Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

twd as .lie' just shoi right between two riders . Eklund had the lead before the first lap was over . with Keener . Tommy and Brad Hurst trailing. Eklund took off from the rest of the pack to lead and win easi ly. Steve had the fastest hea t . averaging 93.185 mph. Alex Jorgensen appea red in the top four on la p three, and was in second to stay by the following lap. The race for final transfer was frantic. Keener and Hurst dueled intensely before Tom Be rry , who'd slipped off the pace. for a couple of laps, rejoined them. The battle went down to the fina l la p with Berry taking third at the line. H urst a nd Keener finished next and were off to t he semi. Berry ~ 1-0 Q) ..c o ... u Junior Invitational . The J u n ior Invita tiona l, sponsored by Concord Yamaha. looked like it was going to be a Wayne Ra iney/ j oh n Wincewicz benefit. The two, Ra in ey from California on a Shell Ya maha and Wincewicz from O regon on a Harley. started ru nn ing away fro m th e pack early. Bu t la t e in the race. R a in ey dropped out with mechanica l tro ubles and W in cewicz was le ft wit h a straightaway's lead . Rod Spencer (Ya m) came from the pena lty line to take third early. On Ra iney's demise. it turned to second, which' he held . Third went down to the wire , with Mike Inderb itzen taking it over Ohio's Tom Duna (H-D) . Buddy Robinson (H -D) and Mike Minnig (Yam) . o • IOpp, page) Garth BrC?w leads the National pack with Steve Morehead 1421. Skip Aksland. Steve Eklund 1111 and Gary Scott 151 trailing . (Abovel The third heat was a free-for·all between Morehead. Bill Schaeffer (96). Lance JonesI23C)~ Terry Poovey (181 and Gary Scott. (Belowl Gene Romero 131 and Scott Pearson slipped by Jim Mertensl10Y) to 1·2 the Trophy Race. Semis T ed Boody got out in front of H a nk Scott in the first semi. with rookie .lim Mertens working his way to third. Scott got around Boody on the next lap but Boody returned the favor a lap later. Still going at it. Scott repassed Boody, but it didn't stick and Ted was in front fo r two more laps. Scott finally got in front for good and opened up a Small lead over Bood y, who stayed in second a nd m a d e the N a t io n a l. Mertens was third in front of a good scrap that was settled at the line when Pee Wee Gleason took fourth over Bob by Sanders and Terry Dorsch. 11 'The struggle for the fina l two spots in th e National was a doozy . Bra d Hurst got ou t in front at the start. with Gary Scott in second. O n the following ' lap, Scott was still second but Scott .Pea rson (H- D West H-D) was lead ing . mAIler Pearson and Scott had tossed the lead back and forth a couple more times, Bill Schaeffer got into the act and took the lead. with Scott second and Pearson third . Brad Hurst got back into the action and grabbed third. Gary Scott got the lead back and Gene Rom ero appeared from nowliere to challenge him for it. It all came down to the flag with Scott winning and Hurst edging Romero through the final turns for second. Trophy Race Mertens . winner of the May Trophy Race. started out in similar fashion as he led Romero and Pearson off the start. His lead lasted for two laps before Pearson edged by. Pearson led for four laps, before Mertens passed him - back , Two laps later Mertens slowed moment a rily and Pearson and Romero took over first and second. Mertens' was passed for third on the 10th lap by Ph il McDonald, whose X R sported an aerodyna mic rear fender simi la r to th e one on Ken ny Roberts' OW road racer. . 