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/141023
. ., co Q. '" N .... C'l cO Vl ;;: w Z W ..J U >U Ric k Woods gets a smile, hug and a trophy for sliding fastest . Country & Western Music May Be The Hot Setup But Speedway's Catching On, Too By Sportphoto BAKERSFIELD, CALIF ., May 3, 1972 _ The track su rface at Kern Co unty Fairgrounds was soft last week and had a m arked tendency to dig up lar ge b omb craters in both comers. This week, although not perfect, the sur face was defini tel y vastly im pro ved, whi ch improved th e qualit y o f th e racin g. Both we ek s have seen Fo rm e r Se cond Div ision riders bring off wire to wire win s in the Han dicap Mains, both times fo llo wed b y som e sta r-studded co mp any . Dan Becker was with ou t any d oubt the star of the even ing . After sweeping the seco nd division in a mo st co nvincing fash io n last week , he w as adva nce d to firs t division for tonight's p rogram. Da n showed Rick Wood s and Mike Ko nle th e quic k way aro u nd in his Handicap heat and w as promp tly mo ved b ack to the ten yard line for til e sem i. In th e semi , Dan was righ t up fr o n t, showing Rick Woods. Mike Konle , S on ny Nutter. Bill Cody an d Kurt Le wis the wa y it 's done . Dan seemed to have the race pretty much in his p ocket whe n d isast er stru ck . En tering th e last turn on lap tw o , Dan go t in a bit over his h ead an d wen t d own . to co me in an unh app y last. Dan's nex t opportunity came in th e Handicap Consolation. He took full advan tage as the lead was never in doub t from the time th e gate went up to the time the checkered flag fe ll. After showing the likes of Ed Williams. Bill Cody, Jim Gresham, Ku rt Lewis and Mike Cu roso the way home. it wouldn 't be at all surprising to find Dan o n the twenty next week. Rick Woods ch arged righ t o u t into the lead of th e Scr atch Main and w as ne ver he aded. alt hough Son ny Nu tte r w as very close be h ind an d w as in tu rn be ing pressu red by Bill Co dy and Larry Sh aw. Exi tin g the last tu rn , Cody managed to put more power to th e tr ac k and drove under Sonny to slip into second. Billy Gray used his zero han dicap to fu ll ad van tage in th e Handicap Main and breezed home' with a wire to wire vic tory . Ric k Woods and Mike Kon le st aged an epic d uel fo r secon d sp o t that had the large cro wd on their fee t an d scream ing fo r mo re. Big Mik e edg ed o u t Rick fo r second and Rick was pu rsued by Ligh tn ing La rry Shaw, Sonny Nutter and Steve Bast. T he Fe a ture Match Race was "Mr. Sp eedway ", Rick Wo ods, all th e w ay, fighting b ack the bids o f Wild Bill C od y until the last lap , wh en Bill o verdid it a b it and took a dirt samp le. Larry Shaw a nd Bill Cody try for the same line a t Bak ersfietd. JAPs Zap Pack By Sportphoto accustomed . BAKE RS FIELD, CA LIF . , April 26, Another JA P-powered winner w as 19 72 - Who said th e good old tr ied an d Dan Becker in the Sec ond Division t rue J A P engine is dead ? Two of these Main , lead ing all th e way . Dan pu t on a vener abl e m ills wer e in th e finals o f th e disp lay o f ri ding th at n one of th e fa ns season opener here a t the Kern County will soon fo rge t, wit h a series of slides ova l and b oth we re Fairgrou nds th at h as all w atchers wo ndering wh a t winners ! Mike Curoso too k fu ll this guy is doing in th e sec on d d ivisio n. ad van tage of h is zero h an d icap to lead Scott Sivadge , Guy 'Wa terso n and J eff th e H an d icap Final from wire to wire, Sex ton fo ugh t for the second spot, fending off the bids o f Mike Ko nle , Bill wh ile Er ic Olesen and Jim Doron were Cody and Larry Shaw . wh o were all in bo th taking dirt samples, second spot at one tim e o r another. S on ny Nutter and Larry Sh aw staged United S tates Champ Mike Bast a fan ta st ic d uel in the Scra tc h ma naged to h old o ff his brother Consolation, cl osely pursued by S tu Cal ifornia Cham p Steve, but co u ld n ' t Morley and' Greg Ilasero t. Sonny quite muste r enough ste am to come to appeared to h ave the win in his p ocket grips wi th the front run ners. Ea rlie r in en tering the last tu rn , only to drop in to the even ing Mike had a conversation on e of th e bomb cra te rs and h ave hi s with the officials an d e xp ressed th e d rive chai n go astray , allo win g Sh aw in op ini on ·that th e U.S . Champion should for the win. While o n the subject of the be on the longest handicap line , the fifty, rather than the forty.The o ffi cials - track, track maintenance man Butch Mansfield assured all that by next week agreed , so Mike was com in g from ten the track would be in perfect condition. yards farther aw ay than he has been