LARRY HUBER:
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Widowmaker Superstar
By Terry Newfanner
SALT LAKE CITY, UT A H , March 2 6 ,
1972
Camped at the b ase o f
Widowmaker Hill the morn ing o f th e b ig
climb were take-it-s eri ous hillcl im bers
from
Georgia,
Indiana,
T ex as,
California, th e Intermoun tain states,
a nd two inches of fresh snow,
But Wid owmaker, the hill th at h ad
been cl imed by o n ly fo u r rid ers in eight
years, is made up of very ro ck y soil, so
the Bees Motorcycle Club decided to go
ah ead with th e cl imb. Nobody was
bored.
A disadvantage at fir st, the sn ow was
eventually worn into the soil, so th at
late in the day it made co nd it io ns n ear
id eal, b y keeping the dirt firm. Six
hou rs a nd 6 00 tries a ft e r the first 100cc
rider took the first p oke, the exh ib itio n
class cam e t o the line.
Larry H uber, one of the four who
made the climb two years before,
dropped his nitro-fueled Harley in t o
gear, a nd rode smoothly o ver th e jump
at 100 feet , over the lo o se section at
400 feet, ove r the near-cliff at 500 feet,
over the three-foot sagebrush, right over
the t op.
Stopping on the ridgetop only for a
moment to accept a few pats on the
back, Huber h urried back to the bottom
for his second run. The second time he
mo mentarily shut off once instead of
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twice, an d cleared the 600 fe et in j us t
ov er 15 seconds. A 1,200-mil e drive to
rid e 1, 200 fee t t o bec ome t he m o st
success ful
rider
in Wid owmaker's
co lo r ful h ist o ry .
But still the hill h as b een ridden o nly
in th e ex h ib itio n class, and only b y fo ur
rider s,
Wit h a Harl ey Spo rt st er e ngine in a
str et ched rigid frame built b y Louis
Ger en c er of Elkhart , [Ind .}, Huber sai d
he ge ts 110 horsepower at home, but
loses
so m e
at
the
5,OOO·fo o t
Wid owmaker elevation. Runnin g wi th
80 p er cen t nitro-me thane, his tailp ip e
puts out fume s th at are iden tical to te ar
gas.
With their hill co nq ue red , th e Bees
are lo oking al o ng th e unusual ridge th at
rises to the we st from th e present co urse
to fo rm a huge face o f almost the same
gradient throughout. " Nex t year, th e
hill will be 1500 feet high," said cl u b
member Jack Archibald.
Jim True, AMA District 36 hillclimb
ch am p io n from San Jose, Calif., rode to
the ridgetop on his Harley, burning gas ,
but officials at the top said he d rifted
off the course ten feet short o f the
.fi n ish line. The second time , he tried
too hard, and looped it violently, way,
way up there. The plate on his rear
fender says: "Norton, Triumph and
BSA go here."
High Ut ah rider on th e hill was Mel
Kimbal, with a run well into the
sagebrush at 561.8 feet. But Mel has a
long histo ry o f almost making it , each
time raising th e hope in minds o f th e
3 ,OOO·plus sp ec tators th at somebody
from Ut ah will top th eir o wn hill.
Other lo cal talent turning in go od
runs were Duan e Shulz, who was h igh
Ut ah n in th e Open class , Adrian
Nebek er, and Bob Best. A hi gh sp o t o f
t he exh ib itio n class came wh en Utah
number o ne pl ate h older K en A rc h ibald
romped 491 fe et up th e h ill , t he b est
ov er fo r a 25 0.
( Result s o n p age 40)
Tuggle Wins, eosy as ecfin'
By J a net West
NACOGDOCHES , TEX., April 2, 1972
- Winning all three heats of the 250
Expert class seemed as ea sy as eating a
chocolate Easter bunny for Robert
Tuggle. He just got right out th ere, shot
off th e lin e, and p o wered his new
0-
five -speed Husk y on to a firs t place win
all three h eats with a ni ce wide lead
each time. Only occasio nally did Tug
look as though h e mi ght get a bit ou t of
shape, but luckily he was able to
straighten himself out in time t o st a y
way ahead.
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Larry Huber : Many t im es over. w ith feeling.
In the second heat Robert did kill h is
bik e around the first turn, letting both
Robbie Esterlei n (Husky) and Bill
Walling (CZ) around. However, he
didn't let any grass grow under his
T re lleb org before he was back on the
bik e a nd around both riders, leavi ng
th em a nice red dust cloud t o con te nd
with. Th e Good Bunny mus t certain ly
have been with Tuggle, because he rode
fas ter and smo other than he h as ridden
in quite some time.
