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/128637
., Skip V a n Leeuwen Del Mar Short Track Del Mar Rodeo A rena nowhere wa s th is truer, pe rha ps , than in the Cla s s ic Vinta g e 500/750 S ide Va lve cl a s s and Dinosau r 500/750 Side Valve class m a in e ve nts , when fo rm e r AMA G ran d Nati onal c a m pa igner Allan McBee rolled to the line aboard a bea utifull y ancient Tr iumph twin -powered hardtail. McBee established his pos ition a s th e most dom inant rider of the nigh t when he pulled th e h oleshot on his go rgeous black machine in the Cla ssic Vinta g e 500/7 50 S ide Va lve mai n. McBee thr illed the crowd as he pu t on a sideways ex hibition, burying the Triumph dee p into the tums like a speed way b ike before standing it up and s hooting roo stertails as he pu lled th e trigg er and rolled off the corners. He quickly left Gord on Menzie , Joe Pape, Matt Campbell and Da ve Miller behind to dice for secon d , with Miller eventua lly moving his way into the sp ot, while Menzie he ld th ird. In the Dinosaur Vintage 500/750 S ide Valv e main held later, it was more of the same, McBe e taking the win ove r Southern Califo rnia speedway legend Dubb Fe rrell a n d Go rdon Menzie . In other ra cing a ct ion , Gordon Rudy , a s e lf - a v o we d "t wo -s t roke hater" h e ld his angst in c heck long enough to storm a wa y fro m th e rest of th e fie ld o n a Bultac o a nd ta k e a co nvi n ci n g win in th e S p o rts ma n Vintage 250 B div is io n m a in event . Rud y was in com m a n d o f the race b y the third lap , le a v in g Chu ck S T O RY By S COTT R OU SSE A U P HOT O S By D O UG K AR CHE R DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 7 1'" ith the De l Mar motorcy c le 7/V we e ke nd bearing m o re of a re s em b lan c e to a th ree- ring c irc u s each ye ar, co nstants are d ifficul t to spot. Th e m otor cycle conc ourse and show have c ha n g e d c o n s ide ra b ly over the past s even ye ars. Th e marq uis National di rt track has met with va ry in g d eg re e s of s uccess , d epe n dent upon the conditio n of the raci ng surface on the big, sandy , m ile track . And y e t , t hro ugh it a ll , t he o ne consta nt in t he s ce ne has b e e n the goo d old -fash ione d S ki p Va n Leeuwen Short Track held at th e Del Mar Rodeo Are na a dj acent to the m ile grandstands. For it is h e re th at the true spirit of th e e ntire we e ke nd can be captured, as ride rs fro m across the count ry sh o w up t o bang bar s on t heir m o s tl y a nti q u a t e d ma chinery and en joy a truly great rac ing surface at a classy litt le jo int. This was on ce again the case during De l Mar 2000, as Eddie Mulder Ltd . combined forces w ith th e South ern Ca lifornia F lat Tra ck Association to put on another so lid event, entertain ing the crowd , which inclu ded a h ospitality su ite fi lled with former TT legend Van Leeuwen and his equ ally le ge nd a ry flat track pals . Some of the riders in attendanc e put in equ all y le ge nda ry rides , a nd a 36 N OVEMBER 1 , 2 0 00 ' e ye I e ne vus While the De l Mar M ile is the headline event of the De l Mar motorcycle weekend, Saturday night's Skip Van Leeuwen Short Track has earned the status of a t rue c lassic event in its own right. Cla ydon beh ind , wh ile Claydon himself ran ahead of a p a c k that in cl ud e d Byr on Kuk la , Br ett Bemis , Tim Henry a n d To m Howes . Befo re it wa s over, Kuk la would c om e for ward a nd ma k e a pa s s o n Clayd on for seco nd p lac e . O n ye t a no t he r Bulta c o , Mann y Crumm ett us ed one of h is paten ted .ho les ho ts to steal the lea d a t th e s tart of the S portsma n Vint a ge 250 A d ivisio n m a in, with Cra ig Johnson on the inside a nd J e ff S . J o hn s on o n the o uts ide battling for s econd p lace. O n the fourth la p , Cra ig J ohns on bobbled and stood it up , ne arl y ta king o ut J eff S . J ohnson . T his a llowed Crum mett to pull out a good two lengths on th e pa ir to ta ke th e win. J eff S. Johnson . r e bo u n d ed t o take se c ond, whil e Cr ai g Johnson slid back to the fifth s p o t , beh ind Steffen and Bruc e Reynolds. Crummett would also go on to victo ry in the 400c c Amateur c la ss , with Bruce Re yno lds and J im Wood J r. se cond and third. Butch Co chran rod e a beautiful Harley -D a vidson Sprint to th e win in the Cla s si c Vintage 250cc class. Look ing ve ry much lik e he stepped ri gh t out o f the great movie "O n Any Su nda y ", Coc h ra n was clad in p la in -look ing le athers a nd a n o pen fa c e d h elmet with a c lea r s h ie ld , a nd h e wore no gloves . Th at d id n 't keep h im from getting th e holesh ot ove r fo rm e r Ha rley- Davidson fa cto ry ride r Jim McMu rren and C hr is Rudy . It was a c lose race a mo n g t he t h ree for muc h of the dista nce u nti l Rudy a n d Mc Mu rre n we n t d ow n b y c o nt ac t in turn two wit h a b o ut a la p to go . Co ch ran c ru is e d t o th e w in , followed by Vin c e Gra ves and Ric h Trait. Th e m ot or c ycl es weren't th e only "01 cl unkers " ra c ing a round th e Del ' Mar Sh o rt Tra ck , but th e S en ior 50 + r ide rs wer e e q ua lly a s fast. T a k e Marty Lewis for exa m ple . Lewis st arted fro m th e ba ck row of t he S enior 50 + B m ain e ve nt a nd th readed his way s traight to the fro nt of the pack as the la ps unfolded , passing eventu a l run ne r-up AI Lu dwe g s en fo r the lea d thro ug h tu rns three a nd four ju st befor e the whit e fla g wa s s ho wn. Lud wegsen hel d on for second, wh ile Ron Moore was third . In the Se nio r 50 + A main , Ok lahoma 's ow n Ma ster of Dis a ster , King of S ting , t he Tu lsa Terror Johnny Isaacs sc ra pped with Mann y Cr ummett fo r t he wi n . Is a a c s t o o k t h e ho les hot aboa rd his Yam a h a twin , wit h C r um m et t runni ng second aboa rd his Bulta c o Astro , whic h was far more suited to the t ig h t short track . The two quickly moved away from t he thi rd-plac e battle betwe en Ji m McMu rr e n and Gord on Rud y . Isaa cs was be tt e r th rough turns one a nd two , wh ile Crummett had a go od line th ro ugh th re e a nd fo ur , a nd th e two b um p e d a nd b an g ed th e ir way aroun d th e track , with Crummett try in g e very tri c k in t he b o ok , t o no avail. Isaacs s cored the w in , thu s keep ing his Del Ma r Sho rt Tra c k win st re ak a live for one m o r e year. McMurr en b e st e d Ru dy fo r th ird plac e . McMurre n ultima tel y bagged a win for himself, topping the S uper S eni or 60+ class , la p ping hal f th e field, while Ron Gould finished second and Mar sha l J e nning s finished third . Wh ile the e m p h a s is was o n vin ta ge d irt tra c k racing , the O pe n Pro field was a strong one a t th e sh ort t ra ck, a nd it wou ld have b e en stronger if the Formu la USA Pro Sin g les qualifying and heats on the mi le hadn' t taken s o lon g . T h e d elays meant that severa l rid ers wh o we re e nte re d in both e ve nts m issed their heat races and we re left with no way to transfe r th r ough t o the main even t. Pr om oter E d d ie Mulder did