Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

h eir Goodyear slic ks h ad ne ver been bj ected to suc h punishment; i t was a ucial factor. T ire Wear fo rce d Kanay a to the pits fo r ne w re ar rubber with o bert s losing valuable time wh en h is ea r t ire b l e w in t h e c hica ne ' cessi tating a high spe ed ru n on th e fi eld grass to the p its for h is ch ange. It st Kenny any ch an ce of regaining a p posi tion. Cecot t o, unm ind ful of th e n seq ue nce s and knowing that he was e i ng shown' Jive on Venezuelan levision maintained his pace to victory sp ite a tire which, according to an dustry source , "might h ave made o ther lap ." . Gary Nix o n , Pat Hennen and Gene omer o pl ayed a waiting ga me in to o i n t garnering. pos it ions second rough fo urt h with Randy Cleek eighth d Roberts ninth. Gary Scott cam e to Daytona wi th his irst t ru ly competitiv e ride in four years d seemed to be capable of a top ten lacing, but an accident in the final ractice session injured his hand' and he ithdrew from the National. Robe rts ' points moved him into cond place in the standings with Cleek oving to fifth and Scott dropping to tho esults Johnny Ce'cotto (Yam); 2 . Gary Nixon aw) ; 3 . Pat Hennen (Suz) ; 4 • Gene Romero am) ; 5. Patrick Pons (Vam); 6. MI~hael Qugerl. (Vam); 7. Hldeo ~n.lya (Vam) ; 8. andy Cleek (Y.im) ; -9 . Kenny Roberts am), 10 . John DOddS (Vam), 11. Bob- ndicott (Yam) : 12. Dennis Purdie (Yam); 3. Ken Blake ( V am ); 14 . Alex George am); 15. Walt.r Foster (Varn); 16. Doug ibbY (Vam), 17. Len Fitch (Vam), 18. obert Wakefield (Yam) ; 19. Kev in Stafford am) ; 20 . Rob Bran (Vam) . alias Short Track F or th e seco nd year in a row rain agued the Dallas short track which is ther a strange thing to happen to an ent that is run indoors. ..unless y ou pen to have a stadium which has a le in the roof. In any case the race was a follow the ader affair over the hard p acked Texas ay with the leader; by a good margin, enny Roberts , racking up his venteenth career victory and his cond consecutive Dallas win . ' Mike Caves placed second with Rick ocking in third, riding a steady race ther than risk his placing on a risky s.l Kenn y 's win in ched him within adowing distance of points leader ocking, Gary Scott, with a ninth in the rophy Ra ce, dropped out of the top n. esults Kenny UI) ; ' Roberts (Yam) i 2. M ike Caves 3. , Rick Hocking (Vam) i 4. Dave nsen (Hus); S. J im Rawls (Kaw) ; 6. Terry 'ley (Bul) ; 7. M ike Gerald (Vam) ; 8. huck Palmgren (Yam) ; 9 . B ilty Labr ie am) , 10 . Mark Smith (Yam); 11. Hank ott (Yam); 12 . Dave 'Aldana (Yam); 13. r ry Cooper (SuI) : 14. Steve Eklund (Vam). an Jose Mile S an jose puts th e actio n b ack in to aci ng a ft e r th e an im ated in door a tio n als wi th chin o n th e tank 10 0 ph drafting reality. Goody ear unveiled ei r new Eagle DT II fr on t and rear tire h ich was credited w ith upping th e verage speed for th e 25 laps alm os t ur mph. H arl e y-D a vidson teammates Rex eauchamp (re t urni n g to r acin g after a air of broken collar bones ) and j ay pringsteen swep t th e top spots with ary Scott in third in a ride th at tounded some. If th ey th ought Scott's 'de was neat hi s claim of Beauchamp 's ike in the winner's circle was even eater. Gary plunked down his $3,500 d , despite counter claims by Corky e e n e r and Greg Sassaman w hic h ecessitated a drawing to determine the in ning claimant, walked off with the oods. Rick Hocking gained some breathing oom on Kenny as Rick finished nin th ith Kenny never making the start after coil ' wire broke on the starting line. ary Scott, via his third, vaulted into h ird place behind Kenny and the tandings began to look a lot more teresting. esults Rex Beauchamp (H·D) : 2. Jay Springsteen H - D ) ' 3 . Gary Seott (H-D), 4. Alex Jorgenson Nor) :5 . Corky Keener (H ·O) ;6. Dave Aldana H-D), 7 . Gregg Sassaman IH-Dl' 8. Tom erry(H-O):9. R ick Hockln9 H·D ilO.Gene ~ Romero (H-D) , I I. Steve Eklund (H-D), 12 . Randy