.A
ANAHEIM , CAL. , DEC . 4
mid a ba llyhoo and
bui ld-up c~mparable to
any event In motocross
history Marty Smith
swept through the most rapid
paced and action packed series
of motos imaginable. Controvery had shrouded the event in
the weeks before when a smaIl
number of riders tried to lead a
boycott of ' the event because they
didn't like the new spectator-oriented
format and they wanted more
money. AMA National Motocross
Manager Mike DiP rete caIled severa l
riders' meetings to explain the
program to the disgruntled, and was
successfu l in convincing the cream of
the crop to give it a try . "We are
b u ilding for th e future . St a d iu m
motocross has th e' biggest crowds and
the biggest purses. It is obvious tha t
more people will be able to ge t a taste
of motocross in th e stadiu ms this year
than at a nytime in t he past. AIl of
m otocro ss, b o th ou tdoors and
in doo rs, wiIl ben efit ," said Di Pre te .
T he people who benefi ted mos t
fro m the new pro gram were the fans,
30 ,569 strong, who witnessed the top
80 ranked mo tocrossers in the nation
go . head -to-head in a se ries of
el imination hea ts. After fo ur
elimination hea ts , two semi-finals
and a consolation race, 24 riders
lined up behind the starting gate for
a 20 lap winner-take-aIl fina l moto .
Most of the grousing by the riders
before the event was chalked up to
Marty Smith, several thou richer.
fea r th at the y might no t qualify to
m ak e th a t fina l moto , bu t tha t is
wh a t racing is all a bout.
Heats in the night
There were four qu alifying hea ts
composed of ยท20 riders each out of
which t he top five riders wo u ld
advance directly to the fina l rnoto .
The first heat was a heavy with
Weinert, DiStefa no , Croft, La Porte,
Staten a nd 15 other riders set to go
for it for ten laps around what Pierre
Karsmakers described as the " best
Stadium track in America ." The first
(Below) Pierre Karsmakers made it one-two for Honda . (Right) The underside of Howerton's Husky. (Far right) Marty Moates makes the top ten.
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