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/126068
rn ~. ~ 18th Annual Dirt Diggers • .. DllI iii!: s ~ g ~ r-- O"l ...... NATIONAL ~ N ...... l-< U .o 0 ....... u PAPERS 0 . Entry date extended to Oct. 16 Some Classes still open 100% course change see calendar for more 18th ANNUAl MOIORCYCLE CHAMPIONSHIPS--~" Ger..... Coli!. Scott or Springsteen. .Take your pick and let the checkered flag fall on the National final at Ascot on Saturday night, October 9. It's t he close of the finest season o f Grand ti I ' a twenty ,N ro na racmg over . .a eigh t race sp an rangm g from J anuary to Octo ber. It to ok ten years fo r a point bat tle to run do wn to th e fin al race - an d it m ay be years until it hap p ens again. _ The situ atio'.' . is o ne for th e book.s. The you ng smiling happy-go-lucky kid wi th full fact ory bac kin g lfoing dow:' t o the wire against th e experie nc ed serio us veteran w ith no factory su pp or t o f a ~y kind.J ay Sprin gst een h as been superb m half mile an d mil e track com petition this season . Bu t his wo rst Na t io nal h alf mil e perfonnance was at th e Ascot National a yea r ago . Bo th co n tende rs have run u nder various handicaps th is season. Sprin gsteen is no t an Exp er t in road racing. Thus he m issed chances to score points in fo ur eve nts. Sco tt has had t o search out parts an d equipment fro m the be ginning. riding three different ty pes of Yam ah a. one Harley and o ne Triumph. Both riders are fac ing an un b~o ken trad ition . 1';0 ou t-o f-st ater has eve r won Ascot o n Na ti onal n igh t. By t he same to ken n o rider has ever won t he Ascot Nati o nal T .T. and the half mi le in the same season. Sco tt was th e winner last August in the T .T . Scott won Ascot in August ab oard a five yea r o ld Triumph. He vows he is goi n g to ride and win on a T riu m p h p at ched to ge the r from eve n o lde r co m p o nen ts! . . ' . Sp rmger . w ill h e~d ~t o ~\ sc o t o.n Sa tu rday ni gh t lead ing m p o in ts. It . ' ~ m ay b e no.t so m uch whe ther .o ~ n ut J a) o~ Gary wins bu t rather who fln ~~hes the h ighest and ho w m an y o ther n ers are between them at the end o.f the twen~ lap final. As u.su~l , seve r; 1n ders ca n Win the As~ot Na tional, Kenny Ro berts. Steve Eklund and Alex J o rgense n. to .. nam e at least th ree. . R ob~ rt s ~von last y ear \~Ith his ,finest ha lf m ile TId e ever. A win by Ken n y woJla I de'rive a lo t o f satisfaction. even SATURDAY. - 8 P.M. OCT. 9 . th ou gh he. migh t end up third in th e final st andings. Eklu nd learn ed his h alf mile racin g at A scot and is super sm o o th on the G ardena oval . He won there earlier this ~ ear on b o th Yam~a .an d llarl.e y. .At San J ose ~ e tu rned In hIS best mil e TIde eve~ and IS b ack o n a hot streak o nce aga m. Nobody o f the cu rre n t crop of co n tender s k nows the A scot path like Jorgensen. Lik e Scott. J orgy will rid e a m achine n ot ted fo r w inning Nati on als of la te . J o rgy h as yet to win a big one on the Ron Wo od s Norton and if he is to do it it has t o be at Ascot or he waits another year. T he dark horses w ill be Rex Beau champ an d Skip Aksland. Skip finis he d second a year ago for his best ever ha lf mil e effort. Rex has loo ke d great all seaso n. The Cam el series wra p s u p with the Asco t eve nt. T he di fferen ce be tween fin ishing first or secon d in the final stand ings can m ea n as m u ch as 550.000 in pu rses. point m oney fro m Cam el a nd t he AM A. co n tingencies and future advertisin g/promotional packages. . . R egardl ess of who takes the title It will be m o st dese rv in¥ . Sp~ ngs tee'.' en~s th e season as the lea ding winner W i th SIX wins to date and an unbro ken string of fo u r stra igh t d irt trac k wins. Ne ither SCOll . nor Rob erts ever put to gether fou r In a row the past !-"ree s ea ~ons wh en ~hey ended . up WIth the tl~l e. SC?tt. If !' e ,,:,a kes it, be~ome s ~he .fITst privateer m h istory to wm th e title, All o the rs had sume typ e uf factory supp ort a t least p ar t o f th e season . No t Scott in ' 76. J ay ca n become the y ou ngest rid er tu ev er win th e tit le. He's onl y n in et een years old. Brad An d res m ad e th e grade in his rook ie y ear in '55 bu t was twe nty. Fourteen riders w ill lin e u p Satu rd ay ni ght for the final. Beller add th e n am es o f Mike Kidd and T ed Boody to th e possible list . Th is brin gs it ou t to m ean th at at least 5 00' o f the field can w in 0 the race ! Fantastic. CAMEL PRO SERIES AMA NATIONAL ' 20-LAP HALF-MILE FRIDAY-I P.M. OCT. B GOLDEN WEST" (E.qoom) _ HALF-MILE DIRT GOLDEN WEST INVITATIONAL SCOTT, SPRINGSTEEN BATTLE "'0 ~ -r o I l l ', .... 7 1 , " Bob ,F . Read I (Juniors, Novices ) FOR - TITLE Jay Spri",.tHI Tickets ava ilable at also available at ASCOT (213) 321-1100 and (213) 323-1142 MX Vinyl Tank Cover 6 Colors B lack B lu e Green Re d Yellow . '76 Els inore Red Used by Pros. Bet te r gr ip for leathers, Easy to install 8 remove. Resists gas 8 detergents. Stop duct tape or paint ing. (WiThout le lf er) MX $ 11.95 TMX $ 12.95 2 Sty les . MX =I solid color T MX=2 colors (Top a side pone Is) 39