Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

AMA/Mr. PiBB SOOcc National MX Series - Fifth round Smith's series, Hannah's . heartbreak, Croft's first / National win By Charles Morey ST PETERSBU RG , FL, AUG . 28 The final turning point In the Smith-Hannah struggle for overall supremacy in the 1977 AMA /Mr. PiBB 500cc National -MX Series , pos tponed through the first five events on the 6 six race calendar, came early in th e opening moto at the Pizza Hut sponsored Sunshine Speedway finale this weekend . Less th an 10 minutes after Team Honda's former 125c c Nationa l Ch a m p ion Marty Smith powered his RC 400 first off th e line , onl y to be overtaken by T eam Yamaha 's former 125cc National Champion Bob Hannah, the series --.: in effect - ended. O n lap four , while in the lead , Hannah's Keith McCarty tuned works bik e suddenly refused to produce power , . A n d a hi g h ly frustr at ed Bob Hannah rolled to a stop . . A small metal clip with an im port ant - and now - expensi ve function had come adrift releasing the Yamaha's carb u re to r slide from th e th rott le ca ble. The slid e d ropped ; Ha n nah stop pe d. Hi s th ree poin t advantage over Smith in the series standings disappeared as the other you ng Californian rode past to win the moto on his Dave Arnold tuned Honda. "I didn't want to gi ve it to him like that ," a disappointed " H u rrica ne" Hannah muttered later. "1 wanted to make him work for it." " I wired it (the clip) in p lace for the second moto," Keith would say late that afternoon, "but by then it was too la te ," He shook his head, "it was definitely supposed to be a different sort of day." Once Hannah dropped out , Smith score d ' a n almost · free moto win unchallenged by anyon e. But beh in d _ him some fine racing was shaping u p . Kawasaki's Garv Serni cs. Ma ico's Gaylon Mosier, Ho~da's Tom my Croft and Suzuki's Danny La Port e follo wed the top two through the first lap. Only a matter of seconds back , Maico rider Steve Stackable who held down third place in the series standings, was holding Husky teamsters Chuck Sun and Kent Howerton at bay. Croft and LaPorte worked a simultaneous charge as Mosier held a steady pace, and by the time Hannah dropped out of the running on lap four , the pair held third and fourth places behind Smith and Semics. As LaPorte attached himself to Croft's rear fender , the red and yellow twosome closed the gap on Sernics' green Kawasaki. At th e 15 minute mark it became a tight three-way battle for - second place, Mosier, now challenged by Stackable, clung ' to fifth, La Porte, still full of fight, pressed hard t.o overtake Croft , and in doi ng so overshot a berm putting the H onda rider bac k in command. Finally, the pa ce took its toll near the 20 minu te mark. Da nny suddenly found the handlebars wrenched from his hands as he entered Sunshine's turn one, and he hit the dirt hard , Rem ou nting immediately, he rode on slowly obviously dazed by the impact , unable to sta y competitive . Stackable then began his charge. He and Mosier , still handlebar . to handlebar , closed on a slowing LaPorte. Stack found 'the fast wa y around both LaPorte and Mosier and slipped up into fourth place. Five minutes later, he reeled in Semics who had been passed by Croft , and moved into third . Roy Turner , Croft's mechanic , started giying pit board signals to the " T o m a h a wk ," " I kn ew he was co mingI" Croft said later. "Roy put ou t an eig ht second sign , then a seven second sign, then six , , . a nd then one that said 'fell off ," "Those bumps going into that turn were pretty badl" Stackable recalled. His front wheel crossed u p as he drove to close the gap on Croft , pitching th e ta ll Maico rider up on the bars. The motor stalled , and as ' Stackable kicked , Semics rode by. It was only a rn at ter o f .m in u t es . before the checkered flag came out , giving Marty Sm ith th e moto win and 25 series poin ts. Stackable had to sett le for fourt h behind Croft and Semics , fifth was th r ee - t im e 2 50cc N a t ional Champ Tony ' DiStefano , who'd worked up from a slow start. .Kent Howerton , Mickey Boone, Gaylon Mosier, Rex Staten and Rich Eierstedt rounded out the top 10. For Hnda Team Manager Terry Mulligan and Marty Smith, the pressure was still on . "You only have to finish in the top 10 , " Mulligan informed Marty between motos hoping to instill a sense of caution in his ·potential National Champ. Bu t he needn't have worried .. . "T oo many things came too dam ' close l' Smith answered , thinking of the late series challenge by the "H u rri ca ne" and of his first moto ride on the tricky St. Petersburg track. .' " I' m gonna ride in th e top 10," When 40 500cc National class riders ricocheted off the starting gate for the fina l moto in the series, Sm ith held a conservative ninth place, Tommy Croft was in the lead with' a WFO "Hurricane" on his tail. At the completion of lap one, Bob Hannah had taken over and was giving all appearances of being on his way to a ru na way moto win . Behind Croft third place Gary Semics was being hounded by Danny LaPorte. Fifth was reigning 500cc Champion Kent Howerton , ' trailed by Greg Theiss , Marty Tripes, Marty Smith and a replay duel between Maico aces Mosier and Stackable. While Hannah established his lead , LaPorte and Howerton initiated a joint effort to put Croft back in the pack. LaPorte got around the Honda rider first , then Howerton overtook them both by lap five. Gary Sernics held fifth place for another two laps, then ~e pulled off to the side of the track. • " It's seizing," he answered when somone tapped him on the shoulder and asked . Near th e 20 minute poi n t j- , 'Howert on picked up the pace as Hannah seeme d to cruise . T he "Hurricane" had twisted his ankle on the opening la p but continued to charge , as he said , "in case Smith broke." LaPorte joined Howerton in putting pressure on th e leader, then got around Kent into second, Almost immediately, Howerton's Husky found a wheel -grabbing hole and flipped the Rhinestone Cowboy into th e dirt

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