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/126411
Super tuner Bill Werner congratulates his rider, Grand National Cham p Jay Springsteen, who came off a week in the hospital to w in the National, leading nearly every lap. Chris Agajanian observes the jubilation. . AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro 5 Springer, Eklu By Dale Brown Photos by Felix Adamo and Charles Morey GARDEN A, CA , MAY 12 Jay Springsteen and Steve Eklund replayed their classic fall '78 battle at Ascot, with Springsteen 'charging ahead early and holding off the ever-advancing Eklund for the win. Instead of clin ching another AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Seri es titl e how ever , t he win marked the first step in a long 6 climb back" for Springer . who m issed three races du e to illness. " I'm feeling g reat!" said J ay af te r th e win. He n ew to Ca lifo rn ia aft er chec king out of a Mich igan. hospit al la te in th e week. His victo ry mo ved him to seventh in the point standings. but he still trails points leader Eklund by 42 points. Eklund leads his nearest competitor, Randy Goss, 75-51. Finishing th ird after a hectic battle lat e in the race was Hank Scott , who slipped by Goss, Corky Keen er and Gary Sco tt on th e last few la ps. Springsteen's pace set a new tra ck record of 7:31.84 .knocking out Garth Brow's 7:32 .83 fall '77 record by a second, in the J.C . Agajanian-promoted 20-lap ha lf mil e. Time trials That Spring er was in a hu rry to get ba ck in the fray was evid ent first in pract ice and then in time tr ials . He pull ed fast time , a 22 .31 -second clock ing on the Bill Werner-prepped factory Harley. Winds and 80 ·plus temperatures had dried the track somewhat so times were not close to th e single-lap record . Rick Hocking was a hairsbreadth behind a t 22.33. Garth Bro w, who still holds the track record of 21.99 . was timed at 22.39 . Hank Scott rounded ou t the heat rac e polesitt ers at 22 .54 . Eklund qualified 12th fastest. Heats Ga ry Scott (KK Supply/Sizemore T ra veland H -D ). Eklund (Za no tti Castrol H -D) and T er ry Poovey led th e pack in to the firs t tu m of the first hea t. Springsteen ha d othe r ide as and passed Eklund d own th e ba ck straig ht an d nailed Scott as th ey d ived into turn three. Sco tt used th e expe rience of recent weeks of racing here and went by Springer in th e seco nd turn . Scott wicked it on to lead the next seven laps as th e front -ru n ning trio ran fa r ahead of the pack . Eklund brought his line down low through th e comers, sometimes hittin g the chalk boundary. It worked . and he took the lead from Scott through the first two corners. Springsteen d id likewise a lap later and it was Eklund. Sp ringsteen a nd Scott at the flag, for the tra nsfers to the National. Ra nds re Goss and rookie Ronnie Jones finished . 4-5. Poovey DNF. A false stan led to th e red-flagging of the second heat. Before the restart , however , the battery in Steve Morehead's factory Harley-Davidson died , and no amount of pushing would start the machine. Brad Hurst took the lead while second-yea r Expert sensa tion Ricky Graham slid out in tum two. The rac e was not stopped, good news to Corky Keener , who had come up with the lead. Rookie Mike Minnig (Don Tortorelli H-D) , Hurst (Wayne Hall/KRW/ Lectron H -D) and Rick Hock ing (C h r is Armstrong H -D ) b ick ered over second . Soon that argument had been decided in the rooki e's favo r. Ho cking and H urst play ed pass a nd repass on the third lap before Ho cking assumed cont rol of third . The positions held to the flag. Triumph -mounted Da ve Alda na fin ished fifth . Ganh Brow, rookie Bud dy Robinson a nd Mike Kidd were in the process of arguing over the third heat lead when Travis Perron slid up into the haybales and brought out the red flag. Kidd's T'eam Arm y H a rl ey hol eshot t he