Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Those that came to Carlsbad Raceway for this year's National Championsh ip turned out to be a regular sampler 'o f America itself: Riders from unknown towns across the country to gather here. The feelings at stake for the championship were thus along regional lines according to the geography of the competitors. On e opinion that prevailed wa s that an assault was being made upon the figurehead castl e of California . motocross (and all the sunglasses, halter tops, and bleached hair do's it represents) by foreign ers from the East. Riders and sponsors from the Atlantic and Mid-Western regions h ad figured ' that West Coast motocrossers weren't so fast or so trick after all, and that they co uld be easily beaten at their own game. The word presented here would be called " talen t. " I It seems that back East there are names that aren't exactly household words here : Dicky. Turnbo from Whitney, Texas; Jeff Nida of Charleston, West Virginia, an d Ferrell McCollough who h ails from Beltsville, Maryland were promised to be definite threats in the 125 class , according to knowledgeable sages in the pits. The same sages came out and said that Tod Perkins from Duncan Falls, Ohio and Troy Bradshaw of Middleburg, Virginia would do something equally nasty to the 250s. And then another prediction spewed forth; that Steve Appleton of Clarksville, Tennessee would do in the Open class; or if it wasn't going to be him, it would be Scott Edelstein from New Jersey or Jeff Hea ston, who com es from the he art o f Middle Am erica, Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is nice, you might say; y ou know, the guys from the East are probably pretty hot in their own ' . district, but no way could they beat anyb o dy from California, Could they? Why, nobody even knows their names. anybody beat District-S? Could hotshoes like But ch Darling or Chuck Pettigrew? Is that possible ? to Dave and Sue According Baughman of Kentucky - who were, by the way, chaperoning a contingent of .Blu e Grass motocrossers - it was more than possible : "Except if one of them breaks, it looks like an East Coast and Mid-West race." Somehow they were very sure of themselves. Somehow, the invincible California motocrosser myth seemed to be just that - a myth that would soon be broken. The stage was set, and at twelve noon, the assau It on the cast le would begin. The Women's . Invitational Support class. Perhaps if any major show needed an opening or closing act to fill in the spaces , it would try to do something novel. In this case, the top women motocrossers from across the country were invited to attend and compete in a Support class race. However, the class was dominated almost exclusively by West Coast riders since the only female from out of state to show up were Cindy Belote from Texas and Tracy Meighan from Ohio. The novelty of the Women's class wore ' off soon when people who had never heard of Sue Fish or Johanna Stenersen were shocked to see the two young ladies rocket around the Carlsbad course as fast as the guys. Easterners were a ' bit dumbfounded, to say the least. "Back home," said one in disbelief, "Girls just don't ride.': Certainly not like this, anyway. In both rnotos, Ms. Fish easily blew away the rest of the field in a way that has become her trademark o f racing excellence: . Absolutely berserko, Even though .Sue was easily a good one third of a lap ahe ad of the next rider, she didn't slow down for an yt hin g. The \\:'.o.m"n, as did every class that touched a tire on the track , engaged in a frantic star t that ended up in mayhem on the first turn as 40 bikes would try for the same spot at the same time. Somebody would get restless and try to occupy somebody else's sp ace , only to have both of them crash. J anene Turton (Bul) had the distinction of doing a number in the first turn in both motos; still, it didn 't slow her down from getting third overall. Kim La Vigne managed to keep her Honda upright as she aimed for patient consistency with a placing for second. Female 3.3 rocketeer Johanna Stenersen (Suz) suffered suspension problems in the first leg to give her 11th, but she apparently got things straightened out to finish second to Sue in round two. .. The 125 's. Steve Bartley (Hon) put some su bstance ba ck into the California motocrosser image as he put a ten second lead win over Easterner Ferrell McCollough (Hon). After Ferrell led most of the first moto, Bartley's win was without doubt. The second moto wasn't that eisy. The second start was tighter for both Bartley and McCollough, and it wasn't w it h ou t crashes as everybody took the dive for the first tum (which became a great spectator spot at the start of each moto). As the pack strung itself out over the track, the contest for the lead between Steve an d Ferrell maintained an intensity that would grow as the 30 minute plus two lap moto drew to a close. . The dramatic aspects of the race took precedent as both riders were running a dead heat on the last lap. Steve and Ferrell bounded over the last jump that led into the left hander before the finish line. A couple of slower riders occupied the corner as the two leaders shot their way through, which caused Bartley to take a bad line. Bad line and all, Steve appeared to still be dead even with Ferrell as they drag raced it to the ch ec ker ed. Then, in a near repeat of the Wolsink-Mikkola race at the USGP qyer a year ago, Bartley crossed the line with McCollough and cra shed into the dirt wall near the scorin g booth r As Steve laid on the ground, dazed from his impact, the scorers were deciding wh o had actually won, the de cision itself being important since another win would give it to Steve, or the secon d moto win would pl ace the trophy in Ferrell's hands. Sever al minutes later the scorers decided th at Steve's effort had been wasted, 't h at Ferrell