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/126431
o ~ ..... .$.0 ~ .c .o ., u o Ascot winner Randy Gou 1131 and new Grand National.champ Steve Eklund got wry cIolIe In their heat race. AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series Round 26 - Ascot: Goss wraps it up for the Seventies By Dale Brown Photos by Dan Mahony and Charles Morey· GARDENA, CA, SEPT. 29 Randy Goss won the last AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series event of the decade, taking over the lead four laps into the race and stretching it out to win the 20-lap National Half Mile atJ.C. Agajanian's Ascot Park. Leading the first three laps and coming up second at the flag 8 was Army-sponsored Mike Kidd, while Gary Scott turned in a last· lap. lastturn pass to finish third in front of Ricky Graham. While the top three positions in the final Winston Pro Series point standings were already set at Steve Eklund (who finished fifth). Jay Springsteen (who was home in Michigan recuperatinl{ from the recurring illness that. struck at San Jose) and GQss: positions four through 10 were settled here. Steve Morehead retained fourth by four points over Mike Kidd. while Gary Scott edged ahead of his brother Hank to take sixth by tltree points. Rick Hocking, Rookie of the Year Scott Parker and Corky Keener rounded out the top 10. Springsteen. "feeling better," according to Harley-Davidson racing director Dick O'Brien. flew back home to Michigan on Thursday. Sept. '1.7. There Springsteen's doctor will be administering more tests and trying to get Jay admitted to the Mayo Clinic. "The problem is," said O'Brien, "is that nobody's got anything pinned down." The doctor in San Jose thought it might be a problem with the entrance to his stomach, according to O'Brien. nmetreils Rain showers during the afternoon and preceding evening kept the track moist. and when qualifying was over, the top 10 were within two-tenths of a second of each other. The fast man. Rick Hocking and his Southern Nevada H-D/Chris Armstrong Harley· Davidson XR750. turned in a 22.01second clocking, just two-hundredths of a second off Ganh Brow's record. Ricky Graham (22.05). Mike Kidd (22.06) and Steve Eklund (22.11) rounded out the top four to earn pole positions in the four heats. John Hateley qualified his Triumph at eighth fastest. the only non-Harley in the top 10. All the riders who showed were able to race - there were only 57. Alex Jorgensen, though, broke a piston on the Ron Wood Nonon, and scratched his entry. Huts Rick Hocking came into the pits at a fair rate of speed, scattering bystanden as he rushed off the track during the warm-up laps to make ~ Jut mUiute adjustments_ He got back to the line in time, where he and the rest of the field were treated to a Scott Pearson rocketship stan. Hank Scott hustled through traffic in the first two comers to take second away from Eddie Lawson and ·LanceJones. Pearson had the lead for two more laps before Scott's Patrick Racing/ Barnes Wheds/KRW /Sure-Fire/Carlisle/Branch Harley-Davidson went by for the lead. Pearson still held second over Lawson, who was making his first appearance since he dislocated his hip in a club road race in July. and said he felt "about 95%." With three laps to go, Pearson ran