...
'"
.,
s
,...
M
Boom and Bust on Texas Motocross Scene
Where Have All the Shoes Gone?
'"
o
:
by Ric hard Creed
HO UST ON , TX ., Mar. 25, 1973 "': Brad
Lackey and Bob Grossi c on tinued their
winning wa ys today as they swe pt th e
first rac e of the Tex-A:\IA series.
Lacke y com p le tel y do minated the
500 event on a proto Kawasaki, blitzing
to en ormous leads in all three motos.
Mike Hartwig on a Husky was La ckey's
closest co m pe ti to r, but had to settle fo r
second place. T hird o verall was taken by
Fred Hanna rid ing for the H&H Mustic
\
.~
-
<.J
Ra cing T eam o f Houst on. Hanna rode a
Brad Lackev won the first Tex ·AMA race. then went to Europe to campaign in the European Grands Prix.
Odessa Drags
Combined
and
Tex·AMA
b y Bob Johnson
ODESSA, TEX, Ap r. I, 197 3 - Only
985 spe ctators turned out for a
co mb ined first round National Drag
Racing Championship and the second
race o f the Tex-AMA series were today.
Beca use of a tw o and one half hour
delay , th e drags and the mo tocro ss
alterna ted. Firs t off were the drag time
trials followed by the first 250 mor o.
IIigh winds and blowin g d us t hi nde red
visio n and caused some anxious
moments for the drag race rs.
In the mo to cross, Ho nda team ma tes
Gary Jones and Ma rty ' T ripes, fres h
from a Dallas win on Saturday walked
off with the 250 class, as Jim Weinert
(Kaw) fell badly in the third moto and
finished 19th overall. Fourth in the 250
was Austin, Texas rider and first Texan,
Steve Stackable, Pe ter Lamppu on a
Kawasaki finished third. Fifth pl ace was
Bob Grossi, who co uld n ' t seem to find
the groove fas t enough to be a serious
th rea t.
In the 500 Jim Weinert do minated
wit h a th ree heat wi n nin g st reak, Billy
Cleme nts battled Wein er t all the way
bu t could n ot pull off a win. Clements
fin ishe d second in the firs t and thi rd
mo tos an d fo urth in the second m o t o,
Gary Se mics was the o nly othe r threat
to Wein ert for overa ll, with a second
p lace in the seco nd mo to . Tony Wynn
o f She rwood, Arkansas on a Kawasaki
was four th in his first factory o ut ing.
Bob Graham (CZ) from Houston beat
Wyman Prid d y (Kaw) for fifth place by
two points.
DRAGS
In the drags, Bob Mauriello's Harley
from Chicago swept th e Top Eliminator
class from Pat Millers aboard a triple
e ng in ed Yamaha ga sser. Mauriello
arrived late and barely had time t o make
his time trial and change the rear tire fo r
th e final run. Nick Morale on a tw in
engine d Kawasaki C/O bes ted Jo h n
Payden of Fo rt Worth on a dual AA /A
Harl ey for the Competition Eliminator
titl e.
T he st ree t eliminator title was picked
up by lo cal racer Carl Murdock o n a
Kaw asak i 750. Bo b Bramle tt of New
Mexico on a waterco ol ed 750 Su zuki
was the on ly challenge r Mu rd oc k fa ced.
The rider turnout fo r tb e drags was
so poor the anno un cer wa s soliciting
co mp e ti to rs from th e gra ndstand s.
produc ti on versio n of the 450
Kaw asaki.
Mike Runyard had problems all day ,
getting a bad start in the first moro, an d
losing his expansion chambe r on the
't hird lap o f th e second m oto, an d
fin ally having to pu sh his CZ ac ross the
finish line to seventh place in the final
, moto . Wyman Priddy o f Fort Worth was
fifth overall on a Kawasaki Central
.' spo nsore d 450 production m odel.
I Prid d y led for fo ur laps in the secon d
, mo t o but fe ll and almost co llected
Lackey in doi ng so . Priddy lo ck ed his
gea rbox u p in the final moto and h ad to
push it ho me.
Bob Grossi h ad a t ou gh er time
cap t u ring the 250 wi n as Honda
mounted Gary J on es sa iled into the lead
in th e first and second mo tos , J on es
dropped it while lead ing the first m oto,
and Grossi outrode Gary on the last two
lap s of the second moto to win. In the
third mo to Grossi swept to an
unchallenged lead. Grossi also ha d to
contend with Jim Weinert on a 250
Kaw asak i. Weinert wheelied across the
finis h for the first moto win and Steve
Stackable of Austin held Grossi off in
the turns and beat him in the d rag race
fo r the che cker.
The G rossi -j ones battle in th e secon d
mo t o left Weinert in third place fighti ng
with Kent Howerton of San Antonio
who passed Weinert in an inspired ride
that had the Texas fans screaming. The
last two laps were in credible. Weinert
finally got by the young Texan on the
last lap and finished third.
T he thi rd mo to saw the end of th e
Weinert challenge fo r first..J im charge d
through the p ack an d was catchi ng
Grossi and J ones easily un til he fell hard
co ming o ut o f the secon d mud ho le.
The fall broke the front fen der an d
J im's face w as sprayed wi th mud th e
res t o f the mo t o. T han ks to J ones
falling again Weiner t was ab le to ga ther
up second place overall. S teve S tackable
was third in the third moto an d lost
seco nd o verall to Weinert by one point.
Fourth ove rall went to Kent Ho we rton
andJones co llec ted fifth .
Gary Jones, Nat ional 250 class Champion , is starting to make his presence felt on the new Honda
Brad Left for Europe, Pierre wa sn't there. Jim Weinert ( Kaw) won all three motos of the second
CR250M. Jones now has a second and a first in AMA national motocrosses.
Tex-AMA handily with th reats only from Billie Clements and Gary Semies (Hu sl.
