Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

36th Annual Black Hills Classic! . E Pacific Coast Regional Championship By Joe Gonzales STURGIS , S.D., AUG. 15 Sitting deep in the heart of the Black Hills of South Dakota, is an oddi ty that most people have never considered. This is the only Paci fic Coast Regional Championship not held on the west coast. On e o f the youngest racers ever to compete in the Regional Championships won the Novice class . . . Randy Mamola (Yam) ran away fro m the rest of the field as Eddy Lawson (Bul) came in second. It was a very close battle for second as Lawson just barely be at out points-leader Danny Hogue (Yam) With the tension now building, the Juniors swung on to the track for their Main. When the flag dropped Don Goss, Ted Davidson and Scott Pearson jumped to an early le ad way in front of the rest of th e p ac k. During most of the race it was Davidson leading the fron t runners w ith Goss and Pearson hot on his heels, just waiting for a small m istake or opening. When it happened it was the fourth t urn o f th e last lap, wh en Don Goss squeezed on the inside and to ok the win . It was time fo r the Exp ert Main, an d the two favo rites of previous races, Mike Coll ins, Chubby Arm our and Vern Johnson d ecided th at they were goin g to put o n a show that the fans wo u ld not soon forget. When th e flag dropped all three shot into th e first tum with evid en ce of pulling away from th e res t of the pac k. Thro ug ho ut the race th ese three sp eed m erchants rode their Harley-Davidson XR 750s as if th ere were no other ra cers on th e track. Through the straights Collins seemed to be pulling out in the lead but when all three hit the turns they were almost side by side. After 12 laps of fierce battle it was Collins taking the checkered flag as Arm o ur settled for second with John a close third. • Half-Mile By Joe Gonzales STURGI S, S.D. , AU G. 14 The Profession al Hal f-Mile on Satu rd ay was part of th e Black Hills Classic Motorcycle Week . The Novices, J un iors an d Experts were all ready to give th eir best ~ performan ce fo r the 152,00 0 purse. of enthusiastic As thousands motorcy cle riders lin ed t he dry an d ' d usty track, Walter Mundt (Tli) o f Dallas , Oregon , beat out the rest o f the field o f Ex pe rts in an ea sy victory o ver Sonny Bur res (T ri). High in th e comers was not the pl ace to make time, as the fastest pl ace on th e trac k was down in ' th e groove, an d Walt er learned t hi s very ea rly in tile eve n t. In the Novice final it was a hard pitch ed battle be tw een Eddie La wson o f Ontar io , Cali fornia (Bul) an d Peter Hoo k of Burnsvill e, Minneso ta (Ya m) _ with Lawson tak ing th e win o ut o f the fo urth corner. A spectacu lar race was th e Jun ior Main , what with t wo re-st art s and a burning motorcycle as o nly part of th e excitement. When the race was fi ally n ~tarted Don Goss o f lIartland, Michigan (II .D) opened up the gap and le ft p lenty of space between himse lf and the res t of the field . It was a hard fought battle Walter Mundt (Sql, Mike Caves (28) and Randy Scott staged a flying Expert wedge (left) , as 20,000 stuffed the stands . be tween Scott Pearson (Yam) and Ro ry Simmons from Shawnee, Ok lahoma (II- D) for secon d, with Pearso n taking it. • Can Am MX Bulletin Amateur Hillclimb STU RG IS , S.D., AUG. 9 By Joe Gonzales STURGIS, S.D. , AU G. 13 After a few d ays o f rain and hail th e course was set fo r one o f the highest atte nde d hillclimbs, ever . The reason for the attendance being so ' lar ge was due to th e fact th at over 20 ,000 bikers were on hand fo r th e 36th armual Blac k Hills Classi c. • There were eigh t classes for participants ranging from the smallest, 0- IOOcc up . to the super, 800cc fuel-burning super b ikes. Lit tle Mike Miller took th e lOOcc class with his Yamaha h illcli mbe r, which was totally stock. After that c ame th e 125 cc class whic h was a battle between Dale Craft fr o m Rapid City , South Dakota and Ben Eckhard t, from Greeley, Colorado. Eckh ard t too k it on his Suzuki by reaching th e h ighest mark of a littl e over 100 feet. As the large r bik es pulled up to the lin e for th eir t um at a try for the top, the cro wd s be gan to ge t to th eir feet so as n o t to m iss any of th e actio n. Thcy were not disappoin ted , as Cordo n King of