Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

a comfortable margin ove r RM man Rich ard Thurm an who too k his first expert t rop hy in th e 100. In the spor tsman ran ks Mike West too k a we ll-prepared R. I 125 to its \ second Novice Main vic tory while Yam ah a racer Brad Spe ncer to q k his first 25 0 Main at Lodi this season. Short trac k specialist Dave Busby also captured his first scrambles points o n a 360 in the Novice Main, Spence continued to Denn is dominate the 250 and 500 Experts with 12 straight firsts . Steve Brandt returned to second in the 250 to gain valuable black plate points as did Dallas Davis in the 500. T hough Number One is virtually settled (Spence leads by a bo ut 100 ), the seco nd spot for black plate is st ill up for grabs with seven-eight riders ca pable of m ovin g up . Sh ort track er s wi ll invade Lo di for' t he nex t few weeks as racing m ov ed to Sa turday nights follow ing Labo r Day on a new 1/5 mi le track and con t inues throu gh Oct ob er 9 t h. • Resul ts in Re sul ts Section. Short track at Maeser Speedway By Dorde Woodruff VERKAL, UT .. AUG. 21 The third in the series o f four track races in Vernal's first sanetioned season found the club still suffering from lack of help and the growing pains of the relatively new fac ility. The track had been overblessed with black go ld by a new tank truck driver. When riders arrived for sign up few believed the meeting wo u ld be held, but a couple of ho urs of dirt shoveling and packing made it into an excellent surface. Once started t he events wen t off smoothly. Two large an d especially co mpetitive classes do mina tcd the m eet in g. 125 Novice and 250 Expert. Clegg Stills was t he man to wat ch in th e 125 Nov ice class. Never getting t he holeshot, he co ns istently mov ed up fr om be h ind . In th e third heat Mike Downey (fea tured in a spectacu lar I:etoff in t he Aug. 10th issu e of Cycl e Nc ws) go t a good start. Stil ls challenge d him ' throu gh out th e .hea t, Fina lly Mike fell ba ck, ap paren tly havi ng trou ble wit h his bike, Clegg won the heat and the class. The 250 Expert class wa s fu ll of good ride rs but local rivals Ta l Mer kl ey and Randy Beers put on suc h a show t he others were left in the background. The Merkleys own th e Ve rnal Honda shop, and kn ow how to get the p onies out of an S L mo to r. Ran dy, Ka w shop o wner an d rider, says T al's bike isn't faster t han his however, t ha t Tal only beats him wh en his bike is running be tter th an Randy's is running worse. us ual Which ever , Tal 's seemed to be fas ter most of the evening, Randy had a p oor re start after Kim Best jumped the gun, never ca tc hing up. Randy got a good start again in the second heat with Tal trying to pass. Randy kept in front of him as if he had eyes in the back of his head, fin ally fell back. In the third heat T al started better than Randy. Randy couldn't p ass on the ou tside so he passed on th e inside, kept ah ead for several laps th en finall y fell behind with Tal winning the class. .In the Big Bore Sweepstakes it was Randy and Ta l again with Randy running away from Tal at last. The rest of th e fie ld reall y did disappear this time, Whil<: all eye s were o n Randy and Tal, DC A hotshoe Bob Best had one of those never-kn ew -wh at-h it -you ge toffs right in fron t o f Dan Maxwell, Op en Ex per t clas s winner v.who cou ldn' t avoid running into Bob o r his bik e or bOth. After som e m inutes co n templation of th e truck surface at close ran ge Bob was able to decide his leg was only bruised. Results in Results Section. or Move Ahead Pioneer Arena Little Ascot By A n n Carr OA KDA LE, CAL., AUG. 14 Cool, damp air, a gentle breeze, th ree different lines in the corners, berms, bumps, bro ken bones, getoffs, flying W' s, Junior restarts, and J orgy way out front - Ascot? Not qu ite, b ut almost! One hundred six ty -ni ne racers do dged rain all arou nd but God smiled on Pioneer tonight. Alex J o rgen sen - o n ' the bubble still fr om Ascot success - appeared to be havin g fu n as he b litzed