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/141049
" '" " '" c, Shott Trrd III DIybIa M r- m o N :;; ::; ~ w Z W ..J U >- U In E xpert sha n trac k acti on at D ayt ona. Dave Aldana (13) and M ike K idd (7 2 ) fought for the lead wh en it mattered most . K idd tr iumphed on his Bultaco. Hartwig Zaps Novices; Kidd Overcomes Experts Novice Short Track by Gary an d J oanne V an Voorhis DAYTO NA IIEACH, FLA ., Mar. 7, 19 73 - T wo-hu ndred an d two Novices turned o u t for the a n n ual N ovice Short T rac k madn ess, an d wh en th e dust cle ared it was Mic h igan mo ro crosser Mik e Hartwig on hi s Harely -framed Kaw asa ki that p ut the others d own . Hartw ig scored victories in his S cratch, Elimin at ion , Se m i, T rop hy Dash an d th e Main . Hartwig banged h is way into the lead in Se m i No. I while Dave R ick ett (Bul) , lIil1 Oliver ( Bul) an d Mik e Ead es (Yam ) foug h t ov er run ne r-u p. Eades tran sfe red. Ed Ingram ( Ya m) su rvive d a firs t lap crash and restart t o take the second Sem i o ver Jay Ridgeway (OSS) and Bob L1 osford on a H onda th at looked o u t of pl ace but n ot o u t o f p o we r. Sem i No.3 w as wire-to-wire for Ed Dall ey (Yam) . , By th e time the fin alro lled aro un d , th e survivors were off the line and into th e first turn with handlebar, elbow, leg and wh ateve r else they co uld ge t in to it , and Dall ey co ming o ut on top. Hartwig was a sh ad o win g second with Ingram and Del m asso trying h a rd to sh o ve someone o u t o f th e groove. By lap fo ur, Hart wig had di spl ac ed Dalley while the res t of th e fiel d co n tin ued to bash one another for a better posit ion. Hartwig grabbed an easy win fo llowed by Dalley and In gra m. Expert Short Track Team Mexican and the Texas Kidd Th e J un io r/ E xp ert Short Track played to sold o u t st an di ng-room-on lyb a c k - o n -y o u r cc am p e r- and - pe a k o ve r- the-w a ll en th usiastic fans wh o wait each y ear for the Friday an d S aturday n igh t spe ctac u la rs. This ye ar , the action was no different with Dave Aldan a com ing out on top Friday, pulling hi s fam ous "deep six" o n th e trophy gir l, while fam ous wr en ch and Team Mexican rider Gen e Romero waited greedily al ongside . Saturday winner Mike Kidd kept mumblin g "G oll y, G oll y" after being nearl y d evo ured by the troph y to otsie in a di sp la y th at rivaled A ld an a 's , with the role s reversed . The racing wasn't half bad, eit he r. 150 entries turn ed Mem orial Stadium track in to a b attle grou n d with min iat ur e bo mb cra t e rs . T he ~------- tank-slappers and get-off's were suc h that th e track was co mpletely re graded during the eli min ation heats. A little late for those who had alr eady run , but at least it kep t th e am b ulance from wastin g gas. Mike Kidd pull ed the win in th e fir st Semi over a d etermined Randy Sco tt, Roger Crump a nd Bob Ri chrneyer with Richme yer t ransf erring via th e faste st Se mi. J im R awl s ad de d h is n am e t o th e list o f T e xas riders headed fo r th e Final with a win ove r Ch arli e Ch apple and Paul Pressgr ov e, Mike Ge rald , Louisiana bayou bo y , p icked u p Semi three w ith a vic tory o ver Aldana a nd J im Manness, F.R IDAY·S MAIN Mik e Kidd j u m ped in to th e lead with Mik e Gerald rig h t o n h is rear wh eel. The tw o best short -t rackers in the na tion set o u t t o show every bo dy how they earned th eir reputa ti ons. Halfway through, Kidd had o pe ned a two-bike lead on Gerald while Aldana was a long way (for Sh ort Track) behind. It ap peared th at Kidd w ould take th e show, but on lap se ve n hi s c o mp re ssio n rel e ase s tuck. Gerald took the lead while Aldan a, Roger Crump and Ra ndy Scott played "cat ch up". Aldana closed to within striking distance just as they to ok th e white fla g, th en p owered through turn o ne go ing high for a tremendous drive o ff the wall, ca tc hin g Gerald and stuffin g a wheel insid e in tum three givin g him p osit ion an d th e line for the win . One helluva race. ON SATURDAY Th e track again began to rut during e l imi n a tio n s, causin g some s tran ge riding styles t hat lo o ked m o re lik e bronc-busting than Short Track . Mike Kidd repeated his Semi vic to ry by besting Re x Beauchamp and Mike Gerald, setting fast Semi ti me and transferring R and y Cla rk as last man. Da ve A Id ana and his Dalla s Baker-framed Kaw were back fo r mo re ac t io n and started o u t w ith a wire-to-wire win in Semi two over Jo h n Isaacs and New Yorker Norm Robinson. OSSA-mounted Mike J ohnson put Michigan in to th e Final wi th a victory ove r Phil McD onald a nd J ay Levingst on. McD on ald held the lead until th e sixth lap when he allo wed just enough room for Johnson to pass. T he Fin al was a Mike Kidd show with Kidd le ading from the fla g and ridin g th e hi gh lin e. fee t up, wh ile Har ley teamster Rex Beaucham p (311 had the only fo ur-stro ke in the Expert ranks on the short t rack . Ald an a, Johnson and ' Beauchamp took turn s ch asing h im . In a bit o f extra sh o w for the crowd , Barry Briggs showed up for a challen ge race against Kidd and Mike J ohnson. You mi ght thin k th at a 5 0 H P alky- b u m ing sp eed way rig might ru n and h id e from a Bultaco, a n d it will . But Briggs led o nly th e final tw o laps as Kidd got a good hol e sh ot and led th e fir st two. Th e crowd lo ved it. N O VI C E S HORT TRACK D ay to n a. F lo r id a Mar . 7. 1973 Mike Hartwtq Ed D alley Ed Ingra m Dave Ric kett Mi k e Boa z Jay R idgeway 8111 O li ver Barry D el ma sso Robert Hosford Mike Ea des H -D / K aw Yam Yam Bul Bul Oss Bul Ha n Yam Feet UP. sideways and lookin' around. Gas'er, David. To the victo r, goes the srnot ch. But is he indicati ng minute s duratio n or number of kisses? Mike the Te xa n didn't fare as we ll in a special match race with speedway sta r Barry Briggs. The DT-500 Ja wa outran Kidd 's Bultaco.