Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N ~ a. '" ~ C') co~ ~ ..., ~ w Z ~ ~ U Escape Country MX by Mike Ca palite ESCAPE COUi\'TRY , Dec. i o, 19i2 Despite heavy rain s th e entire w e ek previous to th e race and ev en wi th the added riders du e to c anc ella tion o f the race s at sad d leb ac k park , In the in terest o f safe ty due to a trick y st arting area due to th e rain s, the number o f ride rs w ere kept to a minimum wh ich me ant di vidin g ' th e 2 5 0 N ovice in to tw o divi sions fo r th e firs t two rno t os wi th any riders making po ints go ing in to a third m ot o . T h e Open First Day cl ass was won by Craig M y er s on hi s Mai co whi le j ack Blackwell d id it to the Beginn ers on his Husky. T he Open N ov ice w as rather d omi n ated b y CZ as th ey co p p ed th e fir st six plac es with Gu y Flood leading th e pack . I t w as R ay Badham (Ma i) gelling th e gold in the A ma te ur division while Gary Cochell (Aj S ) to o k h ome th e c as h as top Expe r t . With th e chang ing of the 25 0 class to th e 26 0 class ot keep the slig ht overbore che rry p ic ke rs out of the Open d ivision. it ma k es m an v of th e rid ers w o rk th at mu ch h ard er for th eir go ld an d so me o f the m eve n find th at a 254 is co mpetitive in th e 26 0 cl as s. It wa~ Ti m ~ IcGrath (Y am ) t aking t he wi n in th e 26 0 First Day di visi o n with Brad Busbey zap p ing th e Be ginn er s w ith hi s C Z. In the 260 Novice class wh ich is th e one th at h ad to be split, it was Eric Watral who came _ o ut o n top after the th ird m ot o on hi s Yam ah a. It was Richard Mu llin (Mai) w ho took th e A mateur cl ass which Mike G ill m an (Aj S ) w as top m on ey winner for the Experts. ' In the tw o divisi on s o f th e 18 5 class, it was Dan Bu ck le y (S uz) in First Da y and Skip Ch andler ( Yam) in th e Begin ners. For th e second w ee k in a ro w , Kath y Bro ck m an brough t her Su zuki int o the winne rs circle in the Pow d e r Pu ff class w h ile Cyc le Ne ws ' own Squee ky lI ayn es fin ish ed secon d, A s usual, th e 12 5 '5 w e re ou t in force w ith th e wins go ing to Corn ey Briggs (Ric kma n) in the First Da y, Don Bazemore (Yam) in the Beli'inner , Mik e Morgan (Bul) in the N ovice , N ea l Wy k off (Y am ) in the A mateur and Mark Yer (Pen) in th e Experts. \ Th e 10 0 cl ass ,w as j u st abo ut as ' c ro w d ed as th e First pl ac e trophies went to: T on y Greaves (li on ) First Day, T im Cohee (Allstate) Beginne r, Greg We st o n (Ya m) Novice , and Denn is Sa xton in th e Expe r t division on h is Ho d a ka. Wi th a f u ll c o m p l i me n t of Mini-Endu re s, th e ac tio n wa s fas t and fu rious on th e co urse as Hon d a seeme d to dominat e th e day w ith a clean swee p o f all th e cla sses , Individ u al w inners , a ll ab oard Hondas wer e : Bill Miller, First Day: Mark We aver , Beginner: j eff Be an , N ovice : jeff Wilson , Amateur and Ri ch Collins , Ex per t . Escape Country MX by Ken t N ich o ils Ph oto s by Bob Th omp son TRABUCO CA i\'YON, CAL ., Dec. 17 , 19 i 2 - T ra b uc o Canyon is one o f the few places in Oran ge C ounty tha t remain s untouch ed b y th e h ousin g d,evelopers h and , It c o n tains open fie ld s, cit rus groves, a few h omes and a co u n try store. Als o in th e sh adow of S add leba ck Mountain is .Esc ap e Country. Located o n th e R obinson ranch , Es cape Coun try con tains o ve r 5 0 0 a cr es o f rid in g tra ils and a first ra te motocross co urse that