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/126808
THE NATIONAL PAPERS r- c-r C ~ 2 ,.0 Q) ~ By Roxy Ro ckwood So Fast Freddie Spencer is going to try for th e " T rip le" a t Da ytona. No rider before him has ever tri ed it a nd no rider before Freddi e had what it takes to score a th ree-race sweep on th e banks of Da yron a Speedway du rin g the same Sp eed Week. T he Formu la On e event moved from th e beach co urse to th e Speedway in 196 1. The Formula Two even t ca rne rig h t behi nd it, first as a com bin ed Expert-ju nio r-Novice even t. Lat er it was for Experts a nd jun iors . a nd in recent years it was a n allExpert a ffair. The Superbikes bowed in '76 a nd was kn own a t th at tim e as th e Produ ct ion class. Spen cer is entered in all three. Si nce 1976 a nd the co ming of all three of th e featured fin al s, no rider has ever co mm itted to th e triple. Most zeroed in o n th e Formula One 200 a nd wo u ld race per haps th e Lightweight fin al o r th e Superbike even I. Fo r th e past five years Fredd ie has don e everything but win the Dayton a 200, but o ne thing or a no ther has kept him from th e top sP01. Ma ybe he j ust has to wait as long as Ken ny Ro berts did to boot th e first o ne ho me. Ro bert s won th e 200 three rim es, but raced th e even t se ven straig ht years before his first win . A rider with th e crede nt ia ls of Spencer may make it sound easy, but keep in mind th at o n ly two rid ers have even scored th e " Double" a t Dayton a, winnin g both th e 1'-1 a nd th e 1'·2 fin al s in the sam e weekend . C a rv Nix on did it first a nd Steve Bak~r was the last back in '77. Both were o n Yamahas, a brand th at has won th e 1'-2 innumerabl e times. and the 1'-1 race for a n a ma zing I J consccur ive even ts. 50 the 23-vear-old from Shrevepo rt, Lo uisia na , ~"h o in ways grew up racing Daytona. goes for it a ll th is rime, H,- will race a bra nd -new Honda :,\S:?50R twin in the 1'-2. In th e Su perbike fina l it will be a n Int ercept or lik e he has ridde n to victory so ma ny times before - with one excep tio n. This tim e it comes right from the Honda factory in j apan, instead of Ho nda's racing department in Gar dena, Ca lifornia. Whattht' form er 500cc World Road Racin g Ch ampion will rid e in th e 100-mil e 1'-1 may no t be determin ed until tim e trial s:1t may be a n "'5 500 triple; th en aga in it may be a fourcvlinder NSR. . Spe ncer comes to Da yton a the win ner of 13 500cc Grand Prix even ts around th e world in less th an three seaso ns. He won five last vea r before he sa t o ut th e last half du e'to inj uries sus tained a t Lagu na Seca in qualifying. Friday, Saturda y a nd Su nday wi ll find Freddi e on th e track goi ng ' for th e soo n -to -be- fa m o u s " Da yto n a Tr ip le", Fate has dictated tha t hi s first race be th e Camel Pro Nationa l 1'-1 IOO-m ild in al , a race he has never won . But th e o ther two events have fallen to th e Louisian a racer , a gracia us young man wh o has at least 10 more good win ning years ahead of 2~ t hi?:.. AMA Grand National Championship • winners 946-1984 The following st a t ist ics were compiled by Bill Amick of the R.J . Reynolds/Camel Pro Series publicity department. It is a comprehensive list of all the AMA G ra nd Nationa l C ha m pio ns hip Nati onal race winners through the completion of the 198 4 racing season. It ca n be used a s a handy reference guide that not o nly lists every rider who has won a National s ince 1 946 . but breaks down the wins into the five Grand National Championship categories and includes an active/ inactive listing. - N ational Cha m pio nsh ip win h ist o ry Rank 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 9. 