Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ II 1111111111111111100101111111111111111111110011111111111111111111111111111110111111111111111111111111111111111111111 I: CaRIra) PipeUae s t (Above) Keith Jernigan (816) was untouchable in 250cc Intermediate competition at Whitney. (Below ) Dav id Jones topped the 125cc Experts. (Bottom) Brent Fletcher come out ahead of the 125cc Intermediates. .. 36 broken down to three first motos, two consies, and a second moto of 30 riders . Through it all . the dominant force was Keith Davis of Austin on a TC Racing RM Suzuki, who went 1·1 over some of the state's hottest . Novices. Dennis Hawthorne (Su z), who doesn't ride at all in the summer months . showed no sign of weakness, ending runner-up to Davis at 1-2 . Don Burns' solid 2-4 earned him a four-foot third OA trophy and a high line-up slot in the 'Dom e. Without a doubt , many of the country's fastest Amateurs were here in the Intermediate classes , especially in 125cc and 250cc divisions. They would easily be money -winning Experts in most areas, but in the Texas MX hotbed . they enjoy intense rivalries and are totally dedicated racers without worrying about trying to make a buck. Brent Fletcher carried his string of strong local performances to the Whitney Regional and pul1ed off the 125cc Intermediate win with a flawless RM and 1·2 finishes . Kyle Landrum (4-1) was second in a string of Suzuki-riding winners that included Derek Wedding (5-3), Stuart Cott on (4-4) and Malcom Vincent (2- 7) . The 250cc Intermediate ' races not , won by Keith Jernigan over the last-few months can be counted on one hand. The kid from Euless has spel1ed " trou ble" for this class since recovering from a near-crippling concussion caught in 250cc Novice racing in the 'Dome last March. He's also become top rider in the Texas Emergency Service Team on an Irving Suzuki RM250 that always finishes. Keith went virtually unchal1enged today after two false first -mote starts where riders pumped to the gills found it hard to wait for the gate to drop. Gu y Allen (Cycle Roundup Suz ) gassed it through the pack for a strong 2-2 second , while Russ Fletcher (Yam , 3· 4) edged David Greenhill (Eu less Cycle Pen. 4·5 ) for third , and Chris Sharp (Pen. 5·6 ) was fifth . Chuck Nichols ran away with Open (S u z) Intermediate over USA Vans owner Chris jones (Yam , 3·2 ) and Mike Barlow (Hus, 4-5). Strange is the fact that not many Experts showed up. since the GNC Region and State races are paying 1200 to $1800 purses. and the 'Dome Finals' purse is $4,000 . It figures that all but the Na tional to uring Pros are missing out on the GN C program , which gives the Amateur and Expert riders across the country a true National Ch am p ionsh ip Astrodome race every year . Ready for today's battle, however , was Dal1as Suzuki- powered David Jones of Euless, who has on recent occasions won over all of the AMA Pros in local 125cc Expert racing. and took top spot today, going 1-2 over the 16 entries. Morris Baker was in contention in the first moto until the Husky's front wheel succumbed to Whitney's battering course. But Baker returned to storm the final for moto money and 7th overal1. In a mad total of crashes and DNFs. Jeff Jones (Suz) ended up second OA with 8·5 finishes. Henry Eva ns (Yam . 11-3) was third. and Tom Holtan (Yam. 7·7) fourth. After the first ro und of motos, Dicky Turnbo (Yam) was looking good with a second in the 125cc and first 250cc Expert, but a double win was not in the cards on ' his home track. The 125cc class hopes went away with a crash in the final, but the 250cc was all Turnbo's as he opened early leads and cruised in 1-1. Wyman Priddy (Bul) led a close bout for second , with Bruce Hallmark (Mai, 3-4) , Dave Perry (Suz , 6-3) , and Steve Mulhol1and (Yam , 4-7) keeping close company. The program ran through very smoothly, mainly due to a complete, printed out rider's meeting that everyone got at the front gate. It does for sure help to know what's going on. . a espec ially when going to Championship race of th is type . Results in Results Section. Alford quickest on Whitney hill By Diane Polley WHITNEY , TX , NOV . 6 As the end of the 1977 Texas Hillclimb season nears , competition in classes where the number one spot is still up for grabs increases. The Texas Hillclimbers had cleared the Whitney hill of some of some of the rocks and cleaned up the ruts. The riders - especially the numbe r one plate contenders - seemed to be happier. T he 125cc class rid ers are putting in good rides. There are three who could be on top at the end of the year. Charles Good nigh t and Mike Pol1ey on Yamahas and Honda-mounted Robert Alford usually end the day with nearly identical rides. Goodnight took first today with a ride that only took 9:21 seconds to go 230 feet . Will Alford continued to dominate the top time circle. His 370cc Bultaco negotiates the rock ledges better then larger bikes and he's usually able to knock a couple of tenths off his time and win . Tom Anderson and Henry Polley on 500cc Yamahas have been his main competition but today Alford's 7:51 won. Results in Results Seetin. Alford again at Mineral Wells By Diane Polley MINERAL WELLS , TX , NOV. 20 There was an air of expectation at the Mineral W ells hill climb, not about what would happen on the hill but whether the weather would ho ld . But the p redicted cold front held off. Everything went fairly well during the first round. T he best crash award went to Ro bert Alford on a 250cc Am mex. The b ike look ed g ood un til R o b e rt decided to motocross on the to p . He jumped the last step and the bike dumped hi m . On his second try, he improved and took home third for his efforts. Will Alford did something unusual. On his first try in the Exhibition class, he started badly. He realized that the ride was going out of control so he stopped before crashing. Will still took top time with a 12:91 second ride in the 370 class . "Crazy" Tom Hairston brought out his 750cc Triumph and proceded to live up to his nickname. The first round he rode li ke any normal hillclimber and landed first in the 750cc cla ss and second in t h e Exhibition. He had a beautiful start on his second try in the 750cc class. and it looked like he was going to blow the top off the hill. Bu t off to the rig ht side of the h ill arou nd the 200 foot mark there is a hu ge room -sized boulder. This rock occasionally seems to have magnetic power that attracts pasisng bikes , and Tom was its target this time. The bike seemd to leap sideways at the rock for no discernible reason. It looked like he was hurt for a few minutes but the doctor diagnosed it as a bruised leg. ~t;Sul.~ in Resu lts Section. •

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