Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

HOC I G E HATTRICK ATFREMONT ~ w Z w -" U >- U -- By Bill Spencer FR B IOl'\ T , CAL.. Ma y 2 0 . 197 2 Secon d year N o vic e Ric k Hockin g. as trid e his t rus ty S onny Keny on -tu n ed , Mt, View Auto S te re o-sp onsored Bultac o, d id the ma gic thin g once ag ain at fa b u lo us Fremo nt R aceway and ex tended hi s win strea k to th ree in a ro w. He is jus t abou t u n be atab le an d came fro m b eh ind in the 15 .lap Main to pr ov e it , On th e start h e ca m e off th e lin e fro m the o utside. h is choice . and was fifth in the first tu m . He held th a t spo t fo r tw o lap s an d when traffi c sta rted to thin ou t. h e sta rted w orkin g on the fro n t ru n ners. It w as J o e Hen ry an d Mik e Ren slow o n th e ju m p with Jim Odom ke epin g the m h on est. Henry opened up a so lid ten bike len gth lead an d h eld it for five lap s unti l Hoc kin g started to pressure him. H oc kin g' s fir st p ass w as on J im Fol ey whi ch was the easiest o ne of the race . Fr om th er e he h ad to ge t b y Odom. He did tha I with sty le an d grace on th e third lap . On th e fifth go- ro u n d , h e wen t b y th e very fast twin Y am ah a o f Mik e Ren slow an d th a t jus t abou t put the icin g on th e cake as tha t Schwerm a-fr arn ed p ro d uct is a real n ash in th e stra igh ts. With only Henry in front it took tw o m ore lap s to close the lead and from there it w as a matter of ge tting se t-up fo r the p ass. J oe He nry h ad j ust co m e off a win in Phoen ix the n ight before an d he appeared to have every th ing u nder control until th e fast kid from Fremont moved in . On the 12 th lap Ho ck ing made th e m o ve and we nt u nder He n ry's Bul taco and it looked like it was all o ver . b u t he cou ld n ' t hold it through the com er and co m in g off the las t tum, He n ry was back in co n tro l. Migh tly J oe h eld off th e advances fo r the n e xt two laps bu t co m in g o ff th e front tu m o n the last lap w as the cli ncher for H oc kin g as h e got a good dri ve and held it WFO u ntil he wen t by Henry th rou gh th e tum an d came h om e th e winner. C ombin in g this with hi s third place from Ascot th e previou s eve ning and tw o win s fro m last week sho u ld h elp this te am ge t some thin g go in g. You never k no w wh a t it takes to m ak e th e b ig tim e . I n th e h eats. the ac tio n w as h ot an d heavy with the firsl o ne p ittin g tw o national numbers again st eac h other. AI Keny on a n d Jim Odom displayed their knowledge o f su pe r slid ing an d raci n g wi th O d om doin g the feet up slide o n the la st lap giving AI the w in. H ock in g wo n th e se cond heat in fro n t of Mi ke Kidd giving h im th e pole whi ch he d ecided to put o n th e outside . p erh ap s an un wise decision bu t o ne th at didn 't ma ke m u ch d ifference in th e overall o utcome . G ary T on d a ro de an O m ega -frame d Ossa to th e win in the th ird regula lion h ea t defea ting R obert E. Lee, wh o still loo ks lik e th e b est rid er at an y b od y's short trac k. Craig Mich ie rode one o f Odorrr's sp are T okyo specials to the four th heat race win with Joe H en ry taggi ng a lo ng for second. In the semi 's it was Odorn bear ing Fol ey fo r first w it h A I Ke n y on getting suckered off the lin e a n d fin ish ing fourth b eh ind Renslo w's je t while Ho c k in g won th e sec ond over Mich ie and Hen ry. In the ten lap co nso latio n. so me time mot o cro sser Russ Po well won easily over Bruce T eix eira an d Mi k e O 'Brien, with O 'Brien coming up to c h allen ge a t the finish . Co n so la tio n kid Neil Mc G re gor b a rel y b ea t o ut K&l'\ ra ce r, Mike My er s, ( Res u lts o n p age 40) AS By James Brammer SANTA ROSA. CAL .