The real race , in fact , was left t o Bill
Walling and Robbie Esterlein as they
_vied for second place gold. Es terlein 's
starts were first class , a nd he was ab le to
hold o ff Walling for the most part o f
each heat , but toward the end of the
heats, Walling would manage to get
around.
In
the sec ond heat, a
p articu larl y nasty crash slowed Esterlein
down a bit. H e and a Bultaco got a lit tl e
to o c h u m m y, lo ckin g wheels a nd
spilling, ca using m inor b ody damage
(sk in ned h ands and anns and legs ), and
lots of stiffness. Walling was especially
fast, a nd took second p lace ov erall,
leaving Esterlein in third, but still in the
money .
Wayne Booth was out on his CZ , and,
as usual , did a spectacular. He was
bo und for glory and overshot a tum,
riding right into the ro ping. It caught h is
neck, th rew him backwards off the bike
and onto th e ground, while the CZ just
kept right o n truckin". This, plus not
being quite as proficient as the others ,
in h is riding Sunday, gave Wayne a
fourth place victory overall. He may not
have been first, but he sure was exciting .
The Open Experts was lots of fun,
too. Rock y T immo ns (CZ) and Bria n
Fo x (C Z ) were really aft er each other,
Brian being very aggre ssive as wel l as
very fast . Timmons as always was in top
form, winning both o f th e first heats,
but co mi ng in second in the last. .No t
wanting to take any chances d uring the
last heat, Timmons, mo tored o n arou nd ,
leaving it t o Fox.
An other race was go ing o n in the
Open Experts - R obbie Esterlein was
als o rid in g Open (H usky 250) , and J o e
DiL oren zo had h is new C Z o u t for (un.
DiLorenzo b eat Esterlei n in heats I a nd
2, co m ing in third, with Esterlein in
fourth. However, in the last heat,
DiLorenzo had problems, co m in g in
fifth, while Esterlein m anaged a third,
giving them a t ie b y lap co u n t. The tie
was broken b y the winner of the last
heat, th us giving Esterlein a no th er third
place win. .
It was a beautiful East er day, sunny
and clear, nice breeze, nice people. nice
race. T he Bunny was good to us Texans
this year - hope he carr ies h is me llow
feelings over for nex t.
Big Trophies, No Points at Beardsley
By Ne d
PHOENIX, ARIZ ., Ap ril 2, 19 72 Easter was the day of the big trophi es
and no points race at Beardsley raceway
with a fair attendance t aki ng into
co nsid era t io n the observance of our
risen Savi or, Jesus Christ.
Eight 250 Experts ra n with T om
Burcham and Cliff Allison b attling fo r
the lead . The who op-de-d o cs in the
sweeper d ropped Bob Dam eron fo r a
few seco nds. (" Dad ! get th at swe ep er
fixed and I d on't mean th e Ho ov er ".)
Pat Kl ein ra n o u t of gas a nd lo st it in
the left h and h airpin. T hen Jim Bo at ran
o ver Pat 's b ike and lo st it. T o find out
wh o won, see th e resu lts page.
In the 12 5 race th e N ovice, A mateur
and E xperts rode t ogeth er . T he sta n
was uniq ue in th at the Expert were
lin ed up on th e back ro w h eading in the
wro ng d ir ect ion. T he re al d an ger was to
Said
the flagman tr ying to avo id being ru n
over by four wi ld Experts bringing t heir
bikes a ro u nd in a 180 degree turn.
Experts Cliff Alliso n a nd
Larry
Barrington
fin all y
ove rc am e
their
h andicap and grabbed th e lead. Larry
Barrington's b ike se ized and Cliff to ok
o ver with Amat eur rider Ron K ennad y
in pursu it. Las t week's hard lu ck Novice
rider , Al "Crash " Jordan who fell five
ti m es in four races, st a yed on h is bike to
be th e firs t Novice rider to th e
checkered flag .
The seco nd 100 Novi ce/A mateu r ra ce
h ad the lead c h anging fo u r t im es with
two leaders losing th eir bikes in th e left
a nd righ t handers aft er th e jump . A new
rider, K erry Lo nerga n , fin ally t o o k the
chec k ered flag first fo llo wed by Rick
S nap .
(Resu lts on page 4 0)
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