Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I~JnJBUNJE ~ t t.D t- O"! ....-t Aust in Motocross Park's 250 Experts get a hosing from ho leshot art ist Dicky Turnbo. (Inset) Vicious downhill whoops nail 250 Novice Mark Nard in. TexasMX Championship -Austin MX Park / Story & photos by D.H. Neilsen AUSTIN, TEX., JULY 18 After an un fo rtunate postponemen t of sto p number four of the annual T exas MX Championship Series last week, Austin Motocross 38 Park d ug ou t from floodin g rains and hosted a good, though week-late race for over 300 statewide entries. Killeen's Dicky Turnbo and his YZX Yamaha wrapped up the title in 125 Expert with a sweep of today's motes, while Pen ton Central's Gene Durham of Albuquerque is going to be hard to catch in 250 and Open Expert, unless he drops everything at next Sunday's Series finale at Houston's Rio Bravo Park. The New Mexican continues enthused over Texas riders and tracks, tagging the Lone Star state "a racer's paradise. tt More than any other one factor, overall outcomes for the day were determined by crashes and resultant pile-ups, mainly in the first tum. It was 180 d egrees affair, and with soft sand jerking fro nt wheels around, nearly every start saw an afterma th of riders cranking to get back in the fray . And more than any other rider, Dicky Turnbo took the h olesho t in his every start, as the aspiring pro gains more of that essential confidence each week. Although he dropped a do uble clas s win an d his Hus ky wh ile le ad ing the 250 Expert second mota, in effect handl ing first to Durham , Turn bo sho t arou nd tum one of th e 125 class final round ju st ahead of a m assive crash that collec ted all the competition of the first mota. Mel Newman, Shau n Kelley, Louis Presley, Ruben Alonzo, and hal f a dozen more b it the dust cussing and kicking, le avin g only Morris Baker to \ shadow the skinny kid on number 19. It turned into one of the hardest fought lead races ro f the day, a two man bou 1. while Newman, Kelley, and Alonzo knifed back up through the pack. Baker moved in time and again, putting a solid wheel into Turnbo once on thelast lap , but co uldn't displace the Yamaha and took a m o ta second at the checkers to p lace third overall behind Newman, who turned in the class' quickest times all day, only to be aced au t on both starts. Kelley and Alonzo recovered also for fourth and fifth for the day. In Intermediate class action, D-FW area racers handled the openers in 125 and 250 divisions; Kevin Hawk and Brian Wilson, respectively, but were both set back in their finals. Neill Cooper racked up a huge lead off the start to sail to the 125 win, while Wilson's 250 effort ended in a fall as Corpus Christi riders Cliff Pennington and Jim Coppedge advanced to first and second overall. Series pain t leader Dennis Bishop, as it turned out, should have stayed in bed in Dallas. His 125 YZ's grabbing clutch caused two false starts and he was turned backwards on the line in th at class. In the 250, his Bultaco had transformed to a Hu sky, and only ran about fourth before it quit entirely. . The Benton Wofford-Jimmy Frye show continued in Op en Intermediate, and Frye maintained a slight Series edge on Wofford by forgi ng the le ad from both rounds. The shocker in Open Expert was Randall Tarter of Euless, virtually outside his Mosier u nknown Val ley -Whitney stomping grounds. The form er Bul taco-no w-Arlin gton Suzu ki rider tu rn ed the tide with 1·2 finishes, while . cha llengers Roge r Brown and Gene Durh am spent much of their motos regaining fail-lost gro und. Durham won the second moto, but a fifth from the first p laced him third overall under Brown. The two minibike class riders persevered, but again got long loo ks at the back ends of Junior Mini whiz Mike Dickey and Senior Mini 's Kevin Jones, both aboard Yamahas 100 Novice class Series contender J oe Schroeder had the day 's victory wrapped up , ru nning second with a h alf lap t o go, when race leader Don Bums O wen t down in the vicious over-t he-hill whoops and Schroeder endoed over the wreckage, restarted, bu t lost to Alan Spry-and Tommy Cureton. The track was neat and well prepped, and m ost of the day 's vibes we re good save fo r that killer first comer. Some com m en ted that trophies were rathe r puny, especially fo r a T ex as Series meet. Promoter Lee Biggart has a good thing goin g at Austin MX Park, and with a little ironin g of details, such as knowledgeable cau tion flaggers, he 11 have a first-rate race place for Central . Texas. • MX Championship -Rio Bravo By Mark Knowles HOUSTON, TEXAS., JULY 25 Broken wheels, flats, and multibike pileups were the order of today's racing as riders from all over the state drug their tired bikes and bodies to the final of the five Texas Ch am p io nship Series. race Today's race was h osted by Rio Bravo, site of th e up c omin g 125cc Na tional. Surp risin gly , the 125 Expert class turned out to be th e m ost boring of all Expert classes. Local St eve th e Sch ram m bu rst away from the starting ga te in to first place to simp ly au tri de every one else in bo th motos . Ke ith Duffy, Glen Johnson , Bar ry Duncan and Mark Pledger, as well as others, attempted to match Schramm's pace, but encountered problems and dropped from the top positions. Second went to Morris Baker as pre-race favorite Mel Newman was held to third. Over 35 riders started the first 25 Expert mota but less than half we arou nd to finish the second mo ta as ba luc k struck the top le aders. The firs m ota started with Glen Urquhar p ulling the holesho t and wheeliein away as Wyman Priddy and Gen Durham c a n tinued their weekly di ce i second while fo rmcr car jumper G . Wells struggled t o hold fo u rth. Urq uhar was we ll on his way to victory when hi chain broke , giving first to Dur ham wi Priddy second. Wells quit afte r doing really spectacula r endo, moving Rage Brown, on the move after a first tu crash; into third place followed b Ralph Babin. S tart of thc second rna to was Urquhart repeat as he once again bu rs ahead of the larger yet slower mach ine with Priddy and Durham at it again wit Roger Brown in fourth. These position re mained for several laps until ba d lu c cam e down heavy on the leaders. Within four laps Urquhart had crashed au t a the race, Durham got a flat and retired, and Brown broke his front wheel. Priddy seemed 10 have victory in hand until developing . a flat on the las t lap and faded to sixth. Babin came on to win the second moto with David Taylor and Bobby Guidry following at the checkered Babin took the overall win as second fell. to Taylor wh ile Guidry edged Priddy for third p lace cash. 16-year old Roger Br own ro lled his new 400 KT M to the startli ng line with co nfi de nce tha t paid off wi th th e Open Expert victory. He wo n b oth motos with flaw less rides that are sm all h in Is of large th ings to com e from thi s , talen ted you th. Keith Duffy led th e ope ning lap s o f b o th m otos, bu t joined Wyman Prid dy an d a gang of o th ers who were forced to re tire ea rly. Ge ne Durham re ma ine d reliab le an d consistent, giving KTM the top two spots with a 3-2 second ove ra ll p laci ng. Darre ll Hollin gsh ead m ad e the lo ng drive fro m Dallas payoff with th ird p lace cash as Billy Click filled out the top fo ur. •

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