Cleek (H-D); 13 . Eddie Wirth (H·D), Bubba Rush ( H · C ) ; I S. Mike Col lins (H·D); 16 . Steve Droste (H·D); 17 . Hank Scott (Yam), 18. Mike Kldd (H-D), 19. Paul 14. Bostrom ( H · D ) ; 20 . Kenny Roberts (Yam) . Oklahoma City Half Mile The race was stoppe d on th e six teen th lap after a fo ur ride r crash in the middle of_t u rns o ne -two. T he subsequen t decisio n to ca ll th e National comp lete and th e reverting by th e scorers (AMA rul es ) to th e previous lap for. scoring purp oses caused th e results , via protests and appeals, o f th e . second through e leve n t h place, fin ish ers to remain un offici :il for three weeks. In the end th e initial resul ts stood with' Hank S cott th e winner foll ow ed by Ted Boody ,jay Springsteen and Gary Scott. Scott , by virtue of a four seco nd lead aft er 12 laps co u ld have wo n , but an ea sy down and up again spill ended that. Kenn y Rob erts fell vic t im to a loose rear axle nut wh ich fo rc ed his retirment early in . the National. Results I. Hank Seott (Yam), 2 . Ted Boody (H-D) , 3 . Jay Springsteen (H-D), 4 . Gary Seott S. Steve Droste (H-D) ; 6 . Dave Aldana H·O ; 7 . Tom Berry (H-D) ' 8. Mike Ktdd (H- ); 9. [ -01' Corky Keener (H-D); 10 . Gene Romero (H-C) ; 11. Steve Morehead (H-O): 12 . Steve £'klund (H-D); 13. Kenny Roberts (Vam); 14. Terry Poovey (H-O). Louisville Half Mile The seventh National of the season produced the seventh winner willi Gary Scott racking up his eigh t career .vict ory at the expense of jay Springsteen and brother Hank Scott. G ary took the pole with the fast heat win and left , little doubt in an yone 's mind that he wanted - to and in deed wo uld win the Nation al. Unofficially , Rick Hocking (wh o had failed to make either the Oklahoma City or Louisville Nationals) was still on top o f the point standings, ' but Kenny Roberts, with a sixth place finish, was a scant two points behind. Add to that Gary In third with Jay Springsteen in fourth. Results ' . I. Gary Scott (H-D), 2 . Jay Springsteen (H -D) , 3. Hank Scott (Vam), 4. Rex aeauchllmp (H·C) ; 5. G rfti Sassaman IH-Dl;6. Kenny Roberts ('(am): 7 . Dave S.hl H-D: 8. Doug Sehl (H-D); 9. Chuck Pall!'9ren (H-D); 10 . Jay Ridgeway (H-D); 11. Ted BOOdY (H-D), 12. J im Zeigler (H-D); 13 . Bill Eves (,H-O) : 14. Corky Keener (H·D). Pontiac TT , , It was back to stadium' racing with -th e Pontiac double as the National , cir cuit wended its way into Michigan for the first National ' in that state in y ear s. Unfortunately for the promoters of the even t no amount of ad vert ising could draw a crowd in to Pontaic Stadium o n either night. -R oo kie of th e West Steve E klun d proved his prowess at TT racing despite a fie ld th at included 9 Yamah a TT500's. Ekl u n d d id h is damage ab oard a Yamaha 750 Twin. Randy Cleek TTed ' his w ay to his best fini sh of th e year with a second p lace ride while j ay Springsteen wo n his b attle with Gary Sco tt for , third as , th e pair kept up th eir handlebar banging and p oint gathering. K enny Rob erts struck b ad luck an d was d isqualified when he cut the co urse whil e re-en tering th e track af ter a crash _ in h is he at. Po in t lead er Ri ck Hocking also h ad a bad day wh en a crash in the opening lap of th e Nation al put h im out fo r the even ing with torn ligaments in his right knee . Results ' . L Steve Eklund \ v am ); 2 . RandY Cleek (Vam); 3 . Jay Spr ngsteen (H·O) ; 4 . Gary. Scott ( Vam) : S. Bill Oliver (Vam) : 6 . Sk ip Akslarid (Vam): 7 . Joe Powell (Varn) ;8. Mark Smith (Yam); 9. Ted BoOdy (Vam), 10. Steve Morehead (Vam) : 11. Billy Labrie (Yam) ; 12 . Mike .Kldd (Vam); 13 . John Gennal (Trl); 14 . Rick Hocking (Vam). Pontiac Short Track Not to ' be upstaged by the previous < nigh t's activities, Rookie of the East (and almost hometown boy) Ted Boody ' made it a Pontiac double for rookies. Randy Cleek, in his second successive runnerup role, reaped the benefits of money and points with all the boyish exh uberence he could muster. Steve Droste , another rider from j u st down th e block (by way of Iowa) , finished . third wi th TT wi nn er Steve Eklund in seven th and a disgusted Kenny Roberts in eleven th. R ob erts m oved to the to p of th e standings followe d by Ri ck H oc king, G ary an d Hank Sco tt , Randy Cleek , • Steve Eklund an d j ay Springsteen ; a m ere 13 poin ts sep arating Sp rin ger from Rober ts. Results I. Ted BoOdy (Bul), 2 . Randy Cleek (Vam), 3 . Steve Droste ( Y am); 4. Steve E l o (Ya m ) ;S . J im Rawls ( K aw ): 6. M ike Ge ra ld ( Y am ); 7 . Steve Eklund (Vam) ;8. B lIly Lab r i e (Vam) ; 9. Hank Scott (Y am); 10 . J oe Powell (Vam); 1 1. • Kenny Roberts (Vam): 12. Dave Hansen ( H us); 13 . Brent Lowe (Bu l) ; 1. ~ J immy - Mayo (Bul). down to the groove and held his pace u ntil the middle laps when he occasionally slipped off the groove all owi ng Roberts to dram atically cl ose th e gap and fin ally p ass for the lead . j ay q u i c kly to ok th e l e ad b a ck and m ethodically sped away th e laps to th e checkers. Keener , after a b ad start, cu t and slas he d his way to fourth . Twelve rac es, twelve differen t win ne rs and a tie between Sc o tt an d Springer for th e p oints lead with Roberts only 12 poin ts b ack ; it was a d y -n e -mit e day. Results ' - 1. J ay Springst een (H · O ): 2 . K en Roberts ( Vam) ; 3 . Steve Morehead (H · O); 4. Corky Keener (H·D), 5 . Ted BOOdy (H-D); 6. Bill Eves (H-D) ; 7. Gary Scott (H · O ); 8 . Randy Cleek (H-D), 9. Dave Sehl (H·D), 10 . Ji m Zel91er (H-D), 11. Mert Lawwlll (H-D); 12 . Scott Rader (H-D), 13 . Doug Sehl (H-D), 14 . Jay R idgeway (T r.I ). Delaware Half Mile It was over to Delaware for -the n inth event of the season. Gary Scott got th e go od ne ws b efore th e even t that his appeal of the Oklahoma City protest h a d b een upheld which , in effect, moved h im into the points lead before I , th e nigh t's racing had even begun. ' Mr. Dirt, as Corky Keener is known, got down and dirty and wh en it was ove r he, was atop the podium lighting up th e winner's circle ceremonies as only he can . Keener was flanked by Springer and Gary Scott. It was shuffle time again in th e point standings with Keener moving in to the top ten via his fifth career victory. Gary Scott assumed the top spot for the first time in the season with Springer just four points down and Roberts in third. Hocking, af ter fai ling to make the Nation al , slipp ed to fifth. Results 1. Cor ky Keener (H-O) . 2 . Jay Springsteen H - D l ; 3. Gary Seott (H-D), 4 . Dave Sehl H-D ; 5 . Scott Drake (H-D ; 6. Hank Scott ~ Yam) ; 7 . K enny Roberts (~am); 8 . B lII Eves H-D); 9. Ted BOOdy (H-D), 10 . Bill Schaeffer Vam); 11. Mike Kldd (H-D); 12. Tom ummlngs (H-D); 13 . Doug senl (H-D); 14. .' Mert Lawwlll (H-D). Loudon Road Race It's not fair to say that Loudon was a give away, but it took a pair of absurd crashes to bring about balance in the l e a d i n g po sition. E verybody , but everybody , knew that Gary Nixon was going to win. He was the fastest, the smoothest, the craftiest and in the end probably the most disappointed. In short , Nixon, the master. of Loudon, plain threw it away while in the lead early in the 75 mile event. Kenny Roberts took over the lead and w as set to score a long awaited win at Loudon when a rider fell in front of him and he crash ed after leaving tracks on th e rid er 's chest. Steve Bak er to o k the lead and th e w in wi th R andy Cleek, on , hi s wa y to h is third second place finish in the last fo ur ' Nat io nals, close behind: The real dice of th e race was between Yvon DuHamel and G ary Sc ott, Yvon play ed waiting game an d slipp ed p ast Scott on th e final lap fo r sixth. Randy Cl eek co n ti n ued hi s climb in the point standi ngs d ispl acing Kenny as th e third p lace rider with Gary and j ay _ h old ing th ei r one-tw o pl aces, although . Scott ope ne d a 12 point bulge. a Results 1. Steve Ba k er ( V am): 2 . Randy Cleek Iv aml ; 3 . G en e Romero ( V am ) ; 4 . Ron Pierce Kaw ; 5. Ron