th e Es cap e Coun try Racing As sociation us es for w eekly ra ces su ch a s th e on e today. It se ems th at e ve ry moto cross has on e o r two standou ts and today Was no ex ception . This standout ca me in the sh ape pf 100 Novice Gre g Weston (Ya m ) wh o so totally d omin ated h is cl as s that o nly o nce in th ree mo t os w as h e at all challe ng e d. In h is firs t m o to Greg go t a p oor sta rt , w as le d fo r' three lap s b y Ken Morgan wh o gOI a secon d for th e d ay. Even though West on stole th e show in his cla ss, th at w as bv n o me an s all th e acti on that took p lace', EC R A's Powd er Puff class w as run b y its e lf. Th is class was aced b y N ancy D aggs an d her 12 5 Yat,"aha. i\' ot on ly did N an cy win th e lad les class , sh e ran a wa v with all thr ee mo to s o f th e 125 Begin n e r class as we ll. An oth er cl as s th at is com ing in to its own a t Escap e C oun try is the 12 6 to 18 5 class. This cl ass has gro w n from o ne USMRC Motocross, b y Pat Gross EL Ta RO, CAL. , Dec. I , I 9 i 2 - Th at Ca rlson charisma is still go ing strong. D avy p o ck eted the m ajor portion o f th e purse - $ I 05 worth - for two m o re 12 5 and 25 0 w ins , When will the monop ol y b e broken ? Fo r a sh ort wh ile it see m ed to n igh t would be th e n igh t a nd Bob Messer th e m an to do it. Me sser (Bu l) and C arls on (Y am ) w ere tied go in g into th e fin al he at of a lo ad ed 250 E xp ert , Th e p ressure wa s h e avy o n D avy an d didn't ligh ten any w hen Messer got th e jump . on him at th e st art. Dave Carlson is n otorious fo r h is jet-pow ered s tarts , but Mess er' s w as something to see . Carlson ch ased him for three lap s, o u td istanci ng th e re st of th e p ack, y e t o n ly co m in g with in a b ik e length. Wit h sc a rc ely fifty feet to th e chec ke red n ag , D avy tried to m ak e th e p as s. Me sser w as fo rce d to cu t th e cou rse to avoid b ei ng p assed, with the result th at h e c ro ssed th e fin ish fir st. 1\ prote st seem ed immin en t. Then so me th ing h appened that is a sp ortsw atch er 's delight: sp orts mans h ip at w ork . Disp laying grace as w ell as gu ts , Bob Messer c onceded the w in to Carlson. Messer m ay h ave 'lo st ' a race. but h e won th e respe ct o f th o se in th e kn ow . ' Th e fin al m o to o f th e 12 5 w as n o less he art-st oppin g. So far it h ad be en Ca rl son, Vo lkman , V idi c o ne- tw o- th ree for two straight race s, a situation j e ff Vidic was detennined to re me d y . Once _ o r two rid ers a few we eks ago to six today . The firs t day cl ass wa s tak en b y Dennis Newman (Ka w) wh o did so by winning eve ry moto. Gary Hicken (S uz) won the 18 5 Beginner cla ss and D ave Orozc o ( Pe n) the N o vice . On e of th e m o-re c o mpe titive cl asses at Escap e C ountry is th e 25 0 Beginners, mainly du e to si ze . Suzuki ride r-R o be rt Lowe was up 10 th e task as h e w on th at class overal l, just beating o u t sec on d p lace m an Ron Stewart (C Z) a nd Mike Mo rgan (anoth er CZ) wh o grab b ed th ird , Every body has a bad d ay now an d th en and today w as it for M ike Reb er (CZ) . Mike, who is a first rate ride r , le d ?t some tim e in eve ry mot o o n ly to fall 10 th e last comer of th e last lap or miss a gear on an uphill, letting o ne o r m ore rid er s b y . Even with all h is mi sf ortune s, ) l,.l ik e go t a sec ond in th e Op en Novice clas s, b ein g beat o u t b y a very rapid james Bernit a o n a no t he r CZ . NRA MX at Dead man's Point b y Th e Shadow APPL E V ALL EY , CA L., De e. 10 . 