Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

leader for most of the ra ce , took third wi th Gary Scott, working ' his wa y quickly through traffi c o n the very rough trac k , taking fourth . The race was the first time out for the ne w Kenny Roberts designed fr ame fo r his Yamah a and he was more than pl eased . The win vaulted Kenny in t o a scant one point lead over rival Scott while Springer marked time just 16 points awa y in th ird based on the weekend 's co m b ined points. Results i. Kenny Roberts (Vam): 2 . Jay Springsteen H -O ) ; . 3 ;- Han k Scott (Vam) ; 4 . Gary Scott H-D); S. Rex Beauchamp (H·D) ; 6 . Gene omero (H -D): 7 . Chuck Joyner (Tr l) ; 8 . Randy Cleek (H-D) : 9. Paul Bostrom (H·D) ; 1 0. R ickey campbell (H ·D» 11 . Steve Droste (H·D); 12. Corky K ee ner (H·D): 1 3 . Steve Eklund (H-D) ; la. Billy Eves (H·D ) . U Peoria TT It's seldom th at a rider convincingly dominates a National sin ce th ere is suc h a multitude of tale nt co m peti ng, yet that is exactl y what J ay Spri ng st ee n did at Peoria. As the lap s ticked away it was apparent th at Jay wa s in a class by himself and tha t barring any un fo rseen bad lu ck he would easily win h is thi rd Nati o nal of the y ear. Unfortunately th at bad luck struck as J ay ap p aren tly hit one of hi s ' gas petco cks w ith h is knee coming off the jump, shutting the gas off to one cy lin der with five .laps t o go and a he alth y lead . First St eve Eklund and th en Gary Sco t t and finally Chuck J oyner pas sed before th e chec kere d flag cam e out to leave J ay a sp u t te ring fourth . Steve Eklund 's th ird Nation al win o f the season moved hi m into . fo ur th pl ace in th e standi ngs beh ind th e trio o f Scott, Robert s and Sp ringst een and put Steve in a good p os ition fo r Rookie of the Year honors. In an . unfortunate o ccu ran ce earli er in th e day, Co r ky Kee ner b roke his leg in his heat ,race and resigned him self t o the sideline s for the rest of the season. Results 1 . Steve Eklund (Y am): 2 . G ar y Scott (Trl ) i 3. Chuck Jo y n er ( T ,I) ; 4. J ay Spr i ngsteen (H·C) ; 5 . M ike Cav es (H ·D ) ; 6 . Ken ny Roberts (Yam); 7 . Pau l B ost r om (H -D) ; 8 . R ick Hock ing (Vam) ; 9 . Rex B ea uchamp (H-D) ; 10. R ich Wascher (Trl) : 11 . T ed Boody ( H-D ) : 1 2. Steve Droste (H -D) ; 13 . Han k Scott (Vam) ; 14 . Sonny Burres (Tr l) ; 15 . Randy seeu (Tr l) ; 16 . Randy Sk iver (Trl) . Indy Miles Indy marked a h istoric moment for A M A Grand Na tional Champion ship , racin g a s the mile t rack at th e Indianapolis State Fai rgr o und s h osted a double header wi th Saturday n igh t an ? Su nday af ternoon ac t ion . : Saturday night's horsepow er duel on the wide and swee pi ng Indy oval pitted J ay Sp ringste en and Mike Kidd (abo ard Mert Lawwill's b ike ) in a t wo rid er affai r that went down to the flag with only a foot o r two sep arat ing the p air. Kidd took the win. In th ird was H arle y.Da v ids on teamster R ex B e au ch amp who se re cord setting qualification lap had made him a t op choice for the win. Gary Scott, un able to com e up with that extra horsepower or two , took fourth . Kenny Roberts ran seventh, but his tr oubles were o nly beginning as Sam Ingram deposited $3,500 with the referee to claim th e