Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Short Track: Roberts Does It Going Away By Davi d Sw ift HO UST ON , TEX. , Jan. 29, 19i 2 .. Mark Brelsford stood outside the second tum and watched them line u p fo r th e second Expert Se mi. " L o o k at the firs t TO'''','' he said. "They're all first -year Experts." The riders who have brought the Houston Natio nals to life in the past years were now lo u n gin g around the sporadic p lumbing which constitutes the innards of the Astrodome. This is where they don't take you on the guided tours. Don Castro sat with a small circle of friends and enjoyed a lively co nve rsatio n. Don is always cherefull al though th is weekend h e had no reaso n t o be . He h ad h is Mo ntesa short-tracker rip ped o ff in L.A. fo ur d a ys ago a nd was fo rced t o q ualify o n a slam-b an g job that could nev er wo rk o n suc h sh ort notice . Dic k Ma nn, dresse d in street cloth er s, Me rt Lawwill and Ca l R ayborn were sp ra w led o n a giant crate, laughin g an d carry ing on. Mann h ad o fficially q ualified 4 ith o u t of 48 starters. A lot of people felt he had been railroaded t hrough. In his heat h e jumped splendidly from the second row b ut ended up motoring around several laps dead last , due at least in part to the fact the BSA demanded that the Rickmans he and Romero ride be box stock. Romero and Aldana were having a bad weekend. Romero came down off the jump in b ad form while qualifying for last ni ght's IT and c ra sh ed in a violent tank-slapper. He tore some skin o ff his nose and ch in a nd bent several bones t o the breakin g p o int. Moments afterward, Aldana go t one tum fa rth er on the IT co u rse a nd committed what was to be the first of man y get-offs, Ultimately, Aldana would crash in the afore-mentioned short track Expert Semi and take Romero with him. Last year's short track winner, Jim Odorn, was on a cane as a result of an accident at last week's East Coast indoor fias co. But the rookies were having a field d a y and Ken Roberts was leading the charge. He won his heat, ran off with the ' semi, and creamed everyone who h ad m ad e t he Mai n. Mik e Kid d, t he first rookie in the AMA's history that can go on p ub lic record as b eing an 18 ·year- o ld, j u m ped into a similar lead ov er third-ru nn ing Dave Hanse n . Th en th ere was Bar t Markel. Bart Markel ?? Yes, h e was the o ne o n his Harl e y p utt-putt a nd doing w ell. Frenchy LeBlanc, another rookie Jwas tearing his h air out trying to ge t around h im w he n Markel cras hed. So m uch fo r t hat. Local Texan Robert E. Lee, a crowd favorite who, after running off with his heat no sweat, was running strong and should h ave finished somewhere in the winners ' circle excep the seized. He was the fi rst to go and gets credit fo r finishing 12th. Roberts, Kidd and Hansen were separated by heaps of mistake room by the time the race was halfway over.. .a nd that never changed. Towards th e back things still had yet to shape up . Gary Scott (a rookie) was having fits. His howling Kawasaki that set him fastest qualifying time was fitted wi th a badly-cut tire in the front and would not stick in the comers. He had the power and reliability to get him a fourth but he could no t get any further with all that waggling and wavering. Eddie Mulder got a poor start and he and Tad Sloan spent the early part of the race in hattie. As if rid ing a road race , Mulder relied on the attrition rate and studious passing to earn hi m fifth . The hig hligh t of the evening was the IT Exibition Match Race. T his is where th e t op fo ur riders fro m t he p revious nig ht's IT duke it out to sec who is "really the best." It was nea t and th e reco rd 3 i ,2 6 2 fans went bananas as Roberts, Bre lsford, Hateley and Mu lder went thro ugh turns clattering into each other, hit the jump three abreast, took t urns-er, uh .. battled hot and heavy for the lead. Hateley won and also proved he can do better wheelies than Roberts. Northern Californian Mike O'Brien won the Junior Main. Gary Lozano was able to take the lead but it was clear that O'Brien was not going to make the race an easy chore. Lozano was dogged for lap after lap but Mike could not find the righ t hole. So he zapped Gary on the straightaway. Maybe Roberts and Kid d had better watch out fo r these two nex t year. 1), rf. N ..... '" oi .c " '" ;: w u. Z w ...J U >- U Ken Rob erts and John Ha teley pose as both ni ghts wi nners . HO US T ON S H O R T TR A CK NAT IONA L 25 LAPS 7,02.40 Kenny Roberts Mike Kidd Dale Hansen Gary Scot t Eddie Mu lder Gary L and ry Chuck Palmgren Tod S loan Ronnie Ra il F ren ch ie L eBl anc Bart Markel Robert E . L ee J U NI O R 10 L AP 2,51.30 Mike O' Br ie n Gary Lozano Jim m y L ee Jim Fo ley Jim Rawls Tom Horton Donnie Graham Don H edgep et h Dale Furst ROCky Mayall Yam Yam Suz Kaw Yam ass Yam Bul Bu l Yam H-D ass Bul Bul Oss Yam Bul Bul Bul 0" Oss Yam Men Lawvvill adjusts his clutch . Tall, quiet Mike O 'Br ien won the Jun ior short track feature . " Oaf. puff, grunt. Bugs asked for no help. eo Robert Lee became the Texas Short T rack Champion in a special race after the TT Friday night. He looked good in the National Short Track until he broke.

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