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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126429
ice (?) about a third of the remaining riders decided to make on·site inspections of the hillside. A. Barry Gordon, fint Beginner at this point and at the finish, had no such problems and buzzed right on up as did Wendy Muller, fint (and apparently the only) Woman. She paused briefly to check out the hill for bodies and other debris, pointed her IT Yamaha straight up the. face and calmly motored to the top. The second lap found Price firmly in control of the race. The effort of having to rebuild the top end on his bike three times Saturday afternoon apparently paid off. Ellis had moved to second and Larry Upp, who had not yet run into his transmission problem, had gotten by Sickler for third. When Upp did finally drop out, the finishing order became Price, Ellis and Sickler. Jon Roger and Galen Cox had a good battle going for most of the race with 'Roger edging Cox at the finish and taking first Senior for his efforts. Raeetwo Mike Mulconery, lookin' good here, limped into the finish after a high speed bail off. CRCTomcat European Scrambles By Terry Rezek STODDARD VALLEY, CA, SEPT. 9 Who-eee, was it hotl In the California desert in the fall, the leaves don't turn brown and red, the people do. Arriving on the scene 22 aro~nd 6:00 p.m. Samrday to escape the heat, I fo~nd I hadn't. One easy ride around the 12 mile cou~, even with many stops to watch a fantastic desert sunset, produced near terminal sweats. Tomorrow's riders were in for some hot (I) racing. The course was mostly flat and fast. From the start a broad wash led toward the hills, paving the way with many little potholes - all with the sharp edges facing yo~. Ph, my aching rims. Dropping into a short and narrow wash to enjoy one of the few stretches of whoop-de·doos on the course, you soon had to make an abrupt left turn and go up a short, snotty, gnarly hill with a pack of human vultures ill the top. These are the kind of people who will drive 100 miles to a disaster and volunteer to help with ~he body count. Anyway, that's why I was there. Over the hill and through the dale, well through several miles of rocky rollers, make the far point turn and tan bac:'. F~ m here to the finish line was mostly more rollers, with some rocks which had moved uptown from Lucerne. Ah, the pits at last; a splash of water in the face (if you were lucky) a glance at the bikinied spectators and out for two more laps. Raeeone The first bunch off was a combined class ofJ~nior/Seniors (50 to 40 years), Seniors (40 +) and Women's (25) classes. Big Leon Price led the parade to the hill and ground his way up with no problem, holding about 20 seconds over Chuck Sickler. Growling right on Sickler's back was Ed Ellis and his grumper (or is that thumper?). Big four strokes wually jwt crush bushes, VolksWagena and small rocks, but every once in a while they meet a rock they can't intimidate. The flame goes out and you find you~lf five feet up the hill, staring at the remaining 295 feet of slope which now looks like the face of Half·Dome. Fortunately for Ellis, XR500's start easily and have the torque to climb from a slope·side start. At least Ellis didn't lose a place. Larry Upp, next to the hill and first Senior, wasn't quite that lucky. Larry got a little sideways and came to an abrupt halt - right in front of son Kenny who was there to lend moral support. Larry was soon on his way again but his luck didn't improve. He was forced to retire on the second lap with a flummoxed gearbox. Vern Heth took advantage of Upp's momentary problem to grab the fourth spot. With Larry breaking the The 0·200cc class is usually a contest between two friends, Donnie Morrison and Scott Atchison. Although they finished one· two today, the race was Morrison's all the way. He jumped to a commanding lead within the tint few miles of the race and continued to extend that lead thro~ghout, even while pausing occasionally at the top of hills to check for pursuit. Atchison got caught in traffic at the start and had to fight his way through from about sixth. By lap two he was in second and working determinedly to catch Morrison, an impossible task barring accidents. That clogged start also contained Lome Crawford, Pat O'Donnell and C. Roberts, very close together. They liked each other's company so much that they spent the rest of the race swapping positions, their momentum carrying them past many other riders in the process. When