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/126349
o ..... 12 Oftentimes there seems to be a jinx on secondyear Experts. Garth Brow did not fall in to that category. His was a .gra phic example of what a rider can do when ridi ng an exceptional piece of machinery and what one can do when one's machinery is not up to par. Mechanical problems plagued Brow at many events as did slow bikes . When he was hot . occas ionally on his own machineery, but more often on Mert Lawwill tuned bikes , he was hot. Although Brow scored points in only 12 events, nine of those finishes were in the top four spots, with three of them wins on the mile , including a sweep of both San Jose events and a one-two tall y at the back-co-back Indy Nationals. Brow , like many other riders, was sometimes a little impatient, trying to win an event in the first few laps. That was his undoing at Ascot in the final half mile of the year, when he became the first rider to dip into the 21-second mark du ring qualifying . Brow , who had won there in '77 and scored a third place finish earlier in the year, looked like a candidate to .play the role of spoiler in the Springsteen-Eklund confrontation . Overeagerness on the second lap of his hea t left Brow a spe cta tor . "Yes, I got a little anxious," said Brow after his fall, " and I wish I. hadn't, but that's racing. I had a good }-ear. Sure, it could have been better, and it probably would have if I could have ridden Men's bikes all the time. I'll just have to try a little harder in '79." Gary Scott would like to forget 1978 . "ProbIems, I had nothing but problems," said a ' ra ther disgusted Scot t before getting shut out of a slot in the National at Pittsburgh. "T herewere problems with my dirt track program , . problems with my road race program , prob. . lems with tuners', problems with getting parts from Harley-Davidson, I just wasn 't ready for this year. But what has happened isn't going to bother me ." Scott then professed to be already at work on plans for 1979 . "T here's one person I know' can depend on ," continued Scott, " and that's me . I may not be able to build engines to run as fast , but I know that they will work and that I won't have any worries like I had this year." After five years i~ the top three in the final standings, Scott dropped to a dismal · for a rider so talented - sixth. Many felt . Scott didn't have his mind on racing, but rather on a personal vendetta against Harley-Davidson, When he couldn't get parts, he tried to claim bikes . When Harley loaded the odds in their favor on claims by providing riders with certified company checks for counter-claims, he went to his lawyer. The lawsuit , the claim ing and a new tactic, that of a protest against Springsteen for alleged drug use before the Louiseville National, all came to a head after that event. A shadow of doubt was cast on Springsteen , Scott successfully claimed Jay's winning bike, and Harley . in two weeks - found a channel by which Scott could get his parts. However, far from having solved problems, the Springsteen affair made Scott the "bad gu y" instead of the "good guy ," and he spent the rest of the season shunned by a ll but his closest friends . " I know I did the right thing: ' Scott would say later , "b ut I didn't think it would turn out like this ." The turning point for Steve Morehead which led to a brilliant lateseason charge to seventh place in the final Camel Pro Series standings, his first National win (Pittsburgh) , and a quartet of top ' five finishes in the last five events was a broken bone. It wasn 't Morehead's but Doug Sehl's. Sehl, having broken a bone in his left ankle after the San Jose half mile, let Morehead ride his bike. A partnership was quickly formed after More head finished third and fourth, respectively, at the Sacramento and DuQuoin m iles. Sehl 's tuning talents, combined with Morehead's eagerness to prove that he was a winner, made the pair a solid threat in th e final ra ces of the season. The culmination of the effort came at Pittsburgh where Morehead did a 20·lap green-light-tocheckered- flag trick for his first National win. It couldn't have happened at a better time, for the stands were loaded with friends, family and fans . "T he champagne," said Morehead, " never tasted so good ." But that wasn 't the end of Morehead's good fortune -in 1978, ' for less than two month later he received a call at his Findlay, Ohio home from Harley-Davidson's Dick O 'Brien asking him to come to the factory for a talk. . " I asked him if he wanted to be a member of the team," said O'Brien later. " He said he needed a little time to think about it . about 60 seconds." For Morehead, it was a dream come true. "I've been dreaming about getting a Harley