Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

number four Kent Howerton . Team Husqvarna en t Howerton is one of the hardest riding motocrossers on the circuit and in 1976 he came from his bridesmaid position all the way up to take the cake. Kent just missed winning the Texas Stadium Supercross and then went into a sprint that had him in second place in the series standings by Superbowl of Motocross time. But as luck would have it a crash in the first moto cost him his chance at the Super Series title. The 250 Championship was not an especially good one for Kent. but when the riders switched to the big bikes Kent kicked it into over-drive and won the first two 500 Nationals of the year. Texan Kent Howerton then took a third and two seconds to clinch the . title at the Battle of New Orleans in August. Kent's hot streak continued as' he won the USGP Support class and the first round of the Trans-AMA in 1976. Kent finished -off the season in Anaheim Stadium with a third . For the Rhinestone Cowboy and Team Husky it was a very good year. k Rick " Lumberjack" Burgett blasts through the heavy Florida sand. number eight Rick Burgett Team Yamaha • t will be difficult to figure how " Little Ricky" made his way to the number eight spot if you just look in the win column. Not once d uring the 250 or 500 National series did Rick ever crack the top three, but through consistent riding (which was needed to overcome consistent . crashing) Rick Burgett earned a carload of National points. Starting in the Florida series Burgett came right down to the wire with Steve Stackable for second place in the standings only to have food poisoning force him to slow in the last laps of a moto that he was leading. For Ricky and his mechanic, the world's most experienced handlebar changer, 1976 was a good year, but better ones are ahead. number five 'Gar y Semics Team Kawasaki • f any rider came out of nowhere to su rp ise everyone it was Gary Semics. Gary has been around the National circuit for several years and was winnIng Nationals back in 1973 for Husqvarna , but in 1976 Gary caught on fire during the 500 series and closed the gap dramatically on Kent Howerton. Gary won three 500 Nationals in a row, but came up less than ten points short of winning the 500 National Championship. Semics carried his drive into the Trans-AMA series and although a win eluded him he was by far one of the most impressive Americans as he finished second to DeCoster at Unadilla , New York. A leg injury forced the Kawasaki rider to sit out the American Motocross Finals at Anaheim Stadium . I number six Steve Stackable Team Suzuki .fo r big, lanky Texan Steve Stackable 1976 was a watermark year. After three years of trying he nailed down his first National win at Unadilla during the 500 National series. Steve is one of the most consistent riders on the circuit as he finished in the top three six out of 14 races during the 250 and 500 series . Steve suffered a knee injury, the first of his career, and was forced to sit out the last rounds of the Trans-AMA and the Anaheim Stadium race. Steve "Short Stack" Stackable. number seven Danny LaPorte Team Suzuki eam Suzuki picked up Danny La Porte before the start of the Florida Winter-series and sent him out with Teammate Tony DiStefano to do some early training. And training is just what Danny did as he showed that he was capable of running with the big names. Unfortunately the forks on his Suzuki snapped off once de-tuning Danny for a couple weeks. Still he . finished second behind Tony D. in one round of the Winter-Series. Suzuki shifted Danny to the 125 program and while running third at Hangtown behind Hannah and Smith his Suzuki forks gave out one more time. But Danny came charging back to take a second, third and then two firsts in the final rounds of the 125 series . LaPorte gave Suzuki their first 125 National wins. At the Trans-AMA Support series Danny finished second behi nd Rich Eierstedt in a knock d own -drag out batt le a t Ph oenix. t Marty Smith. number nine number ten Marty Smith - , Team Honda Jim Weinert Team Kawasaki lose the title that you have held since the initiation of the series is hard , but . for Marty Smith it was doubly hard . Marty never really had a chance to defend his title as mechanic failures and a vicious schedule that had him contesting the National and World Championship kept him back. Ma rty fai led to win a National in 1976, but to make up for it he won the USGP and the Gran Prix of Denmark. Marty ended up second in America and third in the world. During the Super Series Marty won th e Pontiac Stadium event and came charging back at the end of the-year to blast the American Motocross Finals. But what Marty and Team Honda really want is a National Championship and thai is what they will be shooting for in 1977 . • f not for a flying rock Jimmy Weinert might be a National Champion, but even with a broken knee Jammin' Jimmy came back to win the 1976 Super Series title . Jimmy won three 250 Nationals in 1976, but broke his knee cap the week before the final showdown and had to sit at home while Tony D. clinched the title. · While Weinert sat at home Kent Howerton whittled his Super Series lead down and Jammin' was forced to show up at the Superbowl with a brace on his leg to try and earn some points. Weinert did the job and won the title. When the Trans -AMA started Weinert vowed to beat DeCoster, but failed after giving it a couple good rides. jarnmin' J imm y finished out the season with a fifth at Anaheim Stadium . 0 1 I number eleven Rich Eierstedt Team Honda • f races were won in the first tum there would only be one winner and his name would be Rich Eierstedt. What Wyman Priddy was to the starting gate in 1973-74 Eierstedt is twice. Hard riding after the start gave Rich enough Na tional points to earn him National number eleven. Rich earned his second Trans-AMA Support class title in 1976 and next year will see him in the International class. Eierstedt also earned the Super-Series Support class title to make him the King of the Support classes. • I 13

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