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/141059
" N i' e, M .... '" ex> . > ::;: ~ W Z w ...J U >- U b y Bu zz Baty CARLSBAD , CAL ., Apr. 29 , 197 3 - It was just like o ld home week, as th e CMC-staged its-once -a-month motocross here at the world-famous Carlsb ad co urse . The en tr y list was unbelievable in th e Expert classes. In the 125 Experts there were twe nty-one entries, th e 25 0 Experts h ad forty entries, and the 500 Ex pe rts had a field of t we n ty-nine en tries. Eac h o f the Expert clas ses read like a wh o 's wh o o f n o t only CMC rid er s, bu t National class riders. In t he 125 Exp erts were 1972's CMC No. I rid er , Billy Urb an , now riding fo r Monark, Jimmy Be auchamp , wh o had suc h a h ot stre a k a ye ar ago on th e screaming Harleys o f Jack Kri zm an , only t o fall victim to th e broken bone bug. Ra y Lopez and J im McDonald , th e "Penton Pirates" th at tear up th e troops at Irwindale o n Friday nights , Mar ty Smi th , th e win ner of Hangtown on th e Monark, Tom my Cr oft, riding for Tiger Dis tributin g on a H odaka, T om my was leadin g both of th e twelve lap- twenty minute mo te s, in a fashi on th at left n o doubt concern ing th is y o ung m:rn's John DeSoto appeared on a CZ (Is t his 1971?) to take the Open Expert . tal ents. The 250 Expert class, well, headi ng th e list of entrants is the Honda Fa ctory Team, co mplete ' with Gary J on es, Dewayne J on es, Bru ce Baron , and Marty Tripes. Marty was the only one who di dn't ride. I sat in Mar ty 's mobile h om e and talked to him awhile , while he b ak ed a cake. Mar ty 's ji little upse t over so me of th e store s prin te d recen tiy . Whoever h as be en do ing th e reporting of th e Texas rac es has reported th at Marty h as been falling off a lot, which Marty say s is n ot t rue. He say s he has had th e lead with no sweat eve ry time out, only . to h ave hi s chain break. Continuing on with th e 250 Experts who were entered, wa s th e curr en t CMC No . . I, Ga ylon Mosier, and Rich E j e r s tedt, both on Malcos ; Gr eg Rober tson and J im Wilson on th eir CZ's, Mark Blackwell and Bob Haag on Hu sk ys, and R ay Lopez on on e of th e brand new 25 0 Pen tons, and a couple of AMA District ยท 38 ride rs fro m San Diego - CZ mounted Richard Pinnic k and Rich ard Gra fton. With so many 250 E xperts , they ran Tommy Croft was the big 125 Expert winner on his Wombat . two d ivision , each divis ion riding two . 2o-minute q u alifyin g m a tos, raci ng for transfer spots to the all-o r-nothing Main. Messrs. Pinnick and Gra fton surprised everyone by finis hing on e-tw o in th eir h eat. G ary J on es an d Rich Eierstedt pu t o n on e wh ale of a duel in th eir h eat , until Rich broke his toy. G ayl on Mo sier took his Maico to a half-a-lap, waltzing win in his seco n d qualifying heat to tr ansfer to the Main, When it cam e to th e ra ce for the bucks , it was No. I Gaylon Mosi er jump ing out in .fron t, rapidly pulling aw ay from the en tir e field, looking as if that b ig No . I on the front of his Malco should be a National No . I instead of CMC No . I. But, Lu ck can be a Lady or n o t. And for Gaylori she was not a lady today . Hal fway through the 20-minu te Main, Ga ylon lost the clutch side