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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126277
Springer & Boody win, Roberts breaks By Jack Mangus INDIANAPOLIS , IN , AUG . 27 .28 Harley-Davidson factory team riders Jay Springsteen and Ted Boody took turns occupying top step of the victory podium at the back- to-back Indy Miles run Saturday night (actually Sunday morning more about that later) and ' Sunday afternoon. The best Yamaha's Kenny Roberts could pull out of th e weekend of AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series dirt competition was a 12th in Sunday's race , as KR continued to be plagued with mechanical gremlins. . Following' the two events the Camel Pro Series point standings tightened up with Springsteen's 183 points heading Roberts and Boody, tied at 179. Gary Scott picked up sixth place points Saturday night and holds fourth in the ,sta ndings with 148 , Saturday Practice, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.,' was delayed until after 8 while officials removed sand from the track following .the afternoon's horse racing program. Qualifying _ Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen turned in the fastest qualifying lap with a 38.243/94 .135 mph "tour of the mile circuit. Mert Lawwill was second fastest, 38.326 , aboard his self-prepared Harley, and was followed by Mike Kidd , Rex Beauchamp, Ted Boody, Gary Scott, Billy Eves, Hank Scott, Garth Brow, and Gene Romero, all Harley mounted . Eighty-five riders attempted to make the field of 48 and the slowest time which did that was 40.367. Heat races 8 / Four heats, each to advance the first three to the National, were won by Jay Springsteen, Gary Scott, Mike Kidd and Chuck Palmgren. 'A strong ride by Garth Brow, that looked like it was going to earn him third , went down the tubes when his mag did likewise on the eighth lap. Heat two had the ~rowd of 'I8 ,OOO roaring as Gary Scott and Mert Lawwill vwent at it until Mert was forced out with a flat tire on the last lap . Scott's Evel Knievel-sponsored Harley led Gene Romero's Ocean Pacific Sunwear Harley and Terry Poovey's Bel-Ray XR in to the National. The crowd gave veteran Lawwill a standing ovation as he coasted across the finish line at low speed. Kenny Roberts dropped out on the third lap when his "battery broke." Mike Kidd rode a Lawwill prepared Harley to win the third heat. Advancing with Kidd to the National were Steve Freeman and his Richmond H oD sponsored XR and Billy Eves, who was riding a Harley he lists as being sponsored by Harley-Davidson and Bel -Ray Lubricants. Eves just nipped Steve Eklund at the finish line. The final heat was won by Dan Gurney-sponsored Chuck Palmgren after TC Racing Enterprisessponsored Rex Beauchamp led , the first lap . Beauchamp. dropped to fourth at the finish and watched Palmgren, Hank Scott , and Steve Morehead advance to the National. Semi finals With both the winner andrunnerup advancing out : of 'each of the two semis; these races gave some of the day's best racing. The initial go was won by Bubba Rush and his Edwards Motor ' Co./TC Racing Enterprises XR. Heaviest action was the race-long fight for second between Rick Hocking, Del Armour and Keith Ulicki. Ulicki and his Uke's H -D XR got the advancement position on the . white flag lap and he ld off Hocking and Armour. Semi number two was a three way fight between Steve Eklund, Rickey Campbell, and Scott Drake. It turned into a heartbreaker for Eklund as he drfPped out on the eighth lap after having led laps one through six. "This is no time to be asking questions," said ' a moody Eklund as he pulled off his boots in the pits. His XR reportedly sucked a v alve. . Eklund's misfortune let both Campbell. and his Smitty's H-D/KK Motorcycle Supply sponsored XR and the Warren H oD sponsored XR of Scott Drake to advance, making the National a Harler-Davidson parade. Trophy Race The "consolation" or "gas money" 12-lap trophy race was a real winner as six riders stirred things up. Money was up for grabs for the first time in the program. When the checkered flag waved it was Rick Hocking and his Shell Racing Yamaha first across the line followed by Del Armour's - take a deep breath and say - Colorado . Shop-N ·Go Markets & Gas/Motorcycle Equipment Center Harley-Davidson, and Ted Davidson and his - take another deep breath - K. Barlow's Team Happy/Blendzall /H. Lillie / MulhollandlNPD Spark Plugs Yamaha. v , National final With midnight only a memory , the crowd had slimmed down somewhat, but mile racing being what it is, no one who knew what was coming up . had left the fairgrounds. The 25·lap final started off looking like a repeat of last year as Jay Springsteen and MikeKidd went at it on laps two and three after Corky Keener led a tightly - bunched field around on the opening lap. But everything came to a halt at the end of only three laps after Keith Ulicki unloaded hard in the third tum. Ulicki was held overnight in a local hospital for observation and was expected to be released Sunday evneing. The restart saw Chuck Palmgren pull off a holeshot that was quickly topped by "Springer" in a draft-pass 'd own the back straight and subsequent lap-after-lap, pass-repasspass action between Springer, Palmgren, Hank Scott, Keener, Gary Scott , and Kidd .