• May 13, 1972 From a p enal ty star t. Larry Drew to ok ab out fo u r laps to p ass all riders in th e Exp ert final to win the' feature race in th e Am ateur sh ort track program a t th e Chris Beck Ar ena. At th e st artin g lin e fo r th e 100lap fea ture race. bl ac k pl a te rid er. Dennis Robinson j u mp ed b efore th e nag fell an d Drew foll owed. Both rid ers were se n t t o th e penalt y line and the race started over. Greg Fergurson on his speedway sty led Triu m p h led th e Ex p ert final ( until Dr ew easily p assed on the in sid e. Robinson worked his w ay fr om the penalty line to third pl ace . T om Fleming, the 1970 tr ack cham p io n while a Novi ce, fo rged his w ay back into the winner's circl e b y winnin g a ro ugh ac tion 250Junior fin al with Steve Kn echtle falling o ff in second position com ing out o f th e last com er o f th e 10 lap fin al: Ne il I>l acPherson fill ed in for second a t th at time with Kim Seidler in third . Dennis S cott worked his wa y to secon d sp o t b y p assin g SIeve POlls in the 250 cl ass for Novi ce riders with Larry Nerison leading from start to finish. A multiple spill co nfu sed the 200 Junior final with hard ch ar gers Jerry Simpson andJim Perry h olding first and second cle ar of the pile up. Two tro p h ies for whe elies went to brothers Bill and Brian Manl y , The benefit race st arts the 197 2 season with seven more short track race s sch ed u led du ring th e yea r b y the North Bay Motorcy cle Club a t the Chris Bec k Arena. This w as the fifth an n ua l b enefit race with proceeds 10 go to th e Grace Rees e Center fo r ch ildre n wh o must have spe cial edu cation . Previously. the fun d s were u sed to equ ip th e pl ayground an d for a ud io visu al equ ipment. ( Resul ts ran last we ek) Wi nner Dr ew (6 ) moves around Fenn Pervier in Sant a Ro sa short track act ion . At Least They Gave Trophies By S ue Baile y REDWOOD ACR ES, EUREKA. CAL.. May 19 -20. 197 2 - One hundred an d fifty riders ga the red for wh at was almost a to t al loss as the fir st tw o scrambles of the season were to be presen led here at Redwo od A cr es. Riders tr aveled from as far N orth as Bro okin gs, Oregon ; from Redding, Willo w C ree k. A n de rso n . C rescent Cit v , and many o the r surrou nding areas to be rained o ut wi th o nly o ne heat race and trophy dash to thei r cred it. Frid ay n ight 's racing h ad to b e cancelled jus t as p ractic e w as starting. It was pos tponed an d reschedu led for Sun day a t 1 p.m. S a tu rd ay nigh t, everything see med to be O K afte r the Far West C lub m e mbe rs worked on th e track all d ay to 'd ry it o u t an d ge t it in sha pe. The Mains were cancelled wh en it started pourin g but th e he ats were full of h ot c om p e ti tio n . The local talent sh o wed h ow hard they were to be at. Kevin Bognuda (Kaw) won both the h eats a n d the Trophy Dash in th e 100 No vice cl ass, fir st d ivision . ~ R ay Beck (Ka w) , number o n e E xp ert, wa s unabeate n in the 250 class. J a y Stradle y (Os s) chal le nge d him hard in th e T ro p hy Dash, o n ly t o fall back into second at the finish . He w as closely pursu ed b y G ary Thompso n in th e Fla t Track event , b UI to no avail. T h o mpson finis he d secon d , wi th Jay Strad ley pulling in b eh ind him for third. Pat Rich ter (H us) beat S tan T h ras h (T ri) by h al f a bi k e le ngth in th e 350-Open A mate ur Trophy Dash. T hese two finished fir st in their h eats to o. Mike S awyer. from Willow Creek . atop a 200 Bultaco ac ed out all 250 bikes to win the 250 Novice , second division lIeat. lie was followed b y Lawren ce Williams (Yam) . " Williams wen t o n to fini sh tops in the Trophy Dash . Rick Bergquist (T ri) pl owed into a p arked va n as h e went into th e firs t in side turn of th e 35 0-0 pe n Ex p e rt Heat, His chain h ad broken, ca using him to careen to the right. A ft er medica l a tte n tio n trac k side, h e w as able to ge t up an d walk away an d raced in th e d ash, an d w on ! Afte r th e Main s we re ca nce lled. troph ies were awa rded to the fin ishers in the h eats . The rain just kept com ing do wn! (Resu lts o n p age 4 0) MARINACCI AGAIN AT GRAHAM By P. Doutt GRAIIAI>I. \\'ASII .