Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Modern Anny J sFla c e oin t·Trakrs By Benny Braun Ph oto s by .l obn Stillman FT . HOOD, TEX. , :\I ay 17 , 197 2 - I've see n we ll-equipped race tracks b efore, Old Gray Fox in 500 GP CO L LEG E STATIO K, TEX ., Ap ril 2 2, 19 72 - T he Texas A & 1\1 Mo to rcy cle Cl u b, in conju nc tio n wi th Civilian Student Wee k end a t Tex as A & M U ni vc rsi tv , hel d a road race o ver a 1.5 mile course thro u gh th e camp us stre e ts th at w as sanc tio n ed b y th e America n Mo torcv cle Asso ci ati on. The '2 5 0 an d 5 00 st oc k p rod uc tion bi k es w er e co m b ine d in a fifteen lap race. Lar ry Mcl-h ail o f Ri ch ard son, Texas too k first in th e 2 50 class. Fir st p lace in th e 5 0 0 clas s went to G en e H o rn or of Sh revep o rt , L ouisian a, o n -a Mach III K awasaki. Mich ael Bufk in o f Pro MX to Kansas tly Ly le Fergu s tlALDlI'lN M OTO ·X PARK , LAWR EK C E, KA:" ., May 14, 19 7 2 T he Whee1sp orts MC final ly b rou gh t p ro fes sion a l m o to cro ss raci n g to the L aw re nc e area. T he program of pro fe ssional an d sp o rt sm an rna to cross att ra cted ove r 2500 spec ta tors . Only 15 pro fessi on al riders came to b a ttle for th e $ 2 ,0 0 0 p urse, bad weather se eme d to keep so me of th e riders away. Th e professi o n al mo tos were 30 m in u tes and th e ride", got a b o u t 16 laps. Th e sp ortsman heats were 15 minutes and abou t e ight lap s. In th e first pro m o to it Was Doug Sanger all th e w ay fro m start to finish . In th e second rna to it was Gary Witt bl ast in g into th e lead and keepi ng it u ntil c rash in g o n th e 12 th I'll' an d th en Do u g to o k o ver for th e wi n aga in . Th e third rno to belonged to Gary Wilt from s ta r t t o finish. Se cond pl ace b ou n ced aro und b etween M ik e Kr eb s an d R ob Kn o e t tge n w ith Ro b getting th e las t b oun ce . In the Sportsm an d ivision th e m o st exciting moto was the 250cc. Jimm y Barrett is always the fi rst into the first corner, and also led the fi rs t five laps of the first moto , unti l R .D . VanBenschoten took over f or the last three . R .D . VanBenscho ten came out first overall hy h an gin g aro un d up front, Elliot Wic k er second an d Kei th Cobb th ird overall. Tom Doherty d o mi n a ted th e 125 Sp ortsman by winning all three mo tos and ver y seldom ou t of the lead . Se cond overall Kirk H o we ll h ad tw o secon d s and o nc six th , h e was th e o n ly o th e r rider to ge t in t o le ad in th e 125 Sportsm an. Open Sp ortsman top rider of the d ay turned o u t to be Jerry C obb b y winning . the first tw o m o tos and placing se co nd in th e th ird o ne, afte r falling o n hi s n o se com ing int o th e gigan tic -jump sweep er. T im Wolfe ta k in g ov e r a fter J erry's fall also to o k secon d overall. If you h ave n o t b een d o wn to Baldwin Moto -Cr oss Park la tely, come on d o wn the four th S u nday of every mon th (escep t Dec .) to th e m o st b ea u ti ful track ' the m idwest an d th e mo st e xciting mo t oc ross ac ti o n. (R esults o n p age 4 0 ) Austin p laced second o n a Su zu ki 500 and third wen t to Eric S tou gh on h is repaired H onda 4 50. Broth e rs Dave and lI'i llia m T agg art of lI' ichita , Kan sas took the first two pl aces in th e 200 Gran d Pri x cl ass. Da ve, on a 1;5 H onda, p laced first , an d Willi am, on a 10 0 Hon da, too k se cond . Bill Man ess of Houston to o k th ird on a I 0 0 Kaw asa k i. T he 5 0 0 Grand Pri x class Was h otl y contested, but the G .P . b ik es d id n' t fa re to o well on th e tight cou rse . The O ld Gray Fo x o f College Stati on captu re d first on his sh o w r oom stoc k Yam 35 0. Eri c Stough pl aced sec o n d and Mik e Bufk in . took third. Dave T aggart placed fourth on th e only modified b ik e to fini