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/126061
Don't loo k back, Hank. Here come Roberts/Springer for that grand finale ! Semis Steve Droste and Rex Beauchamp took the last transfers to the National by winning their respective Semis. Droste dropped Rick Ho cking down a slot for his victory. Mike Gerald, a rather unfamiliar face at the front of the pack on a half mile, led "t he second Semi thro ugh the .halfw ay flags the n succumbed to the p ress ure of Rex Beauchamp. Defending Te rre Haute cham pion Mike Kidd fail ed to start the race when his oil d rive key sheared off on the starting line. Trophy Race Overeagerness on the starting line prompted a restart, but that didn't matter to Guy McClure as he put his Widman's sponsored Harley at the front and proceeded to open some breathing room on the fight fo r second. Phil l.)cDonald, Keith " Hawley and john Johnson argued with vigor and it was j ~hnso n who held the upper hand. Rick Hocking came from mid pack to get into th e fight and came o ut with third McDonald slipped \0 fourth . ' '!¥ N~tional " The track is unreal and is so roug h. I don't look forward to getting beaten to death fo r 20 laps." Corky Keener echoed, the sentiment of many riders as suspension changes headed the list of priorities. Hank Scott led off the grid "w he n the green flashed as Springer, Gary Scott, R o berts , Romero, j o y ne r and Eklund thundered close behind. Keener was almost las t fr om a bad start as were ' Bo strom and Eves. , Ek lund was the first of the fro n t p ack to falte r. " I dove in to t he co rn e rs harder than a nyone, yet I go t p assed on the st raig ht like I was tied to a pole." St eve :slowly slipped to 13th , , Ro be rt s d isp at ch ed Gary wi th a drive off tum two for third and set h is sigh t s on t he lead . "I was just waiting fo r Springer to move Hank out," said Kenny, "but Springer made a bobble on the groove so I went underneath. I got Hank with a drive off tum four." While th e front three p ull ed a distance away, a big battle was going on behind with p len ty of shuffling. Gary Scott led the rest of the field ahead of Romero ("I just couldn't get past Scott."), Rickey Campbell ("I did ajob on m y knee when I caught my foot in a tum one tire m ar ke r while trying to pass Gene."), Beau ch amp ("With the track like it was, p assing in traffic and making it stick was hard ." ) and Pa ul Bo strom ("I got a bad start and the new t ire we pu t o n just did n' t see m t o want to work . In m y he at th e tire wo re a hol e in m y bra ke lin e, so 1 was sh ifting al l ove r the track. , t ried it in the Na tional, bu t i,t didn't work.") Ch u ck j o y n er, Randy Cle ek and Steve Droste echoed the "what worked in the heat doesn't always work in the Main" blues. Roberts m ad e his pass on Hank on lap 13 with Springer m ovin g up two lap s later to shak e the ground right beh ind Kenny. The trio had opened up enough roo m so that Hank was safe from brothe r Gary in fo urth . Beauchamp m oved t o fifth in the Big Fight Behin d wi th Ro m ero, j o y ner . Cleek, Bos trom an d Campbell t rai ling. Then cam e t hat fan tastic las t la p. Ro be rts, not conte n t to spray eve ryone with the winner' s champagne, poure d a good d eal of it in to annou ncer j ack Hall 's sh irt p o ck et as he wa s being in t e rviewed. R elaxin g an d signing autograp hs in th e p its, Ken n y talked abo ut the coming wee ks. " Things are r eally starting to work. The n ew frame (a K·R Racing Fr ames' item designed by Ke nny) is hand ling an d I 'm pleased with th e way things are going. Now if , can just find a co up le o f more p onies fo r In dy . , . " • Trophy Race winner McClure can taste the win already. Results 2 0 LAP N A TI O N A L' 1 Kenny Roberts (Yam). 2 . J ay Sp r ingsteen ( H ~ D ) . 3 . Han k Scott (Vam) . 4 . G a ry Scott (H-O) . 5. Rex Be auch amp (H-O) . 6 . Gene RomeroJH.ol ' 7. Chuck J oyne r (Trl) . 8 . Rand y Cl ee k H -D .. 9. Paul B o st rom (H-O) . 1 0. R ic k y arn e be u (H -D ). 1 1. Steve D r o st e (H -D). 12. Cork y K ee ne r (H·C ).. " 1 3 . Ste ve E:kl u n d (H·D). 14. B illy E ve s ( HoO) . Time: 9 :10.3 1 12 LAP TRO PHY RA C E : 1. Guy Mc Clure (H-O) . 2 . John Joh nson (H- O) . 3. Rick H~cking ( H -D ). 4 . Phil McDonal d ( H - D) . 5. Sk iP A k sla nd (Va m ). 6_ Ch a rl ie Cha pple (H-D) " . 7 . Ke it h Ha wley (Tr i). 8 . Danny ~rtwnght ( Vam) . 9 . Bre nt L o w e (H- O ). 10. Mike Geral d (Y am ) . T i m e : 5:33.49 .9 ,