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/141037
0 "> '" 0- CRUNCHES fOR LIGHTWEIGHTS N r-, Cl .... N c " ...., " By Ed Dre chsler ADELAKTO, CAL.• June 18 , 197 2 Don England, o wner/ op era to r of 39 5 Cycle Par k in Adelanto stayed up the entire evening in a "last ditch effort to give us a sound track to race on . He h ad spread several hundred yards of clay over the m ile and a quarter IT course in an effort to bring us the best in the West. Unfortunately, the ea rth was no co op era t in g and the track began to b reak up very early in the day. However , it was still raceab le and the lap times were very impressive . Willie Hockie showed up from h is rece nt trip to Sp ain, mounted on an Open Triumph . He chose to do b attle with Tom White and th e standard co ntingen t of b ig bore shoes. Tom wh op p ed h im , bu t Willie got the rest o f 'em. Rick Ma rq u is blew a non-rep lac eable ty p e part on his Triumph and was fo rced t o compete on his 350 Ho nda. lIe didn't finish last. Scoll Smith rode an o u ts tanding set of motos to domin at e th e 5 00 Expert class. Kirk Redding was in there to give him so me t rouble as was Chuck Fruchey. It w as Scott Smith's second w in of the d ay , as he also domina ted the 125 class . T im 1>l cC ool tried hi s darndest t o win, but th e tr ack just was no t on h is sid e. While lead in g o r in secon d pl ace. he managed to u nl oad . T im did m an age to w in the 250 Amateur cl ass with ease . Brian Kin g and David Reese fought it out fo r sec ond with, 1 th ink, Brian tak ing that positi o n. Rod Sexton won the Mai co-dominated 500 Amateur class . He took two o u t of three, com in g fro m be hind to ge t them. Danny Hockie and Charles Soderstrom, both riding for Hockie's o f Torrance, swept their classes with ease . Danny, with m ore than enough transfer points at Ascot is now looking for a b ig bore ride. He will be a Junior next yea r and will need th e extra cubes. Mike Myers and Bob Sanders fought it o ut for second and back a little ways further in the pack , Steve Scott and John Sprague were trying to throw dir t on ea ch other. Bob Hill was out today, b ut it looks like he w ill require an other operat ion on his leg. Seems like th e bone has healed, b ut the ligamen ts h ave n ot attached themselve s properl y . Bob Hosford was als o out, but it lo oks lik e h e will h ave to w ait a few mo re wee ks fo r his wrist to mend. Il odak a-mountcd Mike Laneu had a rough day. He bl ew a h ead earl y Sund ay morning. His dad dro ve a hundred mil es to get the head off hi s Supe r R at. He sei zed the pist on in practice. to re the top en d do wn , free d it an d st ill m an aged t o fin ish th e race . Whil e h is fin ish w as not im pressive, it was a fin ish . '" :: w z W ...J U ~ U : Tim McCool couldn' t catch Scott Sm ith out of th e turn and churns up dirt in th e background . Adding insult to injury , a rid er hit s M cCool's down ed bik e, th en pop s a wh eelie t o celebrate ...on his fron t wheel. By Elai ne J on es PERRIS , CAL., June 17,1972 - Riders co mi n g to Perris Saturday nigh t were greeted by a grim site and a shocked Burton fami ly . A fire h ad gu tted the Recreational Center's Clubhouse, to t ally destroying everything . T hink about tha t. Everything. To Perris regulars, it was a lot. The perpetual trophies were grotesque scu lp tures; pictures of riders n ow go ne on to fa me, tu rne d to ashes including an irreplace abl e memo rial to Loyal Pen n including an o il pain ting an d letter fro m . • • Her bro ther races and she , well , she just does h er thing . h is gran dfathe r. The fire is believed to h ave st arted in the electrical main box and was fast and hot. Gerry Bu rt o n was alone at th e track and by the time the Forest Service arrived , it was too late. Thinking of the race rs and spectato rs on their way, Gerry Called the Edison Company to see if there was so me way ligh IS could be rigge d so th e races co ul d go o n as us ual b ut it w as an impossib le task. T he rid ers gat hered . Some st ayed, oth ers h ead ed fo r Elsinore . Fo r those wh o stayed, there w as a feelin g of loss , and yo u wan ted to co m fo rt th e peo le to whom th e loss w as so gre at. We made jokes lik e "1£ we h ad kn own we w ould h ave b ro ught th e m arshmallows," Or " wh ere's th e h otdo gs?" An ythin g t o take th e pain off Grace an d Gerry 's faces and maybe ease it fo r ourselves. Perris has always b een th ere . It is o ne of th e ori ginal t racks in Califo mia going b ack to 1957 whe n bi ke racin g was a fai rly small sp ort. T he Big Bike Track where Jim Hunter, john Rice, C.H . Wheat and others made th e fo u r-stro kes go fast. It seems ironic that this was th e Satu rday Cy cle News had chosen t o do a featu re story on Perris af ter so lo ng . This is by no me ans an obi tuary for th is fine track. When w e left Ge rry w as already trying to figu re ways to get the ligh IS turned o n an d th e b ike s ru nning again as soon as p ossib le. Perri s m ay be down b u t it is definitely n o t out!