Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.... I-c c, < George Egloff (Ieftl chats with WERA's Patty fnlnk. Egloff was the first rider out. The four rider telIm finished 28th overall. Loyal Truesdel. p1eys joker while telImmate Keith Patchett checks out the CB. The pair rode two-up for the endre distance. The Gumball Rally'··Ior real By Ray Hill DARIEN. CT, MARCH 31 It was a collection of racers as varied and colorful as any I have seen. All gathered to compete 'in the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash - a highspeed romp across SOOO miles of interstates infested with radar traps and Smokies. There would be only one 12. winner - the vehicle that set the fastest time, The sian was from the back of the Lock. Stock, and Barrel restaurant in Darien. Connecticut: The finish line - the parking lot of the Ponafino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. Vehicles ranged from an im maculate 1938 Ford panel truck with its original stock flathead engine, to a Turbo Porsche and other similar exotica , some with top speed capability on the far side of 150 mph. And for the first time in its eight year history, the Cannonball had two motorcycles in its starting lineup. One of the two -wheelers was a new Suzuki GS 850 with about 650 miles on the odometer. Co -sponsored by ~F;~A , Cessna Cy<:.l~. 9f • w..~ts~ , . Ohio. and Suzuki of Terre Haute , it would be ridden by five road ra cers . Pathetically stock. the GS made few concessions to the gruelin~ event that ' lay ahead. Modifications included an oil cooler, Martek electronic ignition , a seven gallon snowmobile gas tank strapped on the back seat for extra cruisin~ range. a small 14-fa iring (offering little wind protection really, but a radar detector was attached inside it), low handlebars. a quartz headlamp to replace the standard light. one auxiliary quartz driving light, and colder heat-range spark plugs. A tank bag with tools . clothes, and a map would allow the rid er to assume a semi road racer tuck and at the same time offer chest support, hopefully making the ride less tiring to th e upper bod y. The battle plan was a modem day version of the pony express. It call ed for, George Egloff, th e _firK rid er ., let WFO it from Darien to Pulaski, Virginia. Wendy Epstein would twist the throttle to Memphis. ' And from there Ken Ward would make haste for Shamrock, Texas. Ken's brother Steve would zip on over to Flagstaff. Arizona. And from there, a rider who really.. knows the meaning of WFO . Dirk James.· would head for Redondo Beach. A 1974 BMW R90 /6 was also en teredo Its riders. Keith Patchen and Loyal George Truesdale. would ride two -up the whole distance. A dramatic display of courage, determination, and semi-sanity. Like the Suzuki, the Beemer was basically stock. Its auxiliary equipment was much more impressive, though. As with many of the cars. it had two radar detectors. one up front , and another covering the back door. It also sported a 10 gallon gas tank. CB , AM /FM . and weatherband radios. an intercom, .stereo. accomodations for electric riding suits. a full -fairing, a clock, and instrumentation to moniter the engine's health (head temperature. oil pressure. oil temperature. and so on). Both Keith and Loyal are experien· ced riders. Keith has logged 170,000 miles on this Beemer alone (the engine was just overhauled). Truesdale is a Hollywood stunt man, who did a lot of the motorcycle and car stunts in Hooper. He is, as he put it , " an ex motorcycle racer , sponsor, and all around fun guy." He used to race BMWs in production events, and also sponsored Cliff Carr and Terry Dorsch for a time. "W e' re not stopping for anything but roadblocks." Truesdale said . To say Cannonball com pe titors are flamboyant is like calling your 400· pound mother-in-law slightly overweight. . The Stephen Kendall Lanes from London , for example. They shipped their 1948 Rolls Royce to New York. Their chauffeur flew over to pick the car up at th e docks. Then Mr. and Mrs. Lane flew over on the Concord; the chauffeur met them at Kennedy; and here they were , expecting to be "very competitive. She'll do eighty-five cornfonably. you know ," Mrs . Lane informed me . And there was Ferrari salesman Doug Mockett, formerly with · the AMA . Doug and his two co-drivers were running a stock 1977 Chrysler · LeBaron.. Electronics could make this car a sleeper. Inside were two radar detectors, a CB, and a computerized police scanner system with all the police frequencies in