Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

o -< SPEEDWAY () rm Z m the Week That Was S tory & P ho to s by De nnis Gree n Th ree n igh ts in a ro w of th e same con ve rsa lio n abo ut a poorly w r itten s to ry on S peedwa y can n ot be over loo ked . An e x -em p loye e of " Mo torcycle We e kly " a nd ne w staff member of one of th e largest mon thly m a ga zin es h as been le d down the garde n p a th . lie w r o te t he h e ar t re nderi ng SIO TY of a virgin S peedwa y rider wh 0 wo u ld neve r put a rider d own, or for that rna t ter neve r even sav a bad wo rd to anyon~. T his faruasy .wo u ld have us bel ie ve th a t th e :-;ational Ch am p is th e m o st a bused m otorcvcle rid e r th a t e ve r ca me out for a n ight 's compe titio n . Th e first tw o p ages of t his boring tri pe are so sad that y o u m ay use up a wh o le b o x of Kleen -X. It m akes yo u wonder w h v th e :.lLMh o r di d n ' t go to o ne o r tw o of the p e ople men tio n e d to sec w h y our X a ti o n al C hamp said the th in gs h e su p posedly d id . I at te n d ed e ve ry Speed wa y race in th e I Y7:.? se ason and d id n o t see o r he ar abo u t ;, ()% o f the "j un k" t ha t w as pUI in to t he story. Fo r th e mos t p a rt it is 'j u s t' o ne sid t'_ of the story and is so far fr o m wha t real ly we n t o n . A t all three tracks this past week a ll tha t \..' as tal ked a bo u t was that article, an d b ec- a u se th is is a fa m ily pape r , I wo n ' t usc the w o rd s th a t c a m e from the other guys that ride Cl ass A . I won't e ve n mention a b out th e people who wan t to c u t off his fin gers o ne a t a tim e anti shove th em , or abo u t the large gr oup th at is lo o ki n g for a n at torn cy to represent them in le gal action a gainst the puhlisher (so the rum or go es) . T his misinformed writer is one of th e n ic est p eo p le in the motorcycle in dus try MId a fine writ er, as he has p rove n in so manv articles that have fun in everv major cy cle book. It is beyond me what was o n his m in d w h e n this story was p u t to ge rh e r. One of t he he avie s in th e s tory is the h o s t Of promoter a t Bakersfield . Le t's ta ke our fi rst look at w h a t w a s a h ell o f a good we e k of Speedway Class A racing. T he fi rst six of seven ra ces we re pr ett y ro utin e , jus t goo d d e an ra cin g. T h e n came a d ra s tic change ," a game o f tag , " Lo ok o u t , h e re I come. " Ken Car te e w as in tu m two n o th in g wro n g wi th t h a t e xce p t h e w asn 't m oving down th e trae k. He was in a p o we r s ta ll , a nd Don C u llu m wa s righ t th e re to give h im a runn in g pus h . Ru t some o ne forgot to te ll b im yo u d o n ' t d o i t w ith y o u r head . He s ta lled an d n ow i t w a s Dann y Be c ker's tu m to be th e G o od Sama ri ta n. Dan and Don went e n d o ver c n e , Don o n his he ad an d D an o n h is e n d. :\ 0 o n e wa s inju re d a n d b oth carn e o u t fo r the r estart. T he w hite to rn ado ( ~ I ar k C herry) m ade it two in a row w it h h is w in in th e Hand ic ap M ai n , M ar k was out 10 m a ke i t three t b e nex t ni ght a t Irw in d ale but was b e at a t th e line by :' li k e Bas t. It was two in a ro w for D ivision Two rider. Ra lph Castor. li e w o n a t Bak ers fie ld in one of the m o s t c o n fu sin g even ts of th e year . T here was a rest a rt of an earlie r Second Di vision even t because so m a n y guys got off. and the restar t was just as fu nny. Eve ryone fell at least once , go t u p, an d go t back in to th e race. S o m e h ad be en la p pe d, an d o t he rs we re [apin g othe r riders w h o di d n o t ge t up fas t . :\ t t he e n d of th is eve n t . I tb in k it was th e end - t he re feree b ad it o ne w a y, the announ ce r c al le d i t ano the r wa y. a n d th e 'SCore