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/141061
M .... '" N N >CD ::< ~ w Z W ...J U ~ U It went like this for a while . Aldana (131100 Keeter until Keeter got past when..; GARD EN A, CA L., May 11, 19 73 Many of th e As cot regul ars run h ot and co ld fro m week t o week , an d this wee k it was Dew ayne Keeter's tum to run o n th e h o t side . T he de aler-sponsored Harley-Davids on rid er turned u p the wi ck to full tilt a nd h ad hi s hest ni ght in a long time . Keete r is th e fir st Harley rider this ye ar to win th e Ex pert Main even t and also cloc k th e fastest time trial, I n winning Friday n igh t he n ow becomes an o ther of th e many prim e can d idates t o win th e new AMA "Regional " Hal f-mil e event slated for this co ming Fri d ay ni ght. It will p ay $3,0 00 to th e winn ers. . Keete r first to pped Dave Aldana in the tim e trials an d th en cam e on even stro nge r t o beat out T erry Dorsch and T om White in the fastes t heat o f th e ni ght. Aldan a also won h is he at ra ce, running in ah ead of Ll oyd Houchins and Tom Horton , b u t no t as fast as Ke eter's win . Then Ald ana go t coo kin g and turned back Keeter in th e Dash t o pick up hi s first three lap d ecision of th e season and be come th e third straight d ifferen t rider in three weeks to win th e weekly add ed at tract ion . T h e Expert final, th e closest this year, found five rid ers in con te n tion for the win at o ne time or ano ther durin g th e fift een lap s. Dorsch led Aldana o n th e fi rst lap with Keeter running fourth behind T o m White. T he n Ald ana t o o k over, and Dorsch and Keeter went at it for second place with Keeter finally moving in on lap six, Kee ter then started to close fast on Aldan a, but he re all y didn't have to as the Norton rider wen t t o the pi ts on lap eigh t , still holding a 'n ar row lead. The last half of the race was a see -saw battle with Dorsch getting the lead back on la p .e1even , and Keeter finding the front spot on the nex t round. Then Tom Horton and White came up in th e final five laps to make it a four rider duel with Horton nailing Dorsch for second on lap thirteen and going after Keeter. At ' the last comer before th e checkers Horton drove to the insi de and - p ulle d even. Keeter held t he rookie to ta ke his first win of the year by a few feet. White passed Dorsc h on the last la p to take a closing third place . It was a lo n g nigh t for the Norton riders. John Hateley, riding Norton for the second week, again had trouble , throwing a chain in the heat race and getting pinned between the front wall and at least five riders before he co uld pull off the track. Denny Kanegae pulled a third in the Semi to make the final but slowed way down in th e final laps and the n fell off on the last tum of th e last lap . Triumph rookies, Brian LaPlante a nd Charlie Thielke tangled in the Semi with both riders going down hard. Both machines flew high in the air and Thielke's bike was about 50% wiped out. Both riders limped off the track. Hank Scott, younger brother of Gary, Came to A scot for the first time as a big b ike J unior rider and as the win ner o f th ree Hal f-mil es an d a mile in the east and south . (I n o the r words, he's the best Junior in th e c ou n try, outside , o f California.) Han k go t th e o ld o ne -two from Danny Ho ckie and Ric k Ho cking. Danny wheel ed h is BSA to fast Junior time with Hocking second fast on his . Ch amp io n Yamaha. Scott wa s fourth fas tes t b ehind Triumph mounted Rex Ba rr at t. T he first th ree Juniors fo r th e firs t time eve r were all in the twen ty tw o second bracket. Scott and his Yamaha were righ t at twe nty three flat. •Hockie led Scott all th e way to win his he at race and h anded Hank h is first hea t race IQ SS o f t he year. Ho cking had to figh t to the finish lin e to hold off ch arged up John Spe rry . Rex Barratt ch arge d his way to his first he at win in th e final warmup. Ho ckie blew hi s en gin e o n th e second lap o f th e final while running third. Hank kept it a close second for th e fir st five lap s, but Hocking edged awa y to win b y a wide m argin a t the finish . Sperry was third with Barratt, four th . Mon tan a's Scott Er ickson ran fif th . Alab am a's ro okie Expert, Billy Field, made his firs t Ascot ap pearanc e . on a Yam ah a but ran far back in th e heat race, pulled a fifth in th e Sem i' and wa s an al t ern at e to the fin al bu t nobody pulled out and Field wat ch ed fr om the pits. Ascot's high ' po in t Novi ce , Tom Be rry, finally m ad e it back to first place aft er runnin g sec o nd three weeks in a row. Skip Aksland again won his heat rac e as d id Berry, but Aksland got over-eager on the third lap o f the final while running a close second and crashed. ' The Novice Main had to be stopped On the first la p of the first sta rt when Bakersfield's Ryan Gifford, the second fastest heat winner, bailed in the first tum. After Aksland cra shed in th e second go-around Honda m o u n ted Bob Ho sford came up in the final two laps to nip Bultaco ace Gary Bevans for second behind the front running Yamaha. Mark Barbani turned in the best ride of the night in the lightweight class when he got in to the final as an alternate, started in ten th p lace and came up to take fo urth o n his Yamaha. The Novices, as we ll as the J unio n, will also be co mpe tin g in the AMA Regional this Friday night. RESULTS EXPERT F INAL: 1. Dewayne Keete r (H·D!. 2. Tom Hort on ITri). 3. Tom White rr -n. 4 . Terry Dorsch (T ri!. 5. Frank Gillespie [Yarn} . 6. Lloyd Houchins ITri!. 7 . Tom Ro ckwood (Tri!. 8. Larry Gino (Tri). 9 . Denny Kanegae (Nor). 10 . Da"" Aldana (Nor). . J UNIOR FINAL: 1. Rick Hocking (Y arn), 2. Han k Scott (Yam!. 3. Jo hn Sperry (Suz). 4 . Rex 8arratt ITril. 5 . Scott Erickson (Yam). 6.80b Sanders (Nor). 7. Earl Myer (Nor) . 8 . Danny Hockie (8SA). NOVICE FINAL: 1. Tom 8err y (Yam), 2. 80b Hosford (Hon). 3. Gary 8 evans (But). 4. Marc Barbani (Yam). 5. Randy Miller (Yam). 6. Dennis 8 riggs (Kaw!. 7. Brad Holt lKaw). 8 . Jerry Kole (Yam). 9 . Pat Guthr ie (Kaw!. 10. Skip Aksland (Yam!' ...David came up wit h a sick engine. David did manage to take t he Trophy Dash and girl, however. Photos by Dan Maho ny: Skip Aksland fo und th at you can' t win the m all.