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/141019
Q c:o c. <{ Hangtown 3: Brad&Bob&Tom do it again at E vel's 6G meet (and the Joneses got to ride) '" ;;: By David Swift Z PLYMOUTH, CAL., April 9, 1972 Both T om Rapp and Brad La ckey were un touchable in their respective classe s but Bob Gross i, in h is las t American ride b efore h e leaves for Europe, had to work overtime for his win in the 500 Pros at today 's Evel Knievel Mounta in Lion Motocross, Rattlesnake J uJUP, and All-Around Gathering of th e Tribe. Grossi was hard ut in the first w w -' U >- U 30·mi n ute mo to, Rick Poulin, a fas t O regon yo u ngst er, gave poor Bob fits fo r seve ral laps. Problem was, Poulin was run ning fifth and La ck ey an d Gary J ones were far ah ead of th e ma ddening crowd . Bob fin ally got around him an d qu ick ly kn o cked off Wash in gton's Bob Cook and Tim Hart, who , like Poulin were part of a strong Maico co ntingen t. Fo rt u nat ely for Bob, Lackey's heretofore unbeatable Kawasaki Gary Jones ducks under a low-hanging branch in the fi rst mote. Whatever puked a clutch giving Gary the win and Grossi second. Next race, Jones spent no time hustling into another big lead. Once again Grossi ahd his ahnds full, this time trading elbows with Hart and Jim Wilson. While Gary, in top form despite the two-year-old Yamaha YZ he is still cam p aigni ng, smoked to a victory. It app eared Gary had the class sewed. Going into the last round he co uld easily sandb ag a third for the overall. Drat the luck. Lackey, trying to com plet e at leas t o ne mota for Kawasak i's big mutha, and Jones had a hot thing going until Gary su ffered a partial seize. Brad, either pooped or merely courteous, let Grossi by while Jones hopelessly floundered in fifth. Bob collected $650 for the win and Gary didn't do too bad with four bills for second. Gary wasn't too grumpy about it, though , since appearance at this CMC sanctioned event was miraculous. He and his brother DeWa yne have been denied a license to ride th e SoCal CMC events (se e last week's Poop) but because of a te chnicality were ab le to ride with the H e's always more fun to watch on the 250, anyway. Poulin, Oregon's answer to Jimmy Olson, ran strong all day and left most of the spectators wondering who the heck that fast kid was. So what if Brad couldn't get things together on th e 490? He proved beyond a shadow of Mr. Doubt th at he is as fast as anybody in the States by sweeping the 250 Pros. The only person to give him a bad time was fourth-placing Bill Clements. In a moment of inspiration, Bill made Brad go much faster than he or anyb ody else would want to go. After a couple of laps, Clements made his point and settled down for second. Third ' place was won by Rex Staten, who put in a spectacular performance all day. Rex took two seconds behind Lackey. Although he was usually a straightaway back after the initial laps, Staten never gave h im an inch after that. The last mo to fo und him in the rear of the bus but he thrashed into fourth. Meanwhile, Peter Lamppu, with two thirds under his belt, was safely in second place which would earn him second overall. Peter was gre at to watch. He is a big, strong dude and with all his CMC North for the first time, pending approval of their application. So they still aren ' t yet in for Eve!'s $25,000 pr ogram come May . Brad Lackey and the ever -so-potent Kawasaki (let's just call it a 490 and be d one with it) finally suffered the inevitable bugaboos after going so long without problem. The first race saw the clutch go and the start of the second round featured a Jim Wilson-Brad La ckey tango with Brad dropping the beat. He broke off a control and had to sit the race out. Tim Hart and Rick Poulin gave Maico the second and third spots. Tim never really pushed for the point. it seems. Bill Clements (9 1) gives 250 winner Brad Lackey a good chase to start the second Bob Grossi went a long way to win the 500 Pro class. moto.