Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126297
Miss Camel Pro Lynn Griffis is flanked by short track runner-up Ja y Spri ngsteen nefti an d w inner Steve Eklun d. MA Gra'nd Nat'IChampionship/Camel Pro Series- Round two Eklund scores again By Jack Mangus HOUSTON, TX, FEB. 4 . Steve Eklund became the first racer to win both ;p1gh ts of the Houston twin bill by scoring a de~cisive victory in Saturday nigh t' s short track featu re on his Zanotti Enterprises Yamaha. J! ·resh off his Friday night TT lwin , the San Jose, California resi(lent posted second fastest time t. u a lif . d h d. "m8 I ymg a~ ~ en turne In the f~test heat WIn In the second. of tili..e SIX heats run: He led de~endlng ( ~ ~A Grand National Champion Jay .Sp ringsteen and Texan Terry Poovey U to the winner's circle. !1 .Time trials '''T was Findley, Ohio's Hank Scott it who posted fast time around the Harold Murrell-prepared oval aboard a 8 Red Line Engineering-sponsored KTM . Scott's time ",as 14.68 seconds; .lie was followed by Eklund's 14.87. Rounding out the top 10 were Rick IH ocking , Jay Springsteen, Skip ' Aksla nd , Garth Brow, Steve Morehead, Tim Cartwright, Mike Caves and Mike Kidd. Cut-off time cwas 15.44; the 60th and last qualifier ~as Steve Elo. ~ 'l 1:J~at races '{h Fast qualifier Hank Scott too k the win in the first heat, but was pressured over the last few laps by rookie Expert Lance Jones, who was riding a Suref:Fire.sponsored , Woody Kyle prepared IHarley-Davidson. Scott led every lap , {b ut Jones had to battle with Steve Morehead. Morehead, who was riding K&K Insurance-sponsored Yamaha , diced with the young Alabaman over the first half of the 10-lap race ~nd then had to hold off hard charging Harley factory rider Ted Boody over the last couple of laps. But it was still Scott and Jones advancing to the National with finishers three through six to semis . Heat two was all Eklund's from the flash of the new starting system (a single green light). Behind Eklund, a battl~ royale took place. over . the opening laps between Ohioan Ricky Cat;npbell . and Oklahoman ~obert Sm~th. WI~h ~Iund long g~me It was Smith winning ~he dice o.ver Campbell. A . dIStance. behind Campbell came TIm Cartwright, who had finally gotten the best of Frank Word aft~r a race-long duel. , The third 10-lapper p~uced three false st.arts, and wh~n It was finally green-lighted only. MIke Caves (on the front row by himself) and Corky Keener (alone on the second row) started from their assigned places everyone else was on a penalty line. Jimmy Mayo, Jake Arnold and former Houston winner Mike Gerald started from a second penalty line . Caves took advantage of his solo front row start and easily won t he event aboard an Ossa Corporation. sponsored Ossa. Keener and his factory Harley-Davidson were nipped for second and an advancement to the National by Rick Hocking. Hoc king, aboard a Yamaha, and Keener swapped the runnerup position several times during the event. Guy McClure andJimmy Mayo both went down on the fifth' lap. McClure was carried out on a stretcher, but reportedly was not seriously injured. Heat four saw Mike Kidd and his Hi -Point Racing Products-sponsored Penton get a good start to lead the first lap until two- time National Champion Jay Springsteen took the lead for good on the second lap. Kidd's race came to a stop on the fourth lap when his engine apparently tied up . When Kidd retired , Springsteen and his factory Harley were home free, but the runnerup spot was up for grabs between former National Champ Gary Scott and Bruce Hanlon until the last ·lap. Scott and his Evel Knievel-sponsored Ossa got his ticket to the National as Hanlon almost high-sided coming out of tum two. The slip had him semi bound. Texan Terry Poovey rode his Bultaco Intemational/Bel-Ray/Bultaco Sales of Dallas Bultaco to an easy win in the fifth heat after getting by Skip Aksland. Aksland scored an easy second aboard his Dart Develo pmentl PJ-l Lubricants-sponsored Yamaha. Behind the front runners, action was heavies t in the ba ttle for thi rd with Oklahoman Bret Bradd y taking that position a good distance behind Poovey . and Aksland. Veteran Chuck Palmgren had unloaded in number two on the fourth 'lap and got back up to get in som e riding time aboard his Dan Gurney. sponsored Kawasaki. He was lapped by both Poo vey and Aksland. The final heat, the sixth, saw the Shell Racing Specialties Yamaha of rookie Expert Ed die Lawson go byebye from the stan wit h Texan Steve Gulledge holding down second over the first three laps. Gulledge was .d rop ped back by first Steve Elo , who finished second on his Niles Cyclesponsored Yamaha, and then by third place finisher Garth Brow. Brow's list of sponsors filled a book - Klotz Pistonsl AMFProducts/ Wiseco Harley-Davidson. Gulledge missed out on a semi ride when he dropped his Gary DeGeorge & Wife-sponsored Bultaco in the third tum on the final lap. Semis With only the winners of the two semis advancing to the National, hard riding was guaranteed. Ted Boody led off the line in the first semi , but the officials weren't happy with the way the field got going, and a restart was called. It was Ricky Campbell who pulled the holeshot from his pole position on the restart with Boody boxed-in back in the pack. Campbell's start and nine-lap lead was washed down the drain when fellow Ohioa n Steve Morehead nipped Campbell at the finish line. Both riders came back around to find out who'd won the "photo finish ," and it was Morehead thrusting a fist into the ai r as Cam pbell beat his gas tank. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were never clearer . The second semi seem ed destined never to be run as one false sta rt after another took place until half the field was back on the penalty line . When a good start finally was pulled off, it was Bret Braddy out in front (Continued to pag e 8) 7