Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

'I , II Desert ~, e U Hotline Verlin Van lee took first Heavy· weight Expert, Miller takes Desert M.C. H&H By Joyce May LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, OCT. 28 There was no doubt, from only a few miles past the bomb, who the winner of the Desen M. C. hare and hound was going to be. 20 ," , Chuck Miller, riding for Yamaha out of Dale's Modem Cycle in San Ber· nardino, took the lead without a challenger even getting close. Although the weather had been balmy with a bit of a breeze Saturday, Sunday the winds got downright nasty. This condition, however, helped to keep the course with its extremely dusty condition, relatively clear of dust and easy to see. It was jim Smith (Hwt. Ex) leading the thundering herd (almost 300 entries total) at the bomb after a two· kick start. He and Miller both came in onto the same trail just past the bomb for a near collision. Miller backed off to wait for a better time to make his move. After a few miles Smith made a mis~e. Miller shot around him and was gone. After additional "sorting" into se· quence, it was Dan Ashcraft (250 Ex), riding as though he had never been off with a broken arm, holding down second spot into the first check, with Amateur Darin Cartwright (250) third overall. Rounding out the top four (all 250s) was Greg Thomas, Veteran Bill Saltzman was in the futh slot followed by heavyweights Max Eddy, Rick jones, and jeff Matthews (bad. from a leg injury). Chuck Steams, only riding his second Amateur ride, was running in the ninth position, while Expert "C" rider Chuck Cartledge disguised behind a pie plate, was 10th. Smith had had his tank come loose, pulling his gas line off, so he had fallen well back while trying to repair the problem. which continued to reoccur the rest of the first loop. Rick Schumaker (C Ex) was three bikes behind Cartledge as he went through the check in 15th followed very closely by anoth.er C bike piloted by Greg Winters, Senior Heavyweight, Bob Doig moved through n<:xt, while Yamaha's C bike ace, Charlie Hamill, came flying in for a tank card mark in the next spot, Kelly Kline, running 52nd overall, was first gal while Trudy Beck, in .the 44th position, pushed hard to catch her. Leading the Novice/Beginner mob was Heavyweight Kerry Schmidt, with another Heavyweight, john Morrow (Nov) close on his heels. Beginner Dan Powell (250) was third. By t~e second check Thomas had moved Into the second overall spot, Eddy had charged into fifth and Howard McCasland had moved from 11th to ninth. The battle for the C bike lead was getting more interesting as Schumaker moved closer to Cartledge while Winters and Hamill were into a bike· to· bike battle behind them. Kern Park had made a strong move coming from 2lst to 13th through the second check. . Into t~e last. check on the first loop It was Miller rucely extending his lead and looking very smooth, with G. Thomas still in the second spot. Saltzman had moved up into third. Hamill had a raging battle with ~hat he thought was a 250 Husky, but It turned out instead to be Cartledge on h.is 125 Husky., Chuck ended up runnmg out of gas about three miles from the pits. The 44-mile loop, coupled with the wind factor, had proved to be t09 much for numerous bikes besides Chuck's. McCasland had moved up in sight of Van lee before he blew his trans· mission. There was no other bike's dust in sight as Miller pulled into his pit for gas. Saltzman had managed to get past Thomas and pulled into the Checker pit just ahead of Greg. Amateur Cartwright was fourth, followed by Hamill who was now well entr~nched in the number one C spot, leaVIng the number two C slot to Chris Austin who had moved from 22nd 'to ninth into the pits. Super fast Amateur, Steams, was running sixth with Verlin Van lee having moved up from 24th at the first check to seventh in the pits. Doig had also bettered himself ·by breaking into the top 10, entering the pits in eighth, jones held down 10th. The