19i 2 - With th e co m p le tio n of fes tivities tod ay , it is known that Bill Larso n (Ya m) , w ho co mp e te d in th e 100 junio rs cla ss, is th e bi g w in ne r of th e "Su zu ki Seri e s". Lars on, wh o is 2 0-years -o ld , a n d resides in Yucc a Valley , gra b be d th re e straigh t first pl ace s S un day, grand _ m o re th e co m b ined 12 5 Ex p / I 00 ' lnt / E x class sho t o ff the lin e, Davy in th e lead . Th e d iffe ren ce c ame w he n th e m ob slo we d fo r the first tight t u rn , b ut Vid ic kept go ing, fu ll throttle , lI e too k th e cu rve lik e a d ivebom b cr , passing eve ry one o n th e outside. lIe h ad tak en D avy s o b y s u rprise th at th e Yummie-rid er never made up the lo st ground . But j eff's lo n e win was o n ly good e no ugh for th ird ov e ra ll, an d j ohn V o l}:man 's con siste n t sec ond put him sec o n d overall. Kevin Crawford sw ep t for th e 100 Exp erts, while Rand y Ros en cr an s ( Ka w) t ook the Int erm edi ate win. D al e And e rs en ' s I n t e r med ia te. mon op ol y o f the 12 5 an d 2 50 ' is as un shakab le as ever. In the 25 0 Ric k Smi th (CZ) to ok o ne w in away for seco n d overa l l , but Oal c w as un c ontested in th e 12 5 . Br o th er Na than ~arne red th ird, w ith Vinc e Balch (Pu c) 10 second . , T he jun io rs di splay ed a num b er o f swe eps . For th e S ch o o lb oys. it w as again Ron U taski (IIo n). The 100 h ad Marty Mill er (S te) , an d th e 12 5 d ivisions we re h andled by Bob ~ l cD ou g al (Yam) and Alan Kin g (Bul) . G ary Mick les (C Z) w as b a ck 10 ta ke co n tro l of th e 2 50 I, as w as Darrel Keen (S uz) for D ivision I I. Ri cke v S ander s (S uz) he ad ed th e 5 0 0 list. ' Ray L op ez m ad e a cl ean swe ep o f the 5 0 0 E xp ert o ve r j ack Wright. j ohn B !:,rk e y ( Ya m ) w on f or th e lntenned iate s. :ou don't have to be Feets M inert to w in on a LeBard and Un derw ood T humper. T erry Power did It to them at Saddl eback . slam ming the 10 0 junior cl ass, a n d winning the top price of a 2 50 Suzuki, Future ed itio n s of Cycle N ews will car ry th e co m p le te results , b ut at le ast two o f the m ajor pri ze winn ers w ill come from th e 2 50 juniors cl ass , Chris DeBoe r (Su z), fini sh ed fir st in th e 25 0 j u n io rs cl a ss, wit h D ann y A . Sail (Yam ), ta~in g se cond, an d Mik e Black (H us) , a third pl a ce . Don't be su rp rise d if two o f th ~ th .ree ride.rs gr,,:b a c o u p le o f top prize s In th e "Suzuki Series " . S unday , j erry C a st ro (Yam), won th e Minibikes , und er 60 race, w h ile Bri an (IIo n) , c ap tu re d th e M v e r s co u g h Min ib ikes, 60 and ove r ev ent. Grabbin g "The Sh ad ow" awa rd for th e grea tes t n am e o f th e d ay w as Robert F udge, w ho pil o ted h is Bu l to a second p lace fi ni sh in th e 125 juniors ra ce b ehind Brad ~ Ic~l artin ( Ric) . A third in the cl ass wen t to Ru ss Garc ia (Ya m) . . R o undin g out th eca rd Sund ay,j ohh Mill e r (Ma l) , to ok th e Open Seni ors race ; Ken Ma th is (Bu l) , to ok th e 125 Sprocket s MX,- - - - - b y C a ro l Wi tt Ph otos b v Karen lI a rtm an \l' ICIIITA , KANS ., Dec. 3 , 19 i 2 - We ll it fin all y h ap pened a t Spro ck e t s... the races held in November w er e both mud-run s. T his report er didn 't get to ac tua lly view much o f e i th e r race so we ar e j ust se n d ing in t he re su lts fo r N o vembe r 12~h an