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/126334
By Dale Brown Photos by Felix Adamo GARDENA . CA . SEPT. 30 The history books will show that Jay Springsteen won the 1978 AMA Grand National Champion'ship Camel Pro Series by five points, 296-291, but it was actually by 20 feet as Springer took the final event of the series , the Ascot half mile, by mere bikelengths over title contender Steve Eklund 6 . . It ~as a rousmg show attended by a standing-room only crowd of 10,233 tha t ended a fine season . Both Springer and Eklund won their heat rac~s to advance. to . the National. Springsteen ran third m the early laps ?f the 20 ·lap event.. took over .the lead Just pas.t the mldw~y pomt ~nd ~roug?t It home for his thlrd :str~lght titl e wm . The leader for the first half of th e event was Texan Terry Poovey. who ended up third on th e Bel-Ra y/Fox Dist. /Ted Poovey Harley·Davidson . . Lock ing up a third place in th e point standings with 209 points was Hank Scott, who rode the race wit h the flu and finished sixth . Springsteen 's tea mm a te on the factory Harley team . Ted Bood y was fourth in t he standings with 187. _ For Springsteen's tuner Bill Werner . it was his fourth straight yea r of tuning National Championship bikes . Asked his secret he replied " I've got a helluva rider " ' After the ~ace. Springsteen was up to his elbows in autographs in the pits. Did he know where Eklund was during th e race? " I turned around to see him when he was behind Poovey and 1 knew he was comingt" Time trials The 2I -second bracket never had been hit in Ascot's 20 ·year history, but Garth Brow did it . His 21.99-second tour around Ascot's short half mile earned him fast qualifying honors as well as the track record. Hank Scott ( P a t ric k Ra cing H-D ) qual ified second -fastest at ~2 .17 , followed by Sp r ingsteen (2 2. 20). Gary Scott (22.33) , Poovey (22.38) , Triumphmounted John Hateley (22.44) a nd Ted Boody (22. 44) . ,Alex Jorgensen . with two National wins at Ascot in '78. was 10th fastest on the Ron Woods Norton with a 22.49. Eklund qualified 12th. . Heat races Steve Morehead (KK Supply/K&K Insurance H ·D ) and rookie Lance Jones led the first heat into tum one. At the completion of the lap , Poovey had squeezed his way into second behind Morehead. Brow was running fourth. Through tum two on lap two . he made his move . going first high and then low to pass two riders. But at the tum's exit; he lost traction, slid down and was out of the race. Poovey passed Morehead on the following lap. Rick Hocking mo ved up and took over Jones' spot on lap four . On the fifth lap . Jones crashed between turns three and four . The bike d id not slide out but rather seemed to fall right on top of Lance. Though Jones d id not move off th e track , the race continued . Gene Romero waved frantically for the red flag as he passed the start/finish line , and a lap later. as Gene pulled off the track to demand the race be stopped. the red flag was out. Jones was taken to the hosp ital , but it was determined that he'd only suffered some bruises. The race was called complete with eigh t la ps run, and Poovey , Morehead and Hocking had earned tickets to the National. The second heat was a bam burner in th e opening laps. Scott Pearson (HD West/Circle Bell Ent. H·D ). John Ha teley, Alex Jorgensen went for the lead off the start. Jorgy got it , with Hateley and Hank SCOtt following. Scott moved . past Hateley and pressured the Norton rider for the lead. Finally, with a pass as they exited tum two , Scott had it . After the elbow to elbow action. Scott worked up about a 50 'yard lead on Jorgensen . who had the same distance on Hateley. Rookie Ricky Graham (R .G . Racing /ND /M&M Apparel H .D) closed on Hateley, and with four,laRs remaining in the heat , passed him t6 make the main event. It was the fastest heat of th e night. Rook ie Eddie Lawson (Shell Racing Specialties Yam) and Harley teamster Ted Boody read the starter best in th e third heat. Springsteen, though ,