bo t h heat and Main o f the 250 Experts . Dave Faria won the ot he r heat b u t cou ld not keep up wi th th e flyi ng J orgy in the Main, T he somewhat rough and damp surface also favo re d So noma's J im Merten s who wa xed the 36 0 Exp er ts ahead of 'Rick De Lacy wh o rode' Pioneer for th e first time this season , p lac ing fo urt h in th e 25 0 an d second in t he 3 60 . Expert 125s also staged a ragin g heat and Mai n battle as fo u r racers vied for t he m on ey. Mo desto 's Mike lnderb itzen wo n bo th, bu t ' was hotly contested by Mitch Davidson o n the Blendzall Special, Rick Wood's Hond a, and Brian Thompson 's Yamaha. Brian proved superb as Mitch suffered engine lapses and Rick fell off. Mini 100 Novice Brian Buzzini celebrated his last m in i ride with a win over Bill Brazil. Bill, however, was aboard an 80 in a combined class. Junior Scott Nugent took another 80 win over a large field. Larry Dunnagan was second after looping his bi ke in the heat and barely transferring. Terry Adams of Atwater won a large 125 Junior class as Don McBride broke his leg for the third time in the heat. Ra ndy Loewen was second while former mini ace Eric Watts was third in his first Junior r ide. mel-I Mike Kidd , equ ipped with Lamm'LL update k it rode to victory over fac tory Harleys at t he Ind y Mile. Th is balanced com pre hensi ve kit includes cams. pushrods, valve sp rings. t itanium colla rs. inta ke man ifo lds. ca rbs, mod ified rocker arms. and exhaust syste m with deta iled inst ructi on s. Send $2.50 for catalog - refu ndable on any purchase. Dealers write o n letterhead for free catal og. '/It Belp Yourself The 250 J un iors had trouble getting started in both heats and Main as fall downs or jumped starts caused sever al de lays. Escalon's Dwayne Ellis beat o u t Mo dest o's Ben Za ka rian fo r th e win. • Results in Results Section. , Belong to the American Motorcyclist Association and en joy all the advantages. Lodi Short Track- Banzai! - Have a say in leg islation. AMA lobbyists work full-time to achieve pos itive legislation for on-road and off-road riders alike. By Ann Carr AMERICAN MOTORCYCLISTASSOClAnON I LODI, CA L. , AU G. 27 - W hen you belon g; you rece ive: A - monthly magazine reporting on places to ride and events to see or take part in; an em bossed membership card ; a gold membership pin; an AMA emblem for your motorcycle; plus the right to compete in AMA-sanctioned amateu r events. . A new lengthen e d one-sixth mi le co urse, somew h a t rou gh on the b ack chute - from lack of use, welcomed 15 0 ra cers wh o hung it o ut o n a , wid e blue groove typical of Lodi. District plate racers dominated maxi exp er t competition as Don Bailey ripped the 360's ahead of Sonoma'sJim Mertens. Don used a challenging th ird behind Vallejo 's Mike DeLacy and Kim J orgensen in the 250 final to wire the course. Junior 125 rider Steve Alberdi of Stockton jumped the north bank, split the M&M Apparel sign in half, and nearly hung himself on practice lane markers d uring warmups only to shake it off and return for a Main victory over Modesto's Louis Orozco. Steve got "iron man n honors for the night! Mini ace Tracy Hays served notice that nothing had changed with the switch to short track by winning both the 80 and 100 Expert Mains. Top Mini action carn e from the 80 Juniors, when five racers ch allen ged for three trophy sp ots in elbow to elbow action. Eric Lewis and Mark Key sandwiched around Bryant Gannon for honors. Challenger Mark Andris bailed and J oe Kn ight nailed him. • Results in Results Section. (PUASE PRINT) STREET --::- _ SIGNAnJRE=-=~:_=_=_=_=_ ---------------- WEO.~S89.95 ' ~ PAIR Dealer In.:les w~:::,I!!!"IIlI!I!!IIl!\l!•••iIJl~ JAM ES BROWN . INC. 1251·B BEACH BLVD , IAHA8RA. CACJ(6311714 )R79 .ft"l40 ( 2 13 1 94 7· ~ I1@l.Jl>~ lnc. "/(16'$ 7}\ 'V7TIN TEE SHIRT w $4.95 E.C. BIRT Hwy. 19 N , Rt. 2 . Box FAST Po rt R ICh e y . FL 33568 Ph one (813lJ.6 3 ·2121 Speedway Racmg Weekly Double Header Every Wed. Eve Ascot 1 . 23-1142 ~-.. 29

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