grip. Now, if y ou 've ever tri ed riding Carlsbad in a constan t misty rain , you can im agine th e p roblems Gaylon fa ced. Suffice to say , Gary JOnes caugh t and passed Mo ser, bringing th e overall win to Honda. T o co mp o un d Gaylon 's problems, h is hand slip pe d off th e bar in full view of the scoring stand, a hundred yards short o f the checker, and down he wen t, losing a sure second, as he was passed by Robertson , Baron, Pennick and Blackwell before he could get up to fmish six th. The story of th e 500 Experts is told in the name o f th e Flyin' Hawaiin , Big J ohn Desoto back on a CZ , wh o headed an all-star cast lik e Rex S tate n , Malco mounted, Mike Cram also on a Maico, CMC 's N o. I in 19 7 1, co mi ng bac k afte r a ras h of injuries, an d Rob No rgaard o n a C Z. T h e fir st mo ta for th e 500 Experts was a two-man frig htening duel between Big J ohn an d Rex S ta ten, un til Rex, wh o h ad n ever been mo re than a bi ke le ng th off J ohn's sti nger, fin ally o vercooked it, doing a ho rrendous ove r-the -fro nt crash , landing full fo rce on th e front of h is he lme t. T hese tw o had be en go ing so hard and fast, th at they were h alf-a-lap ah ead of the rest of the field , which gave D esoto plenty of time t o restart after b ein g kn ocked down as the result of Staten 's cr ash , and ge tting th e win. Rex got up an d mad e it to th e h ospital under hi s own power , but his face was a mess. Rex cam e back fro m the hospi tal all p at ch ed up and full of sti tc h es , bl ack and blue , righ t ey e comp le tely closed, lo okin g as if he'd just gon e fi fteen rounds with Cassius Clay. T h e Flyin' Hawaiian came back and to o k the secon d m o ta, ah ead of Wayne Bow er, Mark Ande rso n , D oug She rm an, and John Fackler , be ing th e o ver all final o rder. It would have bee n a co mp le te CZ swe ep, except tha t Mark Anderson n ailed do wn that third sp ot o n a b orrowed 3 60 Yamaha. RESULTS: 100 JR : 1. Gregg MacDonald (Yam); 2. Chris Caillouette (Hod) ; 3. Corky Moore (Yaml. 125 JR DIV I: 1. Ed Boggs IPen);2.Sheldon Messick (Pen); 3. Bill Ogle (Yaml. 125 JR DIV II: 1. Vern Taniguchi (Mnk); 2. Rodney Winfree (Pen); 3. Tim lufer (Bull. 125 INT: 1. Steve Gannon (Pen); 2. Pat Hubbs (Suz); 3. Mike Tripes (Mnkl . 125 EX: 1. Tommy Croft (Hod); 2. Rick Sheren (Mnk); 3. Bob Maxwell (Bul); 4 . Danny LaPorte (Pen); 5. Jim McDonald (Penl. 250 JR DIV I: 1. Eddy Kubota (CZ); 2. Chuck MacDonald (Hus); 3. Jeff Deal (Bull. 250 JR DIV II: 1. Don Elder (Mail; 2. Rob Santry (CZ); 3. John Curtis (Yaml. 250 JR DIV III: 1. Joe Holt (CZ); 2. Wayne Anders (Yam); 3. Bob Worth (CZ). 250 INT DIV I: 1. Drew Nelson (Yam); 2. Dale Vaughn (Yam); 3. Greg Poole (Mail. 250 INT DIV II: 1. Rob Schwab (CZ) ; 2. John Petty IMail; 3. Dan Steele (CZI. 250 EX: 1. Gary Jones (Han); 2. Greg Robertson (CZ); 3. Bruce Baron (Hon); 4 . Richard Pinnick (CZ); 5. Mark Blackwell (Husl. 500 JR : 1. Jeff Wenzel (CZ); 2. Gary Burk (CZ); 3. Charles Groshek (Mail . 500 INT: 1. Steve Shipkey (CZ); 2. Gary Ogden (CZ); 3. Steve Roach (CZ). 500 EX: 1. John Desoto (CZ); 2. Wayne Bower (CZ); 3. Mark Anderson (Yam); 4. Doug Sherrnan (CZ); 5. John Fackler (CZI. Gaylon Mosierwas on his way to 250 Expert money unt il his handle grip came off.