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/141027
o M ~ ,... 0.. N '" Fishback Takes to the Desert Like A ... 6 M > '" s ~ w Z W ..J U >- U Overall w inner Jim Fishback shows the style that helped his 250 CZ go faster than any o the r 250 By Alice R hea CALI FORNIA CITY , CAL., ~ I ay 21 , 19 72 - T he weather was so b ad Satu rday th at I'll b e t a lot of you st ay ed home; and some of those o f us wh o hadn't w ishe d we h ad ! Wind, clouds and cold com bi n ed to m ake for a th oroughly mi se rab le d ay , b ut S unday d awned cle ar and still a n d b y starti ng time h ad wa rme d u p eno ugh to be p e rfec t ri di ng we athe r. ' A nd perfec t w as wh a t th e riders called the co u rse . Dese r t Fo xes ~IC rca lly w orked h ar d purrin g this one toge th er and it sho wed in th e cou rse . There we re p ieces of seve ra l o ther club s' ez , or anyth ing else . T h e course was ju st tigh t enough to ma ke it a re al cha llenge fo r th e racers. Co mi n g into the p its, Ken Buck span (125 Bu l) had taken over the lead with Fishback, Wrigh t and ' T om Brooks (D K\\' ) h o t on his h eel s. By th e time th e y re ach ed th e fini sh line, J im Fishbac k had m a n aged t o ta k e th e lead with Buc kspan h olding o n t o th e secon d spot fo r a w in in h is class. Grand O ld Ge orge Wal ker (Ka w) su rp rise d a nd pleased h is fans b y sn eaking up from dee p in th e p ac k t o ca p lure th ird overall and fir sl Heavyweigh t E xpe rt. S Iev e H oll id ay (Y am ) an d Tom Muto (lI us) chased G eorge in. I suppose nobody is su rp rised to h ear Ru dy Abele (Baja ) was first T rai l Amateur again, foll owed by Dean Mod eset t (D K\I') . Trail No vices ran only ~ne loop of th e 80 m ile Hare Scrambles. Bob L e e (lIod) w as first . Lorrie Strubbe (Y am) was first girl T rai l Novice a t 34th , an d it was inte resting that Patricia \Vasden (lIon) w as ri gh t b ehind h er in 35 th sp ot. It see ms lik e so rt of a sham e that these guy s and girls , wh o ridc ju st as h ard as everyone else, get so li ttle re cognition . "" ilh so mu ch going o n and so many b ig b ikes st irri ng up the dust , it is reall y h ard to kee ptrac k o f th em. " . -, Old camp aigner George Walk er get s it on fo r the admirin g fans, in an unusual display. Wow. a wheelie. co u rses th ro wn in, includ in g the lillie h ill th at made for su ch a nasty ge t-off pl ace last week, bul it w as all well marked with go bs of lime , miles o f rib bon and even flagmen , T h e terrifi c job o f d an ger m arking p aid off as Re scu e 3 said th e y h ad o nly eig h t rep o rted injuries. and no ne of them serious , compared to last wee k end' s 34 . Tom ~Iuto ( lI us) led the Ex /.\m . d ash to the b o mb. bu t shortl y th ere a ft e r gave u p th e le ad to Bill Frian t (Puc) an d Jim Fish back (C Z) an d d ropp ed into th ird place right ahead o f J eff Wright (Puc) . Cordis Bro oks ran a good race, urging his lI o d a ka in to sixth p lace for the Trailb ike w in . \I'es Anders on , Jr.. (CZ) ca m e in n e x t , fo llo wed b y Terry Cl ark ( Baja) . Terry has b een a way fr om the de sert for quite a while , and it w as good to sec him b ack . Ho w ard U tsey . m ou nted o n a new Hu sky, h eld do~'n n in th p lace . follo wed by Steve Ellsw orth ( BId) . Amateurs ap p ea red th u slv : Dale Conn ors (1 i 5 Y am ), Dave Pe te rso n (Bu l) , Mike Ca u d illo ( Bu l). Fl oyd Burk , Jr. (Kaw) , Dick Harris (lI us) an d Do n Fin ley (S uz). Hi , M om l Dale Rh ea (Ya m) (Yea , h e' s a cl ose rel ative ) led the Nov ice ch ar ge to th e b omb an d fo r a wh ile th er eaf ter, but sa id Robert ~ I orrison on a 12 5 Pe nto n went b y him like h e w as stan d ing st ill. Dale fo u led a plug a sh ort time later an d ha d to settle for e ighth Xovice , while Robert kept co okin g right across the finish lin e. Reall y a terrific 'rid e, !lob ! G eni o Bettie (lI u s) w as second X ovi ce and firs t Heavywe ight Nov. fo llo wed b y R u d y " Bla ise" Dahlqu ist ( lI us) . Big J ohn Mo se ley (11 us) ,o f th e Balls OU I Rac in g T eam h eld d own fo u rt h place . foll owed by last we ek 's mys te r;... man . :" 0 . 15 12, Larry lIeam . Everybody remem bers La rrv , lIe rides an unusu al 35 0 Bultaco am i ea ts End ura V itam in s, Roger Ande rso n (lIus) d id n't look like he b eli eved m e wh en I sa id h e was six th No vice. R u ben Ga rcia ( Bul) was also right in th ere, as fi rs t 250 Novice fo llo w ed by ~I y Favorite Novice then : Gene R oddiger (Y am) and G len Saunder s (B ul ). A w ay s farth er d own the lin e we re R ich ard Linkham (Pe n ) o f the Bench R ace rs ~IC an d Bill V an et te s (Ya m) b oth in th e Division II Lig h tweigh t Novice class. This is o ne of the best race s we have been to th is year. There was a lillie p ro bl em on the starting line as the Foxes tried to cram a mile o f Experts in to a qu arter-mil e of starting area . One rider said later th at the reason , as h e almost d iscovere d t he h a rd w ay , wa s th at th e re w as a n ugly mine shaft out th ere an d Foxes were trying to keep the b oy s o ut of it . J im F ishback said h e real ly dug the course, and his enthusiasm was repea ted by every one I talked to. Eve n the guys who didn 't fini sh said th ey lik ed the course as fas as th ey got. From a writ er's standpoint. th is is o ne of th e fin est cl u bs in the des ert . They d id th eir lev e l best to p re ven t pit-rac ing and were very , very cooperative. Thanks to R ich ard an d Mar cia J ohnson and Jane G orball fo r all the h elp wi th th e results. And th anks t o Gig Cook of Sl ed Ri d er s fo r r oundin g up the Trail N ovice results for me. One m ore n o te ; T he Deser t Fo xes' fin ishe r pin s we re re all y o u tta' sight. (R esu lts on page 38)