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76-mile Novice
Del Monico wins in
duel to wire
By Gary Van Voorhis
Photos by Charles Morey
DAYTONA BEACH , FL , MAR. 9
Benny Del Monico, in a race that went right to
the checkered flag, won the 76 -mile Novice
event by a scant two bikelengths over Richard
Arnaiz. Alan Collins rounded out the three
(Top) Benny Del Monico (8) and Richard Arnaiz battled for the win.IAbove)
Ed Powell 1119) and Alan Collins discussed third.IBelow) Mike Callahan 1401
took fifth. Larry Legarra 1161 ran out of gas .
16
way party in vict ory lane where
Texan Del Monico was sandwiched by the California pair.
" I knew 1 had the power to
win after dieing with Arnaiz in the
closing la ps. 1 thin k he might ha ve
known too ," said Del Monico.
If Arnaiz did know , he didn't let it
show. The pair spent the better part of
the final 11 laps of the 20 lap event
fenc ing with each other. Arnaiz ,
board his Arnaiz Constructionsponsored Yamaha , mastered the
infield until the pai r began running in
hea vy traffic and then his two Pro
ra ces compared to Del Monico's six
years of experience began to show a
little.
However, on the final lap Arnaiz
was still on Del Monico's tail. The pair
mixed it up sid e by side through th e
chicane with Del Monico pulling ou t
just enough in the race to the flag to
hold Arnaiz at bay. .
Third place finisher Alan Collins
had his seat pad come loose early in
the race and slowed to discard it ,
hoping the problem was solved.
Unfortunately, he lost a good many
positions and then found that he was
slipping and sliding all over the place
everytime he shifted his weight.
Worse , he was being "vib ra ted to
death."
Collins , riding for AAMCO
Transmissions of San Jose and Valley
Cycle, picked up ground despite the
inconvenience and fought his way to
third although he didn't realize it. "I
almost lost third because 1 didn't
realize (fourth place finisher) Ed
Powell and 1 were dueling for that
position in the final laps. 1 wasn 't
letting up anyway."
One rider worth noting was Gina
Bovaird, one of three women entered.
Ms. Bovaird showed a lot of men, 59 to
be exact, thatshe could get the gas on.
Beaming, .afterwa rds, Ms. , Bovaird ,