sh . irt Phil ats D By Mike Murph y PHOENIX , A RI Z., May 7 , 1972 - A t last we go t th e track man ager to try eatin g h is o wn dirt by " vo lu n tee ring" him to e n ter in the buddy ra ce . J u d gin g by his p erforman ce it ' s hi s la st race . Good try, I'hil! Randy Carney (Y am) didn 't d o hi s Terrain Insp ection (" endo" is o ut) o n th e b ac k st raigh t an d proceeded to d omin ate th e e n tire 2;' 0 Novice class. Carney le d 13 of the 15 lap s. The other two laps w ere the sta r t of th e second m ota wh e n Carney's position off the lin e w as so m e w h a t less than d e sir able . A t th e e nd o f the th ird lap Carney h ad p as sed front runn ers Do n Stephenso n (Su z) and Neal C h am berla in (S uz) . I'is on ly se rio us th reat o f th e d ay see med to com e fro m Don Bulitta (C Z) wh o led off the line and m o st of the first of th e m otos b e fore fall in g b ack d u e to a n overused b od. Bob Peloso (H -D ), the wheelie ch am p in th e 100 Novice class, rode his Baja to overall victory with a p erfect score of three ace s. J im S tri c klan d (Yam), who loo k second , was seen mu tteri ng "wait 'til next time ...wait 'til n ext time ." First time in the Novice cl ass was H o nda h er d er V in ce Renner. Ren ne r walked aw ay wi th a hard earned third. This is h is th ird race ; th e fir st two were in th e 100 Beginners class whe re Renner led th e field. "Man, y ou reall y h ave t o work in this clas s," h e said. Th e first m ota of the O p en Novi ce class left n o questi on s asked . Bill Mey e r (AJ S) was b ac k into racin g in no small w ay. But vic to ry w as not to be . The A-jay los t spar k b efore the secon d m o to an d Me yer DN F 'ed m o to th ree . Dave . D ie tzel fini sh ed wi th a 3 -3· 1 an d first overal l. Wh en T om Rapp was here las t m o n th Bob II'h arton w as th e only rider to ge t any where n ear h im. \\Th arton m u st h ave learned some th ing from th e su p er -swift Mr. R ap p as he no t only to o k e 2 50 ~ ro t o p hono rs , b u t he roceeded to set a n ew track r ec o rd . bu t this weekend marked a first: when was the last time y o u saw a track th at h ad an A rm y h eli copter a t it s di sp osal ? And an AMA member thal n ew it ? T he Fort Ho od Dirt Rid er s Club h eld th ei r secon d ra ce o n their n ew h alf-mile, te n d egr ee-b anked course last Sunday, th e 14th. Beca use of ra in th e n igh t prio r to the even t . th e track was a swam p o n ra ce day mo rning, bu t club membe r J oe Buc n ncke com ma ndeere d du b m ember Jim Deato n (w ho flies helicopter gunships Mo nday through Frid a y ) an d t old him th e si tuation. Pil o ts are reso u rceful p eople : Jim .}Yen t ove r to th e airfiel d and fir ed up his b ird, ne w it to th e t rack an d p ilo ted it aro u n d the cou rse a t an alt it u de of three to five feet h al f a d ozen times. Result : th e o n ly ope ra tio n al m ot orcy cle race tr ac k in th e st ate o f T ex as on Sunday , May 14th. All th e o ther circ u its were drownin g. ' T h e fin a ls go t cran ke d up a n d a terri fic battle raged for the lead in th e under 10 0 cl ass . Young Bill Williamson an d Ri c Avery swapped the pole numerous tim es, until Bill went o ff into the h ay b ale s. A reassuring w ave to the cro wd set th em at ease, an d Ave ry sp ed o n to win, Th e fiercel y con tested 101 -1 2 5 class w as n ext o ff th e line, an d af te r eight laps Teddy Poovey's Bul taco crossed the finish lin e t o victory . I Winner in th e 126 -200 ca tegory wen t to Bu ltaco rid er D oug G addis, b eating ou t th e Bull s o f Randy Well s an d Bob Madden. T h e bi ggie w as n ext, th e 201 -250, an d anno u nce r J ac k Rh odes in troduced all th e ri de rs to th e crowd . All the ride rs were eager for the s tart. a nd it too k a fe w min utes fo r st arter