Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Randy Goss. who ~nt~red th~ rac~ tied for 5t'cond in th~ point standings with Springst~n, took turns swapping th~ I~ad' with Mor~~ad until mechanical probl~ms, which first struck on t~ 21st lap, dropped him to 12th at th~ finish. Goss is now third with 198 points. Qualifying For th~ 5t'cond con5t'Cutiv~ year, it was Hank Scott who posted fastest qualifying time with a 36.986 second tour of the well-groomed Syracuse dirt oval. Rounding out the five fastest quali· fiers list were Steve Morehead, Randy Goss, LanceJones and Garth Brow. . Only 44 riders attempted to qualify for what Should have ~n a 48-rider field. Heats The flTSt 1O-lap heat which would advance the first three finishers to the National was a four-man battle among eventual winner Hank Scott, runnerup Steve Eklund, third place finisher 'Scott Parker. and semi-bound. Garth Brow: Scott led Parker, who was aboard Corky Keener's spare - his H-D XR750 had called it a day in practice. Eklund, Rick Hocking, and Brow across the line at the end of the first lap. Parker motored by Scott down the hack straight to take th~ point on the 5t'cond lap, but Scott took over the lead on the third lap and didn't relinquish it wh~re 'it counts, until the eighth tour of th~ track. The final two laps were run as two 5t'parate hattles - Scott vs. Eklund and Parker vs. Brow. H~at num~r two was led off the lin~ by St~v~ Mo~head and ill th~ bunched pack charge on ~ opening lap was three-time Grand ational Champion Bart Markel, who was making a r~turn to National mile racing after an ab5t'nc~ of sev~al years. Mark~1 had qualified third from last, and his day came to an end wh~n he was "knocked down going into the third tu,rn." Markel dismissed th~ incident after the race. "If I had known I was going that slow I wouldn't 'hav~ raced. I guess I knocked down a lot of guys in my time. Now guys are knocking me down," said a grinning Mark~l. Mark~l's get-off was obviously mis5t'd by the officials as Morehead took charg~ of the rac~, opening up a comfortable margin over Phil Darcy, Charles Ro~rts and Jackie Mitc~ll, who w~r~ fighting for Sf'Cond. Darcy's rac~ cam~ to an end when he slid down entering turn on~ on the fifth lap, and a lap later th~ red flag was displayed. A single restart .took place after it was confirmed that both Markel and Darcy w~re OK. Morehead took over where he had Iclt off as he led the field off the line. But h~ soon had his hands full as Jackie Mitchell raced him side'· by-side on laps seven, eight, nine and 10. The checkered flag saw Morehead breakaway from Mitchell to win with third plac~ finish~r Billy Labrie a good distance ahead of a Ro'berts/Ted Boody dice ~hich Chas won. Wis~co/Klotz sponsor~d Randy Goss had the pole for the third heat but any advantage that position gav~ him was negated by a slow start. Corky "Mr. Din" Keener led th~ opening lap with U.S. Army-sponsored Mile Kidd right on his rear f~nder. The next coupl~ of laps saw. Keener open up a gap on the field as Kidd was dropped to fourth by Goss and Gary Scott. Scott's rac~ came to an end on the third lap w~n he pitted with m~chanical problems. Goss ~n a charge that pulled him up ~ven with Keener on th~ sixth lap, whil~ a ,ch3Tg~ by T~am E & H Freeman gas5t'd it by SpollSOTed Stev~ Kidd into third. Keener and Goss had the crowd up and scr~aming as they matched each . other's speed and lines through the next three laps. Keen.;r dived into the third tum ahead of Goss and pulled off a stTong drive ou t of tu rn fou r to take the checkered nag a couple of • bik~ I~ngths ahead. Freeman finished third. Alabama's Lance Jones held the pole position for the fourth and final heat. Th~ form~ Cycle News/East Rider of the .year said he was "fully recovered". from the injuries which have plagued ·him over the past two y~ars and he proved it by turning in a furious race with Texan Terry Poovey. While Poovey. and Jones were fighting ov~r first. Jay Springsteen broke through Bubba Rush and Scott Pearson and ran third all by himself. Pearson dropped out on the seventh lap with mechanical problems that provoked a parting of the ways b~tween him and his tuper' Bubba Pattman. Poovey's Tex Peel/Bel-Ray XR nipped the Floyd Tapp XR bfJones' at the line and the pair and third place finis~r Springsteen advaJlced 'to the National. Bubba Rush finished fourth, nearly a half of a lap ahead of t~ rest of the field. Junior InvitationAl A 12-man field of "yellow plate" riders lined. up for