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/141063
.... N i e, M .... Ol BY BOB F , READ . It) c: -, THE NATIONAL PAPERS " ~ w Z W ...J U >- U • by Bob F. Read If the San J ose half mil e national is any in dication of th in gs to come with th e n ew AMA all-Expert program then cycle raci n g has a new winner. The fo rmat has . lured many more Exp erts to travel to an event that p ay s h alf of th e n ear fift y q ualifiers mo re than j ust token mo ney. T he bi g problem n ow facin g m any of th em is time t rial s. T he histo ry of racin g h as lo n g fo und n on -winn in g riders that ar e good against the clock s when th ey are on th e trac k by themselves. T he case in p o in t was obvious a t San J ose , wh er e man y riders wh o had no chance of win ning ei ther th e n ational o r T rophy final go t in to th e program. The rec o rd entry of Ex perts at San Jo s e (there w e re over seventy) elimi nate d th e likes o f D ave Aldana, J oh n Ha teley and J immy Odom in tim e tr ials . A ld ana an d Odom are bo th fo rme r natio nal half mile winners an d Hateley ran ks wi tli th e best of th e ye t- to-w in, Bu t that 's th e basis up on which mo to rcy cle racin g is bui l t o n: A foundation th at is ge t ting better each ye ar . If th e n ew program is making it more d iffi cu lt fo r some of th e pas t b e tter riders , it may also she d light on so me of the newer riders who h ave not had their mo ment of glory. What percen trage of riders h ave , or ever will, win even one national race? The bnly d isapo in tin g factor about San Jose was again the lack of eastern riders . The p u rses have been greatly increased. The program now pays m ore money to m ore riders an d still fe w of the UN ames" fro m east show u p. It 's a q uestion often asked by man y people . T he expenses are the sa me for eas tern rid ers to co me west. as it is in June and A ugus t for th e west ern rid ers to t ravel east. Perh ap s the man y w ins in recent years by the man y trave ling western ride rs in the east, mid west and south has p laced a d am p ener on the hopes of beating the m in their backyard, so to speak. The first two San Jose nationals were wo n by George Roede r and Bart Markel. Since that time no eastern rider h as come close to wi nning on the track that is like many of the eastern ovals. Maybe there are no more Ma rkel an d Roeder t y p e ri ders o utside of California any mo re . Cal ifornia m ay be th e " Factory" th a t p rod uces th e majo rity of th e go -fast guys in recent years , but it is no t d ue to th e amo unt of racin g and numbe r of tracks availa ble. Asco t is the starting ground for most of the m b ut runs only once a week fro m Ap ril through October. But. by the time the riders ma kes Expert he on ly races at Ascot a fra ction of the time, as he is on the circuit and racing a different track every wee k and so metimes two and three times. San J ose only runs two or three times a year at the most. Tulare finally cam e b ack this season fo r a o ne sh orter. So it bo ils do wn to n o mo re than three o r four t ra cks to learn o n whil e a ride r is co mi ng up thro ugh the ra nks. Gi ve a lo t o f credit t o th e guys f rom Orego n . T hey h ave a . su pe r small TT tr ack n ear Portland. That 's wh ere th ey start and le arn and earn p o in ts to m ake Junior an d Expert. Mo re an d m o re they are traveling to Asco t an d S an Jose and getting bea t, bu t with th e p assin g of each season th ey are learning and coming up wit h the ty pe of rider th at is getting bette r, even though he di d n o t start o ut on an oval. Promo t er . Don Bryme r m ay be opening so me d oo rs up that way as he h as at lea st ' fo ur h alf m ile events pl anned for Sale m, O regon, th is season. Ge t so me of th ose kinds up t hat way on an oval m o re than onc e a year wh en the y a re Novice and J un io r riders an d i t may put th em ove r the h um p . . It h as alway s been a question as to why th ere are o nly TT track in th e Portland and Seattle areas. Maybe it is just tradition, but h is hurting the m an y potential great riders in the two states. The opposite is true in the other parts of the country. The only TT racin g th at takes pl ace anywhere east of the Col orad o river each year is at Peori a , III., Wabash , In d. an d Santa Fe Par k, III. T he comb ine d t otal does not exceed ten per season. Every th ing is hal f mile and sho rt track in th at coun try. T here ar e m ore h alf mil e t racks in the state of Ohio th a t are used