Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126260
By Gary Van Voorhis It's time forThe Mile 1977 will mark the sixth anmversary of mile action at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, California. In those preceding five years , San J ose - as it is known to riders and fans has b uilt up a reput a tion for some of the best a nd most exci ting c1ose high spee d racing see n on th e AMA G ra nd C ha mpio nshi p N a ti on al circ uit . . . and even close r finis hes. T he re is littl e wonder why m an y refe r to Sa n j ose as T H E M ILE. One co u ld argue t hat Indi an apol is or Syracuse is rnore dese rving of that t it le since eac h produces its ow n specia l type of racin g . But in a ny case. all dirt trac k fans will agr..e t ha t t he re is no racing like t he mil e for sheer Kenny Rob erts co llect ing a vict ory in t he S pr ing e ve nt a nd H arl e yDavidson 's Gary Scott taking th e Fa ll ra ce . Harlev-Davi dso n has dom in ated th ... event since t he n , with tea msters Greg Sassa ma n a nd Rex Beau ch am p ta king th e wins in '75. Bea ucha m p beca m e th e first two -tim e winn er at Sa n J ose with his virtorv i ll t Iw 0pcll illC, mi le of 1976. J a y Springs tee n , o n his way to th e cha mp ions hip , added his na m e to the list of San J ose win ne rs in th e fina l ac t io n . mile o f last season . San J ose has been as a ba rome ter for t he season a nd th e AM A Gra nd N a t ion al c ha mpio ns h ip since it becarn e th e o pe ni ng dirt t rack in 1974 . Sure , th e double Nati on als a t Hou ston have served as a kick -o ff to th e new yea r. a nd no one will a rg ue t ha t th e Da yton a ro ad race hol ds a speci a l m eaning for m an y. But to t he true d irt tra ck fa n , th e c has e for th e Ca m el Pro Series doesn 't sta rt unt il San j ose . San J ose , besid es being exci ting , is a lso a battleg round for rid er s a nd tuner s. You eit he r ha ve ho rsep ower o r you d o n't. Reput at ion s a re m ad e a nd de stroyed a t San J ose , for it is th er e that a rid er with j ust th at ever-so -slight ex t ra edge , that o n" m ore hors ep ower . By t he t imc you rea d th is, th e ga the ri ng of tal ent a t San J ose will have a lre ady begun . T he a nticipat ion a nd spec u la tion of who an d how a nd why will d omin at e th e t ho ug ht of th ose entered a nd th ose wat ching, If you 'r e a ga m bling person , would you bet th at the o'H'·I,,1' qu ali fying record will edge ve ry nea r 100 mph ? Would you bet th at the ra ce record fo r th e 25-m ile Nati on al will a lso edg e very close to th e centu ry m ark ? The co m bina tion of Good year'S DT II tires (cr eat ed speci ficall y for mil e use , and whi ch ha ve a yea r's use and u pd ating beh ind t he m) a nd th,~ wizardy o f tr ack pr ep arat ion m aest ro H arrold Mu rr ell po int to n ew qualifying a nd ra cing reco rds. T h is yea r Murre11 faced o ne of his biggest cha lle nges in pr ep a ri ng the tr ack . A severe d rough t has g rip ped portions o f Ca lifo rnia a nd led to restri cti on s o n wat cr use . Murrell's ans wer? Fill water tr uc k. wi r h ~; dt waur from the ocea n since ca lcium is a big ingredi ent ' in a well -gr oomed and dust -fret" surface . T he "\\Tt ·pil1 .~ i u r nand long st raights sho uld be in perfect sh ape , Thou gh th e race is 25 mil es lon g , th e winner . more ofte n tha n not , has been decided in th e fina l few hundred feet wher e c xpericnce . saavy a nd th at ca n 18 b e com e t om orrow 's he ro . " No bod y remembers seco nd pla ce ," o ne vete ra n is fond of sa ying . No privat eer has won th e o pe n ing mil e a t San J ose . (The facilit y hosts three sto ps o n th e AMA G ra nd Nation al Champi on sh ip / Cam el Pro Seri es circ ui t th is season with sp ring a nd fa ll National m iles sandwich ing a m id -summ er ha l! m i h- N"t ;o,, ;I1 , ) Form er (facto ry spo nso red) winners when on ly a sing le event was held include BSA -m ounted J im Rice in '72 Tr iu m p h -s p o nso red G e ne a nd Rom ero in '73, In 1974 th e track was gr ant "d two mil e d ates with Yam ah a 's little ex t ra edge m ean a ll , . , o r nothing . The favori tes? T o each his own, Ja y Sp rings tee n returns to Sa n J ose with th e Number One pla te to seek his second victo ry on th e track , Althou gh he hasn' t re all y warmed u p yet with a ny pre -San J ose racing, J ay has a reput at ion of being q uick to ge t ba ck into th e g roo ve. Hi s last ou ti ng o n th e XR7 50 was at Hou ston . Bill W ern er will agai n be fine -tu ning jay's Harl eys and c-vrr.u: ing \\' h;ltt '\ ('1 it l a k e ... to g el the jo b - winn ing - do ne . Kenn y Rob erts is th e m yster y m an thi s year. He is sta rti ng fresh with a new bi ke an d a new tea m . Kenny's mil er will spo rt a m on osh ock fram e to red uce weight a nd hopefully increase th e a bi lity of the ma chine to put the horsep ower on the g ro u nd. T