Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Gary Scott's 11th place finish in t he Syracuse Mile National may be the last National ride for t he 14-year .A M A Grand Nationa l Championship veteran and 1 97 5 Camel Pro Series title holder. "If I can get a ride for either the Sa n Jose or Sacramento Mile Nationals on good equipment, then I 'll be there," said Scott at Syracuse. " I won't be trucking my bikes out there. I'll keep my license next year, butthe on ly time I'll be riding is to sort out equipment for those riders KK Motorcycle Supply will be backing." Scott said he has a j ob offer from longtime sponsor J.R . Kelley to go t o work at KK at any t ime. The tally of Jay Springsteen's 40 Camel Pro Series National victories breaks down thusly: 19 half mile wi ns, 13 mile wins a n d four each in short track and TT Nationals . Springsteen's first National win ca me on June 7, 1975 in th e Louisville Half Mile Na tional. The International Drag Bike Association's World Finals w ill be held at Lassiter Mountain Raceway in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 10-11 inst ead of the previously announced October 12-13 date at Mississippi 's Gulfport Int ernational Raceway. There will be an awards banquet following the World Finals. WD -40 is cu rr ent ly holding a co nt est with prizes including an a ll exp ense trip to San Diego for tw o in wh ich th e winners will a p pea r in a p hoto session for a new WD-40 ad. T h e m odel s will ea rn $25 00 a n d will a p pea r in a WD -40 print ad vert isement. Entrants sho ul d send a descriptio n o f how WD -40 so lves p roblem s for th em a lo ng with a WD- 40 proofo f-p u rch ase, For more info rm ation writ e to WD -40 a t P.O. Box 80607. Sa n Diego . CA 92 138-9021. At the October 4 -6 MRA Yamaha Grand Prix at Second Creek Race- ' way in De nver, Co lorado t here w ill be a Wes Cooley Benefit r i der school on Friday, October 4 . In structors will include Cooley, Fred Merkel, Sam McDonald and Rick Orlando. Fo r more i nf o rm at i on contact Bob Brownell at Roaring Fork Productions 303/443-8668. Th e AMA, through R.J . Reyn olds, th e sponsors o f th e Camel Pro Seri es. unveil ed a new computer sco ring system at Brainerd. Th e Spectru m Digita l Syst ems system will be g iven a seco nd run -th rough during th e Oct tober Pro-Am road ra ces a t Da ytona in preparation for full time use duro in g th e 1986 season . To comment on network television programs, write to ABC, 7 W . 66th se.. New York, NY 10023; CBS, 51 W. 52nd se.. New York, NY 10019; NBC, 30 Rockefelle r Plaza, New York, NY 1 0027; PBS, 475 L'Enfant Plaza S.W., Washingt on, DC 20024. • MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRYS CNANGE M oved Burro u ghs a nd Asso ciates Advert ising, 10 631 2nd Ave. South. First Floor. Nashville, TN 37210, 615/255-2962. Married Jim WOIcOIl, Associa te Ed ito r of Cycle News, 10 Robert a J ob on Sep tem ber 9 in Schard ing ; Au s tri a ; Wolcott is c u r re n t lv in Europe testing th e new BM W K75C. Recalled Mich el in 120/ 80- 16 Hi-Sport racin g ti res, due to s idewa ll failu res causing loss o f a ir; other sizes of Hi -Sports whi ch currently dom in at e produ ction ra cin g , a re not a ffected . Moved Abaddon Product s Co . In c.. th e manufacturer o f the NJ L fibergl ass h elmet line, 10 a n ew faci lit y o n September 10; p roducti on of helmets will bea t full capaci ty arou nd Oct o ber 1. • THE NATIONAL PAPERS By Roxy Rockwood We h a ve lost o ne of my favorite riders and m y on ly regret IS that I never told h i m so - at least in public. Da le Singleton . wa s killed in a plane cras h ove r the Labor Da y weekend returning from wa tch ing a stock ca r race. T r ue , h e was not a big wi n ner o n th e track , winning fo ur National road races between 1978-8 1. H e q ui t cycle racing in 1982 10 try h is han d a t stoc k ca r racing. H