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/126264
(A bovel Springsteen ,a nd Steve Eklund on t he dusty Louisville track. (Above) Kenny Roberts pitches it sideways with horsepow er t o spare. (Belowl Winner Gary Scott leads Jay Spring:lteen through turn four. Bo ody , R om e r o . Hank Sc o tt , Schaeffer . Hawle y , Johnson' and Morehead. A dead magneto on J ohnson's bike made the start 13 riders. I The sta rt was a lop sided affair with Hank Scott pulling a yellow light holeshot which left the majority of the field on the line for another precious second or two. "T he start was bad, " said Gene Romero , "and that was com pou nded ' 'by it not being red flagged . Heck by the time 1 started on the green th ere was nobody left to race with . I learned m y lesson in m y heat when 1 got sent to' the penalty line for anticipating the sta rt." Hank held a com m a ndi ng lead as th e field sho t down the backstraight. Sprin ger had been last off the line and was spewing a roo ster ta il in the soft cushion up high trying to make up tim e. He did and end ed, up fifth as th e 'field ended the first lap. Morehead, Schaeffer an d Gary Scott held second through fourth. Springer's lin e,worked on lap two also as he blasted to second , -b ut there the advantage ended. Billy Schaeffer became a spectator on th at lap when the chain adjuster broke with the cha in popping sho rtly after . '. By lap fou r Gary was challenging Sponger for second; on e lap later he slipped b y. Mo rehead had been bumped to fourth in the shuffle with Boody coming on strong. Pa lmgren , Eklund , Keener , Roberts , Sehl , Romero and Hawley kept up the pace. Eklurid , tired of the narrow groove and the dust, went high on la p six. "It was the only place where you could see anything on 'th at crap track." His efforts lost h im two positions . . r Keener moved up to challenge Palmgren and t h e pair played rubberband for the entire mid portion . of the ra ce. Gary began to close Hank's once safe margin and stu ck to his rear wheel on la p 10 moving by on lap 11 as Hank's engine slowed. Kn owing the en gine was slowing and off song. but hoping it wou ld hold on to the end of the race, Hank stuc k to Ga ry's rear tir e as best he co u ld . The engi ne blew three laps from th e finish. " I lost a lot of points and a lot of money," said Hank later as an a u ra of gloom prevaded his pit area . "H ey, if she hadn't let go I'd have sm oked them all." -. Springer and Boody were having an affair of their own with each slip pi ng off the groove while pushing the 'oth er to make one too many mistakes. "If I had cooled it on the last lap ," sa id Ted 1 would ha ve had third. Bu t no , 1 had to cook it in as hard asJay a nd WI: both slip ped off the groo ve and he beat me." Had Keener been able to pass Palmgren a few laps ea rlier he m ight have en ded up third since his last lap charge carried him to within only bike lengths of Springer and Boody at the finish . Roberts never moved above eig hth and finished ninth . "I had too much power and it just spun the tire coming off the corners whi ch led to a lot of wobbles on the straights." wilh Hank out Gary inherited a five second cushion from Morehead who played it cool an d kept his d istance from everyone. Sp ringer was thi rd with Boody and Keener close behind . Palmgren held off Eklund whil e Sehl did likewi se to Roberts . Romero and Hawley trai led the field to the checkers. • (Abo ve) Corky Keener befo re the start of the main. (Below ) A serious Ted Boody contemplates his job ahead . in which he too k fourth Results 'NAT IONA L: 1. Gary Scott IH-O). 2. Steve Morehead IHo 3. Jay Spr ingsteen (HoD). 4. Ted Boody (HoD), 5. D). Corky Keener (HoD). 6. Chuck Palmgre n (HoD), 7. Steve Eklund IHoD) 8. Dave Sehl (HoD). 9. Kenny Roberts . (Yam). 10. Gene Romero (HoD). 11. Keith Haw ley lTri). 12. Hank Scott (Yam). 13. 8ill Schaeffer (Ho 14. Jo hn D). Johnson (Ho D). TIME : 8:34,279, new record for 20 laps. AMA CAMEL PRO SERIES STANDINGS: 1. Kenny Roberts Dl. 2. J ay Sprin gsteen 62. 3. Ted 800dy 50. 4. Steve Eklund 52. 5. Gary Scott 47:6. Corky Keener 45. 7. Steve Mor ehead 29. 8. Gene Romero 28. 9. Skip AksIand 23. 10. Steve Saker 20. 10. Ale x Jn m 20. 10. John Hateley 20, 7