Merty Smith (1Ilncreaed his AMAlMr. P1BB 600cc National Championship Serl.s point lead at Unadille.-winning with'a 2-1 score. H.r. Smith shows Jim
Pomeroy 1102). Bob Hannah 121. Tommy Croft (111and aH how to puU a hoIeahot on his Dava Arnold tunedRC400.
AlIA ,ar. Pili 500(( Natlo••1 ax Series-ROI." tllr••
Honda Express, alias Smith and Croft,
rolls on at U adilla·
By Chari.. Morey
NEW BER LIN, N.Y .,JULY!l I
Marty Smith and Tommy Croft followed up
their 1-2 St. Louis act with an instant replay
this week at the Unadilla Valley Sports Center
making it a double one-two for .T eam Honda
in on ly the third round of the
AMA /Mr. PiBB 500cc National
MX Series. Smith played second '
fiddle to Team Yamaha's Bob
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"Hurricane" Hannah in the first mota,
settling for a second place as. "good
enough; three (series) points won't
hurt me." But rou nd two saw the
Hurri cane drop ou t almos t irn mediately, midway through the
opening la p , an d leave the overall victory to Smith . Croft rode to a hardearned fourth in the first race, then
backed it up by following Smith hom e
for a second placing in the final fort yminute-plus-two-lap moto,
Team H arle y-Davidson , resplendent in their super service cen ter
motor home and freshly updated fac tory MXers, slipped in a surprise third
place in the form of " Rocket Rex"
Staten. Spo rt ing the stan dard 250cc _
gas tanks , with the num era ls 250 six
inches ta ll on the sides, the Harley was
a sleepe r , and Rex was ready .
" It 's about time," he said afterward
as the satisfying feeling of success
brought a smile to his face , "They've
been working like crazy, getting the
bikes sorted out. Now that everything's
working, I can get my rhythm and get
back into shape. Instead of ga in' ban zai like I used to , I j ust try to set my
pace. I'm goin' for it!"
Sixty-four entries in the 500cc
National class and 94 in the 250cc
Support race accounted for an early
afternoon full of qualifying motos,
Finally. at !I:OO p .m. . the fir st
National moto got underway.
54
After a pair of false starts -- the sta rting ga te had failed earlier in the
qua lifying program an d old -fashioned
flag starts were being used .. the 500cc
classers got off the line .
Out in front , Bob Hannah. Gaylop
Mosier , Jimmy Ellis, Danny La Porte,
J im Pomeroy and Marty Sm ith were all
trying to climb over one another for a
spot on top . Staten, Croft, Steve
Stackable, winne r of the series opener
