Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

DAYTONA '7!1 Billy labrie was aU smiles in the winner's circle. Scott Adams had to look back to find his competition in the Novice final. Adams took charge at the start and was never seriously challenged, . Bubba Shobart grabbed the lead from Joey Cerciello at the end of the first ' lap in the Junior final and hung on for the win. . . AMA Eastern Regional Championship Half Mile Labrie, Shobert & Adams score at B.arberville By Jack Mangus BARBERVILLE, FL, MARCH 7 .Aft er rain forced the cancelation of the Monday and Tuesday night AMA Regional Championship half mile races at Volusia County Raceway, Ma Nature provided a sunny day for a Wednesday afternoon running of one of the events. AIthough some -riders and more than a few spectators never got 28 the word ~n the event, a large turnout of competitors and fans were on hand. When the final checkered flag was waved, the guys with the biggest smiles were Expert Billy Labrie, junior Bub- ba Shobert and Novice Scott Adams; they wo,:, their classes respectively . O~mng up the Bob Janelle/Benny Corbin promoted program was the expeered multitude of Novice scratch heats followed by Junior and Expert time trial sessions. When the large field of Novices was trimmed down to a 12-man field for a ma in event , it was eventual winner- Scott Adams and .his Yamaha on the , pole . Scott never gave up the front running spot and by checkered flag time he had opened up a comfortable ' margin of victory avera heated dice for second between jim Filice and Don Nanney. Filice held second throughout the race, but Nanney had to work his way around first Greg Tysor and then Shane Parrish. That was no easy feat on the ultra-swift and rather shyof-a-few feet "half mile." The junior final provided some heated action, but other than a first· lap lead by joey Cerciello, the event belonged to double-Houston junior Invitational winner Don "Bubba" Shobert. Cerciello, riding a strong Triumph, pressured Shobert throughout the event, and made his strongest bid on lap eight of the ten lap affair. While Harley-Davidson XR750's still prevail, the new junior class carb restrictor plate rule provides new hope for owners of other brands which had been relegated to a non-comperirive status in previous years. Behind the front 'ru nning duo of Shobert and Cerciello, Steve Mendenhall and Gene Church turned in a race-long duel for the show position with Mendenhall taking those honors. Four Expert heats transferred the first three finishers out of each into the main event , and the first of those races saw a red flag displayed by starter Mike Anthony on the first lap when fast qualifier (20.026 seconds) Corky Keener unloaded off his Doug Sehl prepared XR in tum one. A restart had Steve Powell leading Terry Poovey and the remainder of the field around on the first lap, but a lap later it was Poovey ahead of Powell, and that's the way it stayed till the end. The third and final transfer spot went to Billy Crabbe. Keener finished fourth after putting on a charge that ended up one position short. The second Expert heat was dominated by Scott Pearson with Oklahoman Phil McDonald holding down second all the way. Taking third after a spectacular charge through the pack after a bad , start was former Grand National Champion Gary Scott and his KK Motorcycle Supply XR . Scott Drake stamped "mine" on the third spot right , from the start and Billy Schaeffer held down second until displaced by Randy Goss on -the sixth and final lap. Ted Boody brought out a Bill Kennedy American for the heat, but once again it failed to live up to _ expectations and Boody ran back in the pack. . The fourth and final Expert heat was led by Brad Hurst for the first half, but he was sent packing by Floridians Billy Labrie. Ronnie jones and Ed Ingram. Among the others sent packingwere Harley-Davidson fac tory rider Steve Morehead, who had borrowed the top half of Corky Keener's leathers after a weekend half mile spill tore the zipper out of his . single set, and Roger Crump, who had brought yet another Amencan to the line . , The "big boys" lined up for the Expert main and green flag time had H-D West /Circle Bell Industries sponsored Scott Pearson pulling ahead of the field into the first turn. Pearson continued to lead a six-rider phalanx which included Randy Goss, Gary Scott, Billy Labrie, Terry Poovey and Billy Schaeffer, until exiting the fourth tum on the fourth lap Pearson went down. A fantastic display of riding savvy was then demonstrated in front of the grandstands as instantly veteran Scott laid his XR down" with that move being duplicated - also instantly - by Goss, as both riders slid to a halt, having prevented what could have been a serious incident. A single file restart had everyone lined up with only Scott com ing up ,a , DNF from the incident, as his XR had suffered damage. ' , The restart saw Mother Fletcher's of Largo, Floridasponsored Billy Labrie at the head of the line, and that's where he stayed for the seven 'reo maining laps. The win had Labrie pumped. Finishing 2-!j behind Labrie were Terry Poovey, who was aboard a Tex Peel prepared XR, and Billy Schaeffer, who was riding one of the seemingly endless supply of Corky Keener owned Harleys; Randy Goss was on another Keener piece of machinery. For Pearson the race was a fightyour-way-up race, and he had worked his way up to sixth two laps after the . restart only to slip off the groove in tum two on that last lap and drop back to tenth. Pennsylvanian Ed Ingram and Oklahoman Phil McDonald filled out the top five and added some Regional Championship points to their tally, not to mention some dollars to their wallets. Labrie was rewarded with a kiss from Miss Sure-Fire, Kathy Esser, and patted on the back by ~ponsor "Mother" Fletcher, ex -racer Royal Sherbet and what seemed like an endless line of fans . Co-promoter Bob janelle said the Monday and Tuesday night half miles would be scheduled for next year and then thanked the panicipants and fans for their patience. The lineup of pre-Daytona Cycle Week dirt track events along With nightly oval races during the week provides dirt trackers with more to do than watch the 'pavem ent ' scratchers and bikini -clad pit toots ies on the beach. To a man, they love It. • Results Expert:1. Billy Labrie IH-DI; 2. Teny Poowy 1H-D1; 3. Billy Soh_ IH-DI; 4. Ed Ingrem IH-DI; 6. Phil MeDoneld(H-D); 8, Ronnie Jones (H-DI; 7. Rendy Gosa (HOI;B.Scon O

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