Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

co ..... ~ w Z W ..J U > U ..•• By Ed Dr echsler ELSINORE , CAL., Jan . 2 , 197 2 - Not all th e bi g guns were a u t for the first p oints race o f th e ' 72 season , but enough so th at I'm st ill shell shocked. What a day! T he J ackrabbits M.C. efficiently handled a crowd o f 223 riders (includi ng on e sid e h ack) wh o were eager t o p rove th at th e almost two months lay off b etween seaso ns had not ca u sed them t o lose th eir touch . Usu ally with large rider t um-outs , the races stretch int o th e we e h ours, b ut no t Expert class. Sanders pulled o ff the win in th e midst o f some very h ot co mpe t it io n . Bob Hill 's effort to wi n almost cost him a b ad tank slapp er during the last lap as h e wa s t ry in g to p ass Mik e My ers. H e recovered and did n ot lose a p osition t o th e hard char gin g Larry Bird. The 200 Ex pert Ch arl es Soderst rom got so me fantastic h ole sh ots off th e lin e and plus his ab ility to slide th e co rners w ith th e gra ce of a Class A star, ran away f r om all of his eage r rivals. Balmy weather prom pted 3 ;d place 125 Expert Bob Hill and Powd er Puff w in ner Pam Bales t o share the sun whil e wa tchi ng t he big bo res perf orm. A rumo r persists from last year that the two are good f riends. today . The J ackrab bi ts h ad it all t ogeth er and go t us out of the re b y 4 p.m. The sta rts w ere contr olled by Engineer Bill, an d qu it e a few were ca ugh t dri n king t heir m ilk . Mild man nered Dic k Ko uns issu ed warnings an d th en sent creep ers a nd lin e jump ers to th e p en alty line whi ch was located around t h e co m er a t the fin ish lin e. Being th at it was very di fficult to see th e red/green lights at that position, the advantage wen t to th e good guys b ack at the sta rt ing lin e. The start of o ne race saw lik e six rid ers o n th e pen alty line and three o n t he starting line. As far as I'm concern ed, that 's the only way to ensu re fair fast starts with no hor sing around . It also help s to h ave two six foo t 200 lb. cl ub m em b ers to assist in keep in g order. Sp eaking of keepi n g o rd er, th e she riff paid a visit to th e track tod ay . Seem s lik e so me over eage r trail ride rs got th em selves bust ed for trespassin g o n the adj acen t prope rties. When ap p rehe n ded , th e accused cla ime d tha t Elsin o re track officia ls gave t he m p ermission in the area where they we re accosted. Seem s th at p eople ca ught with th eir p ants d ow n can come up with some pret ty fa n ta stic stories th at wo n't w o rk . R eall y fo lks, th e lands adjacent to th e track are p ost ed an d track officia ls (when as ked) constantly cau tio n rid ers against rid ing off the track prop er ty. The 250 Exp ert cla ss as well as th e h eavy weigh ts were min d b lo wers , with Scott n am es lik e Dan ny H ocki e, Smith , Jeff Sexton, J im Connolly, Bob Greenstreet, Larry Bird an d o ther great ri de rs fin ishing no better than fo urth p lace. T h e t rack w as sufferi ng from a sever e case o f h on est -to-gosh perfect w eather. It was fast , b u t the rid ers were faster . The rain earl ier in the we ek h ad pre-co nditioned th e surface a nd all t ha t was needed was an oc casio na l sp rinking of w at er lat er in th e day . . T h e- worst inju ry o f th e day (o ther th an th e refresh m ent stan d ru nning out of all liquid re fre shment) oc curred during th e second lap o f th e 125 Nov ice t hird heat. Bob Mills tried to p ass th e sec ond p lace rid er in th e sw eeper and somehow got tangled up in h is Yamaha. He was treated at track-sid e for a bad gash in the uppe r thigh an d r eleased to figure out how it h app en ed. Jim Connolley b rought o u t his b rand sp ankin' new 125 Bultac o Pursang fo r its very first race. J im h ad spe n t all of h is spare tim e durin g th e week pri or ru nning a tank o f gas t hro ugh it , but man aged to seize it while chas ing Sanders, Myers and Hill in the 12 5 Pam Bal es jump ed up to sh ow the girls h er powder puff b y winning all three motos. Pam seems to b e at a point where sh e is n ow riding against h erself. She was so far in front o f the other girls th at they c o uld n' t see h er dust, and st ill sh e rode righ t o n th e thin edge. With eac h lap she cam e cl oser and clo ser t o cra sh ing, but n ever did. Glad 1 don 't h ave to ride aga ins t her. Connolley h ad a b ad d ay. Whil e riding th e 500 Am / Ex..class h e cha rged fro m a b ad sta r t to a very good p osit ion o nly to have h is Gree ves seize . Jim claims th at there w as no me chanical problem with his b ik es t oday, o nly th at every o ne w as go ing so fas t th at h e had t o over-re vv hi s bi ke to p ass. J eff Sexto n was running a n ewl y rebuilt Maic o w ith n o break -in time on it , but h e did n ot off with h is n ormall y com e heart-st opping sty le. Rac e of th e day has to go to the Op en class. Bob Gr een street w as leading Sprague, Tudor, Gillesp ie an d Sex to n. He was n ' t h avin g a field d ay as he was very closely pursu ed . John Sp rague kep t _ close,-wai ting for Bob t o mak e that on e m istake, bu t Bob's rid e wa s flawl ess. Lap a fter lap un ti l th e whi te flag ca me ou t, Boh showed 'e m h is heels. Going in to th e firs t t urn after t he b ack sweeper, Bob m issed a shi ft and wen t in too fast. He banged it into gea r , but it was too la te ; he was st arting to slide o u t. John star ted to make hi s move. Bob slid an d tried to save it , giving it m ore gas. The bike was la id over so far that Bob and now slidi ng o n his knee, sti ll h oldi ng it up . T hen it st arted back up . He almo st had it saved. But something hap p en ed and th e fo ot p eg caugh t. Down and out J o h n go t aro und and grab be d t he ch ec kered flag. He waited in th e finish area fo r Bob to c ome across the line . H e wasn't h urt. T hey talk ed abo ut th e cras h and congratulate d eac h oth er o n fine ri des . . (R ~s u lts o n p age 28) V I A pair of highly enth usiastic Jackrabbits observe 200 Ex. wi nner Charl es Soderstrom 's exhib iti on of superior ridi ng skill. Open Exp ert Bob Greenstreet is closely pursued into th e of the M ain. I t was in the back sweeper of thi s lap that Bob ~ :...l " CZ -mounted V ic H annon leads Jim Connoll y over th e jump, but follows Jeff Sexton. Connoll y seized and Hannon w ent on to pass Sexton with an eventu al overall win in th e 500 Am /E x. class.

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