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/141062
Cl '" > ~ ::;; ~ w 2 w -' U >- U Aldana (13) was t he class of the field. GA R DENA , CA L., May 18 - T he Al\lA un veil ed th eir n ew S3,OOO Region al half-mi le at As cot tonight an d the lo cals were rea d y and waiting. Most of the out of sta le entries fo rgot -to show Up. even tho ugh t hey h ad file d o fficial entry b lanks. It probab ly mad e no dif feren ce , as Dav e Ald ana and his factory sp on sored Norton w as th e clas s o f the field. In time t rials Aldana tie d th e o ne lap tr ack record set ea rlie r this year by Gary Sco tt at 2 2 :30. Sco tt, ridin g ano ther new T riu mp h fo r t he first time, wa s second fas tes t an d also we ll in to th e twe n ty twos. T hen Dave and G ary wen t out and each won a heat race to set up for the fin al. Bu t i t w as all Aldan a as Sco tt came up with en gin e troubles early in th e race arid pulled off the tr ac k af ter runn ing se c ond. S cott wa s jus t o ne of four rid ers who were no t a round a t the finish. Mert Lawwill went only one lap before h e pulled to th e pits. It was a first fo r Mert he forgot to put o n his st eel skid-sh oe ! R ookie Brian LaPlante, fiavin g his best night this y ear, moved into seco nd but then also pulled o ff with problems . Late in the race Chuck Hart did the same thin g. Previous winn er , De\Vayne Ke eter, failed to finish the heat race, co ming up with mag troubles this week. John Hareley showed up on his third different brand this season. This time it was a BSA 7S0.John pulled a second in his heat behind Scott and then ran second to Aldana in the final. Mike Cav es , a rookie Expert from Illinois, entered but finished last in his heat race and failed to transfer. Oklahoma's Bruce Townsend blew a primary chain in practice and could not make time trials. Tom White crashed in time trials and decided to wait for San Jose Sunday. Jim Rawls and Phil Darcy showed up from Texas but failed to reach the main event, Mike Kidd never found the right road from down Dallas wa y and failed to s how as did Michigan's Rex Beaucham p: Rick Hoc king ma de it eight straig ht i n the Junior "class, zipping the · Cha mp io n fra me Yamaha in for ano ther pair of w ins . Hoc king also to ok fast time h on ors an d held off J ohn Genn ai in the final for his fo urth half m ile win of the year . \ Re x Barrat t also wo n a Juni o r heat th at fou nd only three riders on the re -start line after a series o f crashes tha t too k out fo ur riders. Mike Clark and Ike Turne r ran in to each other an d too k Dann y Hackie down wi th th em. On the second start R ick Hu tchi ns went full t ilt in to the south tum, let go of his new Harley an d fell off. The machine the n hit the wall, cli mbed ove r, and fell ba c k o n the track. Han k Scott foun d th e going rough agai n this we ek d uri ng his second visi t this season t o A sco t. T he Yam ah a rid er Was beat o u t for second in hi s h eat by Devon Sow ell and th en h ad to pass J ohn Sperry at the fini sh lin e to win th e Semi. He ran fifth in th e fin al afte r a second place finish a week ago . Novice point le ad er, T om Berry, won hi s he at race 'b u t four o ther riders had h eat win s that were fa st er. Then Barry had to figh t every in ch of the win in the main to win fo r th e fourth time this y ear. T"T rider John Alli son looked all set to win his first oval ra ce o n the Kawasaki but hit the panic button wh en passed by Berry late in the race and fell off on the north tum. Tom then held off Randy Miller on the final lap to wrap up an o the r win. Girl gladiator, Debbie Reon , again ran a strong third in her heat ra ce and came close four times to taking second place but had to settle for third for the second straight week, wh ich was not good en ough for a transfer. Sh e beat seven mal e riders and cloc ked fa st er on ce again . . This coming Friday nigbt it's back to half mile racing with a TT slated for Monday night, May 20th. . John All ison (9 3 R ) led eventual winner Berry unt il the latter got past and the former fell off to 'finish as last Novice. Note John's pipe. • Aldana savors the spoils of Expert victory while Hocking looks on. Note John's shoe. Hmm. No steel shoe. Well , at least he remembered to PUt it on . Mert forgot .