Beginners and' Novice Trails took, the checkered flag at this point. Takmg the overall honors for this group was jim DeKoker (250), followed by two Open Beginners, Steve Knapp and Tom Clark. Senior Heavyweight Tim Brookshire was fourth overall, while first trail honors went to Robert Smith (B.eg) in sixth. Ken Rapp (C Beg) and Tim Schallenberger (C Beg) came past the checkered as first and second in class C's while Tricia Farmer earned the first gal spot. Bob Freeman was the first Beginner Vet. Out on the second loop the leader was still Miller with Saltzman retaining a bare margin over Thomas. Cartwright was still founh at the fifth check, but Van lee had gotten past Hamill. Two Veterans, Monte Lee and jeff McEller, were battling it out in the 11 th and 12th slots. Amateur speedster Bill Mattox had moved up to 2lst, running first Trailbike. Lori Farmer was now ftrst gal with Trudy Beck only three places back and having one terrific battle with her brother Oren, jr. (Trail Ex). Morrow had moved into the first Novice slot. !'falfway around the second loop Miller was now out for a Sunday glide. He had built up a very comfortable lead. Saltzman and Thomas continued to battle back and forth with Thomas finally getting the edge as they moved. through a field of rocks. Van lee was now in the fourth spot while Amateur Cartwright was next followed closely by Hamill. Senior Heavyweight Doig was sixth and being chased by Amateur Stearns, and Experts Austin and jones. McElIer had , ,.. . Western gotten around Lee, but Lee still led his class. Trudy Beck had once again gotten past her brother Oren, and had also taken over the lead for the women. The Novice leader continued to be Morrow. Miller continued to lead the race through the final check and then towards home finishing off a second loop of 59 miles. The checkered was at the top·of a rock downhilL. The finish order was taken at the top, but the cards were pulled at the bottom; so no matter how tired the rider was. he still had to negotiate the forbidding downhill. It got to be a spectators' and cameraman's field day, Miller, with the lead well in hand, came d.own the hill with no problems at all. He is one of the few fortunate riders that has support from numerous outfits such as Hi Point, Bel· Ray , and White Brothers, along with sponsorship from Yamaha and expertise and addl' tional help.from Dale's Modem Cycle. Saltzman had once again gotten by Thomas to finish in the second spot. Van lee was fourth, rounding out three Checker finishers in the top four. Van lee had no idea that he was ftrst Heavyweight until after he had finished. Flying' "Wild Man" Hamill moved ~t? th~ futh slot. He was once again ?ding like he had been riding earlier !n the year, and finished four positions m front of the second C bike piloted by Austin, with Ca.rrwright, Doig, and Steams in between. Stearns is one of those shooting stars that no one seems to know where he came from. The Dusters' race, back in September, was his second District desert race. He finished first Novice and has been continuing the trend ever since. Kem Park (250 Ex) of Torco fame was in the number 10 spot, followed by (Ex), Wes Heavyweights jones Anderson, jr, (Ex), and Craig Wolfson, who earned the first Amateur honors in his class. Second Senior to take the checkered was "Doc" Morris Norman (Hwt) followed by Bruce Jon~ (Hwt), Veteran Monte Lee (lst Vet 250), Kent Pfeiffer (C Ex), Russ jones (250), Brett Howell (Hwt), and McElle.r (Vet Hwt). Amateur Mattox retained his tremendous Trailbike lead, while Trudy Beck stayed ba.rely ahead of her brother Oren as they passed the checkered at the top of the hill. Trudy finished with "ftrst gal" honors while ,Oren, jr. earned the ftrst Expert Trail title. Trudy had pushed hard and could barely hold her bike up as she descended the rocky downhill at the fmish. john Morrow (Hwt) earned the overall Novice honors with Brad Baum (250), Joe Zoller (C) and Gordie Vallejo (Trail) taking ftrst in their respective classes. A