Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

CN ~ Q) ..0 o .... u o Has Gary Scott gone bananas or just plain nuts? Gary it seems, thinks he can ride and win both Nationals at Ascot on a pair of Triumphs. It is true that he has won the last four Ascot National TTs, two on Harleys and the last two on the same Triumph that one of my relatives, Tommy Rockwood, used to ride. 14 Gary wanted to ride the same Triumph for the final National last year at Ascot on the half-mil e, but th e battery gave tuner Sal Acost a fits and Gary , after on e practice session , jumped off and switched to his Harley. He finished fourth , losing third on the last lap, and was never a contende r with Alex Jorgensen or the winner, Jay Springsteen. Gary is a confirmed privateer, there is no doubt about it. But he is also a born rebel. Even when he wins, and he has won five big ones this yea r, there is tha t devilish gleam in his eyes on the victory stand. I would guess tha t he would r id e a Rudge , Sunbeam , Panther or maybe a Laverda if he thought he could win . His most recent plan for winning both of the Ascot final Nationals was to use the same frame and switch engines after the Friday night TT. This scheme went out the window when Gary called Triumph and ordered an engine, or at least just some major parts. He batted zero on this. (Scott may file a "claim" for the whole Triumph U.S . warehouse after the season. ) The second approach was to borrow a short rod 750cc Triumph engine. He got one from a friend in Ohio at the last minute . But his travel plans after Louisville, which Gary does not care to talk about, got delayed and Gary and Sal arrived late in California , with not enough time to work over the engine for Ascot. Present plans now call for Gary to ride his now famous Ascot/Castle Rock Triumph on Friday night and try a nd win the race for the fifth time in four years. Then he is going to switch over to a Bill Kennedy Triumph. which is out of Ohio. Now , the Kennedy-Triumph is somewhat famous in certain circles and somewhat infam ous in others. A junior by the name of Lance Jones has been riding and winning on it in near-unbeatable fashion. A few weeks back at the Ju nior Invitational at Louisville it was strictl y no contest . with Jones a runaway winner. From time to time brother Hank Scott and Gary have both rid de n ' on e of Bill's Triumphs. Me chanical troubles have happened more than once, but all agree that when it 's running it really hauls. But the Ascot half-m ile is the final race for th e big number on e . It will all be on the line- on th e 8th of October. Ga ry will either be go ing for th e Grand National title, or second pla ce, or third place, or even fourth pla ce in the Camel and AMA po int fund pa yoff. The d ifference between first place and fourth is in the thousands of dollars, so Scott will again be the gambler. Gary, Springsteen, Alex Jorgensen . Steve Eklund , Kenny Roberts , Ted Boody, and Hank Scott could all win the' Ascot half- mile. Then add Mike Kidd, who has won more National half-miles this year than : an y other rider . The dark horse is Skip Aksland , who right now is without a doubt the hottest rider going. Nobody but his parents and brother thought he had a prayer of winning th e San Jose mile , b ut Skip did. . Scott will have his Harley in the van also when he pulls into Ascot. just in case - like la st yea r . but most noteworthy about th e Ascot half-mile is that for the firs t and onl y time th is yea r there will be at least four b rands th a t hav e a chance to win it all. Harley , Norton , Triumph , and Yamaha. . Everybody but Scott knows what th ey are going to ride on the 7th and 8th. Gary's decision can mean the gain or loss of a lot of dollars and perhaps even the overall title that has escaped him four of the past five seasons by a m inimum amount of points. The former Californian has a Harley claimed from the past, a California Triumph, and an Ohio Triumph, plus a California tuner. The track is all California, the one he lea r n ed on and has won five Championship events at . Gary's eight-year-old Triumph and Jorgy's 10·year-old BSA ran one-two in July at the TT and could do it again on the upcoming transplanted Peoria event. But Saturday night might be too much of a gamble, since not only will the top four places in the final standings be decided, but just about all of the top 20 places that will pay the point fund money. Ascot has always been a track of upsets, a dog-eat-dog affair, an ego buster, and a full -bore, wide open oval with no room to take a breather from the start to the finish . Triumph may be a brand of engine that catches wins here and there each year, but keep in .mind that Yamaha has not won a dirt track National this year and if they are going to, it will have to be Kenny Roberts in one or both of the Ascots . Kenny of late has been the hardest rider on any oval and we ha ve se e n him when he is untouchable at Ascot where, like Gary Scott, he learned his oval and TT racing. Interest for the twin Ascot Nationals borders on the fantast ic . The Camel/National point race is of course a big factor. Can Scott win the TT for the fifth straight time on the secondoldest b ike in the field? Can Springsteen win the ha lf-mile for the second straight yea r ? Can Roberts finally throw some din instead of eating it as he has all season? Can Jorgensen , who has fin ished second in both the half-mile and the TT finally herd the old clean Norton in for his first National win? Or will one of at least eight other top notch half-rnilers bag the biggies? .But of all the questions , the biggest one is what will Scott ride, and can he win? It looks like th e 28 race slate is going to end u p 14 wins for the factory riders and 14 for th e privateers. It can't get more even than that . .. J.C . Agajanian , th e king of the junk food business (ga rbage ). appears to have corne up with a pair of winners and for th e second yea r in a row th e AMA circuit has saved the best fo r last. •

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