• May 19, 19 i 2 - It was another fine n igh t of p rofessio n al rac ing at Grah am Speedway w ith th e time trials se tting th e pace fo r an ex citin g night of racin g w ith fo ur riders sett ing times in the ei gh teen second b racke t. J im J ones , Na tio n al No. 55 , to o k th e first Expert he at o f the ni gh t with Pat l\larinacci co ming in a close sec ond. Ton y Perell a was able to take the sec o n d heat with Emil Ahola brin gin g in his Yamaha fo r a second sp ot. Rand y S kive r, rid in g a Triumph an d tes ting o ut his new lightweight fra me, proved it w as eno ugh o f a cu t in w eigh t to pl ace h im first in the th ird hea t ahead of J oh n Bro mle y on h is Harley. Gordv Oakes to o k the firs t Semi with T om \\' ;'terso n p laci ng second for th e t ransfe r to th e M ain, ~I i k e Elder, Don Noble, an d Hugh Fleming all wanted that transfer spot in the second Sem i with th e lead c h an gin g four tim es before Elder look th e lea d an d b rou gh t his Triumph ac ross th e finish fir st pursued cl os ely b y Don X oble , T h e T ro p hy Dash at Grah am Speedway this year is a co mbined Dash be tw een th e four fastes t tim es of the night, thus pittin g b o th E xpert and Junior rid ers agains t eac h o ther an d giving the Juniors a cha nce to see what kind of rid ers an d competit ion they will h up against w h en th e y become Ex pe rts. Ton igh t's Trophy Dash w as even ly spli t with t wo rid er s coming fro m b oth classes. Jim Einarsso n. Junior, lo ok th e lead with Rand y Skiver, Expert, close in sec o n d . S am Martin . Junior and Pat Marin acci, Expert. Einarsson 's Harl ey proved to o powerful for Skiver's Triumph a n d he was able to walk aw ay with the trophy for a second week in a row. Marinacci, last week's winn er. did it again as h e took his Triumph in to the South tum first. It w as a tough b reak for Jim J ones as he go t o ff t o a bad st a rt an d h ad t o w ork h ard to m ak e up lost tim e. Ma rin acci kept stretching o u t lJ,js lead over second p lace R and y S k iver . T on y Per ell a m ad e a good sho wing on his 1 · o rto n as he tried to gain on Skiver. but w as un abl e to ga in m uch as Skive r was off and runn ing after Marin acc i, who h ad fir st all tie d u p . J ohn Bro ml ey developed mechanical problems and w as just able to ke ep his m ach ine go in g 10 finish th e race . l\Iarinacci took hom e the hon ors for a sec o nd week in a row with S kiver in second an d Pere lla pl acing third . Elder to ok over fou rth w it h Kilt o ff co m in g in fifth . The Juniors at Grah am th is year con tin ue to sh ow the ir riding ab ility an d skill . J im Einarsson took th e lea d in th e J un ior Main with S am Martin h ot o n h is he el s. Bob C ooper go t o ff to a b ad sta r t , b ut w ith patience and skill was wo rki ng h is w ay through th e p ack , putt ing the pressure on J erry Whitlow fo r fif th wh cn Whitlow hi gh sided go in g into the dogleg. Cooper showed hi s skill as he Was forced to go around \\'hitlow. ba rely missing him and forced into the fen ce. Neither rider was hurt. Meanwhile. Ein arsson and Martin were stretching out their le ad over third pl ace Fred Siegel. Einarsson wen t on to cross the finish line fir st . Martin in second and Si egel in third. Ail-in-all, the Juniors look very promising this ye ar . The firs t Novice Sem i lo oked doomed as it gOI o ff to a b ad sta rt and starter Bob Mall ey stopped il to restart. Th e restart was go od only to have two riders go d own in the firs I tum. wit h Ve rn Dearin ger take n to the h osp ital. V ern w asn ' t serious ly inju re d a nd should be back in th e nex t we ek o r so . Buck Mu rph y was ab le 10 take th e secon d sem i w it h J oh n Emerson pl acing second to transfer to th e Main. Brad Tibbitts wo n the Main for the second week in a ro w for him \... ith S teve M o wa t second an d Mar k Bak er third. (Resu lts on page 40)

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