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/128002
Dirt Track I Round 3: SanJo seSpeedw ay WEST COAST FLA T TRACK SERIES By Fred Wind um SAl\!JOSE, CA,JUNE 26 onnie Brown took home top honors a t what ma y have. been the last-ever motorcycle race a t the Sa nfa Clara County Fair grounds ' San Jose Speedway, whi le Jeff Johnson con tinued to d ominate the Vintage portion o f th e program with hi s third win in round three of Gene Romero' s West Coast Flat Tra ck Series. Racing was clos e and com p e titive , with a smooth, consis tent track , d espi te several small glitches in the. timing system and a littl e late track preparation . A mom en t o f sil en ce w a s ta ke n at th e beginning of the race program in mem o- - wi th Ro d La ke Ra cin g / PIC Mfg. / Brown 's Cycles' Brown and Corsetti on h is back w heel. Anderson dropped Co rsetti to fou rth as Brown searched high and low for a way to ge t around t he up- a nd -com i n g road race sta r . An derson went too high in tum one and e n ded up in th e marbl es, allowi ng Corsetti back up into thi rd . Up front, bo th Jorgensen a nd Brown found th e tractio n they had been sea rc hi ng for, lofting th eir front wheel s ou t of turn four and across the line . Jor gens en took the wi n. Brown was second and Corsetti th ird , w ith A n der son, Pa u ley a n d Kenny Noyes grabbing the rem ainder of the cash. Followi ng the set of semis that rou te (Top) Lonnie Pauley (1) and Toby Jorgensen (80) battled side by side as the Open main event got under way during round th ree of the West Coast Flat Track Series at San Jose Speedway. Ronnie Brown (47) eventu ally passed both of th em to claim the wi n In what may be the last motorcycle race ever to be held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. (Abo ve) Jeff Joh nson was once again the king of the Open Vintage class. Johnson ran away fr om a tough field in the Open Vintage A mai n to score his thi rd win in as many rou nds of the ser ies . (Left) Winners all: As pert of the inte rmission enterta inme nt, promoter Gene Romero had these youngsters put on a short tr ack on a makeshift course placed at the start/finis h line . The int ensity of the racing rivaled that of the big kids. '" '" '" 3 ..., 26 ry of the late Harold Murrell, !' San Jose and d irt track fixture wh o passed away the morning of the race. In a tribute to the good old days, riders d re w for qu alifyin g spots, taking a timed flying lap to determine gri d posi tiOI'S for th e heat races a nd a s ho t a t so me extra cash in th e Trophy Dash. Ryan And er son su rp rised th e field in the Open class with fast time , and pole in the firs t heat. Mark Corsett i set secon d -fas test tim e, followed by Lonnie Paul ey, Toby Jo rg ensen , Brown a nd Kenny Noy es, the lone Hu sab erg in the tro phy d ash full of Wood -Rotax bikes. Tri u mp h-moun ted Jeff Johnson set fas t time in the O pen Vintage class, with Joe Carrera, Joh n Proto and Gordon Rud y on a trio of Yama has in the next slo ts. . Next up was the Open Trophy Dash . Anderson pi cked the ou ts ide to s tart, with Co rse tti, Pau ley and the rest to the in sid e. jorgensen launch ed out fro n t, riders into the A or B mains, the Vintage B main got und er way. Former AMA regular Jerry Kennedy led the Vintage B main ahead of Chris Geilfuss a n d Dan Phi llips. Triump h rider Kennedy started out with a good lead , but Ge ilfuss , on a Yama ha SC500 in a d ir t tra ck chassis , was gaini ng gro un d. on the straig hts. Geil fuss too k a high lin e arou nd Kenned y to ta ke the lead , follow ed bv "Mad" Maxwell, who dropped Kenned y ye t a not h er pl a ce . Ma xw ell, Ge ilfuss an d Ken ned y were ru nnin g three-wid e around the ova l. bu t Ma xw ell took th e lead, wit h Ge ilfuss and Ken nedy also going to the Vintage A mai n. Bill Flett, Joe DiSalvo, Al Ludwi gsen and Dan Ph illip s we n t to load up their gea r. Racers lin ed up for the fir st of th e eveni ng's big-m on ey races - the Open B main . Geramy Rackley won first pick on th e s ta rt line, with Rob Da mron a nd Randy Bereman to his left. Damron, Rackley, Berernan and Paul Bergstrom raced into tu rn one, with t h e three Wood-Rota x rid ers favoring the track more than the RS750 twin of Bergstro m. Don Hart also mad e h is way past th e twin for fourth to join the leaders. Dam ron and Rackley continued ou t front, as Ha rt cl os ed in on Berem a n . Ha rt squa red off tu rn tw o to switch lin es, pulling along the inside of Berem an , but Bereman hu ng on to the third spot. Hart continu ed to sea rch for a wa y around, find ing a hi gh line through three and four to take thi rd , alt hou gh bo th ride rs w o ul d tra nsfe r to th e m a in . Da m ro n continued on for the wi n, with Rackley, Hart a nd Bere ma n jo in ing him in th e Open A main . Yama ha pilo t Rod Lake took over in th e JRC Eng inee ri ng Vintage A main , followed by Proto and Johnson. Lake's lead eva pora ted as Johnson sped his Tri- u m p h around the outside Of Pro to 's Yama ha twi n an d pulled down low to .run side by side with Lake on lap two, mot oring past on the back s traigh t to take the lead . John son se t the controls on cruise mo de, lea vin g Lake to race wit h Proto for second . Yama ha jockey Ca rre ra soo n join ed Lake and Pro to in th e battle for ru nn er-u p , taking third from Proto as th e twin kep t s li p p ing hi gher a nd hi gher up th e tra ck. Er ic We isler . also Yamaha-m ounted , a n d Rud y fe ll in lin e b e hind Prot o, who , man aged to get back by Carre ra at the wh it e fla g . John son ca rried on to th e : wi n, w ith La ke more than a few b ike I len gt hs back but almos t equa lly ahead of Carrera, who wa s now third , ahead of Proto . Weisler held off Rud y for fifth, I wit h Geilfuss, Maxwell, jesse Kreylin g ! and Darryl Mu sto filling out the top 10. Pauley, Jor gen sen and Brown were. fastest off the line in the Open A main.