Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

THE NATIONAL PAPERS In a recent issue of Cycle News it beca me official what a lot of us have been wondering a bou t fo r many weeks . W ould there be a 34 National TT at Castle Rock this year? The answer is, no. It is only filling that the race, at least for this year, came to a halt with a bang. It came in the same way 16 years ago. Back in 1965 fans across the na tion were asking, "W here the hell is Castle Rock ?" and also , "who is the Mt. St. Helens M.C .?" The smallest tow n on the circuit was on the map with their first Nationa l at the smallest track on the circuit and with the last true AMA clu b to promote a major event. Yes, the mountain with the volcano can be seen from the track, which is close to the junction of the Cowlitz and the Toutle rivers - and a half mile from beautiful downtown Castle Rock . One river runs right next to th e track and if a pit man is not careful he can fall int o the river. Some have. Longview and Kelso, Washington are located just down the road to the sou th , That's where most people stayed, ma inIy due to the fact there were no motels or hotels in C .R. The first year, 1965, the word was out , "The Hells Angels" and their other unwashed cousins were heading that way . Most of the mainstreet in Longview was boarded up. The bad guys never found their way there for at least two more years. The first year did nearly open with a bang before the first race. At that time it was still under district referee control. The local ref was running his first big event and wa nted it to run ex actly like he ha d planned , He was uptight , to say the least. Trouble between riders and the official started early. Even some of the then Competition Committee members that were present were more or less told to go get lost. The riders finally started a pool , contributing money for any guy in the pits that would deck the ref. The pool did get started but never came off. The race program itself was a bang. The main event was decided on the final two turns and still ranks as one of the best TT finishes in all of racing. The win went to Dave Pa lmer . How many remember Dave Palmer? Down through the years many things happened at Castle Rock . Three of the original members who sparked the club at the time all died from un-natural causes. The Northwest has always been noted for its rain, yet not once in the 15 years was a race cancelled due to the wet stuff. Daytona was the first to have a streaker at a cycle race but Castle Rock topped that with three naked guys jumping the fence and running around the infield while the races were onl The overnight parking area behind the track was long known as , "Death Valley" because of all the happenings that took place on Saturday night after the races each year for many years. The who le area nearly went up in names one year when one of the - hangers-on poured gas into a bonfire - an interesting week . He came down to ' to get attention . He got it and nearly Ensenada with $40 in his pocket , his burned up a dozen or so vans a long entry fee unpaid and under the assumpwith it. tion that his partner wouldn't make Bu t in recent yea rs it has calmed the race. Grider went around allemptdown and only a guy who threw out a ing to borrow money , and he got dynamite cap a few years back has enough to keep going, but it wasn 't made much of a bang off the track . until two days before the race that he Of all the National tracks C .R. was managed to get his entry fee - an unperhaps the most feared by many identified individual lent him the riders and disliked by several others. $200 . "Class 50 is dynamite," said Under various committee setups Gruner. " I made enough from the wit hin the AMA over the years the purse to pay everybody back." T National sanction came close to being (Continued/ Tom pag e 2) stopped. Mainly it was attempted by An ISDTTeam selection meeting is raising the purse each year. C .R. has scheduled forJune 17, at the AMA Topaka Ave., Topaka, KS 66604, always paid more purse than Peoria offices in Westerville, OH . This Attn: Rick Davis. and on several occasions. more than meeting w ill sta rt at 9:00 a.m . and Houston . is open t o those indi vi duals who But the club hung in there year Want to go road racing in Hawaii? are int erest ed in providing positive after year and paid what they were Dave Sims phoned Papa last week with input toward the selection of a asked . They sta rted out by renting some information on the Hawaii Ro ad qualified ISDT Team to represent grandstands from as far awa y as San Racing Association's four-hour event , the USA in France this year. The Francisco each year. La ter they took slated for July 6 at Hawaii Raceway AMA tour to France w ill leave New thei r money and bought their own. Park. They're looking for teams. York City on September 15 and reo A year doesn't go by at the National m inimum two- man, to ride in 41 0cc. turn on September 28. Cost of the withou t somebody trying to steal one 750cc a nd O pen Box Stock and Cafe