Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- :! . 8, 0. N ,... '". ,... Bikers, here's your big-bucks 440 -- - ~ :0 ~ w z W ..J U >- U Here's a turbo-charged Honda 4, one of the many superscoots that will trek the 1320 at Lions on March 4-5. By Keith Arnold Photo by Action Photos WILMINGTON, CAL., Feb. 26, 1972 For once Lions Drag has decided to take the drag bikes seriously. Or have they? On March 4 and 5, Lions will host the NHRA/HotBike Magazine National drag meet where 16 top fuel, eight top gas, and the various altered and street classes, will vie for a cash purse of $4000. Contingency money is expected to push this figure much higher. This will be the biggest western drag race of the year! Without dwelling on the subject, the author and a great number of the riders would like to know the answers to some questions. Why has there been at the time of printing, such a limited amount of p romotions? Why has it been so hard to obtain information' abo ut th e meet? Finally, will the manufacturers please support these with some help, money or contingency? This is not to say, that HotBike has not done its share, b ut how much can one small monthly magazine do? Nuffsaid. With big bucks up for grabs, whe will show to make the show? This is a question no one knows for sure . Expected to show is Boris Murry current NHRA natio nal record holder at 8.87 at over 174 mph. Leo Payne ca n be depended upon to show for any fuel show. Sonny , Raslowski and his usual exotic H-D, Dave Campos with fairing equipped 88 " sportster, and so m an y more than it wo u ld take the entire paper to talk about them. Already t he roar is heard , what about Joe Smith? As of tonigh t, Smith h im sel f didn't know. There is a big possibly though due to the fact that this is the only western drag race scheduled this season and Joe Smith will probably show. This is evidenced by the fact that he has been practicing at Lions for three weeks running. Some local Californians to watch are B oris Murry and his smokey eight-second, 170·m i1e ru n s. Sonny Ras lows ki a lways a th reat, Bill Chambers, possibly on a new fueler, Ralph the " Wild man," Muldoon will rid e his fuel Honda funny bike, Ray Maston will ride a j unior fuel Triumph. There are many others worth me ntioning bu t there is no ro o m to give everyone the credit they deserve. We can only ask that you, the fans, come cheer them on. In t he gas classes, there is always Action 4 with the phenomenal " 2 by 4" and now the smaller "I by 4" . With a national record th at will surely fall , who can go the quickest will be a qu est ion much in everyone 's mind. In the altered and street cla sses there will be many new reco rd s. The altered class is ne w and wide open so all records in t his class will be set at this meet. Speaking of records, the top fuel and top gas record should fall as in top fuel everybody has much more power than before. In top gas, the record is 9.99 at just ove r 139 mph. Would you be lieve that the Action 4, 2 by 4 has turned a 9.73 at speeds of over 145 mp h! The smaller fuel and gas bikes shall break records j ust as readily so it y.'ill be a wild three days of speed. Watch fo r the results because anything can happen and probably will . B LINE A note from the AMA to all Class B members : Effective immediately all equipment approval submission material from manufactu rers and distributors must be MEMBER OF When the weather says no-Top Gear Weather Pro. IMrc:1 You're breezing along on a bike being whipped by wind-and you're comfortable inside your Top Gear Weat her Pro . That's because the Top Gear Weather Pro combines every advantage you could want in an all-weather outfit. It's made of a tightly woven , windproof, water-resistant nylon. It has a cinch belt, four big snap-close pockets and knitted storm cuffs. The shoulders have a smart yoke back that conceals a hidden ventilating flap. There are two ventilating grommets under each arm. The tunic collar features a DuPont Velcro tab for easy fasten ing. The flap front keeps out wind, The pants have a double thickness at the crotch and knees, plus an elastic waistband, <::::=--side cinches, and Velcro fasteners at the ankles . Navy blue, aqua, red, orange or black. Ask your bike dealer for details. $29 95 TOP GEAR ACCESSORIES , INC . P. O. BOX 6790, TOWSON , BALTIMORE, MD. 2 1204 ' 2745 E. HUNTINGTON DR., DUAR T E. CALIF. 91010 made on AMA supplied standard forms. These forms are available from the professional racing department (Mrs. Pennell) upon order. These forms must be completed without omissions to be considered. Photographs accompanying approval applications must describe the product comp letely. For instance forks submissions must include side and front view photographs. Gas Tank and frame request must include right and left hand photographs plus oblique 'view photographs describing irregular features. Descriptions of motorcycles must include left and right hand photographs. Photographs must be of good quality to faci litate reproduction. A 1972 ru le book provides that motor number must be externally visib le to inspectors at all times. This includes road race machines with fairings installed. 9 SPEEDWAY PROMOTERS GRANTED SRA SANCTIONS Ni ne sanctio ns were extended to speedway motorcycle racing promoters at a special "promoters meeting", Feb ruary 21 at the Speedway Racing Association head q uar ters in Pasadena, Calif. New and experienced promoters met with the SRA Board of Directors filing their applications for dates in the forthcoming season with some unusual requests made for sanctions. Veteran pro mo ter Harry _Oxley of P a s ad e n a , Calif., of Internatio nal Speedway Inc., was issued a sanction for Fri day night racing at Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Calif. , for th e fo urth year. Oxley hopes to open o n Fri day night, April 28. Ex-Indianapolis driving great J oh nny Mantz o f Ventura, Calif., was issued a sanctio n for the Fairgrounds in Ve nt ura, Calif. , for T uesday nigh ts , start ing April 25 . Although Mantz gained nat io nal fame as a mid get, stock car an d Ind ianapolis rac e driver he .started his career as a rna to rc ycle racer and is curren tly a cycle dealer in Ventura. Ex-racer Digger Hel m of Bakersfield, Calif. , wa s gran ted a san ct io n fo r Wednesd ay nights ; Bo b Da nforth d rew a sanc tion for Indio , Calif. , starti ng March 25 and exp ects to run until inclimate weat her o n Saturd ay n igh ts at th e Fairgrounds, a nd two san ct ions we re issu ed to ex-racer J oh nny Gibson an d Ed Meister of La Habra, Cal if., for Thursd ay nigh ts in Irwindale , Calif. , and p ossib ly Saturd ay nigh ts a t the Los A ngeles Coliseum in ce ntral Los Angeles sta rt ing tentatively May 20. T he fa t he r/so n team in central Cali fo rn ia , AI and Gus Lauer were granted separate sanctions; ve teran rac er-t u ner Al h as Friday nigh ts in Sacram ento starting J une 9 and Gus will " p romote sp eedway ra ces at Napa, Calif., o n Saturday nigh ts starting May 20. For th e o nly active p ro mo tio n o ut-of-s ta te, the SRA Bo ard agre ed to issue a sanctio n to W.E. "Chris" Christian of Reno , Nevada, who pl an s to o p era t e Wednesday nigh ts starting May 17 and run until mid-O cto b er. Held in abeyan ce was the request for a date for ra cing by Don Dorsey o f Tucson, Arizona, and a d ay request ed by J ay _Agaja nian , J r. , of Gardena, Calif. , for Tuesday s. T his day ma y b e in co nflict with th e sanc tio ned issu ed to J ohnny Man tz in V entu ral v ., 2111 J:"u

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