very extra big thanks to Ed Farrell of the Desert M.C., without whose help this reporter would not have been able to write complete coverage of this ra~. • SheffIeld upsets Acevedo at Orange Show MX By Tom Corley SAN BERNARDINO, ~A, OCT. 19 The city of San Bernardino was shaken in the morning from an eanhquake and rained on hard in the evening, Despite this, Continental Moto·sports Club's stadium motocross event continued to fire off at the Orange Show Fairgrounds. The competitors were not bothered at all and the pit area was still accessible be: cause it is asphalt. Once the riders started out on the track they found it to be rather muddy but still rideable. Overall everyone had a good time battling one another in the mud. Out of 10 fine lineups of riders on the program, one of the all around best races was deftnitely the' 50cc Mini junior race. This contest, like some of the rest, has a regular winner and the little guy that usually takes the prize is Newton Acevedo. Newton wears an R&D Racing Engines jersey and rides a miniature Suzuki MX. Tonight he met up with Shane Sheffeild and that's when the battle started. In the first moto Shane got the holeshot on his quick Yamaha and he grabbed the early lead. Acevedo was approaching and pushing hard for the lead. Then Newton rammed into Shane and fell to the ground. Shane had the win in the bag after this while Newton still managed second. In the second moto Shane hooked the lead again and Newton had the bad luck again as he hit the mud again on a sweeper, this forced him to take second. Some of the top Pros have been showing up lately and there is no doubt that they are getting used to the track before the Night Nationals. Gary Denton is back into the 125cc Pro action and is no longer mounted on the LOP Yamaha. Instead he is riding an older model Suzuki that he got from his brother Guy and tonight Gary won the 125cc Pro class over Tim Lunde, David Gerig, and Randy Yetto, Results MINI 50: 1. Shana SheffiaId (Yam); 2. Nawton ISud; 3. Ton GIlatioto 1Suz). MINI JR 0lV I: 1. RicIl GIlatioto (Yaml; 2. Jimmy PIlnw (Yam); 3. _ ..... (Yam). MINI _ .: 1. Phil Smith 1Suz); 2. Todd Tavis 1Suzl; 3. JR 0lV _ (Sud. ~ MINlINT: 1. Skip Godirwz lKawl; 2. RoclnaY Phalpo 1Suzl; 3. Todd _ ue-J. MINI EX: 1. Saoct _ lKawl. 100 JR: 1. J o I l _ (Yaml. 125 JR: 1 . ' - _ _ ue-J; 2. _ fTam (YarnI; 3. Mille Ward 1Suz). • 125 INT: 1. Mike _ (Sud; 2. _ PiIolD (Yam); 3. JeIf Austine (Yam). 125 PRO: 1. Gory Dontan 1Suz); 2. Too Lunde (Yam): 3. DllVid Gerig l&cl. ' 250 JR: 1. ' - ' _ _ IHonl; 2. V""'" At-.,; IHon); 3. Jim CoIlatioIo ISud. 250 !NT: 1. Ton May 1Suz); 2. Ton Woodo _ 3. Phil Gagnon 1Huol. • 250 PRO: 1. CUrt McCuiotion ue-J; 2. Rober1 Marino (Yam); 3. Gory Jon.lAm>d. 500 JR: 1. R _ . . - ISud; 2. o.ran ~ (Yam); 3. Bob _ lHuo). 5OOINT: 1. IIilI Koch (Sud; 2. llenna Dum (Yaml. 500 PRO: 1. Gory Jon. lAm>d; 2. DllVid Gerig l&cl; 3. Rober1_ (Yam). Results ClASS WINNERS EX: 1. V_ Von lee IHwl); 2. ChucIc Miller 12601' 3. Ch8rlie HonoliM ICI; 4. Oren 1Ieck, Jr. lTraill; 5. Bob Doig ISt.IHwtl; 8. Don Whitehorn 1St 2501; 7. Tom W_ 1St CI; 8. JeIf McE11er (Vel Hwlt; 9. Trudy Beck, 1W·2501; 10. Kathy Hopkins IW·I25I. AM: 1. Crllig Wolflon IHwl); 2. Darin Cartwright 12601' 3. Ray GuilbeoulCI; 4. Bill MattoxlTraill' 5. Lyle Pol"": ISr Hwll; 8. Bitl Zoller 1St 2501; 7. Jon'Morriaon (Vel Hwll; 8. Mike NewmonIVel250l. NOV: 1. John Morrow Ihwtl; 2. 8rIId IIaum 125Ol; 3. Joe loll. ICI; 4. Gordie VII. IT,aill: 5. T-. Byrd (5, Hwtl; 6. Philip Ilaytia (Vel Hwtl; 7. C.F. "Papa" F _ (Vel 250-C1. BEG 1. 5...... Knapp (hwt); 2. J.J. 0eK0k. 1251: 3. Ken ~ IC!; 4. Rober1 Smith lTraill: 5. Tom Ilroobhi'" 1St Hwtl; 6. John Von 1St 2501; 7. Bob F r _ (Vel Hwll; 8. Skip Brandl (Vel 2501; 9. Tricia F_IW Divl. Corona nIght MX continues ' By Ron Lawson Photo by Larry Simons CORONA, CA, OCT. 26 While other night motocross tracks are closing their doors and preparing for a long cold winter, .

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