Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Bower and Bruce McD ougal . b oth o n Mettco Pen tons. A bou t lap fo ur. Bill Payne threw his b lu e-tanke d Don Emler Pen to n away as h e crested the last wh o op-de-d o os sideway s. He was under pressure from Bow er and just co uldn't save it as the suspens ion b ottome d an d flipped him over the high side. T he bike m ad e abou t three aerial somersaults as Bo we r went by into first, dodging Pen ton an d Payne. Bill go t up and got go ing agai n, a b o u t tenth. But by then it w as the p urple -shirred Me tt co Pen tonites up front, fo llo we d by a h o rd e of tale n I. Mo st n otable was the quick, steady progress o f Terry Clark ( Bo y d & Stellings H-D ) up through the p ack f ro m somewh ere aro und twenty- fifth to six th . He had previ ously said th a t h e would have to save himself somewh at as h e w as rid in g th e Mi nt 400 the nex t day, teamed w ith Howard Utse y . C onso lati on w inner Marty Smith worked h is wa y u p to thi rd a fa ir d istance behind Bowe r and 1\lcD o u gal. Ray Lopez ( Pen ) e nded up in fourth bu t it di d n ' t see m to be to o im port ant , except to Ray L opez an d hi s fans . Pre-race p ic ks Ken Zahrt ( Bu l) and Greg Robertson (CZ) , we re d own quite a way s in th at order. Bo th Zahrt a n d H·D rid er j im Beau ch amp were rid ing with plaster an d /or tape a ro u n d injured arms . Post-m o ta p it t al k gave the overall to ei the r Bowe r o r Marty Smi th, w ho h ad lo oked b etter in th e Consola tion afte r a bad start an d me ch an ic als pu t him the re . MEA NWH ILE Wh ile th e p ro s d id the ir be twee n mota t hings (o r the m ech an ic s did ). the final 12 5 junio r m ota was run off and T i m H o ov er (R ic ) w on it ve ry con vincingl y an d with it , the overa ll. Big broth e r jim w as o n a stock 12 5 Suzuki MXer in th e pro class an d h adn't far ed q u ite as we ll in h is firs t o uting sin ce his injury. Tim was initiall y ve ry serious about the w in but co uld n ' t ke ep up th at ro le an d soon fa ded in to fou rteen year-o ld casu alness about the wh ole thing. Tim D aly finis he d well e no ugh on hi s R ickman to be second junior. CLOS ING ACT Wh en th e gre e n flag p opped up fo r th e d ecidin g 'm o t o , Bill Payne p ull ed a tr emendo us fo u r bike-len gth lead t o the start h ill o n th e quic kes t Pen ton on th e course. He he ld it th rough the tu m a nd o ve r th e wh oops. Mart y Smith was ru n n ing about fo urt h in th e tight p ack w h en he u n loaded ve ry h ard as they raced for th e third co m er. It t o o k a long time to get the Monark res tarte d as S mith was sha ke n an d n o t up to the t a sk ; n either was th e "h elp ful " spe cta to r. It ende d ,Marty 's ch a n ces for an overall at the sa m e spot th a t h ad clai me d 'Pay n e in mo to o ne. Payne en d ed u p b ein g p urs ue d by Ray Lop e z an d both we re ci rcu lating a t a p ace that m ost 250's co u ld n ' t m at ch . Don't beli ev e an y talk abou t "s tock mac h iner y" in this ra ce. Every bi ke in the main rn o to s was tuned to within a millime te r o f 'destruc tion, an d m o st were very trick o n top o f that . Firs t m o t a leaders Bowe r and 1\IcD ougal we re try ing to ov er co me indiff er ent s tarts stuc k b ac k in th e p ack . K en Za h rt p u lled off and quit. h o ldi n g h is injured ar m. Payn e and Lo pe z opened up a co m fo rta b le le ad. T erry Clark st arted runnin g a very co nsisten t third ; not to o fas t , b u t fast e nough to close a little ea ch lap while takin g the sa me effortle ss lin e . H-D teamma te Beau ch amp wa s about sixth wi th 20 ft . of cou rse m a rke r rib bo n wrappe d aro und h is rear sp rocke t. Bo we r m ov ed up to fif th. '" '" " Cl " Q. ,... M Ol ,... '" ~ ::; ~ w Z W ..J U >U Lopez 1291 and Marty Smith (2) were next . 