the United States. Professional tennis . player Tom Leonard and Indianapohs race driver John Mahler were driving a 454 l..S7 228 Camero. With a fuel cell in the trunk. they could carry 58 gallons of · fuel. From Ohio. Sandy Saptullo and his two sons were entered m the family Bonneville. Sandy was the 1975 offshore power boat champion. One of his sons is an aspiring Grand National stock car driver. Harvard Professor Tom Hickey took time off from mid-terms to show up with a '78 Mercedes and .two codrivers. " It' s something I've always wanted to do ," he said. Whatever you say. professor. The Jaguar marque was ably represented by two racers and Jaguar dealers, David Heinz and David Yarborough. They were running a 1978 XJS Jag. Doing well here could be good for business back at the car lot. Then there was Brock Yates' himself . . ex racer, ' moro- journalist , motor sports commeruar o for CBS . and organizer of the C'VC'lIl. lie had always finished well . T hr Ca n nonba ll had been run four times prior to th is. and Brock and his co -driver (OJ .4ifferept J one each time) had two firsts, a second. and a third place finish to their credit. . This year. Brock and co -driver Hal . Needham (director and producer of Hooper and Smokey and the Bandit) would be driving an ambulance. An bonest-to-goodness ambulance with flashing lights. siren, medical supplies, inside. and get this. a real live doctor adminstering to a critically ill patient (Brock's attractive wive · who as far as I could see, was very healthy). The plan was this . If they got stopped, the doctor would explain to the cops that the patient had to be at a California hospital within 72 hours. She couldn't fly in a plane because the cabins weren't I;'roperly pressurized for her serious respiratory ailment. Power for the ambulance was provided by a worked-on engine and transmission combo that were capable of pushing the ambulance and its beefed-up chassis along at a cruising speed of 120 mph, with plenty left in reserve. The Cannonball got off precisely on schedule. At exactly 7 p.m. the first 46 vehicles left. Every four minutes thereafter, until two a.rn, in the morning, an entrant could leave. Competitors were allowed to choose their starting time 7:00 ,7:04.7:08. and so on). Only one could have a panicular minute this would prevent dicing it up in friendly downtown Darien. It was kind of like an enduro, except that there was only one checkpoint. 3000 miles away . The route you took to get there, and how fast you went was entirely up to you. As it turned out, there were a wide variety of routes chosen, some obviously better than others. Keith and George. riding two-up on their BMW, . for instance. They ran into a snow storm in Holbrook, Arizona. and had no choice but to wait it out. That stretched their finishing time to 72 .hou rs and 54 minutes, making them dead last. Still not shabby, when you consider they rode two·up the whole way , through raiD. fog. Smokies, and snow . bnf Brock and his , ambulance? Well , they had trouble. They lost several minutes at the stan because when Hal Needham (who was driving the first leg) put the transmission in drive the engine would die . They solved that problem only to be stopped shortly after on the New Jersey Turnpike. "W e were using the red lights." Brock said. "to move people out of the way. The cops pulled us over and were really mad. They thought we were two ambulance drivers just trying to make time. But when we showed them a comatose lady in the back hooked up to an IV bottle, and th~ doctor explained the situation, they told us to go ahead. but just use our headlights, not the red lights. Hey , we could've used that line a hundred times. " Unfonunately for Brock and Hal, they needed more than a line. They needed a seal . in the transmission. It began leaking. And by the time they reached Palm Springs. California. where it expired entirely. they had poured six gallons of transmission fluid through it. Resourceful as always. they met two gypsy truck drivers in a truck SlOp. A little talk and some bucks persuaded the truckers to haul the- ambulance and crew the remaining 100 miles tc? Redondo Beach. They arrived at the Portafino Inn as the only cargo on a huge flatbed trailer, One of the most Smoke v-free rides had to belong to Doug Mocken and his two buddies. "T ha t scanner saved our necks several times. " he said. "We would know exa ctly where the Smokies were at . and motor by sedately at fiftyfive.ia our low-profile Chrysler. "

• Cover