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/126311
Garth Brow 1151and Skip Aksland stayed this close for the final eight laps of the 25-lap San Jose mile. Aksland edged ahe ad f or br ief pe riods. but Brow had the Mert Lawwill- tuned Harley in f ront at the f lag for his second career AMA Grand National w in. AMA Grand National Championship Camel Pro Series Round four . / row brings down the roof at San Jose By Dale Brown SAN J OSE. CA , MAY 7 Second-year Expert Garth Brow rocketed from the third-row penalty line to take the lead in the late stages of the race and win the American Motorcyclist Association Grand .National Championship/Camel Pro Seri es 25 -lap Mile a t San Jose's Sa nta Cla ra Cou nty Fa irgrou nds. "We're goin' for number one!" said an exubera nt Brow, who made his debut on th e Mert Lawwill' Harley Davidson XR750 qu ite a success . Brow, spo nsored by Wiseco Pistons and Klotz Oi l, will ride the Lawwill Ra cin g Products-eq uipped Harley through th e rest of the season with Lawwill doing the tu ning in West Co ast events a nd Ba be DeMay (who, along with Nick Deliga nis, handled .., .the tunin g of Ken ny Roberts' bikes last year) m anning the wrenches when the circuit moves back east. Fin ish ing second to Brow was d efend ing San Jose mile winner Skip Aksla.nd aboard a PJI Lub n ca n ts/ Lectr on Carbureto rs/ D. A .R.T . Dev. Harley. Aksland led much of the race , but wound up short by about 10 feet at the finish. Third went to Steve Mo rehead (K&K Insurance/KK Supply H -D) who got a very bad sta rt, worked his way through the pack and then re o passe d d efend ing National Champion Jay Sp ringsteen on the start/finish straigh taway to take third by ha lf a bike length. Current Ca m el Pro Ser ies poi nt leader Steve Eklund came to Sa n Jose with an l l-point lead over Spri ngs teen bu t left with on ly a one-point lea d after the battery on his Zanotti Enterprises Harley quit while he was invo lved in a tig ht and exciti ng battle for the lead . He wound up 14th, getting on ly one National point. Aksland moved to within three points of Eklund with his second place finish . Time trials Jay Springsteen pu t his Bill Werner- tuned factory Harley -Davidson into the same qualifying position as the number he ca rries : number one. His 38 .28 ' time was followed by Brow (38 .34) , Eklu nd (38.35), Corky Keener (38 .37) and Skip Aksland (38 .42). Heat races Ted Boody's Stan Storz-tuned factory Harley was first into the first tu rn of the .first heat followed by Aksla nd a nd Sp ringsteen. Aksla nd made his move and took the lead in turn two . Aks land was never headed aft er th a t , but beh in d him was some very interesting raci ng . Boody slowed momentarily on the back straight on lap th ree and found himself beh in d Springsteen , Gary Scott (KK Motorcycle Supply H- D) and Bubba Rush (Edwards Mtr. Co .! J em co H- D) . Scott and Sp ringst een spe nt laps five through nine playing pass and re ' pass with the ene rgy of an ele ctrified to mcat u nt il Scott fina lly' made it stick. Bood y worked his way u p to nip Sp ri ngsteen at the line for third in a blanket finish tha t sent Spri nger to the semi. The second heat started with Randy Goss (Bart Marke l/Wiseco/ Klotz / Vista Sheen/Fu ll House H -D) and Mike Kidd (N ick Deligan is-tuned H - D, sponsor: " I can't announce a nything 'til nex t week .") lead ing the p ack . Kidd was leading the pack a t the end of laJ? on e and kept that position to the finish . Frank Gillespie (Gillespie Ra cing H ·D) held third at th e end of la p on e , but Brow relieved him of it on lap two . Br ow caught Goss on la p four and came to wit hin five feet of Kidd at the flag . Goss held onto third . Steve Morehead a nd Eddie Lawson (Shell Racing Specialties Yam) led t he third heat pack off the line. However, it was Alex Jorgensen (Ron Wood Nor) who led Morehead and Terry Poovey (Bel -Ray H-D) after one lap. Ekl und go t a somewhere-in -the-top-IO start, moved to third by the begin ning of the fifth la p and swept by Morehead and Jorgensen goi ng into turn three of the same lap. Jorgy repassed Eklund two laps la ter and appeared to have the win when the Norton slowed on the last lap , t he victim of a broken ca mshaft. Eklund won , fo llowed by Morehead and Poovev . The fourth heat was a battle be twee n vete rans Corky Keener (factory H -D) and Gene Romero (Ocean Pacific Sunw ear H- D) . Keener took th e lead on the first lap , but Romero , show ing one of his finest dirt track performa nces in some time, passed him on the second lap . Keener 7