· Lap 10 saw Keener. ' Springer, and Hank Scott cross the start/finish line in what appeared to be an absolute dead heat . As the trio dove into th e first tum Kidd and Scott banged off one another with Scott wobbling hard for a split second. He saved it, but corning out of two and heading down the back straight his engine " bega n to go and I reached for the clutch lever, but it had gotten knocked off when Kidd closed the door on me. The engine's destroyed ." The next six laps remained a threeway battle for the lead as Kidd joined Springer and Keener, heading the - fight on laps 14 through 19. Palmgren remained in striking distance, but Gary Scott fell off the front running pace and dropped back into another separate star war. That dice included Scott, Rickey Campbell and Billy Eves. On lap 21 Campbell spilled in turn three and some . furious communication exchanges took place between ' the corner workers and the officials at the start/finish line. Two laps later starter Phil Dyson turned the · track's red lights on and waved the red flag at the field as they came by. As the racers coasted to a halt they lined up single file , as though they anticipated a restart despite the fact that there were only three laps remaining. The discussion of whether or not the race was to be restarted was interrupted by a furious Hank Scott, who accosted Mike Kidd . Kidd tried to explain that they were "racing" and he wasn 't trying to put him down, but , Scott didn't want to hear it. Cooler heads stepped in with a request to "hold it till after the race." Arguments started concerning the '60% of race completed' rule , but referee Duke Olliges properly ordered the riders to " Line up a~d run 'em!" To quote the AMA Professional Dirt Track Competition Rule Book, " .. . It will be the responsibility of the Referee when at all possible, to complete 100 per cent' of all even ts as long as they can be resumed within a reasonable time." While Springsteen, Kidd , Keener, Palmgren and Gary Scott headed .u p the single-file restart line, a very gingerly-walking Rickey Campbell slowly climbed up on the fairgrounds stage to watch the completion of the National. Green lights blinked 'and Springer and Kidd went ~t it again , only to receive red lights and a red flag before they were halfway around. A puddle _of oil had been discovered just off the fast line approaching the start finish line. < "Weirdest race I've ever run." As the field once again coasted to a halt, the checkered flag was given to Springsteen and lie took a "victory" lap and ent ered the makeshift winner's circle. Then j he dung hit the fan . Led by an irate Gene Romero, the m ajority of the riders demanded a restart. " You made us restart once , then you sto p us . Well , run us again ," . yelled Romero. .Young Jay Springsteen settled th e matter as he left a ring of well-wishers ' and entered - the d iscussion with a "W ha t do you guys want? Ya want ,to race, let's race! " Off again and, just as before, it was . Springsteen first across the line , followed by Kidd . Victims of the second restart (actually third of the event) were Keener, who lost third to Palmgren, and Gary Scott, who was dropped by Billy Eves into sixth. Springsteen called the event " the weirdest race I've ever run." Kidd who was racing with a broken hand (suffered at Terre Haute tW9 weeks prior), said of Mert Lawwill, "He had bad luck, but thanks to him I'm up here." And a weary Chuck Palmgren wore the first ear-to-ear smile he's ' displayed at a race track in quite some time. . It was way past everyone's bedtime. Next day Gene Romero, the rider's rep on the AMA Dirt Track Committee, said , "You can quote me on this. There are too many chiefs and no Indians with the AMA. Duke is a damn good referee. He knows what a rider needs and he should run all the Grand Nationals. Mel [Parkhurst] is the best thing to happen to us in a long time. He sticks his neck out for the Series , but I don't think he 's , appreciated.". • Results I. Jay Springstaen (H-OI. 2. Mik e Kidd (H-D!. 3. Chuck Palmgren (H-D). 4. Ccrky Kaener (H-DI. 5. Wm . Eves IH-OI_ 6. G Scon (H-DJ. 7. Ted Boody (H-DJ_8. Gene Rom...o (H-D). 9. Soon Drake (H-DI. 10. Steve Freemen (H·DI. 11. T...ry Poovey (H-OJ. 12. Rickey Campbell(H-D1. 13_Hank Scott (H·DI. 14. Bubba Rush (H-DI. 15. J im Morehead (H-DJ . 16. Keith Ulicki (H-D).