Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Skip Aksland: super-strong program lined up for 79. road race cir cuits, bu t doesn't feel comfortable on th em, and will probably not road rac e unless th e points battle is extremely close. If Eklund is to take th e title. he will have to continue his success in the short track, TT and half mile facets and improve his performance on the miles, where he placed in th e top three onl y once last year .. Skip Aksland, on paper at least , has the best chance of anyone to win the Number One plate. Skip is the only rider actively cam paign ing who has both road race and dirt track National wins to his credit (one of each). Plus , the PJl Lubricants-sponsored machines that he will ride in '79 are among the fastest in both categories. Mert Lawwill's Harley-Davidsons, rid den by Garth Brow, chalked up three wins on the mile (where power really counts) last year . Skip will ride the Harleys in most all dirt track events , save the short tracks and the Houston and Santa Fe TTs , where he will ride his own Yamahas. For the five road races , he will use his unofficiallyfactory -sponsored Yamahas, and if he were to win all of them, he would have 100 clear points over Springsteen. To real ize full advantage of his program Aksland will have to improve his performance on the short tracks and TTs. If he does , watch outl But Aksland, Eklund and Spring. steen won't be riding by themselves at the Nationals. There's a whole herd of talented racers who wouldn't mind getting the largest chunk of Winston's cash at the end of the season. Gary Scott, who had only one National win to his credit last year : but topped th e field in controversy output, will be back to rega in the Number One plate he won in 1975. Joining Scott's effort will be mechanic Larry Zumbrun, who will be taking care of Scott's Ossa short tracker, the venerable Triumph TT bike and Harley-Davidsons for half miles and miles. Scott is recovering rapidly from a kidney infection and is working out to rega in his fitness. 10 "With the bikes working right and getting good starts, I can be in the top three every time. That's what it's going to take to be Number One," said Gary. SCOtt has a road racer, but will not ride it unless his dirt track program is going along successfully. If Scott regains the form he had in '77, where he won six Nationals, and adds a little luck and consistency to it, he's a definite threat for numero uno . His sponsors are KK Supply and Sizemore Traveland, . Gary's brother Hank is just as potent a threat to the Springer. held crown. Last year, riding Carl Patrick-prepped Harleys , he rode to three mile National wins and wound up third in the standings. This year Scott has picked up sponsorship from Sure Fire Distributing, who will also sponsor '78's Camel Pro Rookie of the Year LanceJones. Jones , who showed incredible promise as a Junior but was unable to break into the top 10 of the .point standings, isn't a bad choice for a longshot. Jones often came up with inspired rides to gain a berth in a National, but then rode sporadically in the National itself. This could be the year it all comes together for Lance. New on the factory Harley-Davidson team is Steve Morehead. Teaming with mechanic Steve Storz , Morehead will definitely be going for it. With a little more success on the TT tracks, Morehead could justify H·D Racing honcho Dick O'Brien's faith b y challenging strongly for something that now belongs to his teammate. Mike Kidd is another good choice· for the inaugural Winston Pro Series . Last year he bravely sold iered on, telling the press that announcement of a major sponsorship package was forthcoming with in a few days . Well , the wait is over. Kidd will wear Army colors as he takes to the track. Stormy Winters , who sharp -eyed readers might remember for loaning and preparing a San Jose mile- winning Harley for Skip Aksland in '77, will be Mike Kidd: joining the Army. t u rn ing th e wrenches in the Kidd l Army effort. Kidd will be Harley.Da,:,idson mounted throughout the campaign, and says, "It's going to be an a ll -out effort this year. Whatever it takes to win , I'm going to do it." One rider who closed the year with his star on the rise was Terry Poovey. "Pooh Bear" and tuner Tex Peel have signed with Bel-Ray for the new season, and if Poovey continued his high placings he will definitely be a force to contend with. Several riders, all highly-talented, have varying degrees of uncertainty in their plans that make their success hard to predict. Ted Boody, let go from the Harley-Davidson factory team , has his own Harleys and a chance to go with Bill ' Kennedy's American effort. Boody has been testing the American in Florida, and will ride it at the Houston TT , with a Yamaha for the following night's short track. But his plans for the remainder of the season are uncertain. "I'll. have either bike . Whichever one works is the one I'll ride ," said Ted , who is sponsored by Arai Helmets. If he gets a good combination going, he's likely to mount the victory rostrum a number of times during the season. Corky Keener, who also lost his full factory backing, but is still supported by H ·D , was unavailable for comment as we went to press . Corky will be selfsponsored, so that means he's got a pretty skillful sponsor. Watch out for the "Grey Ghost ." Garth Brow , sponsored by Klotz and Wiseco, won three mile Nationals last year, but they were won aboard Mert Lawwill machinery. Mert is preparing an engine for Garth, but he will have to find his own mechanic. Brow will be one of the riders using Honda XR500 engines in the Houston TT . Alex Jorgensen won 't travel the whole circuit, but he could play a spoiler's role. He won two Nationals at Ascot last year, and when the circuit is out west, he could keep those big first place points out of the hands of the leading contenders for number one. Who'll go to the head of the freshman class7 Can't really make an accurate prediction at this po int, but the leading contenders are Tennessee's SCOtt Parker, Oklahoma's Ron Jones, Oregon's John Wincewicz, California's Wayne Rainey and Illinois ' Charlie Roberts. Who will be tops on tarmac7 There will be three contenders for U.S. Road R:acing Championship: Skip Aksland , Mike Baldwin and Dale Singleton. Baldwin won the title last year and has signed with Kawasaki . According to the folks at Kawasaki the big push will be towards th~ Superbike Production title. As of now, ~aldwin will be riding the Kaw triple In the 750cc road race events . This is so.me",:hat of a handicap because the triple IS more affected by the required restricror plates than a TZ750 Yamaha. Still , Baldwin has enough sheer talent to win on consistency alone. Aksland will be using the five road race events to build up a point cushion over Springsteen for the Winston Pro title. With his talent and machinery, he has to be considered the favorite to take the tarmac title as well. Dale Singleton has signed with BelRay for the upcoming season. A crash last year at an F750 event seemed to cause him to lose a little steam. If he regains his Louden-winning form , and there is every indication that "The Georgia Pig Farmer" can do just that, than he will be right on Aksland's rear slick. If Aksland slips up just a bit , Singleton will bum him for the road racing championship. th~ All right. who's going to-win7 In February, it's impossible to say. But if wagers were being placed on the bri?ge of the Starship Enterprise, the logical Mr . Spock would pick Aksland, and Captain Kirk would place his money on Springsteen. •

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