u p o n Pad illa, bu t co ul dn 't pass h im in the d ust th ro wn up by Ben n y's squirrelly m achine. Padilla retire d in th e pits, but Kell y was on ly a ble to get out to the bo m b ar ea befo re he sie zed. Two o f th e le ad er s were out and an o ther, Avels, so o n cam e up with a flat . He tried to nurse it into the fmish 'o nly to cr ash in to a berm at the edge of a firero ad and destroyed the few remainin g spokes in th e rear wheel . These in cidents moved Rich Mark (370 Suz ) and Conroy up to second a nd third, where the y would stay for the remainder of the race. Being in the top ten on the first loop was hazardous to the health of other machines as well. Chuck Cartledge h ad his 100 Yarnalla running an am azing seventh, but broke the shifter and spent th e rest of the morning circulating in one gear. He did ev en tu ally fin ish th ird in class . Robbie Voi ght and Howard McCasland were running ei ghth an d ninth ; both DN Fed. Phil Stumbo (25 0 CZ) had moved up fr om 14th at th e start to tenth, de spite heavy dust . By the e.nd fo urth, wh er e he stayed to the en d. Possibly by wai tin g until t he second loop to m ake an ap pearance in the t op ten, Tom Sche ll (250 Suz) avoided th e ill lu ck of his p redecessors. By the en d of the race, he w as ru nnin g fifth . Balentine co m p le te d t he almost 76·mile race in sligh tly under 9 0 minutes. On th e las t lo op he had t o hold a loo se gas tank in pl ace with hi s knees . Bob 's new KTM fe atures sharply-canted sh oc ks and lead in g-axl e forks. It car r ied him to a two-minute-plus lead over Mark. Conroy t ook third for hi s first finish o f ' 76 . Stumbo's fourth garnered him fir st 25 0 honors. Schell was in n ext, ahead o f Jim Artz (4 0 0 Yam), who ca rried a small water bottle taped t o the back o f. his helmet with a tu be co nnec t ing it to his mouth along his wav to firs t Am ateur. Lee Wilson 111 ( 175 Hus) picked u p the small-bore lead wh en Cartledge slowed and he kep t it to t he end, fmis hing seven tho Mon te Lee (250 Yam ), Dave Wo o d (400 Yam) an d Ti m Plan t (125 D~ IG ) ro u nded out the top ten. With a 13 th overall finish, Gus Paull (4 0 0 Yam) took first Senio r, barely bea ting Gord on Schm id (4 00 Yam ) w ho ch arged th ro ugh th e pack after a di sastro us st ar t. . The Novices had a se parate sta rt this t im e an d th e first loop had featured a battle be tween Tom Matto x and Do ug Hurt, b oth o n 400 Yam ah as. Hu rt fell vic tim to the gremlins and dropped back . Matto x wen t on t o t ak e th e overall No vice win , ju st a head 'o f T. Phillips (250 ) and Mark Struve (250 Yam) . Dav id Behrens (Yam) copped th e small-bone win , while Keith Soesbe (400 Yam) topped the Seniors. Leslie Klug rode a 250 Honda fo u r-sto ke t o a No vic e Powder Puff victory . With the th re e-wave start and a fast cou rse, all the Beginners were lapped. Curt Richard (25 0 Yam) was the last to be lapped and thus th e fir st to fin ish . Despite the fast course, a 17 5 Yamaha, r idden b y Tim Cauby , was second. Rex Bonham (4 0 0 Yam) nabbed third. Ch arlie Anderson (25 0 KTM ) an d Richard Hurt (4 0 0 Y am ) batt led all th e way around for fir st Senior Begin ner. Anderson win ning by a ' sm all margin . Laura Lo ckridge (25 0 Yam ) was "t he fi rst Begin ner Po wde r Pu ff, wh ile it was ano t her Kell y Klin e (Yam ) win in t he _ Min i ranks. - . CASTLE ROCK NATIONAL TT CASTLE ROCK FAIRGROUNDS .CASTLE ROCK,WASH.,JULY17 ~ '~ THE BIG BIKES ARE COM ING! And along w ithth e American Motorcycle Assoc iation's high speed two wheelers-the circui t's top and toughest riders. The record breakers. The big boys. See 'em eat up the track while they com~s~e, pete fo r cycl ing 's heavy prize money. You'll want to catch all the action from the first flag on. So come on out- early ! ~ TICKET INFORMATI ON: General Admission: $8.00 or telepho ne (206) 423 - 1263. Warning : The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarene Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. 18 mg."tar",1.2 mq.neenne av. per cigareue. FTC Repon A '76 PR