Joe Bue n neke to let th e competitors know they w o u ldn ' t get away w it h jump ing the n ag. When th e nag d id ·fa ll, fif teen riders dumped the clutch , leaving a pall of b lue smoke h an gin g over Bu enneke. H e coughed a lot. • T h e crow d felt ce rta in to w i tn ess a pile-up a t tu rn I, but th e riders all m ad e it through elbows agai nst elbows. T erry Poov ey (h ro the r of th e 12 5 winner ) and Jim Rawls diced b ack an d forth for the lead , bu t even tu all y Po ov ey w on. l t 's easy to unders tand why Russ Mar ch , Mike V an cil an d th e AMA selected Fo rt H o o d as th e si te o f th e 1973 Interna tion al S ix Day s T ria l, wh at w ith t he e n th usias m and o rga n ization of th e F L. Hood Dir-t Rid ers Clu b . ,c:::====",. co '" '" ..... '" Cl c.. A ll rna kes - A ll Sizes Comp lete Custom izing - WE DO IT ALL cD . 926 E. 4th St ., Sa nta Ana (7 14) 836-079 3 '" ::> .., c Yamaha & Triumph of Fontana . .. Most Powerful .. .. MAleC .. .. COOP ER MOTORS West of Mi ssi s si pp i . 110 E. San ta Anita Ave. Burba nk, Ca . 91S02 IX! I'D en ::I: ". ::::l Co ::::l CIQ ~~;~~~~;·_i~;.~;~ IBas~9d!:.~J ~~~:~I 1 1 1 7 F o u n t a i n Way. A naheim, Cal. 92 806 ..........•...•................. .••... SM~LER A complete travel trailer designed to carry 5 bikes. JOURNEYMAN TRAILERS 12400 Benedict Ave., Downey, CA90 24 2 Ed Shaver's WEST CYCLES Newha ll qvarna SA LES * SERV ICE * PA RTS * SET-UP AVA I LAB LE (805) 255 -1335 eavy Hanna By-j ane t West CHA PPE LL HILL , T E X., May 2 1, 19 ; 2 - Racing was ve ry h eav y today , as Fre d Hanna (Pen) an d Keith Duffy (CZ) played game s in th e 125 Expe rt s. In th e first h ea t, Fred m ad e a b obble d own the s ta rt i ng s tra ig ht , h it some whoop -de-doe s, and al l bu t came co m p letely o ff h is Pen ton. Ma kin g a quic k rec o ve ry , h owever, Han na w as bac k on , lo sing only o ne p lace. Hanna carn e around in fir st o n la p three and :iel.:J i t easily fo r th e remai nder of th e h ea t. Com e h eat two, again it was D u ffy off the lin e , and Han na beating a h ot tra il right b ehind. It w as almos t a repeal perfo rma n ce , by the third lap Hann a was out front and hau ling, Duffy w as running se cond. A ll seemed w ell e nou gh , until a t th e presen ta ti ons it was announced th at Fred h ad lost h is muffle r d uring th e second h eat and w as therefore disqualified com pletely, lo sin g all. T ha t's all fine, excep t for one thing. Why should H an na be p en alized for lo sin g a m u ffl e r, when there we re se veral rid ers out w ho began th e rac e witho u t a m uffler? It all see ms q uite un fair. Noo ne wo u ld have been u pse t abou t the di squalifi cation if it h ad b een fai r. S omeone better get it together o r ge t M R & B CYCLE REPAIR • In CYC L E CARE PROD UCTS Open 7 d ay s Mon(Thurs. 9·9 F r i. till 6 , S a t . 7- 5, Sun 7 ~2 14813 O x na rd St. 9 140 1 FRELAN , INC. · (2 13 ) 997-7301 FO R HODAKA.B ILITY see your lo ca l HODA KA d eal e r D ist ri b u te d by T ige r Dis tributing 653 W. Broadway, Glendale, Ca . 91 204 o u t. Although teammate Hanna go t the shaft in the 125 Experts , Stev e Ha ckney fairly cl ean ed house for th e H & II te am in the 2 50 E xperts. Even Robi H olbert cou ld n ' t ride with H ackney. T ha t new Maico j ust n ew a ro u n d the t ough Chappell Hill cou rse , eating everyo ne 's groce ries. H olbert (CZ) w as hi s us ual se lf, ridi ng like a bat o u t of lIad es, b u t he coul d n't ca tc h Hack n ey . Open Expert w as w o n by Bo b Graham. So me excite ment w as m issin g, since du rin g prac ti ce Bob ' s number one con te n d e r , Bri an Fox, we n t d own , b re akin g an arm and ac q ui ring vario us cu ts a n d scra tches. a'I ~I ·III.1 D ISPLAY AD VERTISING DEADLINE

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