EIndy Mile s
i Kidd/Spring~teen: a hard day & night
Mile National jam, time after t ime, kept 30,000 fans pumped for two days. (Inset! Mert didn't win anything, but his bikes did.
Scott. Burritto and Jorgy (half hidden) heat up a summer Sunday.
By J ack Mangus and
Gary Van Voorhis
"There
Fairgrounds, was amended by
someone with a sense of ironic
correctness who added an's' to
the word mile in the dust covering
the window. Miles. Two. Excitement.
Double.
Mike Kidd and Jay Springsteen. who
swapped first and second p laces . on
Saturday and Sunday would agree. So
wo uld Gary Scott who put together
fourth an d fifth (after a crash in the
opening lap s of the Sunday National) to
retain h is lead in the point standings.
Agre eing also wo uld be Kenn y Roberts
although his weekend was so mewhat
darkened Saturday night when his only
"good" bike ' was clai med. Ken ny came
back o n Su nday to ride protege Skip
Aksland's mount and finish secon d.
Ken ny and J ay are no w in a tie just six
poin ts be hind Gary. 216-2 10.
.
Even th ose tuner s wh o spent a
non-stop night with only an hour or tw o
cap-nap t ime rep airin g, rebuilding and
m aintain ing b et ween Sa tu rda y's fini sh
and Sun day's start in th e affirmative.
The "ban" on Goodyear DT -ll s (d ue
to lack o f ava ilability to all riders )
evaporated with th e arrival of tire tech
John Smith and an inventory of 72
pairs.
They
were
snatched
up
immediately.
,
,
Sat night:
Kidd, claims &
consternation
Rex Beauchamp qu ickly set t he
crowd o n edge with a record-shattering
time trial of 37.077 seconds 97 .095
mph. It held for fast ti me and turned
o ut to be the fastest anyone has ever
qu alifie d for a mile. J ay Springsteen.
Steve Eklund, Gene Rom ero an d Gary
Scott filled the top five. The bu mp spot
in the 48 rider field went to
Triu mph-moun ted Billy Kennedy. Te d
on
his
Bo od y 's
engine
ex pired
qu alificat io n lap .
Warm in g up fo r th e he ats, Greg
"Sassama n's facto ry Harley de cided to
fry it s magn eto o n the st arting line . '
Greg joine d Mer t Lawwill, who had
scra tc hed after qualifying in the p its.
With alternates in pl ace, th e first heat
chewed up th e In dy ova l dirt with Dave
Sehl leading the charge. Rex Beau ch am p
quickly displaced Sehl for t he lea d.
Gary Scott, moving t hrough t he p ack.
took ove r second on a charge into tum
one. Beauchamp had already se t sail
,
..
