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/126305
I ,' III NATIONAL PAPERS Not too long ago, it a ppeared that there would be little or no p rofessional racing in the West during April. Things change fast. First, the second annual running of the Sears Point Al(1A National road races, which ran last year in July , were switched to April. Then along came Aggie and created five Ascot Friday night half miles with point fund and bonus money attached. A major point sh ould be cleared up regarding Sears Point. I n some publications it was listed as April 22 23 . The actual weekend is April 15-16 . The event carries a full load of races ; Novice, Ex pert Lightweight , Expert 750, Superbike Production and sidecar-events for two full days at the course located north of the San Francisco Bay . Even the reports from the Holiday Inn in San Rafael are good . When the motocrossers stayed there late last season , part of the place - the bar and cafe - burned down . The latest official report is that a t least the bar will be back open b y April 15, and with most of the racing crowd tha t's the more im port a nt of the two. Las t year , it was correctly predicted that Kenny Roberts would win the Sears Point event . Even though he sta rted last , he still won. Kenny will not be there th is year, so it leaves this road ra ce - and all the rest on the Camel Pro Series schedule - wid e open. Skip Aksland will return from the John Player Transatlantic Trophy Match Race Series to join point lead er Steve Eklund and Gary Scott for round four in the series , the last National road race until mid-June. West coast fans will get to see Novice Freddie S p e n ce r from Louisiana for the on ly time on pavement. He is a Novice in n ame only and should go undefeated the entire year on pavement. Spencer and many other out of state riders will be heading west early to take in the Friday night half miles at Ascot , starting on April 7. Spen cer , you see , is one of those rare modern day birds that can ride both pavement and dirt in winning style . Gary Scott sho uld b e at Ascot as well . He's off to his best early season National start in years. A new Ascot National half mile foll ows the May 7 San Jose mile on Saturday night , May 13. Aksland and Scott are currently tied for third in the $10 0 ,000 Ca mel gold rush , just seven points behind Jay Springsteen. Jay will sit out the. Sea rs Point event bu t will most certainly be the guy to beat at San Jose and Ascot. Springsteen stroked his wa y a rou nd Ascot in the final event last yea r as he had already wrapped up th e tit le th e night before. But he cannot afford to ease off in the first Nation al half mile of the season , especially with the three privateers - Eklund, Aksland and Scott - off to such a fast start and with all three ex pected to finish in the top 10 at Sears Point. Ekl und was running 11 th at Daytona, a point-paying spot, until late in the ra ce . Sears Po int runs only a 75-mile final. Eklund will certainly score and remain th e point leader heading into San Jose on May 7. Over 100 Junior class .dirt trackers showed up for the pre Daytona dirt track events in Florida. They'd better show up at Ascot as well if they are planning on being invited to participate in the Sa n Jose "J u nior Invitational" on Ma y 7. Ascot points were the basis for being invited last year, and it worked out to where the yellow plate lads put on the best and safest show ever. They earned their way in , instead of ju st picking up the phone or gaining po ints in some unrelated type of racing. Five straight weeks of half mile racing are guaranteed to sh ow wh o ha s th e talent and equ ipment to switch to a mil e and run fast. La st year's record as a N ovice on a 250 j ust doesn 't quite cut it wh en it co mes to running over 100 mph on a mile oval! Not to be overlooked a t both Ascot and San Jose is the battle for " Rookie of th e Year." Right now , California 's Eddie Lawson and Alabama's Lance Jones are th e only two rookies with National points . Ea ch has six heading into San Jose and Ascot. Jones h as switched from Triumph to H -D this season whi le L awson remains on a Yamaha. To d a te , Lawson has outshined J ones who was the top rated Junior half-rniler in the nation in '77. Be twee n April 7 and May 7 , California plays host to five half mi les, one mile and two days of road racing. Not too bad for starters, especially when it looked like a big zero not too long ago. Ascot will also host a half mile event the night before their May 13 National , which may be some type of "qualifier" for the Novice and Junior riders to compete on National night . All information can be had by calling San Jose at 408 /438 -3210 , Sears Poin t at 707/93 8-8448 , Ascot at 213 /323 -5055 . Referee Ch ub Kellam has a new phone nu m ber this season: 213 /537-3430 . Let's go racing! Roxy Rockwood • ~ E S"\}lG tttll'it\)! I; ~~~ Trick as can be, new every week and the price is right; Cycle News is a grea~ buy. ' r- ~- -- - - -- 1111111 I 1 1 I I 1 . " I SUBSCRIBE NOWI MAIL TO : CYCLE NEWS, 2201 Cherry Ave. Long Beach, CA 90801 or call (213) 427-7433 CYCLE NEWS (1 year) $15. 0 50 ISSUES CYCLE NEWS (2 ye8rs) 27. 0 100 ISSUES CYCLE NEWS (3 years).. 37.50 0 150 ISSUES I I I I, 1 1 Thi::::s~:;~::;.e. ~~~.~.~.~:.~r.~ ~~~:~.~i~.~~ . 0 1 Please bill me - - .. - .. '. . . . .. 0 I enclose check or money order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 I 1 1 ~ 1 •, ' I 1 Name (Please print legi bly) Address ~ ' ~P LLlliillill.l...U-L'III Please fill in your complete account num ber and card expiration date below : II --~ Card expires \ to.d on ,10.. ".m .. au".""." TOTAL (togP t h~ Wll't any t l)tl'tet' charges du e !het't!OI"ll Date of this order . 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