b ike (engine , tranny, car b sand ign it io n ). Sunday's day tim e event was a wid e blue groove a ffai r which, in the beginning, seemed ' to b e almo st an instant replay of the previous n ight's ac t io n. A red flag marred the close acti o n on the fourth lap as, Gary Scott went down in ' turn .o n e , exploding th e hay bales. On the restart it was o nce again a Kidd/Springsteen show w ith Kenny Roberts (on Skip Aks land's bike) making his wa y through t raffic to join the leaders; the t rio crossed th e fin ish line three ab reas t on lap 15. Th e pace began to increase as Springer pulled aw ay from Kidd and Mike did likewise on Roberts. Kenny h ad Gene Romero breathing on him when his skid shoe broke with two laps to go. At almost the same time Gene managed to t o uch a petcock and shut off the gas t o on e cylinder and drop fr om a ' sure fo urth an d a possible third t o 14th. With Gene slippi ng back , th e b at tl e for fo urth dropp ed o n Gary Scott and Rex Beauchamp. ' Re x picked up the pl acing by a wheel length , Results 1 . Mike Kidd (H-D) : 2. Jay Sp r ingsteen (H·D) ; 3 . Rex Beauchamp (H·O) ; .4. Gary Scott (HaD) ; 5 . Gene Romero (H aD); 6. Ale x Jorgenson (Nor); 7. Kenny Roberts (Yam) ; 8. Sk ip A ksland (Yam ) : 9 . B il l Eves (H ·D) : 10 . Randy Cleek (H·D) ; 1. Jay Spr ingsteen (H-D): 2 . Mik e Kldd (H -D) ; 3. Ken Roberts (H·O); 4. Rex BeaUChamp (H·D) : S . Gary Scott (H·D) : 6 . Steve Morehead (H·O) ; 7 . Ted Boody (H aD); 8 ; Jay R idgeway (Tr l) : 9. Billy Eves (H·D) : 10 . Steve Eklund (H·D) ; Talladega Short Track R ain put a damp h al t to th e action at Talladega Sturday night af ter th e hea ts had been completed an d postpo ne d the rest of th e show until Sunday . Gary Sc ott h ad qualified for the National while J ay and Kenny were semi b ound putting th e pressure o n th e pair sinc e o nly o ne rid er wo uld advanc e from eac h o f the tw o sem is. Sp ring er m oved through the traffic in sem i one to ta ke se c o n d when leader Mike ' Joh nson cras h ed and th en to take th e win and a spot in t he National wh en then lead er Mike Kidd's bike seized on the last lap . Kenny Roberts then w on th e final sem i and the stage was set. Mike Elo had a good lead when the N ational was halted be cause of an accident. On th e restart Elo again t oo k th e lead, but w ith traffi c all around . He was bumped in the midst o f some tigh t ac tion and dropped t o fo urth pl ace . Bult a c o Intern ational rid ers T erry Poovey and Gu y McCl ury b o ogied t o the flag with Hank Sco tt co ming o n strong to t ake third . Sp rings teen took fou rth wi th Gary Scott seve n th an d Kenny in 12 tb . Sco tt's p o in ts edge slip ped to'1h ree over J ay wh ile Ken ny dropped back to 11 p o ints b eh ind th e fro n t ru nner (2 2 4/22 1/2 13 ). Po o vey became th e seco nd 17 year ol d w in ner of the seaso n . Results 1. Terry Poovey (Bul) ; 2. G uy McClure (Su!) ; 3. Hank Scott ( Yam); 4 . J ay Spr ingsteen H . D ) ; 5 . Steve Elo ( Yam ) ; 6. Jay R idg e way Yam) ; 7. Gary Scott ( Yam) ;8. S tev e Ek lund (Yam) ; 9. K enny McD o n a l d (Yam) ; 10 . Sk ip Aksland ( Yam) ; 1 1. Brent Lowe (Bu!) ; 12 . Kenny Roberts (Yam) ; 1 3 . Bubba Ru sh (B ut) : 14 . Darryl H u rs t ( Yam) . I Syracuse Mile A good deal of rai n