Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; III 1,-700 riders flock to muddy NMA Championships By Barbara Lehn HO USTON , T X , AUG . 19-21 The"la rgest semi-professional an d amateur event in the U .S. this yea r was held by the National Minicycle Assn . (NMA) at the Rio Bravo track in Texas. Nearly 1.700 ent ries from 34 NMA events raced during the year , representing 41 states from seven designated regions. Almost predictable at any big NMA event. the weather was less than great. The track had been manicured to perfection, then' ' d ;e rains came. It rained off and on for three entire d ays, and the 1.2·mile track slowly turned into a quagmire. Sunday afternoon , the su n came out. only to add to the extreme ly high h u midi ty . T here defiriite ly wasn 't any riders complaining that they didn't have enough experience riding in the mud. Several crashes put some of the contenders on the bench this weekend . In fact , as many as 12 riders DNF'd after their first or second mota never to ride a third, and there were many who never ran a mota at all as 'th ey were all "washed out" from the rain. In the 12 + 0·83cc Stock Novice class little Tibbs McCullough went home with a brand new YZ80D compliments of the Yamaha Motor . Corp. for sweeping the class with consecutive firs t. In the 0 ·83cc Stock Expert , 12 + class , Steve Schmitz, from Reseda , CA , riding for U .S . Suzuki. reigned triumphantly as Grand Na tional Champion, winning overall with a 3·2. (He also won ,a n XR75 compliments of the NMA .) Schmitz fell four times in the first moto but picked it up giving chase to Paul Emerson - from Las Vegas, N evada and Gary Dircks from Phoenix, Arizona both mounted on DG Suzuki machines. The " Flying Freck le. " J eff W ard , (FMF Suz) from Mission Viejo , CA , was also among th e fro nt runne rs in the ea rly part of th e first mota until he fell in th e mud and was unable to rega in his position. In th e seco nd mota , Ward go t th e holeshot a nd the chec ke red. but he knew that his crash in th e first mota meant his titl e , Ward finished in ninth with a 19·1 . Schmitz was running second with 'W end ell Simmons (Suz) from Kentwood , LA . inthi rd .J ohn Whelchel. also ridin g for U.S . Suzuki, fro m N ewh all , CA . was having h is problems 100 . wa d ing through th e muddy terrain . H e fell four times in th e first m ota and was runnin g fou rth in t he seco n d. Simmons. sa n d wiched in between Schmitz and Whelchel , fi n ish ed seco nd overall with a 5-3 . Dircks took the third overall with a 1-8 and Whelchel fourth overall with a 7·4. In the 0 ·83cc Modified Expert , 12 + event, Gary Dircks was out in front , Ward in 'second and Scott Bu rnwort h fromJa m ul , CA riding an R&D Suzuki 'third . By th e end of the firs t lap, Dircks already had a t O-second lead ove r ' Ward . P h illip Larson fro m Brem ert on, Washington, riding for Bellevu e Su zu ki , was gaining on Bu rnwort h . . In the second mota. Ward got the holeshot and skillfully negotiated the all b ut impassable track. Even in axledee p m ud, he maintained his poise and style down the straights and into the slippery ruts to victory. Dircks was riding su pe rb ly in the mud and it look ed like he was goi ng to pass W ard u nt il he fe ll victim to a mud hole ( whic h claime d man y vict im s throughout t he week en d ). Dir cks . slightly sha ke n . but unhurt , quickl y regained his co m posure a nd struggled to free his machine fro m the sticky mud . He fell way back in the pack bu t was able 10 work his way u p to fifth place a nd fini shed fourth overa ll with a 1·5. Ward , with a 2-1 , too k th e first overall and Burnworth rode in behind W a rd for secon d ove rall . La rson fin ished third for th ird overa ll. Making an excellent come back in the l25cc Modified Expert class, Gary Dircks , this time mounted on ... faultless DG Yamaha . th a nked his expert wrenches from ' DG Perform a nce Products, Harry Klemm and Teddy Boyko , for helping him to take the top honors. Dircks rocketed his machine around the track, riding like there was no mud and won both motes, taking home $100 . Lenny , Giger (Yam), from La s Vegas, Nevada , and Au die Ward (Suz) dueled it out for second. W a rd 's machin'e seemed to be on par wit h Giger's and it looked as though Augie migh, have been able to ca tch Giger , but the race ended, Giger was awarded $50 for second overall with two consecutive seconds and Ward finished th ird with two consecutive thirds. • Results in Results Section . • i 2.9 5 _ Ad d ress 160' bottle$4.75 _ _ coo Add $1 .00 _ ,- Citv _ z State the We best... Stephenson cooks on Ducati at CRRC road race Spark Plug Contact a Re- fo r m u late d t o Cha in Klean cleans penetrate moving parts everything I q u ic ke r and ex te nd cha in life through mor e Nonflammable, eff icient lubri cati on. noncond uctive. Now th e proven selle r Removes oil, wax or Is bette r than ever. New grease in minutes. fo rm ula, dramatic' new Once you've used It can. you'll never be witho ut You can't beat Pet roIt! New 20 oz. shop size chem 's Chain Lile for . Is a better buy . clea n smoot h cha in I ope ration or as a preassemble lube. drilling and tappi ng lube. open No gea r syst ems and a Flooro_ hun dr ed other uses. carbons By R.H. Smith DALLAS/IT. WORTH , TX , AUG. 21 The Greater Southwest Airport was the scene of road racing action in the Second Annual CowTown Grand prix. Lovely race organizer Stacy J ohnson of the Central Road Ra cin g Club welc omed 165 e nt ries and 560 spectators to th e WERRA sa nc tio ned eve n t. , Lo cal rid er Jon Min on no was th e big winn er ; with fi rst p laces in 750 Produ ction , 750 Cafe and Open Cafe classes. The Big D Cycle R id er fro m Dallas sco red a hard fought second in the Formul a I GP ra ce to Paul St eph enson . " H a gm a n " St ep h en son not o nly won th e big b ike G P race on his Storm 's Cycle Du ca ti Desm a . b u t also won th e 650 Cafe class and ca me in second in th e Open Cafe . Formula 4 GP was filled wit h ac tio n as stars fro m other classes combined . Eventual winner Bobby Goodin had ea rlie r won th e 250 Product ion class in on ly his thi rd out ing in the SpOrl of asphalt ra cin g. Du ncan Paul followed up his second place wit h a win in th e 125 GP race. Fou rth in th e Formula 4 GP wasn't good enough fo r Bu ck y Patt erson who went on to sco re a second in 250 Production and a win in the 250 Cafe class. Steve Darley rode a new water coo led Yamaha twin to a win in th e 410 Cafe class and scored in th e 650 Cafe o n his New Jet. Darley also came out the winner in a tight ra ce with David Bearden in th e Form ula 2 GP class . Two racing fam ilies made the trip to the Dallas-Ft. Worth track to win some go ld. From Midland came Team Patton with so n J oe winning th e Open Production a nd coming in second in the 750 Cafe class . The Byars family from Bea umo nt left the track with th e first place Formula 3 GP award for Robert Byars. • 12 0. bo ttle$3.95 _ Nam e PETROCHEM Manufactured by Champions Choice, Inc. P.O. Box 5968 . Orange, Californ ia 92667 MOTORCYCLE INSURA NCE PREFERRED RATES FOR THE PREFERRED RISK W e have tough rules, but if you qualify we can'save you money. Take the test and see" 1) Are you married a nd at least 30 ycan old? 2) Arc you Iicensed to operate a two whee led vehicle? 3) Do you keep you r mo torc ycle in a f ully enc:Jooedand lock ed ga rall"? (This is not neceaoary for liability onl y policies. ) , 4) Have yo u been em p)o ycd continuoul ly fo r l~ yean OR. a raident of tbe area for l ~ ycan? 5) Have you had you r mo torcycle j n.u r ed for th e past year and wi th NO claim,? 6) Du r in g th e past th ree ycan do you ha ve D O more tha n three min or viol at iool or acci de nts and NO major vio lations? IF YOU MEET ALL SIX OF THE UNDERWRITING REQUIREMENTS YOU QUAUFY FORONE OF THE LOWESTRATES AVAILABLE IN CAUFORNIA TODAY, CALL TODAY FOR A QUOTE. 213 353-«J9O Ask for Mike Sutherland SUTHERLAND & SON INSURANCE P.O. Box 667 Sunland. CA. 91040 Irn~j';g.;;; 520 McGLlNCY LANE. CAMPBELL. CA 95008 (408) 371- 1221 I I I - - -- ---I I I 'u n rOil MIDE " I ~ ----------I 23 111511 E. WASHINGTON BLW . • WHITTIE R. CA 9080lS

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