Hastings, Neb raska took t he 500cc cl ass o n his Yam aha. Then Ch arles T homas, o f Gr an d Forks, North Dakota th umped his T riumph over th e h ill to ta ke th e 750 class wi n. Barry Kol b e of La Center, Washingt on as to unded the crowd as he Yamaha anything but to ok his gracefully over t he hill. In fac t he wen t so far ove r the hill it looked like he would fly in to the next co un ty. This was in the 75 0 and over class, and, as the bike and rider disappeared over the hill, th e large crowds started leaving for the nearby town of S turgis. • Results in Results Section. Monday, the first day of the 36 th an nual Black Hills Classic opene d with the Pacific Region al CANAM Area Qualifying Mot ocro ss. This is only th e second ye ar that the AMA has held the Can-Am National Ama teur Motocross (CANAM) Championships. This is the first y ear th at on e of th e area qualifying races has been held in Sturgis. Q ualifiers, those with the most points, from the area ch am pi onship ra ces move o n to the Regional Championships. Those from this area will compete in t he Pacific Regional Semi- Final in Plymouth , California , on September 12. • Results 1 25cc CLASS : 1. Jay Ra ce (S u z ). 2 . Mike L oe f fler lSUZ) , 3 . Da ve Ka h le r (Ho n) . 4 . M ark N eu m an Y am). 5 . Ron Jensen (S uz) . 2 5 0cc CLASS : 1. Dav id Be rge ro n (H us) . 2. J ac k T odd (S uz ). 3. S t eve Eigard ( Bu l ). 4. Dan Rowland (B ul) . 5. T i m H ilton (B ul). OPEN CLASS: 1. Rande Lultjens ( Ma l). 2. K ei t h Parmely (Mal) . 3 . Ma rk Bo rg ma n ( Ma l ) . 4 . Kevin Pf luge r. 5 . William C as hel ( Ma l). Sturgis turns into armed camp By Bob Bitchin The streets of Stur gis, South Dakota were turned into a regu lar armed ca mp as pol ice from all over th e area were called in to quell wh at was expected to be a ne ar riot . Friday nigh t, up in Deadwood, abou t 12 miles northeast o f Sturgis, a lo t of hard co re bikers started to tear up the town. As th e police closed do wn the town, most of the ri de rs decided to come on down into Sturgis to join the touring riders th at were there. They we re met o n the road by four SWAT team m em bers and a fire truck. Even with the turning back of those wh o had tom up Deadwood, some managed to get into Sturgis; and before long th ere were over 500 bikers standing on the street as many others pulled wheelies and got into a p arty mood. After a little while th e; party got ou t of hand, and th e bikers started pouring gasolin e across the street and ligh ting it on fire, as th e traffic tried to get through. A fire truck was summoned to put out the fire , and a bottle was thrown through the front window, h itting Chet Worth ;'" assistant principal of the high school in Sturgis. Since most of the people attending the Sturgis meet were riders t here for a fun time, and not looking for trouble, they were moving out of the area the n ext morning. On Saturday night hundreds of cars from allover the western 'p art of South Dakota were called in , in cluding the Highway Patrol, The State Troopers, the Rapid City Police, Penington County Deputy Sheriffs, Sturgis police, Meade County Sheriff, and the SWAT team from Rapid City. All night long hundreds of police cruised through the city park, which is where most of the bikers were camping the night before. The o nly problem was, most of the bikers h ad left. There were more police on hand than there were bikers. People were being arrested and thrown in jail for such simple misdeameanors as tail lights being out, rolling stop signs, and not wearing helmets. In that one evening th ere were over 60 people put in jail It was what you might call your basic o verkill, an d it was only one day late, As of Sunday the streets of Sturgis were almost devoid o f human life, with ju st an occasional biker or police car cru ising down the barren streets . It is being discussed in th e city if there will be a 37th annual Black Hills Classic. J, for one, h ope th at there will be , but I hope that th e st upi d bikers who ca used all th e troubl e will have the de cen cy to stay h ome ne xt year and let th ose wh o want to come and enjoy the ru n do so , without having to pu t up with juvenile punks who can't have fu n without • ca usi ng tr ouble. Fo r fu ll story and pictures read Biker. 13

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