Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

it was enough to earn him one Winston Pro Series point and thus $10,000 for leading the point standings at the halfway point. A total of $35,000 was split among the top ten in the standings with Steve Eklund. grabbing a $6.000 payday followed by Randy Goss ($4,000), Mike Kidd ($3.000), Gary Scott ($2.500), Scott Pearson ($2,200), Hank Scott ($2.000), Steve Morehead ($1,900), Alex jorgensen ($1,800) and jimmy Filice ($1,500). ~,. will heYe free ecc:na to ell a,... of the track during the r8CeI at the W-"ougaLIYBmaha 1251 IiOOcc Motoc:roea NatIonlII at W..... ougel MX Perk In. Wuhouga!, WA on Aug. 2. That'll give you plenty of chances to wander about and see all the action on the European-atyle courae. Superbowl winner Mark Barnett could clinch the 12&cc NatIonal title there, and Pec:IfIc Northwest fllna can cheer on native eon Chuck Sun u he gon agaInat Broc Glovar, Mike Bell, ·Goat Breker, Danny laPorte, Marty Smith and a host of other Natlonel riders. Horst Leitner has announced the A· Trak contingency program for all AFM and ARRA road races for the remainder of 1981. Leitner Corporation will pay $50 pe.r class win and $25 for second in class at all regular AFM and ARRA races. Additionally, he has posted $200 for first, $100 for second and $50 for third place in each class at teh upcoming Budweiser 6-Hour AFM Endurance Race, july 25, at Riverside. For more details, contact Leitner Corporation at 7141731-5114. Sears Point Raceway raturnsl Rlmwaya, Inc. has reached agre. ment with a group headed by Jack WIUlams to purchase the 74O-acre race treek. WIlliams will serve as Pmldent and Gene,.1 Manager and has retained Bob Mmer to Sb.y .. Chief of Marketing. Other principals Include contractor Rick Batz of Walnut Creek and Clark Marahall a former principal in NorthWest area promotions including Seattle International Raceway and Puyallup In the 5eettIa, WA area. Williams, a former National drag racing champion plans to honor all scheduled avents on the celendar mrtlng with the AFM school and rece weekend on July 11-12. The name of the track revertll back to Saars Point International Raceway. Construction of additional grandstands in the Dud Perkins, turn four, area of the San Jose mile have begun. An additional 2,000 seats will be available for the Sept. 21 event with the nonhern California Yamaha Dealers Association joining the ranks of sponsors. Thanks, but...The July 13 luue of " . . . magazine futuru a twopage story on the Harley-Davidson "buy back" from AMF. They printed a full page photo of HarleyDavldaon Owne,. Auoclatlon's Carl WIcks leedlng a group of riders, however, and Identified him u chairman of the board Vaughn Baals.Closa. The people up in Washington state are working hard to bring a Superbike National to Seattle International Raceway for the Sept. 12-13 weekend. The program would include a Lightweight Expen, possibly a sidecar race and 14 classes of Amateur racing. Info? Dial 206/365-2895 (Claude Hammond) or %06/959-2885 (Steve Riley). • THE NATIONAL PAPERS The Roiling Thunder a1x peck With 10 races remaining on the AMA/Winston Pro Series schedule, the potential is staggering with respect as to who will be the '81 Grand National Champion. Last year it was a two-rider contest decided by a single point. With the season half over at this time it appears that at least six riden have a run for the title and the money. Two factory riders and four privateen will make a run for it in the nine dirt track events that are left. The balance of the din series offers at least one of the four types where riders compete on the din: shon track, TT, half mile and mile. It favors the miles, with five of the nine remaining din track events on the long, fast ovals. Four of the six contenders are former Grand National Champs, or number one point-gainers. One of the two non-champions missed the title by .one point and the other has consistently been in the final top 10, but nevet: higher than fifth in the final Itandinga. The former champs are: Gary Scott, Randy Goa, Steve Eklund and jay Springsteen. The two other contenden: Hank Scott and Mike Kidd. Put all their national wins together and you come up with an outstanding total of 861 All on dirt tracks of the type left on the '81 schedule. Looking at the remaining sites for the National C'Ymts this year the favorite (prior to his injuries) would be Springsteen who baa won at seven of the nine locations. His only two misses are at the Santa Fe shon track and at Tulsa, where he was not entered for the first event a year ago. Hank Scott would rank second, winning at five of the locations in past years. Next would be older brother Gary, winner at three. The same for Eltlund. Goa and Kidd would rank at the bottom with Goss winning at two of the tracks left to run and Kidd at only one spot. Ex~ence appears to play a big pan 1D the title chase this season with Gary Scott the ~teran of the group, staning his racing career in 1970 and winning his first Nationalin '72. He is also having his best season since winning the overall title back in 1975. Both Hank Scott and Mike Kidd won their first National races in 1974. Hank baa always been a top 10 runner, but 'SO was his year with five victories and his best year, missing the title on the last lap of the last race. Kidd has never been closer than fifth in the standings, but baa never had the backing that he has this year with the proven Harleys and the new Yamaha. Of the six, however, Kidd is perhaps the most difficult to predict from race to race. Eltlund staned winning Nationals in 1976. Though often unpredictable, he is still very consistent when it comes to scoring points. Shon tracks and TT courses are going to find him tough and he baa 14 victories to date. S~rinpteen racked up his fint National win back in 1975 and has been winning tnany each season, except for 19SO when he came up dry. jay used to be very predictable - if he was tbere he was the rider to beat. But time and injury can take its toll on any rider and jay is now out with his fint tnajor injury, but vows to be back in time to try for his founh title and a record amount of wins. He now baa 27 Nationals, all on din and at least one in each of the four categories. The new kid on the block is Goss, who won his fint tnajor race in '79 and then took the title last year with only one victory and by a single point. But of the entire group, Randy is fast becoming the most consistent from race to race, proving you do not have to win and win and win, to get up there. He only baa five wins to his credit but is now back on the groove, so it seems, for the last half of the . season. Taking the remaining races, this is how it shapes up. First is the Duquoin mile. All six contenders are former mile winnen but only Springsteen and Hank Scott have won here on this beautiful southern Illinois oval that seats five times the total population of the town it is located in. Next is the longtime Chicago/Santa Fe Park short track. Eklund is the big favorite here, winning three times in the past. Hank Scott has a single victory. The well known Peoria TT, annual· ly the roughest track the riders compete on and perhaps the closest to what TT tracks were written up to be many years ago. Eltlund and Springsteen have each won here on one occasion in the past. But each year this is the track that can produce a surprise/ upset winner. Kidney belts are a must at this one. Indianapolis has already run once this year but the riden return for two more mile events in August. Springsteen, Hank Scott and Kidd have all won here on two occasions. This is the equipment-buster track. Fast and to the limits most of the way, it runs once under the lights, the next day under the sun. If the six riders can all score points in both events they are halfway home. Then it is on to the Tulsa half mile which ran for the first time last year. There is no other half mile running quite like this one. They call it a half mile but it is larger. Last year it was run in 100' weather in the daytime. This year it will be at night. It is a very fast oval .. day or night. The groove is hard as concrete because there are many car events running weekly. It baa all the potential of being the fastest half mile run on the senes, but it also can develop a narrow groove, making it tricky and costly. Tulsa is unique in that it is the only track left to run where-none of the six have won at least once. Then it is back to the mile at Syracuse' NY, where Gary Scott and Springsteen have each won twice and Hank Scott once. Hank won his first National race on this fast daytime, black-din oval that has the best spectator grandstand on the circuit. Then there is the final trip west and the last two events that have played such a pan in deciding the title in the majority of recent seasons. San JOBe and mile ·number two on the season. It really gets down to the fine edge here as five of the six riden have won here at least oncel Gary Scott and Springsteen have won it twice. Kidd is the lone non-winner at San JOBe but baa led the fmal for dozens of Caps over the years. One year it was down to the fmal turn. This is not Kidd's favorite track, or is it? The last weekend in September and it will be time for the final event. The half mile at Aleot Park in Gardena, CA. It's now the oldest half mile on the circuit, dating back to 1959_ Gary Scott, Randy Goa and Springsteen are the three former winnen. But Goa and Springer have dominated here of late. jay baa three wi.ns, Randy two, including the barn-burner run earlier this year when he turned back jay in one of the hardest %O-lap runs ever turned in. Goa could well determine who will take the title, since he won the last San joee race in '80 and the first Aleot half mile in '81. He also had the fastest combination at San .Toee . earlier this year by five full seconds in the 10-mile heat race but broke on the first lap of the final. For the longtime fan, the rebel fan, the fan who likes lonphots will be behind Gary Scott. He is fast becoming the senior rider on the circuit and this could be his last hurrah and serious shot at one more title. For the fans that like to see records broken then Springsteen is the rider. jay may go down as the best din track racer to ever come along if he can Itay healthy. He is now just a couple of wins behind Kenny Robens for the aU time win record and Roberta tnay be back on the din circuit next season. 1£ you are a fan who says cloee is good but out front is better, then Hank Scott is the rider. His one point loss a year ago was a big letdown and how close can you come? . For thoee who like their riden consistent, then both Eltlund and Goa are the ones who just tnay take it all this year without winning many races. Neither rider will overwhelm you with words but both have a throttle hand and a racing head to match. There are always a lot of fans who like the underdog, the darkhorse. This of course, is Kidd. Mike has been trying for years to win the title and is one of the best promotional and PR riders, past or present. When they write the book, "Why 1 Didn't Win," the first chapter will be about Kidd. He is not only in the running for the title but trying to finish higher than ever before. He baa an experienced group behind him that includes three former Grand National champs. He baa new Harleys and new Yamahas. This could be the stretch runner in addition to the darkhorse. The season was barely half over and they had come up with 15 different winnersl This could well be the year when several riden who are not in the title contender category. will in fact decide which rider will win the number one ~e and the extra $50,000 on top Winston cigarettes. Who am 1 picking? 1 wrote down a name and buried it in my desk with a note to look at it on September %7th. Most of you would not agree anyway. Roxy Rockwood

• Cover