Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The rest of th e season was a hot nd heav y co ntest for points. Riders hen seemed to be groupe d closer ogether and th e Number One plate hase always went down to th e last ew races, som etimes th e last race. here were always four or five riders ho were ' ca pa ble - tal ent a nd qu ipment -wise - to win a Nation al n any given da y. It ended th at year t th e San J ose Mile. Gary Scott had nl y to finish to win the titl e, he had ade his succe ssfu l cha lle nge at e n n y R o berts. T eam H arl eyavidso n had won th e Number One la te, second overall was Robert s, hird was Jay Springst een , th en eener and Rex Beauch amp. H eady ompan y for the rookie! The thing that stru ck me wh en I net him for the firs t tim e that yea r t a gath ering at th e late J .C. gajania n's home, was how young te rea lly was. No t th e " d um b kid " rind of a young man, but just you ng, ager and a bit shy. One almos t a nted to protect him from Nati onal cing for a year or so. Would it be too m uch too soo n a nd he would urn o u t? It had ha ppened befo re. In a quiet co nversat io n with him a nd Bobbi Sco tt, the n a Cycle News ditor , we j ust ta lked abo u t what being a profess ional really means. Of ho w a pro conducts h im self , espe.ia lly aro und fans, a nd how he .hou ld look, a lt ho ugh th e H arl ey cam itself always looked th e epito me f professionalism in th e pits. We entio ned how to be frie nd ly but Iso be ca u tio us around th e p ress. o t a ll sports rep orters see racing for hat it is, a nd some can ge t pretty avage with a rookie. There he sa t, politel y but intentl y istenin g, occasio nally offerin g a ommen t or a questio n, but most ly .ust taking it in and runnin g it throug h his mind. " He's clever," I th ought. " He's o ing to take wh at he ca n use from this co n versa tio n a nd toss o u t th e rest." We also saw a nd felt that ability of his , to mak e people feel they've kn own him from wa y before ' th e actual first meetin g. H e still has it, aft er all th e ups and downs th at were to follo w. Year 1976 starte d th e real ro ll for J ay. He was now a full m ember of T eam H arley-D avidson . Ga ry Sco tt, aft er winnin g the Number One pl ate, left H arl ey with hi s (the ir?) Harleys under his arm to go it as a privateer so he could switch to other brands for certain trac ks. J ay, in a huge stroke of luck, got Scott's tuner, Bill Werner , for his mechan ic. Werne r is co nsidere d by most (if not all ) people in ra cing to be the top H a r ley-Da vidso n tuner. His record certain ly proves it. He ended th e 1989 seaso n wi th Scott Parker 's second Numbe r One plate a nd hi s six t h time a s tun er for th e champ io ns h ip. Says J ay, while not di scount ing an yone else wh o kn o ws how to ma ke H arl eys run fast and hold up, " Bill 's the best. He has th e best race track knowledge, how to ge t th e power o n th e ground a nd mak e it work. H ow th e chassis sho u ld be set up , and lo ts of little stuff. Bu t all th ose li ttl e things add up." Lat er, Wern er would even bu ild a Twingle for Springsteen to ride in a TT (he won ) a nd how he did it couldn ' t be dupl icat ed by o ther top mecha nics. What's a Twing le? A twin set up to fire like .a single. It was tri ed by o the rs but a lth ough Bi)1 wou ld ta lk about it a bit, wh at he really kn ew he wasn 't sharing ! The 1976 seaso n is fondl y rem embered as one of th e best ever. The Ascot Half Mil e was th e last Nation al of th e season a nd basical ly, three riders still had a cha nce at th e ti tle. Gary Scott, Springer a nd Kenn y ® _11, 1990 , . a zoo BY Ara th Dayton h 11 ' 1990 49 . Marc sunday, . l Honda ercro ss BY 90 tona sup ch 10 19 Mar DaY saturday, I -C?~us. eornende UPERSPQRT E 600c~~AL CHA~LE~~ rint Races 100k eS NTERNATI . c up sen ionshlP I • CharnP Supercross ad Races . s se ries Ro . nship se ne • Arnateur Historic cup ce Charnp'o Qualif iers rblke Enduran • . 50'S Supe . htweight • U.S. Arai TWi n ational Ug Intern • s r • 250C~ priX Twin • Gran superSport • 750 CC . 'Sports • U.S. TW in 01 6711 BoX 28 A. 90 4) 253p 2 80 1 32115call: ~ nal spee dway atiO n o Intern at1 . . a Beach, 'T'cket Inform . Dayton Daytona For I . FL POWER·MIST RACING ·FUELS "STEELS" THE SHOW!!! tt's That Time Of Yea r Ag ain : In The 198 9 Flo rida Min i Oly mp ics Are OnGa ine svi lle ly The Winning Entries. Power-Mi st Factory Support Riders Wo lked Away With All The Gold AI This Year's " Mi ni Os"1 JOSH ma-;a,,:,c::,e IKE M BROWN -~~ MX BIUY SCHlAGin- ='~;;.. Place Division 1st125cc 2nd 125cc lid 125cc SX 11 Clean SweepolA l1125cc Classes 250cc B3rd ,~ ,25cc '2·15 ·15 2nd 125cc12 1~ 250cG B 2nd 250cc B MX ( stoeI<~ Goon Prix 11 (mod} SX (Sltx:Umo d) 11 (stoeI<) MX ( ~ock) w"",,, JOElAlBRECHl -= B DMsion 250cc B2nd I'1oce 1~ 125cc B 2nd 125ccB 1st 250cc B 2nd250cG B SX (slock' MX (stoeI< & mod) Goon Prix X M (rood). Goon Prix SX (~ock ' MX (stoeI<) 1~ 25OcG JHf CU~RY ·15 1 ~ 125cc 12 2nd125cc12·15 lid 125ccB 11 SX ( ~ock) . MX (mod) G

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