o n Saturday and ha ze o n Sunday co m bined t o make th e tr ack slo w d rying yet when it did th e ' co m bi n a tio n produced the fas te st surfa ce o f th e ye ar as Rex Beauchamp dropped the record for mile qualifying to 36.871 seco nd s, a b it o ver 97 mph . The Na tional , shortened fro m 25 to 2 0 laps b ecause of exce ssive ti re w ear, w as a six rider af fa ir with Sp ringsteen , Scott, Roberts, Beauchamp , Steve Morehe ad and Billy Eves all after a taste of ch ampagne. It was a twelve wheel fre igh t train righ t down to th e white flag when Beauchamp and Springer pulled awa y as th e o ther four were i n vo l ve d in a turn two 'b ob b le. Beauchamp led while Springer closed and literally inched o ut Re x at th e flag. So cl o se wa s th e fin ish th at Rex protest ed th e results and then appealed th e overruling of his p rotest. T he ap pe al was later withdrawn as w as Ga ry Scott 's against Kenny Rob erts for aggress ive riding. The w in put Sprin ger o n t op of the st anding s with Sco tt an d Roberts fo llo wi ng (241 /233/226). Results 1. Jay Springsteen (H-O) ; 2 . Rex Beauchamp (HaD) ; 3 . Ken n y ROberts (Yam) ; 4 . Steve Morehead \H -D) ; 5 . B ill Eves (H·O) ; 6 . Gary Scott (HaO ; 7 . Greg Sassaman (H·C); 8. Gene Romero (H-D ); 9. RandY Cleek (H·D) : 10 . K eith Ulickl (H·D) ; 11. Steve Droste (H·D) ; 12. Sk ip Aksland (H-O); 13 . R ickey Campbell H -D I : 14. Ted BOOdY (H -D): 15 . Doug Sehl H .D ; 16 . Paul Bostrom ( H -O ); 17 . Scott ra k e (H aD); 1 8. Darryl Hurst (Y am) ; 19 . Steve E klund (H·D) ; 20 . Bubba Rush ( t:' ~D) . g Toledo Half Mile J ay Springste en con tin ue d his winning way at Toledo, no tching his fifth win of th e s e a s on wi t h a wi re to wire p erformance in fro nt of a . p ar t isan , alm ost hometown cr owd. Behi nd Jay th e actio n wa s buildin g as Terry Po o vey h eld off all co me rs on the narrow T oledo groove. Poovey, h is t ire b ad ly ' worn , slipped off th e gro ove o n lap 17 allo wing Hank an d Gary Sco tt to slip b y fo r seco n d an d third; h e quickl y recovered . Ha n k, rid in g Gary 's spare a ft e r h i s h ad been re t ired wit h me ch ani cal woes in time trials, sense d th e need for Gar y t o fin ish as high as p ossible to keep ,the pressure o n th e champion shi p chase and waved h im in to se c ond d ire ct l y i n front of th e ' grandstands with one lap to go. There was n o ca tc h ing Sprin ger , b ut th e m ove mean t th at Springer wou ld gain o nly four points on Gary in st ead o f seven had Sc ott fi nish ed th ird . A d isapp o inted Kenn y R ob erts fi nished ninth and wa t ched his chan c es f or the cham pi o nsh ip grow slimmer . Ken n y fell 29 points ' beh ind Sprin~er an d 19 ' beh ind Sco tt (2 6 1/2 4 9 / 23 2) . Results 1. Jay ' . Springsteen (H-Dl ; 2 . Gary Scott 3 . Hank Scott (H·C ; 4 . Terry Poovey (H·D) : 5. Re x aeaucname (H·D) ; 6 . R ic k Campbell (H·D) ; 7 . Ted Boody (H·D): 6. Bi ll Eves (HaD); 9 . Ken Roberts (Yam); (H~D) ; San Jose Mile T yp ical t igh t , blanket pack racing was , t h e n am e o f th e game when the National circuit returned to th e famed San J ose mil e. J ay Sp ringsteen 's streak con tin ued and he rac ked up hi s th ird victory in a row and six th of the season with Gary Sc o t t and Steve Eklund