Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

A Paramount film crew shot scenes for Another 48 Hours last week at Ascot Park. The film stars Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. During a lull in the shooting of sequences for the movie. Eddie Mulder and David Aldana killed time with bench racing sessions. Ascot goes Hollywood Other than that we haven 't seen them." O ne bysta nder was heard questionin g th e a mo unt of workers on ha nd . " T he re must be over 100 crew members here. They even have g uys to sweep th e di rt! " Lulls in th e filming turn ed into bench raci n~ sessio ns. " H ey, 1hear th at guy Mike Sponsell er is a m ill iona i re n o w ," said Aldan a . " I rem ember him sh owing u p in smelly lea th ers a nd borrowing ti res a nd things. ow he's sponsori ng a race team. " Aldana th en smiled a nd said , " I guess 1 sho uld ha ve go tten to know hi m better. " " How 's 9 do ing?" asked Mulder, By Jack Mangus Photos by Paul Carruthers The sound of Triumph twins (and Rotax singles) fill ed the air at Ascot Park In G ardena, California, last week. Returning to " race" around the venerable track were vete ra ns Eddie Mu lder, J ohn H at eley and David th eIT racmg . . W h 0 cu l Ascot. Th ree-l im e Alda na, lee th a l G ra n d Iational Ch ampion Bubba Shobert , five-time Ascot 1T Nationa l winner Alex ] o rgesen , Da ytona Short T rack Nati on al winner Steve Aselt ine, Rob Damron , La rry Pegra m a nd a host of o ther curre nt racers were also o n ha nd. Riding aro und a spec ia lly constructed T'T tra ck, th ey were taking pa rt in the film in g of scenes for Another 48 H our s, the seq uel to th e hi ghl y success ful 48 Hours, wh ich _ stars Nick Nolt e a nd Eddie Murphy. Wh at 's i t a bo ut? " T he unlik el y partners - No lte the cop , Murph y th e co n - bau le a vicio us Aryan supremacist bik er o rga nizatio n ," is ho w the Los Ange les Ti mes descr ibes the film , which is schedu led fo r release bv Param ount thi s su mme r. Wh en th e racers were su mmo ned to the track for one of the cou nt less run throughs of a racing scene - " Allention, all bik ers to your bikes! young Pegra m was overhea rd yell ing back, " We' re race rs, not bik ers!" Mu lder, a six-time National 1T Five -time Ascot IT winner Alex Jorgensen takes a break. win~er (he won his first in 1965 a nd last in 1970), and H a teley, ~ two- ti me Ho usto n Astrodome Na tiona l 1T " Little John " Hateley brought one of hi s Triumphs to Ascot. as did Eddie Mulder. They and other racer s rode on a specially constructed IT track. wi nner in th e '70s, are no strangers to Holl ywood film shoots, ha vin g wo rked as SlUntmen for many years. " Hey, it beats working, " said Mulder, wh o was wearing the same ] ack H atel ey En ter p r isesem blazoned leathers he wore whe n he raced. H is Trium ph carried the n umber 12 he mad e famous before th e la te Ted Bood y began carrying it. T he seq uence we wa tched being' shot had Hateley in the lead of one pack of rid ers wh ile a no ther pack ha vin g started o n th e back part of th e cours e - circula ted at the same time. Aski ng where th e sta rs - No lte a nd Murphy - were, broug h t th e foll o w in g from Shobert: " T hey film ed a shooti ng scene wi th Ni ck No lte this morni ng - right over th ere by the pit a rea gas pumps. referring to two -ti me Grand Nationa l Ch am pion Gary Ni xo n . " Do you remember the th ree-da y parties we used to have at hi s ho use i n Balt imo re? T h ey sure were so methi ng." Several tractor-trailer truc ks were parked o utside the pit gate, a ll load ed wit h hi gh-tech eq u ip me n t, t h e majority of wh ich staye d in th e tra ile rs. Other tractor-trai ler rigs were on hand; the trailers modified to cont ain severa l small dressing rooms. A huge tent had been erected o n th e Ascot park in g lo t an d th a t was flanked by a large tru ck belonging to th e catering fir m th at was o n ha nd to supp ly lunch for the film crew. Wh ile everyo ne kept look in g for Eddie Mur phy, the closes t glimpse they go t of him was the presen ce of h is sta nd-in , who appeared to be Smile! Bubba Shobert and David A ldana pose for a still camera. bored as h e watch ed th e stage d racing. Shober t, who along with the othe r riders had been on the set since 5:30 a.m., said, " I'm having a to ug h tim e p laying Eddie Murphy." Ascot's Ge ne Ro mero, the 1970 Grand National Champion, coord inated geui ng th e racers together for the shoo ting. T hey came from as far a s Canada (Aseltine) a n d Ohio (Peg ram ) a nd were a ll enjo ying the m id-seventies temperatures and th e unu su al clear blue skies in th e Los Angeles area. But they were also enjoying an off-seaso n pay day . " Le t's see, how far did 1 drive? If they questi on th e mileage 1 list o n on my ex pe nse rep ort, I'm go ing to tell them 1 have a van th at circles my house a t ni ght," sai d one race r. Watching the happenings with hi s boss , Chris Agajani an , Ro mero 's memory cells were no doubt stirred by th e sound of Mulder and Ha teley's Triumphs a nd th e former Triumph factory rid er talked about hosting a 50-lap 1T at Ascot. " H ey, we used to run a 100-lap 1T here a nd a lo t of th e 1T Nationals were 50-lap races. 1 th in k if we ran a 50-lap 1T here in th e off-seaso n we co uld draw a hell uva cro wd, " said the 1971 Grand Nat ional Champion. Keep a n eye out for Ano th er 48 H o urs thi s summer. With Ascot faci ng th e bulldozer a t th e en d of thi s season, th e mov ie cou ld possibly be th e last of many whos e di rectors have used th e legendary raci ng p lant as a film site. Wh ile a movie that fea tures an "Aryan-s upremacis t bik er organiza tion" doesn 't sound like o ur cu p of tea, the so und of h igh -revvin g T riu":lPh motor s sends chills up o ur spme, As the so ng goe s, " T hose were th e da ys, my frie nd. 1 tho ught th ey'd never end. " As long as there a re g uys like Mulder and H a teley around, th ey never wi ll. • 23

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