Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

ABC/Bell announces $10,000 contingency f or W est ern racers ABC/ Bell Custom Le athers has pledged over $10 ,0 00 worth of contingency awards to riders in Western Region dirt track N a- Riders slow enough or clumsy enough to crash (inset! don't deserve their name in Cycle News. Just their pictures. L o o k s sno~balls Br ~Desert Rats Rare r c r a Dlb l es S ..By Gary Laudig RED MOUNTAIN, CA , J AN . 16 Tom Brooks (400 KTM) won the Desert Rats Hare Scrambles by staying on course while many other riders strayed onto .a n enduro course that crossed the race course at two points. In addition, snowl Everywhere you looked was the whi te st uff. So much so th~ Desert ~a ts had to ~lter o~er ten m iles of thei r ~rst lo?p mclud~ng the smok~ run; which brings to. mind the question, how does one lime mark snow? (Charcoal? . . Ed.) The first loop was fast. Just past the bo mb were some whoops , rocks and rollers. A fir e .road led into a sand wash. which went to the railroad crossmg. After the tracks was where the fun bega~. The course circled around . behind .t h e Spangler Mounrains , pa rallelmg th.e Trona Road : then swung up Into the foothIlls : .After so m e n eat c r oss country riding, came so m e deep rollers f~llowed by a narrow canyon sp lotched Wlt~ snow. Then , snow country: The tra il wound around and started back in the direction it came ~rom, just before a Matterhorn-type hill about a h undred f,eet down, completel y covered WIth snow . The course continued on through a small, fast sa n d wash canyon t hat g rad ucally op ened up into some real ne at cross country terrain . T he railroad tra cks were followed to the power line ro ad ,. where they were crossed. A mile later , t he course turned back for the mad dash to the finish lin e , .Tom Brooks led it to the bomb , with brother Cordis (250 Bul) five seconds behind. Following Cordis, Wheelsmith Maico-mounted Chuck_ Pe ttigrew and .. ___ .. . . _. the Number O ne 'heavyweigh t Mike Edmondsen . Then the rest of the riders poured past the bomb and were on their way unaware that befo re long many a good ride would be lost because of som e inconsiderate UEA Enduro persons who ran their ribbon right into the Desert Rats course at two separate loc a tions. The first Nov ice to the bomb was Chuck Denton follow ed by Don Plummer. At the Matterhorn downhill Tommy Broo ks came down kinda out of sh ape. Second -place Pettigrew did get out of sha pe and crashed in the snow but got right back up and continued his pursuit. Cordis Brooks broke h is chain and a ny chance of a challenge. Larry Roeseler (250 Hus) and Marc Cartwright (250 KTM) decided to add a new dimension to their riding skills and took on about five miles of end uro course before calling it quits when they came to a solid snow and boulder u phill . Bob Ru tten not only got off, he got lost also. The race continue d with Ron Irby . (360 H us) ru nning first Heavyweigh t Amateur, Rusty Blak e was firs t Trail Expert, with Dennis McLaughlin in hot pursuit. Don Green a nd Bob Torgersen diced for first Division II Expert; th e honors went to Green , First Novice Don Brand , running fifth at the bomb , took over first place by Check Two. while Steve Nelson ca m et __ ... _ _ _ . ... on from way back in the pack up to third overall Novice , first Heavyweight . The Nov ice gang at th e Mattherhorn downhill resembled a tobogganing party with yells , screams, and crashes included. Tom Brooks finished with an incredible 20 -minute lead over second place , Some of the time lag I'm .sure , was due to lost contestants. Mik e Edmondson liked · the course even though he got off on his head . Chuck Pett igr ew said he had Tommy in sight but couldn't close the gap. He later threw a chain , then crashed. Trudy Be c k , firs t . Women 's D ivisio n competitor, ca me in eighth overall. Russ Abbott finished with 18 inches of travel on h is 250 Mono . Don't get excited Yammie lovers; see ms his mono-shaft nut ca me off. The story of stori es