Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- ------_. Scott Gillman topped the Open Pros against a snowy backdrop. Coors Trans-AME MX Series - Round eight Denton, Moates, Gillman best at Bishop By Lee Taylor Photos by Greg Taylor BISHOP. CA . MAY 28 Some of the top western United States Pros met at Bishop Sunday for the final race in the Coors Trans-AME Motocross Series. In addition to the adversaries they'd come to know and respect over the past two months, the rac ers found themselves battling the heat ove r a challenging track , laid up against the side of a mountain . 18 Ga ry Den ton , rid ing a Suzuki for Suzu ki West , took hom e to p mon ey for th e 125cc Pros. He had t he flu a ll week a nd didn't expect to do well, but in spite of the od ds against hi m he tall ied a 1-2 ride over two 45·mi nute rnotos. Chappy Blose , fro m Phoe nix , AZ, took home the series class cha m pionship with over 1700 poin ts by co rning 10 Cal ifornia every week 10 race . At the start of the first 125cc Pro Gary Denton found John O'M a ra out in front . With Tim Locey on his ta il. Denton hus tled and moved into the lead . Don Draz had his ha nds full in fourth with Cl iff Lett , fig hting for third in series poi nts, on his tail. Dent on had said ea rlier tha t he wou ld save hi mself for the 25 0cc race , but t here was no sign of it as he pulled away fro m the pack . Chappy Blose , who sta rted off dead las t, wa\ burning up the track a nd moved in to sixt h , engaging in a neck -and -neck duel with Le tt. Ron T u rner had , meanwh ile , taken ov~ r fourth and was hounding Locey. W ith three Suzukis in .front of him T u rn er's Yam aha was WFO a nd chargi ng, a nd soon eased by Locey. Bobb yJones too k over fou rth , righ t on Turner's ta il. m oto , Ma rt y Moates (Han) scattered a ll th e ca rds in th e 250cc Pro series . W ith less tha n a 300 -point spa n betwee n Darrell Shultz a nd Ga ry Dent on for t he title , Moa tes cleaned up with backto -back wins . Shultz, wh o was a t th e first 500cc N ati onal in Texas, fou nd his titl e protect ed , but Denton sti ll ended with a strong second in point s as well as seco nd overall for t he da v. Sco tt Gillm an rode int o the -':inn er's circle for th e 500 cc Pros, ta kin g a superb pair of ba ck -to -ha ck wins. Shultz ba rely held thi s titl e for the series, as Gillm a n cu t his lead to on ly II po int s. Bot h Denton a nd O 'Mara were ou t on th eir own in first and second , but T u rn er b roke loose a nd took over the n umber two spot. Blose cont inued to b litz his way th rou gh the sa nd a nd ... . ~ ~ 4. .. around the sagebrush like a jack rabbit , and with O'Mara out of the race with mechanicals, Jones was left 10 fight off Chappy for third . By mote's end , Jones found himself set back in fourt h. Locey a nd Pat Hubbs were right on top of him . Jones grabbed th e lead th e second time ou t with Denton pushing hard. Denton took command as Blose moved into th ird. Marty Moates, who DNF his first mota , was a fter Blose , roosting through eve ry turn in fourth . Bill Keese held fifth with Lett right behind , followed by Mark Barnes, Ga ry Scheidler a nd Turner. Blose took over th e lead and left a battle behind between Jones and Moates. Side-by-side they flew with Moates using every line to finally get around and set out after Denton. A beautiful duel was going down between Keese and Scheidler, as Ga ry held sixth to the end of th e moto, Moates once more ran int o trouble and scored another DNF. Coming in for the end of the moto, Lett and Turner continued their duel for fourth with Turner holding' firm. When the checkered flag waved, Blose crossed over first , Denton second and Jones third . Denton took the victory with Blose second overall and third overall went to Turner. At the start of the first 250cc Pro mota , Gary Denton jumped in to the lead , out to upset Shultz's series lead. Marty Moates took over and Denton found himself fight ing off Tim Locey in third and Ernie Hendricks in fourth . Running fifth was Rob O'Rourk e , rid ing his first Pro race. Some heavy action developed between Locey and Kenny Zahrt , both having a crack a t second in the series . Another battle was raging between Paul Lane arid Tracy Oswell for fourth . Currently third in the po ints race , Oswell finall y managed to pass Lane. . Oswell moved right on top of Locey, with Bob Kline in fifth. Locey ran into trouble when h is wheel clipped a truck parked close to th e tra ck as he went high to the ou tside of a berm , throwing him back into th e m iddle of th e track where he was centerpunched and had to retire. With six minutes left in the race', Denton mov ed back into third and was fighting off Oswell as Moates was way out in front with an unbelievable lead. Coming in for th e ch eckered flag , Moates flew across for th e mota win , Turner held seco nd a nd Denton finis hed th ird . . T he seco nd time aro u nd, Moates once more rook co nt ro l wit h a wild b attle for seco nd raging a mo ng Zahrt , Kline a nd Denton . Klin e took over seco nd as Moa tes wal ked away with the ra ce. Zahrt and Den ton cont inued th eir battle for th ird as Denton snatch ed it and set ou t aft er Kline, but both Denton and Kline went down sim u ltaneously. As the checkered flag waved th em home , Moates crossed over to a pair of wins and th e overall. Zahrt took secon d for th e m ot o . Denton held on 10 th ird for second overall and th ird overall wen t to Bill O velette for a 4-6 rid e . Scott Gillman sta rted off th e first 500 cc Pro mota with th e lead, holding Ru ss Norton's Can-Am to second. Running t hird a fter a long la y off from racing was Gr eg Torgerson . On his new Yamaha, Torgerson fought off Tracy Oswell. A b attle for fifth was go ing do wn bet ween Ru sty Hunt and Jon Miller , foll owed closely by Tom Claire a nd An gelo Cofino . Sherman Schnell er h ad th e rid e of the d ay. His Suzuk i broke in practice a nd he bo rrowed it frie nd 's Maic o for the ra ce . Wit h a new, qu ite different b ike he moved up through the pack ••'. • •• fCo.ntf,!~ed to pag~ ~5)

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