Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ Oldtimers' Night Features Foley and Co. . " '" "N .... Cl .... N e " = ~ ?l w Z Steve Spence (40) won the 650 Expert heat. but his dad (150) took the Main. Demo Derby Shorl Track BAKERSFIELD, CAL., June 10, 1972 - District's 35's top riders were present for the Mike Macomber Benefit Short Track race at Sprockets Park. First event of the night was the 250 Expert Feature Main, The heat ra ce o f th is event looked like a d emolitio n derby . Going into tum three, things got a little close and three didn' t make it out of the tum . When Midge Griffith's wheel was finally recovered, a successful restart was run. The Main Was les s spectacular but every bit as fast as Art Carter put h is Bul into the lead and never gave it up. Yamaha swep t the field in the 125 Novice class and the victor was Tom Boles of Bakersfield, taking wins in both the heat and the Main . Shell Borden, wh o held the lead for the first few laps settled for a close second. . Mark Welte r was the winner of th e 125 Junior class with Richard Fritz and Elaine Smith challenging each o the r for second place. It w as Richard getting the flag first with Elaine n ot te n feet behind. Eri c Gifford . winner of the 1971 Bantamweight Championship fo r District 35, showed the w ay aro und the track in the Exp e rt class aboar d h is 125 Yamaha. winning both heat and Main Events. Coming o u t o f temporary retirement, Gu y Smith rode his brother's Yamaha to a second pl ace finish . Things looked pretty hopeless for Mike Arrarnbide in his he at race. Mike got off the line beau tifully then trouble on the track forced a re start. On the re start he crashed on the line. lie was placed o n the back row for the Main but jumped into an immediate lead and led the class sta rt to finish . The Sprockets l\I.C. was commended by all the riders on the great track and well-run races. All the proceeds will go to Mike Macomber, probably as paymen t on an electric wheelchair. Mike suffered a broken neck when he crashed into a post at Po rterville in January, 19 7 1. Doctors doubted that he wou ld even mak e it th rough th e n igh t b u t he 's getting aro un d like a cham p and says he 'll be bac k ridi n g h is 360 Mo n tesa in n o time a t all . We all h ope so. shot, his specialty, and led the enti re distance. Point leader Butch Dav idson had trouble with the starter and had to co m e off the back row and could only manage: a six th , Duane Spen ce dropped a cylinder in his Triumph at th e start of the 650 Expert run , but it d idn't see m t o affect hi s p erformance, and he was a handy victor. The y oungsters of today don't have much time to reminisce about the old stuff as the fast moving pace of racing keeps them o ccup ied. One of these fast guys is Steve Ek lund and h is migh ty Ossa battled for the win in the 250 J r. .Main , Daryl Musto once agai n swept the 175-200 Junior Ma in with fanciful style o n his Sonny Ken yon Bu ltaco . Raw Courage, Ability and Speed By Sue Bailey EURE KA, CAL., June 9, 1972 - Pat Richter (Suz) was top rider in the 250 Amateur class. lie won the scrambles heat and Main, finished second to John S mith (a ss) in the fla t track heat, and rode across the finish line fi rst in the flat track Main. He was first off the line in . the Trophy Dash, but was soon taken over by Lonnie Foster (ass) and Glenn Comer (Bul) , one on each side on the back st raigh t. He moved back up in to second in the first lap, but couldn't catch Foster before the checkered. Tim lIerman (Pen) had clutch problems at the start of the 125 Novice Main, and pulled off the line in last posiuon, He picked up about 10 positions by the third lap, when he took over third place . Riding with every inch of his ability, he picked up second place on the first inside tum of lap 1'\0.4 and pressured. David Swigert ( Bul) for the lead posi ti on. On the second tum after the white flag, he pulled around Swigert and took the checkered. Ro ber t Parrish (Yam) edged Swigert out of second place right at the flag . Consistent winner Ray Beck ( Kaw) was beaten tonight in the 250 Expert Main. Dennis Palmer (Bul) was third man into the first sweeper behind Stormy Winter (Kaw) and Jay Stradley (a ss) . lie pushed ahead of Winter in lap 4 and went after Stradley . In the meantime, Beck had worked his way up from last man off the line to the No. 3 spot in lap 5 . Coming out of the infield on to the sweeper Pa lmer took the lead and fough t off all atte mpts by Beck to take over. Beck had won the 250 Expert Trophy Dash, and we n t on to win the flat track Main Event. An amazing example of raw courage was shown by Jon Williams (Yam) in the 125 Novice Main. lie had fallen hard in the heat race, got up, was apparently okay an d continued to race . He won fourth place and was taken to the hospital afte r the ra ces . It was reported to the District 3 6 referee th at h is right leg was broken in five places. Amateur Dennis Axelson (!lui) was first in to the tum in the 200 Am ateu r-Expert Main. followed by Jack Wilson (Bul). Wilson soon fell back and Ronald Matson (Yam) took over second place. Axelson was only half a bike - U

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