in t o w. Rex Beauchamp and Sp ringer traded th e lead fr om early o n un til near th e h alfway point when' Gene Romero slipped under both while Eklund t ried th e o utside . Scott began to m ove and caugh t everyone nappi ng as he sw oo ped int o t he lea d j ust before Rom er o crash ed in front of Spri ngs te en dropping ' him back to fo urt h. It w a s sw ap and swap again as Beau c h am p, Boody, Eklund, Sco tt, Sp ringsteen and Rob erts mi xed it up for the fron t ru n nin g positions. Springer regain ed th e lead w ith only a bike length of day light b e tw een him and th e Sco tt/Eklund / Beauchamp trio . J ay took th e flag as Sc o tt held o ff Ekl und who d id the same to Beauchamp whi le Roberts an d Boody were on ly a shor t di stance beh ind . . Jay enj oyed a 16 p oint advan tag e ove r Scott an d a wh opping 39 points over Rob erts as th e ' circu it left \ San Jose (28 1/ 265 /242) . Th e margin w as less th an comfortab le , h owever, since J ay .w o u ld be sitting o ut Riverside. Results 1. Jay Spri ngsteen (H -O) ; 2 . Gary Scott (H -D) ; 3 . Steve , Eklund (H-D) : 4 . Re x Beauchamp (H·D) ; 5. Ken Roberts (Yam) ; 6 . Ted Boody (H·D) : 7 . Sk ip Aksland (Yam) : 6. P aul Bostrum (H-D) ; 9 . Steve Morehead ( H ·D) ; 10 . R ick HOCking (H·D) : 11. DO\'e Aldana (H·D) ; 1 2 . Greg Sassaman (H -O) ; 13 . Chuck Palmgren (H-O) ; 14. Dave Rush (H -D ); 15 . Da r ryl Hurst (Yam) ; 16 . Alex J o r ge n sen (Nor) ; 17. Hank scott (Yam) : 16 . Pat Marlnacc l (Tr i); 19 . Gene Romero (H·D) ; 2 0 . Ra n d y Cleek (H·D) . . Riverside Road Race Kenny Rob erts pulled off th e mir acle he needed to keep h ims elf-barely -in the points race b y winning at Riv ers ide whil e Gary Scott picked up four po ints on J a y b y finish ing 11th (28 1/269/2 62) . Scott claimed R ob ert's eng ine afte r th e rac e an d was then protest ed f or hi s late h eat race ap pearance. The p rotest was o verru led and th en appealed putting Sc ott 's points and claim in lim bo . Roberts' main opposi ti on in previous races, Steve Bak er, was spe ctating after h aving been badly shaken in a crash in Sat urday's Expert Lightweight event. J ap an e se ace Ta ka zumi Katayama clo sed to with in six seconds on Roberts in th e late stages , but that w as as close as he got. Pat Evans, ca lling o n h is Euro pean ex pe rie nce th is seaso n, w as a solid third. Randy Cleek, w ith a fourth pl ace finis h, becam e th e only rider to finis h in the top ten in all the road race Nation als th is season. Gar y Scott dashed th rough traffic from h is last row st art in th e 39 rid er field, but had t o sp end the m aj ority of his tim e d odgin g slower ride rs ra th er th an on an all o u t d ash to catch th e leaders. Th e G r and National Championship, af te r 2 7 even ts, w as still m athem aticall y open to Jay Sp rin gst een , Gar y Scott an d Kenny Rob erts. Results 1. K enny Rober ts ( Yam); 2 . Taka zum i K a t ay a ma (Yam); 3 . Pat Evans ( Yam) ; 4 . RandY Cle e k (Yam) ; 5. Ron Pierce (Ka w) ; 6. Sk ip Aksland (Yam) ; 7. Jimmy Morales (Yam) ; 8 . Gary N i xon (Kaw) ; 9 . Y v o n OuHamel (Kaw) ; 1 0 . Mike Clarke (Yam) ; II. Gary Scott ( Yam) ; 1 2. John Long (Yam) ;!3 . Bob Rectenwald (Y am) ; 14. Bob Wakefi eld ( Yam) ; IS. B ruce Hammer (Yam) ; 1 6 . Cliff