the powder dust settled, O'Donnell, riding a pie·plate entry, had taken third. I believe pie· plate entries are classed as Experts on their first ride, which would make Crawford, in at fourth, fint Amateur. Early on, it looked like Sparky Perry was the first Beginner but "Jack of the Javelinas" Fedrich got caught up trying to catch up with Mike Roth, who was turning in a great ride to earn himself the first Novice slot, and Fedrich drafted right in behind him to take first Beginner. The Mini class was a runaway for Jumpin' Jeff lJammond who took the time to style radically for the photo· grapher. Brad Terpak rode a hard, steady race but the traffic which pla~es small bikes in such a short race prevented him from making any dramatic moves and he had to settle for second Mini. could not shake him off. So they went for two laps until Robertson managed to slip by in the pits and put the separation where he wanted it, behind him, not before him. The furio~s pace also trapped Miller who found himself sandwiChed by Robertson and Johnston at the finish. Bryan Clark was on his way to the first Novice spot right off the start and never slacked the pace for a wellearned win. Vince Ruesch came thro~gh at the beginning with a slight lead over Mark Solms and opened and closed it several times before crossing the finish as fint Beginner with SoIms second. Raeefour I almost missed the leader for the entire Open class race. Gary MuIconery. was making it look so easy that, at the beginning of the second lap, I and several other spectaton ignored him because he didn't look like he was even racing! Gary took advantage of a superb start to grab and hold a lead which remained comfortable until the last half of the last lap. Gary Davies was the pursuit pilot on MuIconery's tail for the fint half of the race, pushing his International MC Yamaha hard to catch the easy· riding MuIconery. At the end of the race, MuIconery was f~1I of praise for his tuner, Dick Allen of DIck Allen's Yamaha. He made it sound like that bike didn't even need a rider to win! The real drama was shaping up back in third position. When the stan dust cleared, Mike MuIconery realized that he was behind two fellow club members and that the leader was none other than his little brother, Gary. That wouldn't do at all, nossirl Mike looked for the rocket boost switch on his Tracy's tuned Husky and, not finding one, twisted that Husky by the tail ~ntil it howled and set out to catch him one little brother.' He almost made it. He got by-Davies and was reeling in Gary when he ran out of luck and met a road crossing not meant to be crossed in fifth gear. By the time he was through counting stars and the pieces of his foot, which was now in great need of an ice pack, brother Gary was home free and Davies had gotten past to pick up second. Right after Mike limped in, Heath Hibbard, who had ridden a steady fourth, came in at that same position to make it a four place sweep for Hi· Speed Bail. Incidentally, the Mulconery patriarch wishes me to inform the racing world that he "taught 'em everything they know. " Apparently that does not apply jwt to racing. I've seen many a lovely lady at these races, but the Hi-Speed Bail! Mu1conery camp is definitely the foxiest in the desertl Raeethree Results Most of the story of the third race, the 250cc class, can be told in two words, Kenny Upp. Two miles after the start, Upp had a 10·second lead over Dean Miller, an advantage which only got larger as the race wore on. Kenny does not back off, even when he has a substaDtiallead. Right behind Miller came Greg Johnston, first Amateur, with pie· plater Bill Robertson riding for Honda of Hollywood on Johnston's back. Wonder if Honda is introducing some of its' MX riders to the pleasures of the desert in preparation for the Baja lOOO? Anyway, Robertson put that blood· red Honda on Johnstaon's tail like an engorged leech and Johnston JRISR ~ VRS), SR 140 +), AND WOMENS'S CLASSES: 1. Leon Price (Yom): 2. Ed Ellis lHonl: 3. ChucI< Sic:tder (Yoml: 4. Bob Dahlgren (KTM): 5. Tom BaIt. (YI..": 6. Brad Terpoi< (Yoml: 7. Jon Roger (Yoml: 8. Golen Co. (Vom); 9. Bill Hewoche (Yoml: 10. Joe Horter (Voml; ". AJ6>c Smith, Jr. (Yoml. JR BEG: 1. A. Ileny Gordon IHus): 2. I.Mry Solomon IHUol. WOMAN: Wertdy Muller (Vom). ()'2OOcc, INC. MINIS: ,. Donnie Morrison IDKWl: 2. Scon AtehiIon: 3. Pot O'Donnell IHuol; 4. Lome C,ewfOfd (Yoml; 5.: 6. Mik. Roth IVam); 7. Jack Fed'ich (Yaml: 8. Jeff Barker (Vaml: 9. Steve Oevieo (Yom): 10. .J