11 . 13 . 15 . 16 . 22 . 25 . 26 . 28. 32. 35. Name Jay Springsteen Ken ny Robe rts Ba rt Marke l Joe Leonard Dic k Mann Gary Scott Gary Nixon Carroll Reswebe r Ricky Gra ham Hank Scott S teve Eklund Mert La w will Randy Goss Everett Brashear Mike Baldwin Mike Kidd Gene Rome ro J im Rice Brad A ndres Bobby Hill Dick Klamfo t h Bubba S hobert Ca l Raybo rn Fred Nix A le x Jo rge n s e n Terry Poo vey George Roeder Ted Bood y Ma rk Brels fo rd A I Gu nt er Sam m y Tan ne r Steve Mo re head Scott Parke r J immy Chan n Dave Sehl Garth Brow Scott Pearso n Pau l Albrecht Yvon DuHame l Pau l Goldsm ith Corky Keene r Eddie Mu lder Chuck Palmgren Ronn ie Rail Roger Soderst rom Bill Tuman Three National wins S kip Aks land , Leo Ant ho ny, Steve Baker, Ernie Beckma n, Wes Cooley, Mickey Fay, Mike Gera ld, Larry Headric k, Billy Hu he r, Ed Kretz S r.. Billy Labr ie , Joe Weather ly. Two National wins So n ny Burres, Cha rles Ca rey, Ke l Ca rr ut he rs , Doug Chandl e r, Dick Dorresteyn , Ke nny Egge rs, Floyd Emde, George Everett, Ed Fisher, Joh n Ha teley, Ronn ie Jones, Ra ndy Ma mola , Jody Nic ho las, J im Odorn , Dave Pa lm~r , Larry Pal mg re n, S id Payne , J im Phillips , Low ell Hett inge r. Ric h Sch lac hte r, Pa ul Sma rt, Fredd ie Spencer. One National win Wins Active? 38 33 28 27 24 19 19 19 17 17 15 15 14 14 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Yes Yes No No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes No No Ye s Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No Giacomo Agost ini, Mile s Ba ldw in, Art Ba uman, Scott Bre lsfo rd, Buc k Briga nce. Dua ne Buc hana n, Don Bur nett, Don Castro, Jo hnny Cecotto. J o hn Cooper, Graeme Crosby, Her man Da hlke, Cla ude Da nson, Babe DeMay, Bill Doug las. Chet Dykgra af, Buddy Elmo re , Don Emde, Ha rry Fearey. Ga ry Fishe r. Wa lt Fulton III. Joh n Gibson, Ro n Gra nt, Ed Gu ill, Don Haa by, Dick Ham mer. Mike Haney, Da ve Ha nseri, Brad Hurst, Darryl Hurs t, Nei l Keen, Ed Kretz Jr., Robert E. Lee, Troy Lee , Bill Mag ura ny, Billy Mathews, Cordy Milne , Tony Mu rgu ia, Geoff Perry, Pa t rick Pons, Ali Qua t rocch i. Nick Rich ich i, Tom Rockwood, Bubba Rush , Ed Rus k, Jarno Saarinen, Greg Sassaman , Larry S c ha fer, Randy S kive r, Gregg Smrz, Jo hnny Spiegelhoff, Eug e ne Th ie ssen, Ray Tanner, Bob Tindall, Horace Trav is. Eddie Wirt h. Ranking of Active Camel Pro Se ries Riders Rank 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 . 1 1. 12. 13. 15 . 17. 19. 21 . 26. Four National wins . .. . Dave Alda na , Rex Be a !Jc ha mp. Jimmy Filice, Rlck.Hock.. _ ._ '. '_~ , ; . . . . . __. ~ .. _. !~~~ ~~~:~ ~oy_n_er, S kip ~a_r:~~e_~"".:':~: ~~~~~ ~~~t: ._ _ ............ Name Jay Springsteen Kenny Ro be rts Gary Scott Ricky G ra ham Ha n k Scott Steve Eklun d Ra ndy Goss M ike Ba ldwin Bubba Shobert A lex Jorge nse n Terry Poovey Ted Boody Steve More head Scott Parker Garth Brow Scott Pearso n J immy Filice Dave A ldana M ickey Fay Wes Cooley Doug Chandler Ronn ie Jones Randy Mamola Rich Sch lachter Freddie Spe nce r Nick Rich ich i Gregg Smrz M iles Bal dwin G ra eme Crosby Da rr yl Hurst Wins 38 33 19 17 17 15 14 13 11 9 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 ,--- ----. _... __ .. _-- - - - - _.. _------------ ---