ha d won it. An other fore igner, Dickey Turnb o (Yam ) of Texas, ca m e in for third. The 250 's . The 25 0 cl ass was more definitive in its outcome when it came to the bottom line in the win column. James Martin (CZ) got a good holeshot to lead the opening laps of the first moto, closely followed by (eventual second moto winner) Tim Welker (Suz). Martin quickly faded from the pressure as Blaine Elledge. (C·A) took over the lead. The East Coast-/Mid-West threat once again raised Its head as Tod Perkins (Suz) put a drive on through the pack. After following Blaine for a hal f dozen laps, Tod displaced the leader for the duration of the race and went on for the win. Elledge himself fell back to third as Troy Bradshaw (Bul ) took second, Welker came back on the flip-flop round to hold the point for the entire 30 minutes. First moto winner Perkins had a poor start and could only pull as high as fourth. But it wasn't as bad as that for T od since his 1-4 score placed him in a higher position than Welker's 7-1. Alan Berluti (Hus) rode .at a consistent 4·3 for second. Tod Perkins became the second non-Californian Champion. The 500's. 1£ the California Crusaders co u ld find anyone place to defend their castle against the hordes who had already breached it, then it would be here, Chuck Pettigrew and his Maico had established ' themselves as the top combination in the Western~ion_. Steve Appleton (Yam) is the best oft h e East. Together on the.same track for the first tim e, ' .a real showdown was expected to take place' between the two. And a showdown did happen : it lasted the duration of both motes, and when Appleton would later protest Pettigrew's victo ry, the showdown would cont in ue on vis a vis the AMA later on into the night. Ken Frost (Suz) led off the first round, and looked as if he would win it altogether, certainly .an upset for the frontrunners, but Pettigrew, who was running third behind Appleton, passed on by in the closing laps to win the round with Frost second and Appleton third. I In tKe second moto, the fuel fo~ the controversy was supplied when the start was frought with. many_ crash es, one among crashers being Pettigrew. According to the protest, Chuck tangled first with I another rider and then the snow fence near the mechanic's area. As he tried to get his bike out of the mess, Chuck was assisted by.several mechanics who pulled his 'Maico out of the fence and got him going again . By this time, Appleton was far into the lead and Pettigrew was dead last . From there, Chuck started to smoke his way around the track in a desperate move to get back the lead and a shot at the Championship, a task which seemed to be impossible at the time. The impossibilities soon began to pass as Pettigrew passed riders who were once in front of him. Halfway through, Chuck made it into the top ten, but it still seemed improbable that he would be able to win the championship, All that was needed was for Chuck to place second, and that would be it. Four laps to go, and Pettigrew was in fifth, and finally on the last lap he was right behind Ap [Ieton, As Steve took the checkered, Chuck had come so close; he probably would have passed Appleton if the race had lasted another lap. But Chuck had done ii. By placing second, he had for the moment made himself the only Californian to take a class overall for the championship. Appleton was second. But he'd soon protest, have the protest disallowed, appeal and win that, only to have a counter appeal filed by Pettigrew. Anyway, it was five o'clock, overcast and the light was fading fast for the photographers. The bizarreness of the Championship entered the picture as Can-Am set up an awards ceremony for the press. >Even though protests were flying about in the background, everybody took their place on the winner's stand, grabbed a big trophy and kissed the trophy girl. Even though there was no official winner, the promoter and the sponsor wanted to have all bets covered for the benefit of the press. Chuck Pettigrew may .h ave been the Open class Champ, he wasn't the champ. Nobody really knew for sure, but everybody just smiled and shook each other 's hands as if it were the real thing. Three hours later, over barbecued beef and beer Butch Lee, of Dirt Bike Promotions, announced that Appleton had been named the official Champ and th at Pettigrew had been disqualified for accepting outside assistance on the track. Chuck Pettigrew had appealed the appeal, an action which will take a special appeal board from Westerville to decide on. Then, maybe, the showdown will be final. But how fi'" can you go just for a trophy and a little glory? That's show biz. • . Results 125: 1, Ferrell McCollough 2-1 (Hon). 2. Steve Bartley 1-2 (Hen), 3. Dicky Turnbo 5·3 (Yaml' 4_ Gar)! Taft 4-9 (Suz). 5. M ike Loeff.r 6-10 (Suz). 6. Kevin Arnold 13-4 (Hon). 7. Daniel Leonard 15-7 (Hus). 8. Jeff Nlda 22-5 (Hon). 9. Dave Hollis 10-18(Yam) 10. Jerry Brown 12-17 (Yam). 250 : 1, Tod Perkins 1-4 (Suz). 2. Allen Be,lutl 4-3 (Hus). 3. T im Welker 7-1 (Suz).4. Monte Anderson 9-2 (Pen). 5 . Troy Bradshaw 2-10 (Bul). 6. John Korte 11-5 (C-A). 7. Barrett Bender 6-11 (SUZ). 8. Bla ine Elledge 3-15 (C-A). g. Arnold Plant 13·7 (Suz). 10. Layne Hanna 16-9 (Mal). 500: 1, Steve Appleton 3-1 (Yam). 2. Jeff Heaston 4-3 (Mal). 3. Ken Frost 2-7 (Suz). 4. Kenny Sisler 6-5 (Mal). 5. Delno Secker Q.4 (KTM). 6. Gary Slack 5-8 IHus). 7. Seott £delsteln 9-6 (Bul). 8. Carl Nelson 1-10 (Suz). 9. John Klueslng 10-9 (Suz) . 10. Burton DeItz 13-11 (Yam). WOMEN'S INVIT. CLASS: 1. Sue Fish 1-1 (Yam). 2 . Kim La Vigne 3·1 (Hon) . 3. Janene . 'turton 2·5 (Bul). 4 . Jo Ann Miley (1-4) . 5. Chelle Blythe (S -7). 6. Johanna Stenersn (11-2). 7. Cherry Stockton (8-6). 8. Debb ie Lutz (6·8).9. T,acy Meighen (7-9). 10. Cindy eetcte (4-1). Flyin' Fish keeps on tryin' her competition. 11

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