a special 12-lap invitational race, but at the nash of starter Mik~ Anthony's green light it immediately turned into a five-man war among eventual winner Gene Church, Bob Crabbe, David Jones, Ricky Reswew, and oot Irvin. The quintet turned in the most spectacular rac~ of the dayas they ran three and four abreast down the straights. As one veteran race watcher noted, "They don't have much if any experience on the mile and they don't r~ally know how to work the draft. But that's neat because they're putting on one belluva show." The "one helluva show" lasted right down to the finish line as Church, Crab~ and Jones finished in what appeared to be a dead heat, with Resweber and Irvin just inches back. Ii took a few minutes for the officials to decide who won, and while they were malting up' their minds, announcer Roxy Rockwood summed up the crowd's feelings by saying, "They're all winners. They should all get the trophy." But the man who ·carried home the trophy was Church. who was aboard a Tilley H·D of Statesville, No~ Carolina-sponsored XR. Semis With only the first two finishers advancing to the National, the pair Of 5t'IDis w~re do,oT·die battles. The first IO-lap Sf'mi was won by form~ rodeo rideT Rick Hocking, but only. alt~r mechanical problems dJx»pped out his competition. After leading th~ firs, seven laps, Brow was th~ first to drop out - pulling out of tbe race in tum two on the eighth lap. Arai Helmets sponsored Ted Boody th~n took over second behind Hoclting, but h~ dropped out on the white flag lap, and Hocking was home f~. The attTlllOn also benefited Canada's Michel M~rcier as he took the Sf'Cond and last advanc~ment spot just ahead of Billy Schaeffer. The second 5t'IDi was originally gridded with only ~ight riders, but sharp-thinking Chuck Palmgren and former Grand National Champion Gary Scott wheeled their bikes out and convinced meree Charlie Watson that they rightfullY de5t'TVed a starting slot. Bubba Rush lea Mike Kidd and the r~st of the now 10-man field across the start/finish line at the end of laps one and two. but Kidd dropped Out of ,he race on the third lap. Taking over the runnerup spot was Gary Scon and after nine laps of looking at Rush's rear tire. it was Rush who was doing the looking when the checkered nag fell. Behind SCOtt and Rush came a three·way fight that saw rookie Expert Tommy Duma take third ahea.d of Tom Josephson and Steve Dallefeld. Trophy Race Tommy Duma led all 12 laps of the consolation event to pick up his first kiss from Ms. Winston, Lynn Griffis. ~ut Duma's all· the-way win by far not a sure thing as the' initial laps produced a nine-rider fight among Duma. Billy Schaeffer. Tom Berry. Ricky Campbell. Marty Bushman. Steve Dallefeld. Tom Josephson. Peter Grant and Kenny McDonald. Schaeffer dropped o"t of the race. 0[' the fourth lap ,and two laps later the retirement of Bushman left a seven·man war going on. The dice narrowed down to a threeway fight among Duma, Campbe!l and Grant. but Campbell went down' in turn one on the·llth lap and Duma headea Grant for the win with R. W. Josephson Grading-sponsored Tom Josephson taking third. Duma was happy as he publicly thanked his sponsors O'Brien FlowmetricS and Warren (Ohio) H·D. "That was nice. ow we're going to go our and win a National," said Duma. National Terry Poovey, by virtue of his fastest heat win, pushed his Doug Sehl XR to the pole position for the 25-1ap ational, with Keener, Hank Scott, Morehead, Jones and Goss joining him on the front row. Lining up on row two were Eklund, Mitchell, Springsteen, Freeman, Parker and Labrie, with Hocking, Gary Scott, Mercier and Rush rounding out the field on the third row. The opening lap was led by Randy Goss with Parker, Keener, Poovey, Morehead, Labrie and the rest of the field righ! behind. S~venteen-year-old Scott Parker held the poim position for the next twO go-arounds and the race quickly shaped up imo a nine-J11an "freight train." . Laps four and five were led by Goss at the start/finish line with Parker the point man on laps six, seven and eight. Morehead led the field on the ninth lap, but a lap later it was Parker back in the lead. By lap 12 there had been 14 lead changes around the track and the order read Morehead, Parker, Keener, Goss, Poovey, Hank Scott, Labrie, Eklund and Springsteen - all wheel to wheel in a long, snaking, drafting line. The race continued in the same f\lrious manner, and by the 17th lap, there had ~e.n 23 lead changes with the straightaway draf.ting moves