e was a bo rn co median and press agent 's dream. One wo u ld th ink th at h e was born with a sm ile a nd a firm h andsh ake. Dale was one o f the few ride rs wh o always had time to stop a nd talk with a ny bo dy a t any time at a n y p lace. H e crea ted "Elm er" for a m a scot for th e 1979 Dayton a event. Elmer was a ba by p ig . H e a lways clai med th at h e co u ld ta lk to Elme r a nd the p ig would u n ders ta nd. I have severa l rea sons to bel ieve th at it was n ot totall y un true. But th en Dal e had a way o f making one beli eve just about a ny thi ng . H e was th at kind of person. I am glad that Dal e and hi s seri es of baby pigs m ad e three ap pea ra nces a t m y talk show in Da ytona over th e yea rs. They made peop le laugh a nd enjoy th em selv es. I a m g la d th at in addi tio n to th e pigs he a lso created hi s o wn band one year a n d wrote a so n g a bo u t Elmer. The talk show fans lov ed it eno ug h 10 demand three encores. The m ost exci tin g winner's circle I have ever a tten ded was wh en Dal e won th e '79 Daytona 200. In victory lane was h is cre w, his p ig, his girl fri end a nd hundreds o f Singleto n fan s wh ooping it u p with th e o ld Rebel yell. They ni cknamed him " T he Pi g Farmer" a nd I doubt if h e was ever o n a pig farm for more tha n j ust pi cki ng u p ano the r new Elmer. But Dal e we nt a lo ng with it a nd in fact encour aged th e ni ckname. H e was o ne of a h andful o f q uickwilled racers I have kn own . One year I just handed him th e m icrophone a n d turned h im loose. H e had th e crowd in stitches for close to a n hour. What kin d o f g uy was Dal e Si n g leton off the tra ck ? Wh en he los t in 1980 h e took th e def eat hard, but took the tim e 10co m e 10 the talk show and co n g ra tu la te th e winner. He d id it aga in in 1982, a fter winning for th e seco nd time in '8 1. H e was a pro m ot er. Wh o else co u ld Iive i n the far corner of Georgi a and find sp onsorship in Maryl and and far-off Belgium? Unfo rt una tely, m'!!.1y cycle fans on ly ge t to see a racer do wn o n. th e track and h ea r what he h as 10 sa v from a fa r. A very few of us ha d th e p rivi lege of seei n g and h earing Da le up close o n a few occasions. Dal e is go ne now, far sooner th an he sho uld have. When I th ink of him I alwa ys rem em ber th e sm ile, th e wit , th e pi g, th e song a nd many more unique things a bo u t h im th at are too numerou s 10 m ention .. •• • • •••••• Chandle r edges S hobert for TT title All four rounds of th e TT Steepl ech ase series have been co m p le ted on th e Camel Pro Series National dirt track circu it. As usual , th e TTs proved to be exc iting as four different riders won th e even ts. But so me familiar faces were m issing this time. Doug Ch andler edged Bubba Shobert by th e narrow est o f m ar gins in TT points, o ne po int. Sh ob ert lo st th e ov erall Grand Nat ional title last yea r , by o ne p oint. C ha n d ler was one of th e fo ur differen t wi n n ers, picking up hi s big one a t Santa Fe Park in Chicag o. Sh ob ert was a first-time-ever TT winner last spring a t Ascot Park in Garden a. Sco tty Parker ga ve Harl ey-Dav idson th eir fir st win thi s season , ta king th e openi ng ro un d a t the Astrodome in Houston. Ri ck y G ra ha m cas t a side a ll o f h is recent injuries a nd n ipped teamma te Shobert in th e fin al TT o f th e vear at Peo ria . Th e Peoria fin ish was very controvers ia l d ue to th e fact th at no white flag was disp la yed a n d two ra il-bird vetera n scorers had th e race goi ng o ne lap too man y. G rah a m now has won th ere back-to -hack in both 1984'85. T his I S t h e f i rs t tim e yo u n g C handler has won a titl e o f a ny kind sin ce he too k Roo kie o f the Year honors tw o seasons ago . O n ly seven riders qua li fied a nd sco red points in a ll four TT fi nals. Perha p s fo