d 16 th . Th e o ld sayi ng, "I f you do n 't lik e th e weath er in Kan sas, w ait just a minute", was tru e on ce aga in because S aturd ay y o u cou ld h ave w orn a bi kini and every on e h ad h opes fo r a h ig race today , but to o ur su rprise , when we opene d our ey es, Sunday morn ing dawned with a co ld 15 d egree s. Beli ev e i t o r n ot but we h ad 8 0 rid er s. We eve n h ad some d ed icated n uts w h o ca me all the w ay fro m Omah a, i\' ebraska an d C oun ci l Bluff, I ow a. S ure w er e glad to see the m as the y a re a fine hunch o f p e opl e. i\ t least th e re were o n ly two sm all w ate r-hole s o n th e track an d it w as in 've ry good shap e. Our h at s , ar e o ff to 1..1 1. Van derg ri ft w ho has b ee n wo rking very h ard o n o u r track . In th e 125 Se nio r cl as s th ere was a good b attle b etwe en Man-in Whitham ( Yu rn ) , a n d .Jon Thurston (CZ). Wh ith am w on the first tw o m o t o s and w as in th e le ad in th e th ird unti l h e got dirt jammed in h is brake, an d Thurst o n w ent a ro u nd him, taking fir st for the d ay. Wh it h am was se co nd due te! co ming in fourth the third m o to , G ary Witt c am e in fir st in both th e 25 0 Seni o r cl ass and the Open Senior class. Gary is assumed to w in th e Seniors even t - b o th received cash p aybacks an d an othe r standout d~ ring th e se rie s, Mo rgan Malocc o ( \ am) , w o n at 12 5 In te rm e d iat es. Fo r on ce, I hope Malocc o is sp e lled co rrec tly. Mesa M.C. Returns t o MX Me sa Motorcycle Clu b o f S an D ieg o again sponsoring races at Four Corners Track a t Ramona , California. The first Motocross 'w ill b e held on the t w e n tv -first o f janu ary . For th e Exp erts, sign-up s will begin at i AM and w ill con cl ude at 8 AM . Th e l\' ovi ces an d Amateurs will begin signing up a t 10 AM and wi ll con tin ue until the race co m m e nces. R iders are warned th at th e y must h ave a c u rren t , valid A~IA c ard in thei r possessio n to pa rticipate and app licati on receipts or s tubs will no lo n ger b e acce p tab le . Rid ers will be ch a rged $ 1.50 a d mission fe e and $2.5 0 per even t. A~IA points and troph ie s will be awarde d to th e w in ne rs. is ..,- _ numbe r tw o KS~IA plate 10 b o th classes, lo sing the number o ne spo t to Lo y llurn ett who rid es a Kawasaki. CMC MX at Saddleback b y Buzz Bat)'/Crea tive Im age s I R V IN E , CAL., De c. ' 17 , 1972 Ma u ree n Le e will be happ y to he ar th is : a Bee za did it to the troops at the CMC ge t-together today at S ad dl eback Park . . Terry Power took the overall win in the 5 0 0 Expert with tw o very fine rid es on his thumper. Right b ehin d hi m , though, w as Dave Smith, Dave h as give n up trying t o c am p aign h is S u zu ki an d h as lin ed up a fair ly go od CZ ride. T oday , h e b an ged o u t a pair o f sec onds; h e was ne xt to Randy M yers (Bu l) in the 250 class , wh o a lso put o n one o f his fin est rides of th e year. Matt Roth is re all y b eginning to ge t hi~ h e ad, bik e an d ev erythin g e lse to geth er as he led a Penton o ne- tw o swe ep o f the 12 5s ah ea d o f norm a l winn er Ch uc k Bow e r. Bob Sten pu t Il odaka in t h ird, With pro purses t otalling $2 0 0 0 and more within 100 mi les radius, the turnout w as light. CMC actio n w ill con tin ue through the wi nt e r vacation and p ic k up th e I 9 i 3 ac tio n o n j an u ary 7 right bac k here a t S add leback. ' '

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