Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

IA bo ve) Gary Scott leads Roberts. Eklund. Boody, and t he pack in t o a first-lap turn. (Below) Springer and Lynn Griffis shower runners up Scott and Boody. Springer's lucky Santa Fe TT brings back the Camel Pro Series points lea.d . By Gary Van Voorhis ' HINSDALE, IL , JUNE 24 A little luck can go a long.way sometimes. In Jay Sp ringsteen's case " a little luck" put him into the winner's circle at the AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series TI" at Santa Fe Park. Springer's Bill Werner -tuned factory Harley was followed by the Sal Acosta-tuned Triumph of Gary Scott. Ted Boody, on the Steve "Peepers" Storz- tuned Harley-Davidson XR took third . . Steve Ekl und put his Zanotti Enterprises Yamaha TT 500 into fourth with -Alex "Jorgy" Jorgensen BSAing his way to fift h . Both Eklund and Jorgensen fought their way back from separate crashes that had pla ced them last. . Springer's luck appeared to have run out when his bike's magneto broke two laps from the ch eckers while leading his heat. His luck returned though and he transferred to the sem i; due to th e slim rider field he was credited with a ninth place fini sh . However, he and his pit crew d idn't kn ow that. but . once inform ed th ey managed - with a little lu ck - to get th e bike repaired barely in tim e. Springer won his semi and qui ckly moved from a back row start in th e National to third . On unlucky lap 15 Roberts broke. "All six of the bolts holding th e sprocket on sheared off. " Kenny would say later. "W hen something like that happens well . . ." the' sentence trailed off, but his face told the story , Springer then caught and passed Gary Scott for his 12t h career National victory and third win of'77 . "I've had a bug. I got tired that's ~ll, what more can I say ." Gary Scott was not happy with second place, The win put Jay into the points lead (98) with Boody second (95) and Roberts now third (87). 6 Nationa l The traffic jam at the infield entrance sorted itself out with Scott, Roberts and Eklund the first riders over the jump. On lap two Eklund hit a slick spot ("Why did I have to find that damn thing!") in the right hander after the jump and went down . He was up quickly, but in last place. Roberts had previously taken the lead ' from Scott as the pair flew over the jum p. Third place behind Roberts and Scott was a five- rider affair with Bood y holding off J oyner . Springer (all the way fro m the back row to fifth). Jorgensen and Goss. . Springer took fourth , _ .on t he following go around exiting the infield, Jay then literally ba nged his way past Bood y en tering the infield for thi rd on lap five. . Roberts ha d begun to open a lea d over Sco tt with Springer a good distance back. Bood y was still under pressure from Joyner on lap six, bu t then Joyner went down in the infield ' esses ("I was just riding my race waiting for a mistake by Boody then bam. I went down .") with Jorgensen also going down. Goss , following closely , crashed also in an attempt to miss the accident . The result :of the crashes moved Odell Davis to fifth followed by Powell , Keener and Davidson , Goss was up quickly dropping to ninth followed by Simmons, Eklund . Joyner and Jorgensen. . By lap 10 Springer had narrowed th e gap on Scott . Davidson had slipped into seventh; Eklund and Jorgy were slowly moving back u p in the standings. . Lap 15 proved very u nlucky for Roberts as he came to a halt in the infield esses after the six bolts holding his sprocket sheared off. A visably angry Rob erts slammed his helmet on th e ground . T he race , which had looked like a su re win for Roberts unt il his misfortune . . now took on a new significance. Scott was' leading, but a determined Springsteen was cutting the margin lap by la p . . If that wasn 't enough , Eklund and Jorgy were charging also and the crowd was going wild . Springer moved nea r Scott's rear wheel on lap 14 and then spent four laps probing Gary's defenses. Eklund moved to fourth on lap 15 with Davis , Keener , Goss and Powell playing rubberband for fifth . Jorgensen was closing on the quartet. Springer m a de his move on lap 18. He and Scott were side by side going into turn one. Springer was tryi ng to push Sco tt u p high whi le Scott was trying to hol d Springer low so he coul d block him entering t he infield . Springer won the duel and th en pulled away to win . Scott and Boody remained second and th ir d to the flag, Eklund was a secure fourth with Jorgensen completing his ride to fifth on lap 22,. Among those in the pits waiting to congratulate Springer was his former sponsor R ich : Gawthrop ' of Vista Sheen. "I told everyone three years ago ," he was saying to a bystander. "T h at there was only one chapter in Jay's book and that was win. win, win. Nowhere does it say anything about being second. " A very true statement. • Results 2!KAP NATIONAL: 1. Jay Springsteen IHoDI. 2. Gary Scott ITrii. 3 . Ted Boody IH-DI. 4_ Steve Eklund IYaml. 5. Alex Jorgensen IBSAI. 6. Randy Goss IYaml. 7. Odell Davis lVom). B. Cor ky K _ IH-DI. 9. Chuck J oyner ITn). 10. Ted Davidson (Yaml. 11. Wes PoweU (Yaml. 12. Aory Simmons (Yam). 13. Kennv Roberts (Yaml. 14. Joe Pet e-son IH·DI. Time: 14:52.43 . TROPHY RACE: 1. Hank Scott IYaml. 2. Billy Oliv« tnrl. 3. John Ellis IYaml. 4. J .R. Rawls lVam). 5. Darryl Hurst IYom) . 6. Randy Scott ITril. 7. Stove Elo lVom). B. Tom M yers (Tri). 9. Oave Leon ard (Yam). 10. Doug Ahn ' IYaml. Time : 7:13.19- 12 lops. TIME TRIA LS: 1. Steve Eklund 134.241 2. J ay . S pringstee n. 3. Garv Scott. 4. Kenny Roberts. 5. Alex J orgense n. . FIRST HEAT: 1. St eve Eklund . 2. Rory Simmons. 3. Joe Peterso n. . SECOND HEAT: 1. Rondy Go... 2. Ted Boody. 3. Alex Jorgense n. THIRD HEAT: 1. Gary Sco tt . 2. Corky Keenee 3. Ted . Davidson. FOURT H HEAT: 1. Konny Roberts. 2. Chuck Joynet. 3. Odell Davis. FIRST SEM I: 1. J ay Springsteen. 2 . Steve Elo. SECOND SEM I: 1. W .. Powell . 2. Garth Brow. 3. Hank Scon. • (Above) His right-hand man can 't believe Jay won. (Below) Scott leads Springsteen.

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