Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

K enn y Robert s, during t he break between ra ces, had switched to Dunlop f r o m Goodyear and imp ro ved his traction and handling al though not enough to catch the fleet Baker. Gary Nixon once again entered th e action , but crash ed while dicing with Roberts for second place. Randy Cleek moved into third with Gene Romero fo urth and Gary Scott fifth. The overall tall y was Baker, Roberts, Cleek and Scott a n d a ll o wed Rob erts to slip past Springsteen , who is no t Expert rated in road racing, into second in the points standing behind Scott. Results 1. Steve Baker 1 · 1 (Vam) ; 2. Kenny Roberts 3 -2 (Vam) , 3. Randy Cleek 5-3 (Vam) ; 4. Gary Scott 4.oS (Yam) ; 5 . Gene Romero 6 .... (Vam), 6. Steve MCLaughlin 9~ (Vam) , 7. Vvon DuHamel 9 · ' (Kaw); 8 . SkiD Aksland 70S (Vam) , 9 . Walt Foster 10-9 Ascot TT Fo r the third time in as many Ascot IT Nationals Gary Scott found himself with the cham p agne and the glory. His move to forsake his Harley for Triumph power paid off alt ho ugh the win did nol co me easy. One highligh t of the evening was the first heat which pitted the experience of Ke n n y Roberts against rookie Ted Boody. Boody led Kenny by two bike lengths at the flag after the pair had carried on a 10·1ap war over every foot of Ascot. In the National it was another rookie, th is time Steve Eklund, who gave the established stars a hard time. Eklund slipped under both Scott and Roberts as the pack h it the first turn and proceeded to lead and hold off all charges by the pair as they fough t Eklund and each other. Eklund, under extreme pressure on the 17th hip , smacked a tire marker bending his brake lever allowing Scott and Roberts to get past. Gary never looked back; Roberts followed; Eklund chased and Springer was a comfortable fourth . Results I. Gary Scott (Trl); 2 . Kenny Roberts (Vain); 3. Steve Eklund jV.1m); 4. Jay Spr ingsteen (H·O), 5. Alex orgensen (BSA), 6. Rick Hocking (Vam) ; 7 . John Gennal (Trl); 8. Gene Romero (H -D) ; 9 . Bruce Hanlon (Vam): 10. Chuck Joyner (Trl): 11. Rex BeauChamp H -O ) , 12. Oave Hansen (Trl) ; 13. Oon OOdge Trl), 14 . Hank Scott (Vam), 15. Mike Kldd H-O) , 16 . Ted Boody (H ·O). l Santa Fe Short Track Th e last ' hal f o f th e AMA Grand Natio nal Championship /Carnel Pro Seri es pr ovided close racing, even clo ser finish es in some cases and the closes t, most exciting points race in a long while. It would have been impossible at the beginning of the season 10 months ago to .. 34 predict that it would take the lull 28 Nationals to decide who would be the champion and that there would be three riders - J ay Springsteen, Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts - inv olved in one helluva f antasti c chas e for the championship. It went right down to the wire as Jay came away the champion and, in the style of a champion, went out a winner on a track where he was not supposed to be a threat. Jay dominated the final half of th e season racking up an incredible five National wins for a total of seven for the season (four in a row); the first time a rider has won more than six sin ce Joe Leonard won eigh t in 1954. Added to the victories were three seconds and three fo urth plaings plus an eleventh from the Castle Rock IT. J ay . did not race in ei ther the Laguna Seca or Riverside road races. Gary Scott stuck to Jay like glue and the points battle went back and forth with Kenny staying close although he was never really able to wear down his opponents. In a season 'en di ng stre tc h where one mistake would mean disaster; the trio kept up a torrid pace that gave the fan s double their money 's worth at every race. Re ad on for a race' by r ace account of the action th at lead to the championship. Castle Rock TT Chuck Joyner continued to prove that he "owns" Castle Rock by registering his third win in the last four years. Rookie of the East Ted Boody surprised the n orthwestem IT specialists by moving dramatically from thirteenth to finish second and take a big jump to fourth in the point standings: Gary Scott was determined to pullout all the st op s to keep his fron t running points position in his quest for another Gr and National Championship and rode a Triumph rather than hi s normal Harley-Davidson mount. He finished seventh . Jay Springsteen mad e the Nat ional, but was locked in traffic on the narrow groove tr ack and co uld do no better than an eleventh place fin ish . Kenny Roberts ended the night in frustration after a crash on the fifth lap . He called it a night and his last place finish dropped him to third in the standings. - Results I. cnuck Joyner (Tr l), 2 . Ted BoOdy (H·O); 3. Randy Sk iver (BSA) ;4. Sonny Burres ITrl! , S . R ick Hocking (Yam); 6. Billy O liver Tr l; 7 . Gary Scott (Trl) ;I. Steve Eklund (Yam) ;9 . Hank Scott (Yam); 10 . Charlie Brown rtr l) ; 11 . Jay Springsteen (H·O); 12. Oon OOdge (Trl) ; 1 3 . Ike Reed (Tfl): 14 . Kenny Roberts (Vam). Laguna Seca Road Race Laguna Seca became the Champion Spark Plug Classic this season in lieu of On tario and assumed the two leg , olympic system scored format with one small change: the 100 mile legs were c onvened to 100 kilometers (62. 5 miles) . The net effect of the change was to eliminate the need for a gas stop and to make each leg an all out sprint to the flag . . Steve Baker holeshot the first leg ' leaving the scrapping to the rest of the field. Kenny Roberts quickly took command of second, but could not shake the action behind. Gary Nixon soo n got by and led Roberts to the flag with Gary Scott and Randy Cleek follow ing . In the second leg Baker pulled an instant replay of his in itial win leaving th e scraps to the rest of the field whil e enj o y ing a 26 se co nd margin of victory . Rookie Expert Steve Eklund notched his second victory of the season at Santa Fe with a flag to flag 20 lap sprint to victory circle leading Jay Springsteen and Randy Cleek into winner's circle. Kenny Roberts took fourth with Gary Scott, mired in traffic, a combative eighth . Santa Fe marked the first appearance of the 350cc H-D short tracker. Of four factory entries, three proved fragile and seized while Springsteen raced on undaunted. Eklund led the field from the stan with Cleek and Roberts falling in behind • an~ Sprjnger coming up to challenge quickly, In one deft move Springer powered past the pair as they exited turn four and that was all there was to second place. Try as they migh t no one could dislodge Springsteen from his position. Results 1. Steve Eklund (Yam) : 2. JIIY Springsteen (H-D) ; 3. Randy Cleek (Vam) : 4. Kenny Roberts (Yam) ; 5 . Dave Leonard (Yam) ; 6 . Steve Elo (Yam); 7. Terry Poovey (Bul) ; 8. Gary Scott (Yam) ; 9. Ted Boody (Vam) ; 10. J im Rawls (Kllw): 11. Pee Wee Gleason (SuI); 12. Mike Johnson (Sui): 13 . Buck Boren (Vam), 14 . Rick Hocking (Yam) . Terre Haute Half Mile The second half of the double header weekend provided one very large surprise for a lot of people as Kenny Roberts gunned h is way to victory by a very, very . slim margin. Roberts almost blew the win when he eased off slightly in the last few feet only to see Jay Springsteen right a lo n g side . The distance was short enough to the finish that Roberts held on. Hank Scott, the

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