8 In the final rno to.B ut Pav ne 1 0 1 grabbed the lead in Turn One. Ray With the m ota h al l go ne , Clark m o ved in to second a n d Bill Pa yne started looking over h is shoulde r. Further b ack, jim H o o ver h ad take n the only Suzo ok in th e ra ce up to seve n th ahead of su c h lu m in aries as McD o ugal , Tony R odgers (Yam), j im Beau ch amp an d Greg R obertso n (CZ) wh o neve r lo o k ed up to speed all d a y. j im Cooke (Boy d & S tellings DKW) an d Bill Grossi (D KW) were h avin g a fair old go b ac k abou t tenth ch asin g each other an d swapp ing posi tio ns. It was also Cooke 's first race sin ce ge tting o u t o f p laster . With about a la p a nd a half to go, Bill Pay n e w as still in th e lead. T h en h e dropped it again on the b ac k p a rt of th e lon g twisty course . Lopez' persiste nt h ounding p aid off as h e moved into firs t and Bower went by Cl ark to occu py the second SpOI. T he w h ite flag w as b ei n g given to the back ru n ne rs when about five ve ry fas t 12 5s came b o u n cing an d leaping over th e h ill toward s the finish line . T he sleeper, R ay Lopez o n hi s Pe nton , was still in fro n I...b y may be a cou p le of. fee t . T hen it w as Danny T urn er (l\I n k ) wh o fla t charge d b y abo ut t h ree guys in t he last hund red ya rds , an d Bill Pay n e , wh o h ad galien b ac k u p a n d passed Terry Cl ark a b ou t 20 ft. b efore the ch ec ke red to ta ke thi rd (a fte r h e h ad passed h alf the re main ing ride rs in half a lap ). Clark w as fourth w it h a su rprised look on hi s face an d Chuc k Bowe r , firs t m o to w in ner " w as b ac k in fift h fro m being a solid se cond a 'la p ea rlie r. H e h adn ' t d rop p ed b ac k th ree places , h e h ad been p assed t o fi fth with in th e space of a lap. I t go t right interest in g in th o se last few feel. Checkin g b ac k to th e first mota scribbli ngs, I n oticed Lopez down for fo urt h . If th e o ffi ci al scoring agreed, it lo oked li ke the 12 5 Ch am p io ns h ip had gone t o R ay b y th e m a rgin of o ne p oint over Ch uck Bower. The Arro yo officials agr eed and Lope z is th e cham p , be sting the top t alent and m achin ery o f 12 5 cc dispiace men t. Mo st of t he "clas s" riders we re reall y th e re in go od fo rm . .No w if Bill y Pay n e co uld only s tay upright ... Pa y n e was f ast est, Bo wer lo o ked lik e the favo rite (He h ad 1-2 finis hes goin g until th e last 200 y a rd s of the last m o ta. ) but . Ray Lopez, on th e Do n Em ler Pen to n , was th e win ner. A n d a CZ seized . Ken Z ahrt (4 0 1 went way Bi lly Urban (7) grabbed the lead in his qu alif ier, t hen his than h e w as that cool th ou m ornin g. richer OUf in the consolat ion moto. Bumm er. in fr on t t hen thre w a chain. Morris Ma lon e (70) ended up El se lN he re ,, Bill Grossi lDKWI got straightened out and won $75 , """ . Larry Watkins raced the only 125 wi th light s on it , a R ickma n Six D ays', H e knoc ked the taillight a ".. .. Pay ne had the lead in the second 'mere also, qu ickest guy at Arro yo on the inside line. he dropped it with about a lap to go. The

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