ke epe r ye t anot he r, but as in b aseball, tb e refere e w o n o u t. Dan ny Bec ker s ta r te d b is st ri ng o f t wo M ai r; e ve n t wins a t Ba ke rs fiel d in S cra tc h R acin g w i th a good r id e agains t Mi ke Bast. G o ing o n to th e n e xt n ight a t Irwind ale , D an n y di d it ag a in in th e S cra tch Main , and thi s is some th ing yo u Ka t to see to b eli ev e . Be c ker ride s to the fa r o u ts ide of th e tu rns , so fa r o u t th a t h e m a kes c o n ta c t with the \....a lls and pu ts th e m to good us e (he re i t com e s) . Ves, h e is getti ng d ri ve off the wa ll . V O il c an see where h e has sp un the whe e l o n the wal l. Dann y Becker's far out rid ing: style was topped b y none o t h e r th an te a m ~I e x it: an . D ave A ldana. S o r ry the re is no p ic ture, hut he was n o t ar ound lo ng, enough f or me 10 Re t o n e . . In th e first lap . as he went o n to the hack straigh t , he swooped by everyone . d oi n g a w hee lie as he wen t. But th e throttle locked and he jumped off'. T h e bike picked up speed and we n t through s Ul s: '" -c .''" " . iD ..... : w ~. "0 '" '" ~ w Yo u mig ht b e cu rio us ho w Billy Gr ay a nd Alan Ch r ist ia n m et t his way . So m igh t t hey , usl • •• to produce the finest team of lubricat ion products for compet ition and str eet motorcyclists; and we've done it. But we're no strangers to hard work . Fo r close to 30 years our techn icians have been solving the mo st d ifficult and complex lubricat ion problems for major compan ies all over t he world . Among Bel-Hay's achiev ements are : FI RST to develop tiqu ld-oxvqen insensit ive lubes for NASA; FIRST to develop heavier-t han-water greases; F IRST to develop one-year lubes for the kiln indust ry; FIRST t o introduce mo lybdenum disulfide alum inum com plex greases; FIRST to develop special coo lants for the military. Now young blood in our company has applied the experience and technica l skills of our staff and facil ity to formulate a highly specialized line of product s to meet th e unique dem ands of t he motorcyc le indust ry. Our high ly respected test ing and developm ent tech nique s have gone int o each of these products and have y ielded the f inest line of lubricants o n th e mo to rcy cle mark et t oda y: Bel-Hay's Perfo rmance T eam. T his t eam of product s has bee n compet it ion t ested and proven on some of t his country 's most gruel· ing race cou rses. and you'll soon be hearing atot more. ---------------------------------,• o mL • MIII._ about BEL·RAY motoreycla produet5, anclosed is 5O¢to cover postage and handling. Na me City • Sta t e Zl p _ MAIL TO : BEL·RAY Co. lne., Tar"",la"" Oi... Box 526 cn-n , Farmingdale , N.J. 07727 _ _ _--~-_._-----------------------... hot surfaces. • 4-CYC L E RAC IN G OIL WITH MOLBUAMIN • Cuts fr iction . Bo osts power - Runs cooler . Lasts longer. RACIN G FORK OIL • Preve nts rust & ox idation _ Non-foam ing . Prevents leakage. bel ray - • • Add re ss MC·' 2-CY CLE RAC IN G OI L • Ult ra-h igh film strength . Eliminates plug fouling &: car bon d eposits . 2-CYC L E FOR T I F I EO RACING FORMULA OIL • • Burns clea n er. El im inates plug fo ul in g e C lin gs to • : • I J RA CI NG GE A R OIL • Super-h igh film strength . Re duces frict ion . Ex tends engine life. RACING CHAIN LUBE • Penetrates to the pins & stays there . Waterproof • Rustproof . MOL YLUBE A NT I -SEI Z E • Highly concentrated . Stable . Adheres to metal • Reduces wear . MOLYLUBE 6 in t • Multi -pu rpose • Clea ns • Penetrates • Protects • lubr icates. WHEEL BEARING & CHASSIS GREASE - Co m p let e ly waterproof . Resists breakdown . Prevents corrosion. COMPANY INCORPORATED TERMA LENE DIVISION BOX 526 en -n Farm ing da le , NJ 07727 (20 1) 9 38 ·24 2 1

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