Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

NEVER HAVE YOU SEEN A FI N'ER FIELD OF RIDERS! 0') I-< Never Has There Been A More Challenging Track V ..0 8 v > o Z Right in th e ' midst of the battle with the Europeans during th e Trans·AMA series the American riders are going to tra vel (possibly. br ing ing some Euro pe ans in tow) over '1,200 miles to compete in the Coca-Cola Motocross Finals at Anaheim. Why? Because Anaheim is one of the most important races this season. It 's the finale of a 1/4 million dollar series that has stretched across the country . And it's a very prestigious event to win. There 's a lot hanging on the outcome of that race on November 12th. Each rid er wants to win, some have to win, all for a variety of reasons. They all kno w it's important to their sponsors, and this being the end of the racing year , contract negotiations for the following season ar e going to start. If you've won Anaheim it means a lot of horsepower wh en it comes time to sit down at the bargainin g table . Fo r so me riders it's a do or d ie situation. A bad show means that they're lookin g at returning to self-sponsorship for th e 1978 year. A good finish could just mean they get to keep that trick factory bike complete with mechanic . Fo r some pr ivateers, it just might be that " b ig break " in their racing ca reer. With a good showing this year, backed up by a h igh placing at Anaheim (where all the team managers are in attendance ) they could be plummeted from driving a van all year to flyi ng around in a plane, with factory race van and mechanic waiting at the airport to pick th em in enroute to the next national. You can bet that everyone will be going for the number o ne spot . Remember th e Superbowl a few months ago? The e xcitem ent and ra cin g we re incre di ble. The battle between Pomero y and Wei nert was labeled by man y as the best stadium race in history. Both had lots to pr ove t o themselves and th eir fans . Only one co uld claim first pla ce . Then there was Hannah, ridin g fast as usual , co nsis te nt an d very carefu l. Desp ite a broken frame he had t o ke ep rid in g in o rder to retain his points lead o ver Po me roy in the ser ies , even th ou gh for most o f th e eve ni ng Pom er o y was ahead of the Yamaha pilot. Also mem or ab le was Steve Stackable garn ering se co nd place honors after Pomeroy 's dramat ic crash whic h sudde nly cha nged th e whole sit ua tio n, points and money -wise , in a matter of seconds. Newcome r Mike Bell also surprised q ui te a few pe ople by fi nishi ng in the t op five an d reassurin g his new sponsors th at th ey had mad e a good invest me nt. . Co me eigh t o'clo c k Saturday night o n No ve mber 12th . it's going to be a wh ol e n ew ballgarne . Weine rt who was inj ure d aft er t he Super bo wl and has been o ut of competi tio n will be maki ng his co me bac k. At first he th ought o f retir emen t. th en th e possibili ty of limited raci ng. Now he 's plannin g o n leaping back on his Kawasaki an d giving it 100% effo rt. He's goi ng t o sh o w him self, Kawasaki, and his many fa ns t hat "The J ammer " is back and st ill a t h rea t on any race track across th e co unt ry. Of course you ca n't fo rget Han nah . He doesn't have t o pro ve a nythi ng , except t ha t he ca n re peatedly po unce on the com petition at least once more before th e 19 77 seaso n co mes to a close. He 's wo n mo re races th is year t ha n anyone, bo t h o n stock mach in ery and o n fact ory ra ce bikes. He's em barrased o t her factory efforts, o t he r rid ers, an d th e AMA recor d books. It 's been a good year fo r the forme r 125 Na tio na l Cha m pion and you ca n be sure t hat he's not going to fi nis h out the season wit h a med iocor e showing . Hannah ge ts impatien t whe n he ca n't race , and w ill be lookin g at a few weeks of non -racin g time. He' s goi ng t o tr y t o get all th at energy ou t at Anaheim . Now add in the li kes of Jimmy Ellis. Can·AM has made sp ecial bikes for- the Conneticut rider, machines des igned specifically for stadiu!ll ra ~ing. The motor. is tr emendously fast ; so is Ellis . He 's won the Superbowl twice , Itkes the Anaheim track, and is looking to finish this year uph~lding his reputation of be inguntouchable when th ings are go ing smoothly . EllIS scares a lot of the other riders, not because he 's crazy or rid es dangerously , but because every time he pulls up to a starting gate, there's a good possibility that he 's go ing to take home the biggest share of the purse mo ne y. Jim Pomer oy has had a roller coaster year in sta diu m racing. Now aboard a Honda, an d getting very w ell t.uned int~ the machine , Po.,,!eroy feels that he's go t to ov erc ome his wo rse racing year m stadium compe~llIon. The ,?verall Wtn has been in his sights more than once , then suddenly d issappeared In the last few seconds ( usually with Ha n nah taking over). P,:,meroy :wants a g.ood finish so b adly he can ta ste it . He's good on a 250cc ma chine (~ avm g raced m Euro pe for years in the 250 GP events) an d already knows how to wm. He wants the Anaheim .