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ECarlsbad/KSl/Carrera 4-Stroke MX National Championship ; Kentner crashes Pro class party t g - By Bria n George r-- CARLSBAD, CA . DEC . 4 ~ :~ In this age of screaming two-strokes, an Ameriand tradition still lives on through the Carrera sponsored 3rd Annua14-Stroke Motocross N ation al Championship. T he life of the fabulous ~ [) .os four-stroker is far from over , and •when Carlsbad Raceway donated their track and the Knobby Shop International put out the effort . . ~ Q) ,...., ~ As Jim Lowe 121. Mark Blis (91. J im O'Neal(31 and Robert Brooks 1121 pullaway at the start of the Ope n Pro race, eventual winner Rod Kentner (7 ) begins his mota th e hard way - with a crash and a restart. for th~ third year m a row , a great day of racmgeme~ged . . . Also emergmg from a high quahty field of O pen Pros was a surprise winner. O regon Sta~e C~ampion Rod Kentner came out With his C&J framed Powroll TT5 00 Yama ha a nd his Gri zzly Bea r P.iz~a local sponsorship and. took a. h~mg to SoCal fourstroking. In his mid 20s. Kentner can be ~ real threat anywhere, and he proved It to a lot of hot thumpers. Fo.r some, a four-stroke Nation~1 is nothmg more than a group of the old t!mers" getting o~Jt. and having a good time. For others It IS the chance to get ?ut and see what racing was like back in the good old days . . But for the senous competitor, the United States Grand Prix could never ~a.tch the thrills and excitement of ndmg a heavy. powerful thumper dow~ the steep washboards and gettmg c1os~ to 300 pounds of motorcycle airborne. And what a great feeling your ears put out when they hear the torque and .low end grunt of the fou~-stroke machines. Honda domma.ted most of ~he Sp~rtsman field. w!th ~amaha gettmg a little better sh';lwmg.m the Pro class. For . the first time m th~ 4-Stroke Nationals, a, H arley-David son was entered: What s so strange about that? Try ~acmg a IOOOcc Sportster ~ver the terral~ of C~rlsbadl Kawasaki came out WIth their own th umper for the race. BSAs. Ducatis and even a Matc hless were in the running . Vintage machinery and the more experienced riders all came out to try their luck. Open Pros 6 Two of the most sano bikes were entered in the Open Pro class , a nd two of the best riders were on them . From th e Knobby Shop International came Marty Moa tes and Tommy Croft, both on KSI 'prepared Hondas. The bikes were definitely the fastest in the field . but with all of their tri ck components, they fell short of their anticipated goals . Two names missing from the field were Mike and Marty Tripes. CCM had planned to send both rid ers to the National , but a break- in at the firm halted the effort. Chuck "Feets" Minert was on hand though, expected to ride the Old Timers class. He rode with the Pros instead, and placed well. As the Pros left the gate, Moates and Croft started running away from the pack. As the duo crested the long uphill, Croft pulled alongside Moates then. in a puff of blue smoke, stopped dead. With a rock ca ught in the sprockets, Croft cou ld only wait u nt il a new chain was brough t to him . Moa tes was left so fa r out in fro nt that he could only find la p ped riders to pass . ' Back in a distant second was Rod Kentner, who was not as fortunate as Moates and had riders all over him. Croft reentered the scene with a new chain and rode past everyone but Moates and Ken tner in a desperate effort to regain lost time. When the checkers ended the firs~ round. it was Moates and Kentner taking the top two spoI ts. h . h KSI . n t e pits . t e team was m total despair about Moates' bike. The header pipe. a hand-built model, had broken off at the exhaust manifold. Croft volunteered his machine to Moates, a nd then went in to change and see how his teammate could do on the different bike. W hen the gate dropped for the second time, Moates began his usual charge to the front. This time it took him less than halr'a lap to take over the lead. With Croft sidelined the re was no competition. At least that was what it seemed like for all but the last lap of the race. Back in second was Mark Ellis .with Kentner right behind . Switching positions some seven times in one lap. Kentner proved he hadn't come all the way from Bend Oregon to play around. He took ;he second spot and set after a distant Moates. This was quite a feat as Kentner came from last place after involving himself in a first turn pileup. With the white flag out and no one in sight. Moates began to let up on the .final lap. Bu t no more than halfway into the lap , Moates went into a muddy corner and he never came out. Brea king his second bike today, Moates did away with the KSI Honda's tranny. Kentner passed Moates in the turn , and he rode on to become the title holder of the 1977 4-Stroke Nationals. Old TImers In a classic battle of champions, Rolf Tibblin , Dick Ma nn and a host of the "elder" racers flew off the line in a pack that was so action-packed tha t only the sore or crippled didn't stand up and shout. A rather unique situation developed when Rolf Tibblin blew hi s holeshot to Dick Mann's advantage. Mann , who had not ridden Carlsbad since the 1969 Trans·AMA event , met with one of the most knowledgeable riders of the course. Where Rolf squared off every tum, Dick went feet up and slidin' through 'em : The rider vs. th e slider. The two went neck and neck until Mann tired and went head first over the bars. Tibblin ran awa y with this win, but Mann rode so determinedly that he caught and passed the second place rider at the flag. When the two sat on the line for the second moto , the conversation wasn't about how they were goi ng to try and beat each other, bu t on how good looking some of the female- types were today . Bu t when the gate dropped , it was all action . Mann waste d no time in taking over the lead as Tibb lin suffered a terrible start a nd had to push his Yamaha to the limit. Within one lap he took over second and started chasing after Mann once again. Showing his knowledge of the track. Tibblin rode pa st Mann a t the top of the long uphill like he was in reverse . Dick knew he had to get the lea d