Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

was given in the layout to proVlSlOns for two and sometimes t hree lines to choose from in many sectins. J im Pomeroy was one of the riders who voiced an objection. "I like the wide open spaces." Promoter Mike Goodwin int roduced a novel approach in the Atlanta event by • adding an individual sponsor's name to the qualifying , semis , consolation and final event. In order , the sponsor list read : Scott USA , BelRay Lubricants , WX IA ·TV , Z· 93 Radio, Goodyear, Honda , Stadium Hotel and finally Mr. PiBB. Qualifying motos Seattle . Supercross winner Jimmy Ellis started the evening mov ing with a holes hot in the first qualifying moto _that left all but Honda teammate Steve Wise in the dust. As the field swooped into turn one, a four-rider crash that included Mike Bell and Mickey Kessler, spread out the action. Ellis quickly found that he had J im m y Weinert for company, and the pair spent lap one running high a nd low lines t hrough the berms on the serpentine nine -turn torture test. Ellis bobbled momentarily and Weinert shot past , a green streak in a field of red , whi te and bl ue as Ellis, Warren Reid and Steve Wise formed a flying wedge. Back in the pack, Mike Bell was cutting through traffic , looking for one of the five transfer sp ~ts with determination. Privateer Suzuki rider Mark Robillard was also on the move. Although racing was fierce through the field , the center of attention was the fight for the lead between Weinert and Ellis . By lap six of the Ifl-Iap event , the pair were wheel-to-wheel in some part of the course. Ellis sought to pass again and again, but Wernert held . On the white flag lap the pair flew over the finish line jump side by side with the edge upon landing to Weinert . Ellis tried inside and outs ide lines before the pair hit the roller coaster back stretch a nd then fell in behind Weinert's faster line through the ro ugh st uff. W e ine rt 's engine seized and Ellis moved past. With Weinert out, Reid an d Wise moved to second a nd third with Bell and Ro billa rd coming up to ta ke the final transfer spots. "Hey," said Weinert la ter , " be sure you tell everyone that the Jammer is back, I'm looki ng good and I' m going to be mea n at Daytona ." Marty Tripes got a second chance to show the frozen Atlanta fans his starting technique as the gate p artially hung up on the initial start of moto two and brought out the red flag. It didn't seem to matter much. Tripes blitzed the field so bad that he had an almost 10·second lead after only five laps. Behind Tripes the racing heated up . im Pome ro y rolled his factory Hon d a over , around and through the competition to lay claim to second, dispatching R ich Eierstedt to third. Two, laps later , Maico-rnounted Terry Cla ~k, with Danny LaPorte tagging along, dropped Eiersred to fifth . LaPorte, not content with fourth, then urged his Team Suzuki mount past lark for third. Don Kud akski's debut as Harleyavidso n's sole factory -sponsored rider al"e to an abrupt end when engine rob lems stopped " Killer" inthe early aps Pryvateer Greg Theiss put his Su zu ki quarely in the lead position as the hird qua lifier got u nderway. O nce gain the starting gate hung up , but here was no restart. The next time ro und it was Gaylon Mosier putting awasaki's co lors out front . The third ap.saw another leader, Bob Hannah, nd Hannah stayed t here for good. ex Staten, on the Bassett Racing Products-sponso red Yamaha, led the battle for second wit h Stackable and Mosier swa pping posit ions behi nd . Theiss ha d dropped to fifth. Gary J ones was putting the Ammex through its paces showing Yamaha teamster Brae Glover what little experience can do. The final three laps had the crowd on their feet as Mosier suddenly gobbled up and spit out Staten and then set out to do the same to Hannah . Mosier almost pulled it off. He was three lengths short when the checkers waved. In the final qualifier, it appeared that Kent Howert on didn't want to be bothered with the rest of the competition so he split at the drop of the gate and never looked back. Mark Ba rn e tt , Howerton's Suzuki teammate had the same idea. Frank Stacy was the KTM sandwich filling between the leading Suzukis and double Honda trouble in the form of Tommy Croft and Marty Smith. Smith tired of the game in the late laps and zapped Croft and then Stacy to cruise ho me in third . Tony DiStefano, si~th on the opening lap, tangled with another rider and spent the rest of the race working his way to 12th. Semis Mickey Boone, the tobacco chewing "Carolina Hillbilly," ousted Marty Moates in a Suzuki battle for the win in the Goodyear semi. Moates ran his LOP-sponsored mount in the lead for the opening five laps with Boone then taking over for the final five on his "B Team" Suzuki mount. The pressure remained on throughout the race where only two riders would transfer to the final. Lurking close behind were Maico riders Sam Dayton , John Calathes and Den ny Schwartz wa iting for someone to make a mistake. When the checkered flag fell on the Honda semi. it was Ga ry Semics and R ick Burgett wit h tickets to the final leaving Tony DiStefano, Broc Glover and Ken ny Zahrt waiting at the station. In ' t he cl osing la ps DiS te fa n o continuously challenged Burge tt for second spot, but co uld not make any of his passes stick. O n t he final la p both Burgett and DiStefa no .m a de a run on the Can -Am of Semics only to co me u p short. Consolation A battle of National Champions ' ensued in the Stadium Hotel consolation race, Only one transfer spot was open and both 125cc Champ Brae Glover and 250cc C ha m p Tony DiStefano were determined to get it. DiStefa no grabbed the lead at the start only to have Glover steal it on lap two . Denny Schwartz then moved up to make it a three rider contest. On lap five. DiStefano bobbled and went down as he was challenging for the led . He was up quickly, but Glover had all he needed to scoot to the win and the final. Final Riders who weren't preoccupied with psyching themselves up for the start or deciding on just which line was the right one to get them through the first turn, spent their time keeping themselves warm. The gate dropped and R ic h Eierstedt and Danny LaPorte charged away fro m t he starting gate trailed by a blaze of co lor and ea r sp litting noise. As the pack squeezed together to funnel into turn one , and then two, four riders tangled and went down. A night that was relatively free of cr ash..s produced one that took out Bob Hannah. J im m y Ellis . Rick Burgeli . Rex Staten and Gaylon Mosier. Hannah and Bu rgett remounted at the back ,of the pack follo wed by Ellis and Broe Glo v er leads Tony D in their do-or-die Consy battle. Glover won, Staten as Mosier tried feveri shly to repair a stretched throttle cable. Suddenly, half a lap behind , Marty Smith blasted off the starting line. "How can you explain it ," Marty commented later. " I was in the bathroom when the gate dropped. It was just a dumb mistake ." By the end of the event , Smith had worked his way to 14th. By the end of la pone, Steve Stackable had bulled his way past La Porte and into second with Mickey Boone, Gary Semis, Marty Tripes, Kent Howerton, Mike Bell, Marty Moates, J im Pomeroy, Tommy Croft, Steve Wise and the rest of the field st ru ng o ut behind le a d e r R ic h Eierstedt. The crash victims, including Mosier were all u nderway. O n lap three Mosier stopped in the mecha nic's area for help with the throttle cab le, which was hanging the throttle wide open in off-again , on again spurts. One la p later Stackable caught his leg in a ho le and twisted his knee. He immediately dropped off th e pace and rode the rest of the race in pain . Tripes was on the move from lap two on and by lap five moved himself into thi rd place behind Boone while Eiersredt continued to be the master of the track. Bob Hannah was also truckin' hard to make up for lost ground with Rex Staten glued to his rear as the pair danced through slower traffic. "I'Il have to get th em at Daytona," said Staten later. I've got a secret weapon th is yea r . His name is Marty Smith. He 's my tuner. Honest , his name really is Marty Smith. " Rick Burgett, in his haste to make up for the first turn pileup , got another worm's eye view of the front straight on lap six. Mark Barne tt tried the same th ing a few la ps later and , in th e clo sing la ps, Bu rgett did an encore . On aboui lap eig ht, Pomeroy and Steve Wise tangled and Pomero y came away with a bent shifter which slowed him considerably. Tripes continued to close th e gap between himself and LaPorte as the pair crept closer to Eierstedt , Boone, Howerton , Bell and Sernics were being tailed . by Croft , Wise, Reid and Glover as the remainder of the 25· rider field played snake. Eierstedt really began to feel the pressure on lap 10 'as Tripes swooped past LaPorte in a two line berm. Tripes then gobbled up what ground remained between himself and Eiersredt and began to pressure the Can -Am rider relentlessly. On the next go around the pair tested each other with Eierstedt continually closing the door to Tripes's advance. But Tripes, in his eighth year of Supercross competition, called on experience and daring to out-gas Eierstedt on the bone jarring whoop-de-doe section. Once passed , Eierstedt seemed to lose concentration . Howerton, who had tak en advantage of the raging battle to move closer to the front three moved past La Port e and Eierstedt. LaPorte, now plagued with a sticking carb floa t , slowed; allowing Eierstedt to move back to third. Almost forgotten in the intensity of the war being waged in the first four positions were Mike Bell and Tommy Croft who waged their own private battle for fifth with occasional challenges from Mickey Boone. Tripes was not to be denied victory in the final four laps although Howerton made a sincere effort to reel in the fleet Honda rider. In the winner's ceremonies at whi ch Ellis was awarded a $250 check in the Toyota Tower competition for the longest jump of the evening, "Ca pta in Cobalt," added his name to the list of riders who will be looking to make up for lost time at Da ytona . Rou nd three should be one helluva event. • Results FINAL: 1. Marty Tripes (Hon). 2. Kent Howerton (Suzl. 3. Rich Eierstedt (C·AI. 4. Danny laPorte (Suzl. 5. Mike Bell (Yaml. 6. Tommy Croft (Hon). 7. Mickey Boone ISuzl. 8. Warren Reid {Honl. 9. Gary Semics (CAl. 10. Steve Wise IHonl. 11. Terry Clark IMa;). 12. Bob Hannah lYaml . 13. Rex Staten (Yaml . 14. Marty Smith (Hon). 15. Broc Glover (Yaml. 16. Jim Pomeroy (Honl. 17. Mark Robillard ISuzl. 18. Rick Burgett (Yam). 19. Marty M oates (Suli. 20. Greg Theiss (Hon). 21. Gaylon Mosier (Kawl . 22. Jimmv Ellis (Hon). 23. Mark Barnen (Sull. 24. Steve Stackable (Kaw). 25. Frank Stacy IKTMI. CONSOLATION 1. Brcc Glover IVaml. 2. Tony ' : DiStefano ISUl). 3. Denny Sw artz (Mail. 4. Tod Perkins (Yaml. 5. Rick Anderson IHusl. 6. Robert Shoup (Suzl. 7. Bob Rutter (SUl lo8. Tony Summe y (Husl. 9. Thomas Cumby IVaml. 9. Thomas Cumby IVaml. 10. Barry Higgins (Mai). 11. Dennis Brand (Mail. 12. Ted Bige'ow. 13. Jonn Ayers IMaij. 14. Jonn Borders ISuz). 15. Fred Vertucci ISuz). 16. Danny Weir (Kawl. 7

• Cover