Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

ALDANA NIGHT AT ASCOT By Ed D rech sle r Ph oto s by Wal l Mah on ey GA RDENA, CALIF., A p ril 28 , 19 72 David Aldan a kep t it all lo ge the r 10 beal ou t T om Ro c kw o od in b o th th e Trophy Dash and Main eve nt aI J .C. Agaj an iari ' s A sCOI Par k to nig h I. Ro ck wood e merge d as cro w d favori te after time trial s w it h an im pre ssi ve time o f 2 2 .8 4 se conds. A ldana wa s o n ly fractionally slower h ow ever, promisi ng . an e x citing eve ning . AI the st art o f th e Trophy Dash Roc kw o od m isse d a sh ift or tw o , p lacin g him w e ll 0 01 of contentio n . Lach e r a nd A ldana were first 10 turn one . Al dana in h is a ll o ut style d ro ve past Lach e r and romped home for a troph y pre sen ted b y tw in trophy girls. Dave m a d e th e b e st of it. Deway ne Kee ter w~ firs t into turn one fo r th e Ex pert Main, b UI lost it 10 th e brutal a ll-o ul rid in g sty le o f A ld an a in tum tw o . Fro m th ere o n , it w as a Sunday drive for Na tio na l N umber 13. Me an while, b ac k in the p ac k, Kee le r, L a cher a nd R o ckwo od we re fig h tin g fo r secon d place . R ockwo od m ade hi s m ove in lap sev en 10 slip p ast No rto n mo unted La ch er, a nd in lap n in e he made it p ast Kee le r' s H arley 10 begin th e chase after the fas t-d isap pear ing N o r t on of A ldana. No way - h e lost too much li me in traffic. Al Baker ma d e an impre ssive charge from the back of the Junior Ma in p ack 10 challe n ge firsl p lace Gary C ald w e ll. Go ing in to tum four of lap seve n Cal dwell an d Bak e r we re side bv side, on ly fo r Ba ke r 10 lo se it a nd h igh slide. T his m a kes th e fo u r th Main in a ro w in wh ich Ba ker h as d on e the sam e n u m b e r. Cald we ll, lak ing hi s firs t ride on th e Llo yd Bulm o n tuned BS A, h ad no m ore challenge rs wi th Bak er out, an d rode on for the go ld. . J oh n Gennai, th e super shoe from up no r th , made il hi s third stra igh t Novice Main wi n in a row. T he power of h is Yamaha an d h is po lishe d ridin g sty le ma ke hi m n e x t to imp oss ible 10 beat, ( Re su lts o n p age 44) Ascot's Big Weekend I t all star te d ne arl y three y ea rs ago w hen so me body d ec id ed th at it w o uld be m o st p rop er to p u t a majo r H al f-Mile even t in front of th e an nual N ati on al IT a t Asco t. Wh y not Ie t th e fa ns se e bo th ty pes of ra ce s in 24 h o u rs ? T h us wa s bo rn the "Yamah a Cup " ra ces . T he first one of its kind wa s run at A sc o t in N .... Cl ai > m :::; ~ w 2 w ..J U >U OeWay ne Keeter tries po king his wheel underneath D ave A ldana. It d id n' t work and A ldana w on . 197 0 . It h ad a storybook finish as Kei th Ma sh b urn , a board th e o n ly Yam ah a in th e E xpert Final, n arr owl y d e fe at e d T rjurnp h -m o un ted Jimm y Odom in a rea l bang-b an g a ffa ir for 15 laps. Th e Y am ah a lu c k d idrr ' t h old last y ea r as J ody N ich o las zi pped h is :" orto n in fo r th e wi n, w h ich w as agai n a n other re c ord cro w d fo r a n on-n atio nal ev en t. Mashbu rn has n o t w on a main even t sin ce th at '70 race and Ni c holas is a do u b tfu l starte r for th is F rid ay ni gh t 's th ird a nn u al Iha l w ill p ay in ex c ess o f 56 ,0 0 0 in th e Exp ert F in al. BUI d u e 10 the fa ct th e race runs th e n igh t b efo re th e N a tion al 1'1' it m ean s th at all of th e riders that are in town fo r the race will also be 001 for the Hal f-Mi le : o ut-o f-staters, like Bart Mar ke l, Dave S ehl, .. French y" LeBlan c, R obert E . Lee and Re x Be auch amp, to n ~m ~ _ ~ few. A ll are excellen t Half-Mile rs b ut thev w ill have to face suc h nam e s as Ro mero , Ro c kw o o d, Ha tel e y , Bre lsford , L awwill , A ld an a an d Gill espie . T ha t's j u st for sta r ters, Th en ad d th e Yam ah a cre w of Odom, Mashburn a n d R ober t s. But th e sp otl ight w ill ce n te r o n Triu m p h-mo un ted ro ok ie Gary S c ott. In three ti me s o ut th is year in thre e diffe re n t s ta tes that h o st ed Iw o Half-Mile s an d a I T , S COlt has y e t 10 lo se in time trials, hea t races, trophy das hes ... .o r Mai n Eve n Is! T he tee na ge ace fro m C ovin a swe p t the field open ing nig h I o n the As co t H alf-Mile , th e foll o wing S u n d ay h e did a repeat al Boise , Id ah o o n th e Tf t ra ck an d the n he aded east to T ennessee and cleaned house on everybody in a first -time Half-Mile ra ce o n a fas t hi gh -b anked ova l. F or a ride r. an y rider, an d a ro okie . be sid es. to accomp lish a fea t suc h as th is was un h eard o f until Garv S COII c am e along the first p art o f April . Ab out th e only name he hasn"t beat yet is Ba rt Marke l. Bart was at the Tennessee even t bUI p acked up a nd h e ad ed to anothe r track to h o n o r a con trac t. Now Ma rke l comes to A sc o t for the first time in many a race and ge ts a cha nce at the la tes t in th e lo n g line of ro o k ie sensa tio ns w ho le arned their racing at A sc ot. Th ere is a to ta l of o ver 30 ,0 0 0 in prize and ca n tin gen cy mo ney rid ing o n th e tw o n igh Is. Th e w in n er eac h n igh I ca n take h o rne w ell over tw o grand ...repea l , each n igh I! If you live 100 fa r away fro m S o . C ali fornia 10 a t te nd th e be st tw o n igh Is of cycle rac in g all year, then tun e in t o th e A ~ [A R ac ing R adio Ne tw ork a n d h e ar th e lap by lap ru nd ow n o n S at urd ay n ight. ~l ay 6 , sla r tin g a t 8: 15 pm., West Coast time. '> . Junior A I Baker is ge tt ing used to this. John Gennai is riding Scott Brelsfo rd's A&A motor.

• Cover