shufning the order around on every lap. . . Over the next few laps the field began to stretch out and one-on-one and multi-rider battles became tlje order of the day. Up front, it was Morehead and Goss going at it all around the oval. Right behind them Keener had his hands full with Jay. Springsteen , who had put on a 5t'v~ra1.lap charge which moved him right up imo the run for the big money. The order behind th~ fromrunning four with five laps remaining was Parker, Eklund, Lahrie, Hank Scott, Freeman, Hocking, Poovey and Rush. . , Gone \ly the 20th lap were Jackie Mitchell, who pulled off the track just past the starting lights on the initial lap; Lance Jones, who hroke off the lin~ as well; Michel Merci~T; and Gary SCOtt. who dropped out after receiving the move over blue flag while circulating slowly with a missing engine. . Randy Goss led the 21st lap. but then Lady Luck pulled a nasty one on the young Michigan rider and he dropped from the race with mechanical problems on the next lap. Goss' retirement apparently left Morehead with the win, but a K~ner/ Springer drafting dice quickly moved them up on Morehead's rear wheel. The last few laps saw the trio of Harley-Davids<;>n factory riders probing away at each other as they 5t't up for the last inile of the day. It was anybody's race as the trio exited turn four and headed for the checkered nag. Morehead had the point. and Keener and Springsteen pulled out of his draft as they neared the line with Keener pulling alongside of Morehead. But it was Morehead who hung on to win as his front wheel crossed the chalk line six inches ahead of Keener's front wheel. and just a few more incheS ahead of Springsteen·s.. Morehead was jubilam as was his famify who had traveled from their home in Findlay, Ohio. to witness Steve add the Syracuse National win.to his only previous National victory which occurTed at Pittsburgh last year. "Damn, I'm tickled to death," said Morehead. '" looked down at the finish line and saw my front tire hit it just before the guy next to me. Then I looked oveT and saw it was Corky and I was even more tickled. Then I looked back and saw Springe... and I said 'AlrightI' to myself. We did it! This win really pumps me up for Pittsburgh next week. I' want to thank AFM/ Harley-Davidson. Lubri-Tech, TC's Fass Gas, MXL and especially my tuner Steve Storz." ~unnerup Corky Keener, who lost his "full" membership on the HarleyDavidson team to Morehead after last season. said, "I ran the race the way I pl,!nned it - running up near. the front until the last lap when I gave it my best shot. But my best shOt was six inches short. I'm ha ppiest over the fact that I finished second and Scottie Parker finished fifth. with both of us riding bikes !:>uilt by my tuner' AI Stangler." Keener lists his sponsors as "Self! AMF H-D" due to the fact that while H·D supplies the bikes, he is no longer salaried. Jay Springsteen was covered with_ dark Syracuse Mile dirt and he quipped, "You can tell who was behind by my dirty face." When asked if he thought he could stiB pull off the championship, .Springer said, "I don't really know. It's pretty tight. I'll give it my best shot." Points leader Steve Eklund's last lap pass of Parker was good for II pOints,just two less than Springsteen's 13 for third. With just three races remaining, Springer would have to average 14 points per event.to overtake Eklund if the Californian didn't gain another point. It might take more than Springsteen's "best shot" to pull it off for. the defending champ. • Results NATIONAL: 1. Steve Morehead IH-D); 2. Corky Keen8\' IH-D); 3. Jay Springsteen (H-D): 4. SIeve Eklund IH-D): 5. Scott Park... IH·DI: 6. Han!< Scott IH-DI; 7. Billy Labrie IH-D); 6. Steve F,eeman (H-DI; 9. Rick Hocking IH-D); 10. T...ry Poovey IH·DI; 11. Bubba RusIlIH-DI; 12. Randy Goss IH-D); 13. Gary Scott (H-O); 14. Michej M...ci... (H·DI; 15. Lance Jones (H·D); 16. Jacllie Mitchell (H-DI. TIME: , 5 min.. 7.88 sec. TROPHY RACE: 1. Tommy Duma (H-D); 2. Pet... Grant IH·D): 3. Tom Josephoon (H-n); 4. Kenny McDonald (H-D); 5. Rav.logary (H-S); 6. Ricky Campbetl (H-D); 7. Tom Berry (H·D); 8. Steve Dallefetd (H-S); 9. Marty BusIlman (H·D); 10. Billy SchaefferIH-D). TIME: 7 min., 31.67 sec. fIoMA GRAND NAT10NAl CHAMPIONSHlPIWlNSTON PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Steve Eklund (250); 2. ~ Springsteen 12;8); 3. Randy Goss (198); 4. Gary Scon 11321: 5. Hank Scon 1125); 6. Rick Hocl

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