Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

IAbovel Mike Kidd and Scott Parker fought over second in the National until Kldd's front cylinder went.IBelow leftl Steve Eklund tried swimmer's goggles, but they weren't tight enough to keep the dust out.IBelow right) Randy Goss 1131 finished third while Hank Scott 1141 DNF. with Charlie Roberts, on the Johnny Goad built and owned Harlev sponsored by Roberts Yamaha and Valvoline. Ricky Campbell and his KK Motorcycle Supply Harley also wanted a piece of the action. Boody took second on the seventh lap and just as soon lost one of his exhaust pipes entering turn two, nearly upsetting both Pearson and himself. Boody hung on to take third and ~ge a determined Roberts. Semis The battle for the win in the first semi came down to privateer versus factory in the forms of Billy Schaeffer and Steve Morehead. Garth Brow figured in the early laps until his engine went away. Schaeffer commanded all 10 laps on his self· sponsored bike leaving Morehead, aboard his Harley· Davidson factory mount, to eat dust. Rookie of the Year candidate Charlie Roberts went wire·to·wire in the final semi, but it was a battle to the flag with. Terry Poovey aboard a Harley wrenched by Sonny Burres. The final lap saw Poovey trying to stick a wheel inside Roberts in every corner and coming up s'hort at the finish line. The grid for th,e National was now set. National The threat of rain moved the National in front of the Trophy Race in the program. Scattered drops were faIling as the 14 riders moved to the line. Springsteen, on the outside (grandstand) pole was flanked to the left by Keener, Eklund, Kidd, Pearson, Parker, Graham, Goss, Boody, Bushman, Hank Scott, Crabbe, Roberts and Schaeffer. To his right sat a cheering sell·out crowd. The National was only a race for the win until turn two. Springsteen, coming off the line a little slowly, ex.ecuted a beautiful sweeping ride on the high line just a breath away from the haybakes and spewed a roostertail of limestone on all. Diving from the high line in tum two, he came up with the lead as the pack hit the back stretch. That was it; however, you could always tell where he was by the sound. Tuner Bill Werner has modified the timing on one of.his bikes. producing a "twingle," a sort of twin/single varia· tion which has the sound of a fourstroke single. Bart Markel has tried out the theory as far back as 1972 and proved it would work. It must. Springer has used the. bike for all three National wins. Meanwhile. Hank Scott was doing his best to stay ~ithin striking distance on his Patrick R,:,cing Hadey while holding off Kidd. Eklund. Goss. Parker. Boody, Crabbe and Graham. The swapping of places behind third continued furiously until lap six when Kidd moved around Scott as he slowed with undisclosed problems. Two more laps and Hank was a spectator. Goss and Parker, moving from sixth and seventh, were now ·third and fourth. The battle was on. On the next lap, Parker moved around Goss' John Apple prepared mount to take third as Eklund felt the pressure of Graham. Keener had moved from last off the starting line to eighth with Boody. Pearson, Roberts and Bushman trailing. Schaeffer had already blown an engine on lap five, and Bushman was due to hit the pits with the same problem on lap 10. At the halfway flags, Springsteen was still working his "ride it high in turns one/two and low in three/four," strategy. Kidd, Parker and Goss were trying their own methods in a fluidmoving second place battle. Graham and Eklund were having their own discussion over fifth with Eklund gaining the upper hand on lap 12. "I tried a pair of swimmer's goggles on before the start," said Eklund, "but they didn't fit tight enough. The dust bothers my eyes badly." By lap 15 the field seemed set with Springsteen out front, Kidd/Parker/ Goss in second and Eklund/Graham in fifth with Keener seventh. On lap 19 that all changed. Kidd's fron! cylinder blew an

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