Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Defending U.S. Open Speedway Champion Bobby Schwartz (abovel fell in the final heat. letting New York's Norm Robinson (top right! take the 78 title. Co~sisfency snares Robinson U.S « .Open Speedway . Championship By Dave Henderson Photos by Dave Tinney OWEGO , N .Y" AUG . 5·6 Calm amid ' the bedlam surrounding him , "Stormin" Norm Robinson slowly wiped per.spiration from hi~ lined, ruddy faee and re-. fleeted on the evening's racing, ''I'm tired . Tonight took more out of m e than d f r fe. " . d R 0 biIn any ay 0 ~y. I e. sa l son aft er h is victory in the U:S. Open Speedway Championships at C ha m pio n Speed way . "Sevent een yea~s is a long tim e in raci ng and tonight I felt every minute of it. I' m , 34 dra ined ," The 33 -year·old motorcycle sa lesm a n fro m tin y H ilton , N .Y" clin - ched th e cha m pionshi p by winn ing th e fina l heat of th e eveni ng as defend in g ch am pion Bob by Sch wartz of Sa nta Barbara. CA . tell . It was Rob inson 's only win in t he fo~r -heal . fou r . ~id e r fin a ls. He .h ad fint shed sec.ond In all .three prevIou s heat s, earning two pOints for eac h a nd come in to th e fin al lied with Schwartz, who had won th e first a nd third . Robi nson got th e ju m p at the sta rt, but it was q uic kly red -flagged when Schwartz a nd Rick Stone fell whi le jockeying for th e sa me li ne int o th e fir st turn . Stone was thrown clear , b ut h is out -of-cont ro l Jawa sna rled like a 180·pound buzz saw into the fa llen Schwartz's back . Aft er 10 m inutes of work to ge t Schwartz's sense a nd his bike in wor king or de r . the heat was res ta rted , Robinson agai n go t t he ju m p from th e pole posit ion , - and Schw artz q uick ly fou nd himself rubb ing leather with Hank Bassett for posit ion in th e seco nd turn , Schwartz later refused 10 say if he was bumped a t that point, but he did briefly sail over th e infi eld pip e - immediately disqualifyin g him self. Although his bid was technically over , the baby-faced California sen sa tion con tinued racing ' and caught Robinson in th e th ird tu rn of th e third la p. They ran as a brace into the fourth turn when their bik es touched . Schwartz lost cont ro l. wobbled across th e track and spun into the outsid e wall. Robinson fou ght to sta y upright , and sp ri nted toward t he biggest moment of his career, drawing a dea fen ing roar from the partisan cro wd of over 3.000 . "Yea h , we touched , but it was no big th ing ," said Schwartz , who is gracious and poised beyond his 21 yea rs , " He got bumped and kept it up , I got bumped and fell. That's ra cing a nd you ' ve g~t to accept it. Before th e afternoon' s semi fin a l program . Robinson admitted that th e weekend -long rain would not hel p his cha nc es. " Don' t think it's not do ing a little d ance on m y head right now ," sai d Rob inson , eyeing the pregnant skies. " I like it d ry a rid hard , and th e you nge r guys ca n throw the bik es a ro u nd on th e slippery stu ff a littl e better. " But whil e sa voring his moment of glory seven hours lat er , Rob inson . th ought differently. "Speedway is all in you r pysch e being a ble 10 get you r head goin g in th e right d ir ection, " said Rob inson a fterw ard , "T he track bothered me a lit tle b it at first , but when you' re run nin g this much (fin a lists ran 12 heats over two d ays) it all comes down to psyche. We all know how to make the bikes go around fast or we wouldn't be - here. "T ha I'S almost second nature . bu t it all comes down 10 beating th o other guy ," said Rob inson , who hadwon th e 1976 Eastern Speedway Champion , shi ps a t the tra ck - predecessor 10 th e U.S . Open - a nd was fou rt h in last yea r's ina ugu ra l Open: Schwartz ra n away with the first hea t of th e fin als, with Rob inson . in he riting seco n d place as th e t rack's regular-season point leader, H ank Bassett of Br ia rcliff Manor , N .Y " fell on th e thi rd lap . Bassett , who fini shed second 10 Schwartz in last yea r's Open: blew to victory in the second heat , whil eSchwartz retired after three laps with mechanical problems in his makesh ift Jawa. Schwartz had the engine flown in from San Francisco and bolted onto a frame prepared by an Allentown ,PA. • shop , " I don't.know wh a't it was - probably the magneto - but it just went pop ," said Schwartz. who used seven different mounts in the two -day bik ekilling .·77 Open. " O u tsid e of losing points in that heat , it really didn't make much difference, You can adjust them to ride all about the same, " He won the third heat on a Jawa borrowed from Oklahoman john. Stasiefski. Sch wartz, who had to leave his own bikes home because he flew here a fter racing at Costa Mesa . CA . on Friday night , had used only the kit bike up to that point - and had won seven of hIS eight elimination and semifinal heats, Robinson was also 7 for 8 , while Stone, from West Cornwall, Conn. , and Bassett were both perfect 8-for8's. Schwart z, who earns over $1 .500 per month in a ppea ra nce money alone in California , is seco nd only to Mike Bast in th e Harold Oxley-p romoted Costa Mesa - San Bernadino - Ascot Speed way circ uit. H e also flies to San Francisco each week for AMA competition . "The only differen ce I can see bet ween you gu ys a nd California riders is experience ," said Schwartz, who freely . offered advice to local riders, " I run five nights per week on five different track surfaces and against a different group every night. " Robinson took home $2 .500 for his victory while Schwartz earned $1.700 includ ing his $500 appearance money as defending champion. Bassett won • $ I ,000 and Stone $800 . Results u.s. Open Chompionahip: 1. No

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