r th e fir st time ever, fourtimeTT winner J ay Spri ngsteen failed to score a single poi n t in this ca tegory. H is former tea m ma te, Randy Goss, a two-time Na tio na l winner i n thi s cl ass, far ed slig h tly better. Rand y sco red p o ints in o n ly o n e o f th e fou r even ts. Rooki e Ch ris Ca rr led a li o th er fir st- year Expe rts in TT racing , sco ring in three of th e four eve nts a n d gain ing a thi rd p lace spo t in the wi n ner's circle in th e fin a le a t Peoria a fter lea din g th e fir st 13 laps o f th e race. Final TT Steeplechase standings I. Doug Chandler- H an 55 2. Bubba Shobert - H an 54 42 3. Scotty Parker - H-D 41 4. Sco tt Pear son - H on 39 5. Ron n ie J on es - H an 33 6. Ri ck y Graha m - H on 7.. Steve Eklund - W-R 32 W-R 27 8. Chris Carr 25 9. Alex J orgen sen - W-R Hon 21 10. Randy G reen -Den o tes rider ha s wo n o ne or more Nationa l 'TT event s. • RISK By John Ulrich T wo wee ks ago I wrote in this co l u m n abo ut how Ke vi n Sch wantz va ulted fro m rid ing a stoc k Yamaha FJ600 in 1984 - WERA National En d ura nce Seri es races to p ilo ting a Yosh imura Suzu ki S uperbi ke in 1985; h e's won th ree AMA Su pe r bike races so fa r th is year; h e's sig ne d a tw o- year co nt rac t with U.S. Su zu ki Mo tor Corp. a nd a threeyea r co ntract with A ra i H elm ets. By a nybod y's yards tick, Kevin Sch wantz is o n h is wa y to Superbi ke sta rdom . I a lso prom ised to stick m y n eck o u t a nd write about two more yo u ng riders with su pe rs ta r p ot ential. . No soone r had th e ink dri ed on th at pa rt ic u lar issue th an I got a ca ll from Udo G eitl, T eam H onda 's roa d racing manager , recommending th at I write ab outI7-yea r-oldJohn Kocinski of Nort h Little Rock . Arka nsas . G eit! ex p la ined th a t he had been wat ching Kocinski fo r three years, had a lready given him a Superbike tryout at Will ow Springs, and planned to put h im on a works Superbike a t th e Davtona 'P ro -Am in October. Geith ca ll was somewhat of a relief ; when I fir st wrot e a bo u t Schwantz last year, several rider s I didn 't write a bo u t were a ngy; on e demanded th at I stop ruining hi s career by recommending o th er rid ers. At least if Kocinski gets a factory Honda ride, nobody ca n say it's m y fault. J ohn Kocinski Beca use Kocinski was o ne of the tw o p ilots I had in m in d to wri te a bo u t. H e 's good. H e's yo ung. H e lea rns fast. And h e's been raci n g for a long tim e. I'll admi t th a t I don 't kn ow exactly what to th i n k about h im ; th e way I heard it, last year you ng Kocinski o ften ex p ressed th e opi nion th at he'd bl ow a way Sch wa n tz a t th is \VERA race or that WERA race, a nd it n ever happen ed . I first m et Kocinski in pe rso n immedi at el y a fter Sch wantz wo n hi s first Su p erbike race at Willow Springs, beating Fred Merkel an d Wes Cooley. Kocinski introduced himself in th e p its , a nd as ked me " Are yo u rea ll y so ld o n Kev in Sch wantz?" Kocinski 's H onda tr yout was th e day before th at Su pe rbike race a t Wil · low ; a fter wa rds he sa id th at he would ride a works H onda in 1986 a nd be p aid $80,000 to do so . (Geitl sa ys H onda d oesn ' t h a ve a d eal wit h Kocinski as o f thi s wri ti ng.) Kocinski a lso pred icted tha t he'd bea t Schwan tz. An d righ t a fter m y firs t co lum n on Sch wa n tz last yea r, I got a letter from Koci nski, ex p la in ing hi s view o f h is a bilities a nd sig ned " Fu tu re World Cha mp io n." It turned out la ter that Kocinski had sent th e same letter to o the r m otorcycle journalists as well , sort o f a mass-mail ing declaration o f inten t. I'm not sure that Freddi e Spencer or Eddie La wson should be concerned yet . b u t maybe Koci ns ki's go t so me th in g th ere. • N ext wee k: J oh n Kocin ski on the track. 3

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