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/141018
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Cranke & Thompson & Harshbarger
By Steve Yo ung
CA RSON, NEV., March 12, 1972 With a good turno u t and a good track,
the ' fir st race of t h e th ree-race Carson
Motocross series offered sp ectat o rs a
good day's en te rtain me nt. The t rack has
b een widened , but not smoothed, an d
st ill contains many ju mps, h ills, an d a
bunch of ro ugh.
The races of th e day , in both motos,
were t he 125 Am/Ex. and 250 Expert
events. The classes were full of really
fast riders who didn 't mind showing off.
It see med mandatory for every rider to
cross up any time he left the ground.
Carl Cranke received the first place
trophy in the 125 division with two
outstanding rides. He started out riding
back-to-hack motos which made his
superb riding even more impressive.
Steve Tompson won the 250 Expert
first place, also with two outstanding
rides. Like Cranke, he seemed to
maintain complete control over his
machine, 011 the ground and in the air,
without sac rificing any speed. Both are
rea l crowd pleasers.
Robert Harshbarger typically won the
Open Expert Division . lie utilizes no
Dust Bowl at Bacchus
By Ron Shock and Bob Swenson
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. March 25,
19 72 - Sp ecta t o rs, no doubt scared
away fro m the track by dire weather
forecasts, d id themselves a disservice
today by missing a day of fine
motocross action at the Fuller Raceway
Park. T he weatherman lied, you see. So,
t he cro wd was sparse, t he wind was
b lo wing, and the track was dry. But
wh at th e h ell, the sky was blue, the d ay
was wa rm, and th er e was pl ent y of
actio n . What's a little d us t among
fri en ds?
Don blumen th al kicked the day off
with a surp rise announcement, Fuller
Raceway was going to offer a S I 00
prize to any Expert or Pro class racer
who co uld post the fastest lap ti me in
special heats to be held over the next
five rac es. Before the start of each day
o f racing , riders who wanted a shot at
the hundred fish would run two laps
aro und th e 7/8-mile course, and their
best time wo uld be reco rded . At the end
of th e five races , fastest time wins the
loot.
.
Don Fuller thereupon mount ed his
tr usty 250 Yamah a an d cranked o ff a
I :54 .5 , hitting ground about eve ry 15
y ar ds o n th e way aro und. That's
motoring, folks. I put t he watch on the
250 and Open events and couldn' t find
an yone who was d o in g any b et t er th an
ab o ut 2: 08. Oh well, it's so mething to
sh oot fo r.
In th e 100 J unior event Rod Lewis
(Kaw) had things p retty much to
hims elf, winning all three mo to s. The
only real p ro blem he had was Del Bevan
(Yam) wh o was o ut for a Satu rd ay drive
in t ennis shoes, levis , and a T -shi r t, He
d id rememb er a h elm e t, tho ugh.
The 125 Junior eve nt saw Bre nt
Barret t (DKW) take two seconds and a
fir st t o edge Greg Harrison (Dales man)
o ut on p oin ts. Greg, no slo uch, took
tw o firsts b ut lost it three times in the
second moto and finished way down in
the pack.
T here were only two riders in the 200
Junior, and wouldn't you know it, they
crashed into each other coming off the
lin e. Ge ttin g up first and finally winning
it all was Terry Sugden (Yam). Finishing
sec o nd w as Dave K adlec k (Yam). On
th e second moto , the organizers let t he
125 's run fo r p ract ice, and darned if
15 .y ear- ol d K en Moore (Yam) who
fin ished third over all in t he 12 5 class,
did n't mak e things h o t for t he 200
b oys, finishing second in th at m o t o , an d
third overall .
T he 25 0 Juniors, Intermediates , an d
Experts ra n together. Jeff Page (Mai)
gath ered tw o firsts a nd a second to tak e
th e o verall honors, nip ping Steve Pra tt
(C Z) in the J unior Division. Sam
DeAngelis (Hus) motored smoothly and
h o-se -sw if t ly aro und the co urse to take
the 250 Expert crown, then wheeled h is
m ach in e from the finish line to the
starting line to take t he Open races,
Exp ert class, Larry Hinze (Hus) took
th e flag in the J unior division, and Joe
Davis (H us) was the 2nd p lace man.
J ames Page (Mai) made a fi ne race of
th e fi rst moto, lead ing all the way. But
he lo st his o il drai n p lug and a couple of
gears just yo nder the finis h lin e, and was
a sp ectator the rest o f the d ay .
(Res ults on page 56)
Q.
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show-off tactics, he just rides fast and
hard. Since h e is strong as a bull he
never seems to tire and takes delight in
the roughest parts of the track.
T h e S I ,000 purse, good track, good
weather , and good turno ut all help to
make this series a good series for G.N.G .
Racing Association.
(Results on page 56)
C.