1 R omero got his Ocean Pacific / Dan Mu r re ll-sponsored machine p ast Pearson on the last la p to take the win . Pearson. McDona ld and Bu bb a Rush followed him home . Mertens was fifth . I~I National \... -" Sieve Eklund had the po le, and with him on the front line was the only exception to the Milwaukee-V-twin in- the field , Alex Jorgensen's Norton . Skip Aksland was first to the first turn with Mike Kidd and Eklund behind. Jay Springsteen and Steve Morehead quickly joined the top four, \ but Springer slipped back and Garth Brow moved up. Morehead took the lead from Aksland , but the race was stopped when Lance Jones and Tom Berry made unscheduled trips to the haybales in the first two turns. Bot h made the single file restart . On the restart , Morehead a nd Brow went for the lea d . with Bro w ta king it and Morehead pu lling alo ngside frequently, trying to slingshot off the draft. Aksland hel d third ahead of Ek lund , J o r g e n se n , K id d and Springsteen. Brow a nd Morehead continued along out front while Mike Kidd made a move. advancing past Jor~erisen and carrying Springer past as well . By lap 10, though . •the order was Brow. Morhead, Aksland , Kidd , Eklu nd , Gary Scott. Jorgensen . Terry Poovey and Springsteen. Poovey started moving up and soon there was a four -way fight for position between Aksland, Kidd, Eklu nd and Poovey. By the 14-mi1e mark , Poovey had third. A lap later, H an k Scott finally cleared traffic to lie in sixth behind Aksland . A la p later he had passed Skip and Eklund. Eklund stayed with Hank Scott for a lap or so , before falling slightly back. Bu t on the 20th lap, Poovey passed Morehead for second. Hank passed Morehead as well and put a move on Poo vey too, only to h ave to b ack off as the race neared its com pletion. "My cl utch COver - all th e bolts came loose. It po ured oil a ll over my rear tire," said H ank after th e race . Brow too k " Bouncin' Bob " Malley's checkered flag firs t , ~it h More head regaining the ru n ner- up spot. H a nk Scott too k third in front of Poovey , wit h Eklund fift h . Ted Boody worked his way through the pack to 'finish sixth. after d ici ng wit h Ga ry Scott, Aksland and Springer, who finis hed in that order. Kidd was 10t h and La n ce Jones' 11th place fin ish virtually locked up 1978 Nikon ~kie of the Year honors for him . After the race , Morehead commented. " I co uld get alongside Ga rth , bu t 1 couldn't pass hi m . H is motorcycle was faster ." To that . Bro w added , "His m otorcycle was m issing ," indicating that Morehead was having ignition p ro b lems , The race, run on a track that was slicker and rougher than recent mile races at Sa n Jose; set up a probable thriller for the series' finale at Ascot. One point is all th at separates the two conten ders for num ber one. • Results MAIN: r, Garth Brow IH-OI; 2. SI.... M or"'-d (HD); 3. Hank Scoll (H-D); 4. T orry Poovey (H-O); 5. SI.... Eklund IH-D); 6. Ted Bood y (H-D); 7. Gary ScollIH-D); 8. Skip Aksland (H-D); 9. Jay Spri ngst _ IH-O); 10. M ike Kidd (H-O); 11. Leoce JOOM (H-O); 12. Tom Berry (H-D); 13 . Chud< Palmg ren (H-O); 14. Bred Hum (H-D); 15. Alex Jorgens«l (Norl; 16. Randy Goss (H-D). TROPHY RACE: 1. Gene Rom«o (H·D); 2. Scoll P....son (H-O); 3. PIlil McDonald (H-D); 4. Bubbe Rush IH-D); 5. J im Men ens (H-O); 6. Scoll Drake IH-D); 7. Bob sand... (H-D); 8. Terry Conch (H·D); 9. Don Bailey lYam); 10. Ray Beck (H-D). J UNIOR INVlTATlON AL: 1. John Wincewicz IH-OI; 2. Rod Spener lY am); 3. M ike lndet bilzin lYam); 4. Tom Duna IH-O); 5. Buddy Robi nson IH-D); 6. Mike M innig lYam) ; 7. Keith Day (H-D); 8. Brien Thompson lY am}; 9. Danny Perkins lYam); 10. SI eve Monger lYam); 11. W ayne Rainey (Yam); 12. Mi ke Kunsman (H-OI. CA M EL PRO SERIES POINT STAN DING: 1. Jay Springst_ 127 2. SIeve Eklund (275); 3. Honk Scoll 6); 1200) 4. Ted Boody (185); 5. Garth Brow 11 58); 6. SI eve ; Moreheod 11 43); 7. Gary 1136); 8. Corky Keener 1111t; 9. M;keKidd t102) ; 9. Skip AksIend 11 02) . seee 7

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