Haslam (Y am): 6. vvcn DuHamel K I W) ; 7 . Ga ry Scott ( Y am ) ; 8. Sk ip Aksland Vam) ; 9 . Da vid Aldana (Yam) ; 10 . John I (Yam), 11. Gary Fisher (Vam), 12 . Bob Long Endleott (Yam); 13. Dale Singleton (Vam); (Vam), 16. Mike Clarke (Vam), 17 . Kurt 14. Cory Ruppelt t v am ) ; IS. Gary Blackman L i ebman (Yam) ; 18. Ron Mass (Vam); 19 . H ap Eaton (Vam) ;20 . John Clark (Yarn) , Columbus Half Mile' , Columbus turned out to b~ just what m ost p e op le s aid it would: jay Springsteen's turn to w in. That was not a real surprise, but Kenny Robert's second place fin ish was; In third after a long time of trying unsuccessfully to break in to the champagne crowd was Steve Morehead w ith Flint Fliers Corky Keener and Ted Boody close behind. Few tracks surpass the enthusiasm of the crowds that frequent the Charity Newsies and this year, with a track favori te winning, the air was even more charged, Springer started high then moved Albuquerque Mile T he first ever N ation al in th e state of New Mexico als o provid ed the firs t double National winner of th e season. In this cas e it was jay Sp ringsteen who not o nly doubled up wi th b ack to back National victories , but also moved into th e points lead 9 points ahead of Gary Scott and 19 on Kenny Roberts. The Na ti onal, shortened from 25 to 16 laps due 'to dusty track conditions on the fairgroun ds horse track, was a wire to wire affair for Springer and teammate Corky Keener with Kenny Roberts closing, challenging and hanging in there for third. Gary ' Scott put in the performance of the day by coming back from a bike bending, body bruising cras h in his heat to win his semi and then come from a back ro w start in th e National to ,wen d his way ' to fourth; a superb performance of riding when the chips were down. ResuTts 1. Jay Springsteen tHeD); 2 . Corky Keener (H-D); 3 . Kenny Roberts (Vam); 4. Gary Scott (H·D); 5. Doug senl (H-D); 6. Chuek Palmgren (H-D), 7. Gene RomMo (H-D); 8. Mike Collins (H-D), 9. Mike Kldd lH-Dl; 10. Tom Berry (H-D), 11. Ted Boody H-D ; 12. Steve Eklund (H-D), 13. Del Armour (H-D), 14. Ph il McDonald (H-D); 15. Jay Ridgeway Trl); 16. Mike Mye" (H-D), 17. DArryl Hu"t IYam) ; 18 . Greg sassaman (H ..D ) : 19. Steve Morehead (H-D); 20. Randy Cleek (H-D). San Jose Half Mile San jose half mile proved to be a fitting close to the first leg of the Camel Pro S eries. ' Kenny Roberts became the second rider this season to move in to th e top spot in the winner's circle for the second time after running a closely cal culated race with rival Gary Scott in. a race that. saw the pair turning in performances that closely resembled th eir battles. of years past. Mike Kidd ente red the winner's circle fo r the first time this season while Paul Bos trom put in his best ride in the p ast two seasons . for fo urth, A fall early in the event co st j ay Springsteen his ' points lead, but th at wasn't the end of j ay 's ' problems "as Ric k Hocking passed him on th e las t lap to drop Springer to last ,pl ace an d in to a tie with Kenny Roberts for sec ond in th e po ints standings. ResultS 1. Ken Roberts (v am) ; 2. Ga ry ScottjH.O) ; . 3. Mike Kldd (H-D); 4. Paul Bostrom H-D), 5. Sk ip Aksland (Yam) ; 6 . Corky ee ner (H-D), 7. Rex Beauchamp (H-C); 8. Alox J"," gensen (Nor), 9_ Doug Sehl (H-D/, 10 . Ra ndy Scott (H·D) ; l l . Greg Sassaman H ·D) : 12. Mike Collins (H-D); 13. Rick Hocking (H·D), 14. Jay Springsteen (H·D). AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series point standings through Jose: 1. Gary Scott 122 2. Jay Springsteen 116 2. Kenny Roberts 116 4. Randy Cleek 75 5. Corky Keener 73 6 _ Ted Boody 66 7. Hank Scott 63 8. Rick Hocking 58 9. Steve Eklund 53 10_ Gene Romero 42 10. Mike Kidd , 42 12. Rex Beauehamp 39 13. Doug Sehl 27 , 27 13_ Dave Aldana 15_ Skip Aksland 26 16 . Dave Sehl , , 25 17 _ Billy Labrie 24 18. Steve Droste 23 • 18. Dave Hansen 23 20. Steve Morehead 22 20. Chuck Palmgren ' 22 San 23

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