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/126309
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.. Western hotline Rainey and Haney: eighfin a row By Maureen Lee GARDENA , CA , APR . 2 1 J unior Wayne Rainey and Novice Jeff Haney won their seventh and eig hth consecutive races each on Friday night, as the AMA sent a stern telegram to Ascot stating they mu st use haybales on th e turns (Ascot ma nagement now wonders what th ey have been using th ese yea rs if it isn't ha y) and a new rul e tha t some of th e officials didn't even know had been put through. - This rule, which was put th rough by exec ut ive vote and is not in the current rule book , allows Novices who ha ve been riding two years and who didn't get their 40 points by the end of last season to transfer to Junior when they finally do get them, during the season. So if th e Novice ranks st art diminishing a bit and th e Juniors are gett ing fatter , you'll know why. All vying for an invita tion to the San Jose mile, th er e were hordes of Juniors on hand . Wa yne Rainey and Rod Spencer shared th e fastest time of 2:S.01 while Alex J orgen sen was the quickest Expert at 22 .54 . First Junior heat went to Charlie Summers, who out rod e Rod Spencer . Summers now has top equipment under him and he'll be worth watching; he's got real style . Rainey, followed in by Mike Kunsman , took direct transfer as did Rod Rob inson and. Rick DeLacy. The last Junior heat went to Ra y Dugan with Sal Hoffman in second, but right behind Brad Holt and Keith Day had the best action going for transfers to the semi . With only two spots left ,. the semi was wooly. John Wincewicz got out front and was so determined to stay there that on one lap he arrived at tum four way too fast and gave everyone, including himself, a thrill getting through it. Brad Holt managed to hold off Mike Inderbitzen for second. So anxious was everyone to get going for the main that several riders had troubles getting their bikes started . Ra iney blasted them into tum one with Summers settled comfortably in second. Rainey was pulling away every lap . Rod Spencer got into third , getting by Wincewicz and Brad Holt. The full head of steam they all had came to an abrupt halt when Ra y Dugan didn't make it through turn four. He clipped the wall while his bike lay on the track spinning in place like a top , and Dugan got a ride in the ambulance. .T he Experts didn't get their heats off in real sharp fashion . First heat the red flag came out promptly when two were left on the line. On the restart as the 'pack exited turn two it was Alex Jorgensen booming out first and proceeding to dust t he field . lBo b Saunders, famous for his starts, gave the fans a thrill when he came off th e line only to have a false start situation happen right in front of him , requiring .some really fancy stuff to a'void impact. The starter got them all settled down again and Sanders was off first , but coming down the back chute it was Scott Pearson , Marty Halkola and Sander s. Sanders took a high groove, and by going way up to the hay . John Cenna i, riding the ori ginal of th e Ron W oods Nortons, slipped through on th e low groove. he Expert sem i had some jazz y rid ing by rook ie Rick Graham , who by bei ng very br ave took the win awa y from Gary Scott. a t th e last mom ent. Eddie Lawson had led th e race into the South turn but by the end of la p one Ga ry was leading , th en Lawson a nd Graham . Rick got by Lawson and th en went after Ga ry , who look ed a bit off form , riding Harley lines through the turns on a Triumph that doe sn 't have Harley low torque . Graham decided he could get by Scott as the white flag showed; he tried th e ou tside groove around turns one and two and when that didn't work and he found himself out against the wall in a hurry, he dove down for th e inside at four and zapped Gary for the win with riding that makes flat tracking th e sport it is. In the main , Berry came off the line like he'd been shoved forward , perfectly in tune with the starter, but those Norton ponies were all firmly on th e ground and Jorgy swept into the lead down the back chute and was never really threatened . Jim Mertens had second for a while then Tom Ber ry took it away , and Jim dropped back one more place as Eddie Lawson appeared . Lawson provided lots of action for the stands with his progress up through the pack. For a lap or so, he , Scott and Rick Graham had a th ing going, but Eddie pulled away from both of them. John Gennai, who is still getting th e Norton dialed in, pulled in as the handling wasn 't quite right yet , and then "barn." . Up in the North tu rn where Halkola, Scott and Myers were coming around, the two Triumphs got into a shunt and both riders went down . They both got shook up but didn't require too much assistance and the race went on . Mention must be made of the new Ascot flag crew, they are truly superior , all seasoned racers and members of the Gripsters M.C. The racers now have many people on the turns who truly know what they are doing and enough of them to do things right when falls occur. So, Jorgensen took the win with Berry second while Lawson had barely held off a fast Jim Mertens on the last lap. The Novices had their program too . The heats went fairly uneventful. Rob Selvy won the first and fastest heat with Dylan Ne ihart second . Jeff Haney was way out front in the second heat which ended with no time when Bob Cunnington parted from his Hodaka , going down the track in a ser ies of reverse twist somersaults with everyone managing to miss it , including Kim Jorgensen in the other transfer spot. Third heat action saw Chris Polson get out front of Joe Steffan after a good race which included J:lYLewis until it appeared Jay's Suzuki went through a partial seizure, then loosened up again after giving Jay a thrill he didn't need . The fourth heat bore a warning for all who think starters can be played with as one rider got h imself disqualified for unacceptable behavior on the line. Rod Sullivan and Jeff Allison came in one-two almost side by side at the flag. Mike DeLacy and Steve Polson got their spots in the back row of the main from the semi , but right from the start it was top Novice Jeff Haney out front, then Rod Sullivan with Kim Jorgensen third. Dylan Neihart was moving up, passed Mike DeLacy down the front stra igh t, then took Rob Selvy's third spot awa y. As the race end ed Jo rgensen was almost side by side with Selvy but ha d to sett le for fifth instead of fourt h. Results in Results Sect ion . 25 MILE NATIONAL MAY~1978 SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS fA· ,. . . r.- THE BIG 81KES ARE COMING! And along with the American Motorcycle Assoc iation's high speed two wheelers-the circuit's top and toughest riders . The record breakers. The big boys . See 'em eat up the track while they compete for cycling's heavy prize money. You'll want to catch all the action from the first flag on. So come on out-early! TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets available at Bob Barkhimer Associates , Inc . ,t4 Camp Evers Lane, Scotts Valley , Cal. 95066 . Phone : (408) 438-3210. . Discoveroneofa Idnd. camel Filters and Motorcycle Radng. I ;CAMEL f . ~ e I 911AJ AE"'~OlOS lo e ACCOCO \9 T EeA EL POSE IES 18 mg. "ta", 1.2 mg. niCtltine av. per cigarette. FTC Report A G'n U. Warning : The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. 23