tour is $1094 par person. This inor more of the a nnouncing speakers classes. (C afe. acco rding to H R RA cludes bed and breakfast. plus din· th at are mo unted on the poles arou nd ru les ca n be "TZ with lights") Conta ct ner and one-half car rental cost. the track. clu b presid en t Red Proctor a t 808 / The fa ns come early and stay late. 621- 8660 , Gary Kusel at 808/235-0002 J erry Shore , Presid ent of America n Every year the highway pa trol shows or Da ve Sims at 808 / 672-346 5 for in fo Motocross Enterprises. has announced u p after all th e fans are parked and in on t he event, lodging, etc. the first four racers to participate in their seats. Then comes the announcethe CR ·80 Challenge, a special ment that the cars parked on the minicycle race to be held at the Honda Electro Helmets is pleased to anshoulder of the highway will have to be American Minicycle Championship nounce an additional contingency moved , or they will be towed away. Finals . August 1-2-3 at Lake Whitney posting at all champio nship m ot oEvery charitable organization in Cycle Ranch in Texas. A dozen experts cross eve nts. In addition to their town has some type of concession stand will compete on identical stock CRpresent contingencies 1 $250-156-75at the grounds on race night. The club, 80s drawn by lot . The four riders who 56-251 for a rider placing in the top by hosting the race, has aided these have already agreed to participate are fi ve, there's an additional .100 for groups tremendously over the years. Larry Brooks. George Holland, Erik the top pr ivateer. If the t op The Northwest fans are some of the Kehoe and Troy Blake. priva teer, wearing an Electro most avid- anywhere. I have written helmet. places in the t op f ive then before that they come perhaps not to he will get t ha normal cont ingency Bill Kn iegge has been promoted to see who is going to win but rather how plus the add itional C note. vice-president-marketing at Bell many of the National circuit stars are going to get beat. Helmets, Inc.. and Don Emde has Neil Grider. who rode with Arne joined Bell in the new position of They had to wait six years before a Gruner and finished fourth in Class 30 national sales manager. In addition, Northwest rider finally won the main in the SCO RE Baja Internacional, had Don L'Heureux, formerly director event and that was by inches. Since then the Washington/Oregon lads have scored a total of six wins , with half of them by the same rider, Chuck Walt Disney Educational Media Company has just released a new filmstrip Joyner. set. Goofy Owr Motorcycle. for secondary level studel1Ul. According to the The track itself looks short and company's press releae, the filmstrip is "similar in approach to Walt Disney's simple to ride. Bu t if you put all of the classic driver safety film lIotorm••• The new motorcycle series focuses National d irt races each year up for attention on the need for safe driving habits by using Goofy as the amusing comparison, the entire C. R. race learn-by·mistakes exsmple...holds student attention through the use of program fr om sta rt to finis h would be colorful an imated artWork. interesting facts about motorcycle history and difficult to top for pure action and valuable lessons In motorcycle safety basics. Studel1Ullearn the criteria thrills. Fan excitement can reach a fever for selecting the propar motorcycle and the im portance of wearing propitch. O ne year a well built lady tective clothing:' The filmstrip series includes four filmstrips, four records jumped the wall on the front straightor CBSsetta. and a teae:her's guide. Complete sat charge is $91. For more info away where the main event was being contact Walt Disney Educational Media Co., 600 South Buena Vista St. , introduced, tore ope n her blouse a nd Burbank. CA 91621. For faster service phone toll frea 8001423-26&6. went over and bea r -hugged the rider she wanted to winl (He didn'r .) Like all club run events there are a few that do the majority of the work . The few have done their work well and it took a volcano to give them a rest. The club, whose official colors are green and white, now have a race track covered with from three to four feet of mud and ash . One fan called me a nd said that the large road grader was buried, except for the ca b sticking out the topl In recent years the Northwest has been called the home of the TT "special. ists" and that is true . Many fine TT riders -ha ve come out of there, in cluding the only girl to ever make Expert , Diane Cox. Most of them did a great deal of their learning to race at C .R . T he club says they will be back in 1981. They have survived rain threats, AMA politics, gas shortages and key member deaths . Now a volcano has stopped them , at least for this year . I know many of the members of the Mt. St. Helens club personally. They have had their act tog ether for too long to let Mother Nature stop them now. We'll see them back in July of '8 1 - bet on it . tHE LATEST BY PIPI WEILEY Roxy Rockwood ·

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