~ . TO BE FILMED BY NBC TELEVISION FOR LATER TELECAST 12 . Anot h er big co n te nder is Mart y Smith. Fresh from winning the 500cc National Championsh ip , Sm ith and Honda are pum.ped. After . competmg o n the mighty big bo re ma chinery for the last half of this year, Smith feels that whe n he gets back aboard a 250 for Anah eim he will be able to hold the throttle open longer than an yone else. He 's betting, and hopefully banking in that fact to win. Is Marty Tripes reall y a dark horse this year? His Superbowl showing was extremly impressive . Now Harley Davidson mounted Tripes will be. returning to his be ginnings in racing. He started his career in Superbowl cornpetttton, and has gone o n to da zzle riders and fans alike in various indoor tracks across the country . Anaheim might be ano t her big st epping st o ne for Marty , The n th er e's Danny LaPorte, acclaimed by Roger DeCoster as o ne of the best riders in the US, Mike Bell a stroke upcoming rookie who's go t the se asoned pr os more worried th an they'd like to admit, Tommy Croft wh o's unstopable when he 's hungry for a win , Kent Howerton about to separate from Husky an d wanting t o put on a good sho w before he st arts shopping around fo r a new sponsor. Th ey 'l! all be th ere because th ey wan t th e win , and they already know about th is year's Anahe im tr ac k. You see Stadium Motorsports is pulling out all the st ops o n this o ne . Ge nerally if yo u've go t $ 1 50, 0 0 0 in yo ur fis t you can bu y a good plot o f land an d p'ut up a fai rly nice looking. course. But for this one night of racing, a bo ut four ho urs of non -stop entertainment , th ese gu ys have put that en tire $ 150 000 into tr ack design! Th e ri ders have already vo te d it o ne of the two best in t he ~ou n t ry . Whe n they fin ally see the co urse t h is year, it 's going to blow th eir m in ds. . Anahe im is th e widest and longest st adi um race track in AMA hist ory , som ething that th e riders have wa n te d fo r a long t ime . They also feel th at o n some tracks the main straight away isn't ade quate. You w o n 't hear t h at co m plaint at Ana heim. Th e Intersta te which ru ns comple te ly across th e stad ium is almost as lon g as two foot ba ll field s. There are fe nces th at will be rem o ved just to fit ht is rnon st erous track . on the tu rf where th e Ange ls normall y play . • All the importan t corners are super wi de , have very lar ge be rms and (as WIt h the rest of the trac k) are covered wi th d ir t better tha n the type fou nd o n mo st o ut do o r courses. Most of t he turns hav e at least two or th ree di ffe re nt lines. It 's not go ing t o be a freigh t tra in procession at Ana heim . Lo ts of passin g will be go ing on all around t he trac k. Then there are the heart stoppers. Below t he gia nt Interstate is a t unnel, giving t he Motocross Fina ls th e d ist inction of having .the o nly ove r a nd under sec tio n o n th e West Coast . Of co urse, be fo re eve n gettin g t o th e under part, the riders ha ve t o clear obst acles that wo uld send a mou ntai n goat into co nvulsio ns. Fo r ins t ance th er e 's Cardiac Cli ff, a ne ar sheer dr o p-off just be fore th e t unnel. And th at 's fo llo wed by t he Bo bsle d Run, a rad ically ca nte re d s-t urn th at an y Ol yrn pic bobsled rid er would lo o k at m ore th an a few t im es befor e att em pt ing. But t hese guys are d o in g it o n moto rcycles; if th ey feel the y ca n get throu gh it in o ne piece. Then yo u ca n't overlook In san it y Ri dge, lots of st rage tically pla ced whoopdee-docs to wear d o wn rid er s , an d num erous ruts and st ut t er bumps t o t est th e mac hine's abilities to stay in o ne piece . Take into acco unt th e high calib er of rid er s. No w thin k a bo ut the su per ne w track. On th e o p posit e yo u ca n get th e sco op o n all all th e vital statisti cs. The re isn't a bad seat in An ah eim St a di um. All yo ur fr iends who know a goo d ra ce whe n the y s ee o ne have pr o ba bl y alrea dy bought their ti ckets. No w's yo ur chance. T his is a biggie , eno ugh so th at NBC has fou ght for the rights to do the filming th is year. If yo u missed th e Su per bowl, now is yo u. cha nce t o ma ke a me n ds to your racin g urge . If yo u saw th e Superbo wl, thin k back, doubl e th e ex cite me nt, and trip le th e tr ack difficulty an d you've go t Ana heim. Yo u owe it to yo urself to go, es pecially af ter all yo ur bu d dies tell yo u h ow great a race it w as, rave abo ut th e super tric k co urse layo ut , and finally d rive th at last sentence into you th at makes yo u wa nt t o kick yourself in the head . Do n't be o n the receivin g end of " Yo u shou ld have bee n t here " . Get yo ur tickets now , before it's too la te . (Advertisement)

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