has to be about John Fero , Team Yamaha Gold Medalist in th e Austrian Six Days Trial , out here to sh ape u p for. the Shamrocks Cal City Qualifier. Fero was running around ninth or tenth at the bomb on his prototype '77 400 . He con tinued past the bomb for about a m ile where he m et a rock with his clutch -sid e case and frame tube . ca using John to part company with his bike. Rescue 3 came .to his a id and decided John wa s OK except for a broken nose. Meanwhile the Rescue 3 jeep rad iator sprung a leak , Jolin took his bubblegum, wrapped it around a she etrne ta l scre w a nd screwed it into th e hole . A spe cta to r supplied so me water and they arrived back a t camp safe and al m ost sound , Because of th e confusion , I'm not posting re sults. The ones who were lost didn't p lace well overall but they really t heir riding skills s harpened backtracking . through the Spangler Mountain Range. Seriously though , the club m a rked the ir co urse well a nd shouldn't be bl amed for the madness that occurred. Everyone loved the snow and the course once they found it. Last , but not least , a warm " Hello" to Mitch May es fro m all of us her e in the des ert who are pulling for yo u all the way . • 'tiona ls, National and AFM road races and CMC motocross for 1977 . A total of $5 ,250 for the Camel Pro Series dirt tracks will cover both Houston Nationals , all San Jose Nationals and both Ascot Nationals. In each case , the main event winner will be eligible for $500 with $250 for the Trophy Final winner. Major road race dates covered are Dayt ona ($1,750 split between the "200" winner , the Lightweight GP winner and the Novice winner) ; Laguna Seca Formula 750 ($1 ,0 00 to winner) and the Sears Po int National ($1 ,750) . In Ca lifo rnia , $ 1,500 h a s been budgeted for AFM road ra ces and $900 for CMC m o tocross. In ce rtai n AFM road ra ces; winners of the 125cc m ain eve nt , 250cc main event , O pen G P and big bi ke Production will be eligible for $50 , Money will be paid q uarterly and at yea r-end to the CMC class leaders in 125 , 250 and 500cc motocross classes. The motocross contingency will be based on the rider wearing A BC motocross p ants exclusively during the pay period. To be eligible for the other contingencies, no contract is required; riders m ust wear the leathers with either the. " Kiss of Leather" or ABC/ Bell logo visible on the chest, To receive money, the rider simply su bmits the official race results from Cycle News. Check with Pa tt y Prestidge at (213) 921 ·9451 forfurther details, Parker 400 contingencies top $10,000 for bike classes. SCORE In terna t ional , In a nnouncing Pa rker 400 co ntinge ncy sponsors , noted that this year over $10, 000 of the total m ay be won by motorcycle entrants . A mong the posted m oto r cy cl e sponsors are: B'e ll Hel m ets , $500 ; BelRay Oi l, $700; Bilstei n Shocks, $675 ; Champion Spark Pl ugs, $950 ; Cycle Guide Magazine, $200 (including Class 38) ; Gum ou t Ch ain Lube, $400 Class 38) ; ( incl u d ing Interpart/Filtron , $200 (including - Class 38); J ackm a n Projectors, $ 150 ; KC H ilites , $400 plus $400 bonus (incl ud ing Class 38) ; K&N Filters, $200 (inclu ding Class 38); Mickey Thompson Shoc ks, $650 (incl ud ing Class ' 38); NG K Sp a rk' Plugs, $1250 (incl uding Class 38); Modomac « , $200 (including Class 38 ); Pennzoil, $900 (includ ing Class 38). Class 38 is for riders age 38 and over . The 1977 Pa rker 400 course m a p is now a vailable for $ 1 fro m SCORE In t ern at io na l , m ea n in g it's p re · ru nning time fo r the February II · I 3 event. SCO RE has asked pre -runners to patro nize th e bus inesses in th e a rea , whose donated ti me and money have helped make the event a year· to -year success. Ra cers will start ea rly Saturday Febru ary 12 wit h 15 hours to com p lete the 336 m ile course. SCORE notes that spectators should find their viewing positions well in advance of the first racers and stay 50 feet or more from the course. • 15

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