Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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~ C'J l-< II) ..0 E II) > o Z Race of ' hampions C • • rln er s rln s or one more By Gary Van Voorh is Photos By Bert Shepard. Bob Lenk and Van Voorhis LOUISVILLE, KY ., OCTOBER 17 Jay Springsteen, sayIng that the race was so much fun he wished it had lasted Io nger, capped a magnificent season by taking a wire to wire victory in th e Camel Pro Series/CBS R a c e of C h amp ions. (The race will be br oadc a st on CBS Sports Spe ctacular later this year .] Springsteen never looked back o nc e he established himself in the lead on the opening lap and led Gary Scott and last y ear's RoC winner Mike Kidd to the champagne. Scott and Kidd had spent most of the 20 lap race fighting w ith each other and Steve Eklund over second place. Eklund slipped back to a close fourth in the flnal laps . The riders, in a goodwill gesture, voted to give injured Corky Keener last place prize money. Keener, who was in the pits spectating, was informed of the riders' decision by AMA competition director Mel Parkhurst. The eleven winners of d irt track Nationals during the season (mi nus Kenny Roberts who could not com e to terms on ap pearan ce monies and Corky Keener) lined up for the start as three o'cl ock shadows began to creep across parts o f Louisville Downs. Jay Springsteen held the pole (0 u t s id e ) wi th Harley -Davi dson teammate Rex Beauch amp alo ngside fo r the o ne row start. S teve Ek lund , on the Zan otti Enterprises Harley , line d up next as Terry Poovey trade d his TC Racing Harley for Terry Pletch's mo unt when his developed a sick engi ne on the lin e. Mike Kid d , riding Corky Keener's H·D half miler, took his place on the lin e with Bubba Rush, on the H·D of Houston /TC Racing Har ley, holding t he sp ace next to Gary Scott's Carl Patrick tuned Harle . The Rocky Cycle Harley of Ricky Ho cking held eighth position with Chuck Joyner, riding the J ohn Apple Harley next. Hank Scott had the o nly Yamaha in the field as he lined up hi s Shell Racing Specialites mount next to final slo t holder Ted Boody o n the Vista Sheen/Bart Markel Harley . Joyner Jumped the initial start and found himself on the penalty line when the green ligh t came on the second time. Springer, not wanting to jump th e start was s low off the line , but built momentum as the field hit the first tum w ith a slashing, rooster-ta iling blast through turns one-two on a high, h igh line that carried him into the lead as the pack hit the back straight. Boody had .f!,llowed Springe!,s line and was righ t beh ind with Ga ry Scott, Kidd and Poovey following in a close pack. Boody continued to stay in Springer's shadow as the pai r fled through a ligh t haze of limestone dust that would become a con tinual problem as the pack stretched itself out. In their duel for the lead. Boo d y and Springer had drawn away from the rest of the field and w hen Boody's engi ne went so ur on the fo urth lap , J ay had a good bit of b r e at h i n g space . J ay co ntinued to stretch it out while Kidd began to close on Gary Sco tt. By lap I I Kidd h ad closed on Gary an d ha d passed hi m for seco nd wh ile Eklund had come up to jo in in t he action; Springer was going all out for the win and looking over his sho ulder on occasion to check the traffic behind; IT specialist Joyner had slipped to the b ack of th e pack complaining o later of dust and the fact th at the track had no right hand turns and jumps to make him feel at home; and Hank Sco tt had moved up into the vicinity of th e Beauchamp·Rush con fro nta t ion for fifth . Aro und lap 15 things started to reall y get heavy wi th Scott, Eklund an d Kidd swap p ing second through fourth at will. Eklund, still sticking to th e cush io n in three-four m ad e a good show of it, but co uld not manage as good a d rive as Kidd an d Scott on the groove. At the same time, Beau champ foun d a hard riding Hank Sco tt breathing o n his re ar tire with Ru sh righ t be hind. Springer cooked right to the finish , wa ving a fist as he took th e chec kers. Scott, o n th e white flag lap , to ok o ver second for good with Kidd holding Eklund o ff at the flag as Beau ch amp did th e sam e to Hank Scott. Aft er t he cha mpa gne and kisses Mike Kidd sum me d up the wh ole y ear for Jay when he co ngra tula te d him saying, "You sure d id it up in sty le, didn't ya.' Righ t on, Mike. Results Race of Ch ampions: 1 . Jay Springsteen (H · D ) : 2 . Gary Scott (H ·O ); 3 . Mike K ldd (H·D ):4. St eve Ek l un d ( H oC ) ; 5 . Re x Bea uch amp (H·D): 6 . H ank Scott (Yam); 7. Bub ba R ush (H· D ) , 8 . R ick Hocking (H -DI, 9 . Terry Poovey ( H -O J: 1 0. ChUCk Joyner (H·D ) ; L l . T ed BOOdy (H·D).