Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

,THE NATIONAL o PAPERS e .... 00 0') ...... .. Daytona guide to saving bucks, picking winners and planning your speecfweek With all the talk about inflation, gasoline and costs in general, we feel it's in order to devote a column to the Daytona events and possibly assist a lot of fans in cutting corners so they can be a part of the whole week-plus. Airlines Right now the airlines, all of them, are complaining about the high costs of fuel and the decrease in the number of passengers that are flying. Yes, the cost of a plane ticket has gone up but just about every airline is offering some type of "Special" between now and March 27. Check the airlines, but when you call don't just ask the price of a roundtrip coach fare ticket. Ask them instead, "What is the lowest fare I can get? And I don't care what time of-day or night I have to fly." Daytona now has more than just one major airline flying into their fair city. But a lot of us over the years have flown into Orlando or Jacksonville instead of right into Daytona. Air traffic and the number of airlines have increased into Orlando in the last year. Jacksonville and Daytona are still classed as what you would call secondary airports but Orlando is now up there with the big boys. It is an easy drive from Orlando to Daytona and back. From Orlando one can fly to Miami, Atlanta or points west without too much effort. Eastern is still offering one of those packages where two people can fly anywhere Eastern goes for one fare, and you can get off and back on again many times. Here in the west at least, there is more than one airline which will fly you to Atlanta for a full fare and you can take anybody you want along for $49_00 each way. The woods are full of "deals" that cover the period of the Daytona event. Motel Rooms I haven't really heard of anybody . not being able to find a room in the Daytona area for several years. The last time the area filled up was when aU those charter flights from Europe came over to watch Agostini ride and win. You hear a lot of wild high prices being quoted for a room at Daytona. But it is just like Las Vegas. If you want to stay on the beach you will pay for it. But Daytona probably has more "Mom & Pop" motel operations than any other city in the U.S. and the rates are far lower than the big hotels with the view of the surf and sand. What you see is what you gets. People can always arrive in Daytona, Orlando or Deland and find a room without an advance reservation. A lifetime resident of Daytona once told me that each year about five motels go broke but each year at least five new ones open upl Kids Free at the Speedway If the kids are 12 or under, they get in free when the folks purchase a general admission ticket. (Not " you Uked thet photo of DeCoster In a Honda Jersey, this one should reelly crack you up. Marty Smith has a1gned with U.S. Suzuki to ride the AMA &OOcc NlItionai Champlonahlp MX SerIee with reigning champ Danny laPorte. Smith wasn't lit Sellttle, end he doan't plan to ride Oakland, either; . . first race on Teem Suzuki wi! be the ~. 1 Atlanta Supercroa. How wit he dol AccordIng to team manager Mark BIec:kweII. "Marty'. beat riding Is atllaheed of him." Rounding out Teem Suzuki . . Kent Howerton and Darrell Shultz In the 2IiOcc cIua with Mark Barnett and Brian Myeracough bleating the 12&cc Nationals. Tough teamI reserved seat) This applies to the grandstand or the infield. Race Format Changes In addition to the traditional Wednesday amateur road races there also will be amateur motocross racing. - And check this - both events will run at the same time on Wednesday! The annual Daytona 200 miler finds new window dressing that includes all the four·cylinder two stroke 750s you have watched win there for so long. plus four·stroke four cylinder machines mixed in with them, up to 1025cc. They are going to put fairings on the Superbikes, so to speak, and let them run with the GP jobs that have been turning up to 180mph of late. However, there is still going to be a separate Superbike Production class race, running on Friday in addition to the Novice 250cc final. As I understand it at this time, a rider cannot enter the same Superbike in both the Friday and Sunday eVents. Has to make a choice. Like before, no fairings allowed on Friday. Dirt Track Scene We would like to say, there's gold in them thar hills, but there are no hills in Florida. But the gold is there for the dirt trackers to the tune of five short tracks and three half miles, all between Feb. 28 and March 8. The lowest purse is a $2,000 short track and the highest purse is the final two short tracks at $7,000 each. The grand total for purses is $36,700. But if you are an Expert you can add another possible $20,000, thanks to the good folks at AMF-Harley· Davidson. That's the amount of point fund money that covers all of the dirt events. The high point Expert in the total series walks away with $10,000. The scale is for the tqp 10 point gainers with 10th place at $100. Every one of the top five places pays at least $1,000. Then, there's more money from Bell Helmets for the Sunday afternoon half mile on March 2, also part of the series. No less than 36 riders will pick up bonus money in that one. Of the eight events, only one is a day race, the one on March 2. All the rest are under the lights. Ocala, Jacksonville, Tampa and Daytona. Not much for gas to him them all. It should bring about 100 Experts, 100Juniors and 1,000 Novices. Racing Goes to the Movies Want to be one of the first to see a sneak preview of On Any Sunday II' Want to see the new Harley race film made for TV called, The Young MatadoTs' (That's Jay Springsteen for '80). Both films will be shown at the nitely Webco Show at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona with the exact nights and times during speedweek to be announched later. The Webco show the 16th annual - will again be on every night at the Hawaiian on south Atlantic at 10:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday, March 2-9. As always, it is free to the motorcycle public, Free Goodyear blimp rides will again be one of the many prizes given away this year. Like last year, the blimp varies somewhat over the one you see on TV. Kenny Roberts, Jay Springsteen and all the rest of the Winston Pro Series riders will be interviewed on the Webco show sometime during the week. Roberts, when he is in Daytona, usually gets the nod on Thursday night, Jay on Saturday night. Gary Scott is going road racing at Daytona once again and will be on Friday or Saturday night. Harley·Davidson riders will again muster down by the Hilton on Sunday morning of the 200 miler for a rider's parade to the track and special seating in, "Hog Heaven." H·D riders interested should check with the Hilton during race week for all the details, With eight dirt track point scoring events in a week's time, it's some type of heaven for the up-and-coming Novice and Junior riders who want the points and for the Experts that want the money after a long, cold winter. But hang on, there's more. J.C. Agajanian just announced that he will run eight Friday night half miles in a row at Ascot Park in Gardena, CA, starting on March 28, running right into May and up to the night before the first of three National events at Ascot this year. This means that the AMA has put together more half miles and short tracks than ever before for the same time of year. Who said that dirt tracking was on the decline? Next time around we will get into the Daytona winners, the new faces, the past winners, etc. Roxy Rockwood 3

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