for cycle racing than the re are total half mil es wes t of Kan sas! Not one Oh io rider Was ente re d at San J os e. Oh io is n ot th e o nly state that h as faile d to come up with new winning talent in recent years. Ill in ois is another. Weekly short tra ck races near Ch icago and ac ross th e river fro m St. Louis eve ry year h ave yet faile d to p roduce new winner a t major eve n ts. Li ke Ohio , Illin ois also h as many h alf mil es that are used year in and ye ar out. T hey just don't see m to produce talen t for th e n at ional circuit. Michigan h as had to rel y on Bart Markel fo r th e p ast fo urteen years. In bygon e seasons t his st a te was a mass producer of better th an ave rage Experts . Then the well went d ry after Bar t came alo ng. Bar t is n ow in his 17th season of racing and fro m all indications it may be his last for m an y re asons. On the brigh t side, the tracks in the Wolverine state are making a strong comeback this year with over th irty races o n the slate. They also h ave new and younge r officials to help the ca use . Rex Beauch amp appears to be the new headli ner fro m Mich igan but has yet to w in a n a tional race. It 's o n ly a m att er of tim e before h e d oes take one of th e big on es. But p ast Rex th ere is li ttl e to get excited about as the rest o f the whi t e p lates in that area seldom st ray too far fro m home. T he n there is Pen nsyl van ia and Maryland. The first has a considerable n um b er of races every year and respectable number of ho me state Expert and Junior riders. The Maryland area has weekly half mile races. When Was the last time any riders from either state carne close t o winning a dirt track n ation al? To avoid arg ue rnent, Gary Nixon was reared in Oklahoma, learned hi s racing allover the coun try and won h is first h alf mil e final in th ree years j ust a few week s ago. Chuck Palm gren lists his h ome add ress as Free hold, N.J . but h as lived in California fo r ove r three years and has n eve r lived in fa mo us o ld F reehold . He gets his ma il there from bro ther, Larry. Perh ap s the n ew AMA pro gr am revive the Expert eve nts. By tra dition, righ t or ' wrong, wh ere a rider comes fro m and the brand he rides h as played a big part in professio nal cycle racing. Far m ore than it d oes in any othe r phase of the sport of motorized co m petition. If it really is imp ortan t fo r th e ho rne-state- lad to win mo re than just the o nce-a-ye ar co un ty fair grounds cl u b sp onso red event th en the AMA seems to be on the righ t track wi th more money, good o fficials and b etter tr acks. More rid ers eac h year are making a livin g rac in g cycles. Bu t they h ave t o get o ut of their own backyard to d o it . The cost is fractional co mpared to trying to d o th e same in cars. The p urses, in many cases, are be tter. California racers don't leave their home state for anything b u t mo n ey and may be a p ar t .time girl friend, or two. Pacific coast state p ro moters would li ke n o th in g be tter th an to h ave a t le ast two o r th ree d o zen Experts fro m the east fo r the San J ose mi le , the Castl e R ock TT, the Col o rado Springs mil e an d th e two' Ascot nation als. Bart Ma rk el said it a long time. agao . " I 'd rather win th e Ascot h alf mile n ational than any o ther race , maybe eve n the Grand National ti tle;" How do you kn ow u nless you try? JUNE 16 & 17 Over night campmg association rules applied june 15- practice day 9 to 2 pm. fee $3 june 16- chapter against chapter. 1st race 9am. $7 mail $10 post. june 17- expert, amateurs, and novices 1st race 9am. $7 mail $10 IIOVICI Support ClaSSle'5: 100% TWO"." 125. 250 So 500 c11.-... Sat. - Sun. LIMnED CLASS SiZE directions to soledad sands . park: t ake golden state fWy. to palmdale cut off (hwi 14 ) to act on . take crown valley of! ramp- follow signs. for race info call: 805-259-1008 p.o. box 149 saugus, calif oldttmers world cham ionshi m ')( 5W[[P W'"-PlAe[-gHOW PlUg r ·OURTHTOO! will Pursang performance and han dling tu rne d the first fou r places int o a Pursang sweep at the Port land , Oregon, T rans-AMA Qualifier Sunday, May 13, 1973. To m Rapp, Doug Grant, Kerry Fowler, and Ron Pomeroy turned in the best performances of the day to once again show the Pursang performance an d reliability. FLASH ! Doug ' Grant wins First overall at the Salt Lake City, Utah Qualifying round Sunday May 20 ,1973. PLUS...Jim Pomeroy is 4th in World 250 Grand Prix Champ ionship Points ! AV AILAB L E A T ALL FINE BULTAC O SHO PS