Carr (Yam) ; 17. R ichard Chamber s I Yam) ; 18 . D oug Libby (Yam); 19 . Jim Dunn Yam) ; 2 0. Avrum Gudelsky ( Y am ). Ascot Half Mile , The clinc he r . It all came down t o Ascot as Springer, Scott and R oberts ca r r i e d t he battle fo r th e Grand Na tional Championship righ t down t o the ' w ire. Springer held the edge in points all ow in g him the luxury of knowing th at all he had t o do to take the ti tl e was to fin ish seventh or b etter to elimin ate Scott and R oberts. It was almost o ver before It began to r Springer as he and 'tea m mat e Rex Bea uc ham p were inv olved in a crash in pract ice that left Re x with a limp and Springer with a dislocat ed li t tle fi nge r o n his thro t tle hand (it p opped back into p lace) and an ach ing b ody.. J ay, with two lap s of, practice, qualifi ed eigh t h f astest. The pressure first fell o n Kenn y as he failed to tr ansfer fr om his h eat . Scott an d Springsteen th en lin ed u p for a preview of t he Na t iona l in the fourth heat. Springer co nvincingly w on th at d uel. Sco tt, afte r almost cra sh ing o n th e fi rs t la p , fi nis he d second. Kenn y th en won his sem i and th e th ree w er e se t to go at it in the Na tio nal for all the m ar ble s. Sp ringer, wi th instruc tions to ride his ow n race , bu t no t t o take chan ces, ro de his ow n race. Jay definitely swoope d th e lead an d set o ut to run th e 20 lap affair like it was j ust -an o th er race inst ead of the cham pionshi p. In a few laps th e Na tio na l devel op ed in to a class ic duel between Jay an d Ascot regu lar A lex J orgenson . J ay refu sed t o give up th e lea d an d th e pai r battled, to the fa ns' delight and the Harl ey cre w 's dis may , all o ver the track . Jorgenso n got by wi th abo ut five laps to go with J ay co ming righ t b ack on the ne xt lap fo r th e lead, th e win an d th e championship. Gary Scott had b een .in th ird all this t ime , but unable to close th e gap while holding off Sk ip Akslan d. Aksland, in a fancy last lap move dropped Sc ott t o fo ur t h at the flag. Ke nny end ed th e season o u t of lu ck stuck in twelfth pl ace with an ill handling bike. The fin al poin ts tall y re ad Springer 301, Scott 280 and R ob er ts 265 po ints. Steve Eklu n d , in fourth pl ace in the standings, took R ookie of the Year hono rs. Results '2'0 Lap N at iona l : i . Jay Sp r ingsteen (H·D) ; 2 . A le x Jorgenson (Nor) ; 3. Sk ip Aksland (Yam) : a. Gary Scot t (H·D) ; 5 . Ted BOOdy ' I H . D ) : 6 . Mike K idd (H-Dl : 7. Hank Scott Yam) ; 8 . Gene Romero (H·D); 9 . Rick Hocking (H -D l ; 10 . R ex Beauchamp (H aD); 11. J ohn Hateley (Nor) ; ) 2. Kenny Roberts (Yam) ; 13 . Dave Aldana ( Nor); 14 . Steve Ek lu n d (H-D ) . ' AMA Grand Championship/Camel point standings. ' 1. Jay Springsteen 2. Gary Scott 3. Kenny Roberts 4. Steve Eklund 5. Randy Cleek 6. Ted Boody 7. Rex Beauchamp 8. Hank Scott 9. ' R ick Hock ing 10. Gene Romero 11. Mike Kidd 12 . Skip Aksland 13. Corky Keener 14. Alex Jorgenson 15. Chuck Joyner 16 . Terry Poovey 17. Billy Eves 18 . Steve Morehead 19. Greg Sassaman 20 . . Steve Baker. 2 1. Paul Bostrom Nat ional Pro Series final 301 280 265 141 130 128 125 118 96 93 88 78 76 53 52 49 .4 8 48 41 40 40 .. 35

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