Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.ernember tw o weekends with out a tr oph y ." By ' 67. Numb er 3 1w was an Expert and winning races o n a 175 Ossa, sp o nso red by the distrib uto r wh o took him to Oregon and whe rever the races we re. Th e firs t big time race was the Sali nas R od eo grounds benefit race. It was the firs t Expert race and he won it even after having to wa it an ex tra seaso n t o become Expert as the p oin ts w ere slower in co ming than th e Pony Express. :'1 have to give a lo t of credit fo r th ose d ays t o Rig Caro. lie was a ret ire d Navy guy wh o took me to all races and in trod uced m e t o all the guys and j ust generally go t me go ing . We m o ved t o Marin County and I got a job at Mar in Motorsp o rt for Sand y Greenb lat t. He sp o nsored m e on a 125 Bultaco for aw hile un til there wasn 't enough wo rk to do . I went d own th e street t o Cy cle Tow n and went to w ork fo r Bill Verbisci o and b o y , was h e a ra ce en th usiast. " Bill " Biscuits " Verbiscio would take the 16 -year-old yo u th ou t t o Ch in a Camp , in the short hills of San Rafael borderin g San Fr ancisco Bay, a nd th ey w ould practice n early every da y. " I would fall a lo t tr ying t o k eep up b ecause I o n ly h ad a 125 but I w ouldn 't let Bill kn ow th at and ge t up as fast as I could so h e wo uldn't not ic e. T he n , when we go t bac k to the shop h e would build me u p as doing the great th ings. lie w as r eall y so me thing for m y ego. " Bisc ui ts st ill rem emb ers the ea rly days well and re called re ce ntl y that "M ark n ever go t bi g-h eaded about b eing a good racer and 1 th in k everybody remembers h im fo r b eing a great kid and one of the bes t racers around." Back in San Mateo Cou n ty the nex t year an d a job with Pacifica Honda . brought th e Expert a ride o n a Montesa. Wh ile try ing to keep it up h ims elf h e w ent bro ke. Th e time fo r a change was ge tting m or e evid en t as th e ag e o f 18 came and wen t. "I rode m y fir st pro fessio nal race a t th e newl y reopened Vall ej o Sp eedway and w on t h e N ovice class." Th e w in ning ways o f profession al c o mpetitio n came easy for th e Num b er 16 3 z and alth ou gh th e problems of maintainin g a motor were great , a mark h ad been m ade o n th e so ul. T he first win was a clean sweep and t he total prize m oney am ou nt ed to a meager 15 . Mark was d isillu sioned an d af ter o nly a short time wa s b ack ridin g th e scramb les stuff, after all it was easier t o ge t to the races and p utti ng the b ike back t o gether was less money. HI won o nly two races as a Novi c e, the one at Va llej o and a half-mile at Cast le R o ck, Washington t hat m y boss . Al Ludwigse n, t o o k me t o ." Even with that few amount of wins and great ex p ense, Mar k was to be an Am at eur in his first year, altho ugh he had no d esir e to ride t he big 40-inc hers . T he thing that mi gh t h ave changed h is lif e sty le was the draft th at was comi ng up . Mar k wa s re ady t o q ui t racing an d join th e ser vic e. He figured thai by sp ending a co up le of yea rs in th e Arm y , h e wo uld ge t h is little scr awny I IO-p ound b od y up t o a good weight that co uld h andle a bi g b ik e. But d eep inside, Mar k re all y wa nted to be a racer. As thin gs were to happen th e select ive service was to be fo rgotten when o ne night la te Bill J amiso n called to relate h is first experience as an Am ate ur rider at Asco t and "b oy , would it b e great if 0 1' Bre Is co uld come down and race. to T he wh eels sta rted clicking an d after a ta lk wi t h Russ Bo rgman a ride was se t up wit h Dan Cecil o n a T rium p h . "I qualifie d ' 3 2 nd for the 100-lap pe r wi th Rill 33rd a nd I won t he Se m i and Bin go , I was in the race." He was less fo rt u nate in th e Main as h e started in fo urth gear and the n h ad t o p ick his way through a tremend ous cras h in the firs t tum. He made it as hi gh as six th before th e stator w ent o u t but th e idea o f bei ng a professional racer was now firml y imp lanted. Fo r the open in g nigh t o f th e regul ar Asco t h alf-mil e season , Mar k showe d u p on a Sonny Ken y on RSA Gold Star . "I was riding Lin co ln. near Sacr amento , one d ay when S on n y came up to me an d asked m e if I wo u ld ride for him. He offered t o tak e me t o Asco t a nd pay my expenses an d all t hat. I just could n' t refuse. The ' Go ldie' w as a real o ld ie as it t urned o ut and one that had been well-used . Har o ld Kenvo n, So nny 's bro ther, had sp ent some ' t ime on it ' in his h eyd ay as well as the likes of Bill Sto ck h am an d Le o Lochran at Belmont. A ll this led up t o the fact that th e bi k e h ad been around and was proven and the rid er wasn' t. " At the o pener, I was scared out of m y p an ts , but luck ily I wo und up fou rt h . The next week 1 got a th ird and the fourth week, I won ." Son ny relat es th a t h e ac tually w on th e second o ne h e rode b ut th at is really in consequential ; the point was th at Mar k was a winner eve n on the o ld-sty le equip ment. T he re was a lo t o f ta lk at the t ime tha t p oor o ld Mar k w o ul d beco me a h as-been ridin g th at o ld "jun k", but h e pro ved o th erw ise . "Th e bi g gu n in those d ays w as Tommy R ockwo od a nd we use d to d uel s. " Wh ile reall y hav e some R o ckw o od was th e king. Mar k was th e crown prin ce until th e o ld Goldie fin all y gave up in o ne of the m ost spectacular crashes ever seen at Ascot. Wh ile exi ting the first com er, af ter having won tw o in a row, "l ark h ad the fro nt wheel collap se on him. He h eld on t igh t as t he bike struck the wall an d b efo re the b ik e h ad stop p ed, he was su rro un ded by frie nds. After a quic k smoke Mar k wa nted t o k no w if h e cou ld rest art b u t th e bike w as destro yed from t he imp act. "T h at Was about the last tim e I rod e t he Go ld St ar . It w asn 't too long aft er t hat J im Odom asked me to go bac k East with him. I could n' t b elieve it and I jumped at th e ch ance and eve n forgot to U I did it. I got it in fourth and rode that thing all the way around the mile wide open It was the greatest feeling. I graduate fr om schoo l. 1 st ill la ck abou t five cred its t o graduate, but th e thought of getting a chance t o run the Nati onal circuit was too mu ch and so I went with J im and h is m echanic Les Ed wards. Mark 's firs t Nati onal was a t Louisville and when h e couldn ' t ge t th e Gold Star to run, he rode Ji mm ie 's spare Triumph. "J im t old me th at I sho uld ride that th ing wide o pen a ll th e wa y aro und the tr ac k an d 1 believed th at any t h ing h e to ld me was true and so I d id . I didn't get any practic e, just th e q ualifying and 1 got third fastes t t im e. At th e sta rt o f th e heat I was go ne . J im t old me n ot t o lo ok ar o und and to keep th e gas wid e open and so I did an d so m ewhere al on g th e lin e I hit a hole an d I just cou ld n ' t h an g o n. It p it ch ed me righ t o ver th e h an dl ebars a nd b o y, di d I hurt. Wh en I go t back t o th e p its . Jim was ta lking wi t h Bugs and so me o ther guys. Bu gs go t to me and th at st art ed me t o th in king about m y self." There were two week s bet ween flat trac ks th at gave Mark a chance t o think about racin g a nd so while watch ing the USA travel b y, Mark go t w it h th e racin g scen e. "J immie wa s traveling alon g with Dick l\lann and we were all staying at Bart Mar k el's. Wow, was th at the grea tes t ! I just could n't be lie ve th at 1 was ac t ually with these grea t racers. It reall y mad e me ap p recia te wh at 1 was up against. T he last race o f that p ar ti cular series, I go t a second . I was sta rt ing to feel like I knew what was hap p ening. "I r eall y felt like 1 had a b ig ed ge on th e o ther guys wh en we go t b ack to the Wes t C oast and the firs t ra ce at Portland o n th e mile. 1 had le ar n ed h ow t o slide on the eas tern tracks an d I was telling all th e guys that I w as read y. My d ream a t th e ti me was to b e ab le to ride a mile wide open fo r one lap like I saw Ge orge R oedar d o a t Sacr amen to o ne year. "I was st ill riding fo r So nn y Kenyon and th e Gold Star was a ll shap ed for the mile. I was about th e firs t one o u t o n '" 1J, ,f N ~ 0:> .g LL ~ w Z ~ ~ U

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