u ne rs Babe DeM ay and Nick Deligi ansis have a lready added a few "secr et" to uc hes. acco rd ing to Kenny. Rob erts ha s a lso rep ort edl y don e some testing a t Sa n Jo se to get the bike in t he best possibl e ,co nd itio n to win , Fo r Kenn y, t he race will be a n ind ica tio n ' of his cha nces to recaptu re th e crown . Gary Scot t. with his Evel Kni evel ba ck ing a nd a se nsa tio na l sea so n behind him , has had to endu re a m edi ocre sta rt fo r 1977 . Sco tt 's goo d luck , which ra rely fai led him last yea r, has been a bse nt so 'fa r. In th e four Nati on als run thi s sea son Scott ea rn ed j ust o ne cha m p ions hi p point a nd th at d oes not sit well with him . Scott 's per formances in th e few ea rly season dirt tr ack events in th e East have not been th at positive eith er, SCali 's philosophy of being th er e a t th e finish ra th er th an tr ying all ou t for a win m ay cha nge this yea r. 1'\( '( ' 11(' 1". c ·lll l' r i ll .~ a .. a l L uk-v 1(' ;1111...[ ( ,1", <:ork\' hi.. . third i... " I!l re'a l in an y dirt eve nt. Keene r love s mil e racin g and was mo re than a little d isappointed when he broke his leg ' a t th e Peoria TT. San J ose su its Keener's style a nd he'll be looking for a spot in the winner's circle . Ha rley-Dav idson 's newest add ition . T ed Bood y, co u ld be a spo ile r thi s y,'ar. Bood y. in onl y his seco nd ex pe rt ' 1';I'tlll sea son , does - not like to be behind a nyo ne o n the track a nd th at trait co u ld ups et th e plans of a lot of rid er s including Springsteen , Rob erts a nd Scott. Ted sa ys he wants to win th em a ll a nd Sa n Jo se is th e pl ace to start. O f the non -fa ct ory spo nsored rid ers ent ered a t San J ose , a number bea wat ching , The mil e ca n be anybod y' ., ballgam e with a few breaks . Mik e Kidd will be a boa rd a mil e built a nd tuned by Mert Lawwill . Mike won one of th e Indy mil es last yea r on Mert 's Ha rley, which proved it could run with and b e at t h Milwauk ee factory iron . Kidd is enthusiasti c a bou t riding th e bike (on th e miles) th is year and predi cts the factory boys better watch out. Mert Lawwill went into "sem i aft er last ye a r' s retir em ent Ind i an apolis ;'..; a t illJ1al s be c aus e 0 re occurring problems ca used by an inn er ea r infecti on. H e n ow is a p pa re nt ly back to 100% , Mert has b een giving th ought to quitting entirel y a n d d ev otin g his tim e ex clusively to tu ning and his Mert Law will Pro ducts business. San J os m ay cha nge th ose p lan s, Ge ne Romer o had pl an s to run o nly] th e m iles thi s yea r under his Evel Knievel sp ons orship and spend th e rest o f his time in four wheel com pe titio n .J Second th ou ghts have cha nged Gen e's o rigina l decision . He now wants to m ak e 1977 his 10th co nsec u tive yea r in th e to p lOin th e point standings . Hank SCali' carri es th e dark horse' label aga in th is year. Rumors are th atl Sh ell T h ue t has bu ilt a new Yamaha bike/ engine co m bi na tio n to debut a!, San J ose, Thuet was on e of th e . few, people who re ceived a set of spec ia ' OW72 heads last yea r , whi ch he rna have spent th e wint er getting int o' sha pe. In a ny case th e Scorr / T hu eti co m bi na tion, with th e exce pt ion of Rob erts. a re the onl y peopl e around to G m ak e th e Yamaha reall y work . Steve Eklund , last season's Rookie of th e Year , will be Harley-mounted foc Sa n J ose . His ma chiner y proved to be a: littl e sho rt -fuse d last year on th e m iles but nevertheless qu ick . ~ Sa n J ose will als o be th e first real m eeting for th e riders who a re afte Ro oki e of th e Year honors. Scott Pearson a nd Ga rt h Br ow dominated : resp ectiv el y, the W est and Eas t Coas· j un ior ac tion last season an d now th ey, get a cha nce to lock horns heads u . Diane Cox had her best rid e of th e 1976 a t the Fall San Jose when Ga ry Sco tt loancd her his sp a re Harl ey. Diane sh owed she co u ld really hang it ou t when using a to p not ch piece or eq uipme n t. This year she may h ave a H arley and wants to gun fo r a hist orymaki ng spo t o n the g rid o f th e N ational. Rex Beauchamp find s himsel f thi s seaso n without the benefit of full fa ct ory spon sorsh ip o f H arl ey ' Dav idson for 1977 a nd co nseq uent ly ma y cut 'd own his expe nses by not traveling to San Jose . He was not sho wn on the pre·entry list. Greg Sassaman, also without the bene fit o f fu ll sponsorship from Harl ey, will definitely not be at San Jo se . G re g is currently under sus pe nsio n by the AMA for riding at Houston with a proper license . He will return to act io n at Lo uisvill e . T here are m any other riders who co u ld m ak e a mark a t San Jose with th e right breaks. In an y ca se , San J ose will be th e pla ce to be ( May 15) to see th e first cha pte r in th e reoccurring saga of " W hen the gr t'en flag drops, the bullshit sto ps ." ' •