factory ride for a long, long time," said Morehead. " Now that I've got it , I can't believe it. Hey, it feels great: ' " It wasn't a bad season , but it wasn't a really good one either." were Corky Keener's thoughts on his eighthplace finish in the Camel Pro Series standings. "T here weren't any big problems ex cept maybe horsepower on the miles ," continued t he HarleyDavidson teamster, "just a lot of little ones , and those are the kind that are even more frustrating. " Acknowledged as the elder statesman of th e Harley team, Keener had a winless year, but made two trips to the winner's circle. For many, that type of season would rank as an accomplishment , but for Keener, who has tasted the champagne of five National wins in the past five seasons, to have been close is not enough. Keener has been a mainstay of the Harley team for the past four years , lending an air of maturity and class. But in those seasons the complexion of racing has changed more and more . The cushion tracks which were scarce them are almost nonexistant now. To a cushion rider like Keener, the almost total change to narrow groove, follow the leader racing has been an unwelcome one. As the rider representative for dirt track, Keener ca mpaign ed for rider safety throughout the season an item which he feels is the most im po rtant one facing the competitor. · One of the most popular riders on the circu it , Keener is st ill a threat on an y mile of half mile desp ite those riders who think that his graying hair has slowed his throttle hand and ab ility to m ix it up with the best. Skip Aksland was tou ted at the beginning of the year as hav ing the best all around program to unseat Springsteen from his championship title. Already acknowledged as one of the best road racers in the U.S.. Aksland had come into his own on the dirt and had proven that he was one of a select group of riders capable of doing well in every facet of AMA Grand National Championship racing. However , having the talent to do well and having the machinery to do the job are two different things. Aksland, though , had the job well in hand. Well enough, in fact, to slip past both Eklund and Springsteen and into the top spot in the standings just five races into the season. Then disaster struck in the form of a separated shoulder at the Santa Fe TT. Aksland has fragile bones and he knows it. " Everytime I get a chance to run with the ball : ' he said at a party later that night after being treated and trussed up, '" seem to fumble it . You don't get many chances like I had this season. My d irt track program was strong and' was learning a little more about riding the Harley every time I got on it. As strong as my road racing program was, I think that I would have been a constant threat to Springsteen and Eklund. I can't say that' could have tak en th e champion ship away , and we'll probably never know ." Aksland returned to action and again was injured. Although not in top shape, Aksland made a second return for the last two dirt events of the season and scored enough points to hang onto ninth in the final standings. Not too bad for a guy who rode less than half the season. What would have happened if he hadn't gotten hurt? . Mike Kidd deserves some sort of award for persistance during 1978. Prior to the sea son Kidd thought he had landed a substantial sponsorship for the year and set about ar ranging for bikes and a tuner to work them . Bureaucratic red tape snarled his once solid plans and Kidd spent the entire season .saying '--_ _-' that the sponsorship would be forthcomin~ next week of the week after. People took to calhng him Mike "T o Be Announced" Kidd. Only it wasn't funny after awhile . More than once during the season Kidd allowed that he couldn't believe that all this was happening to him - that he had such grand plans for the season, and that he was finally going to have the machinery to prove to everyone just how good arider he was. But the worst part was the money, for without the sponsorship, he was reduced to supporting himself on his own funds , which were less than adequate. "I'm probably 110 ,000 or more in the hole right now ," said Kidd midway through the year, "and we still have a lot more races to go ." Still . he kept th e faith . " You' re going to be surprised when you find out. who my sponsor is. They've .told me that even if there is one race left when the problems are worked out that I'll get the support I've been wa iting for all year. " Unfortunately , that didn't happen . Anyone who has been in the armed forc es knows that a feeling of " hu rry up and wait" gets into everything they do. Only Kidd d idn't have to spe nd two or four yea rs to find that out. Perhaps in '79 his pot of gold will come through .