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/141065
;s; " s M e- '" l ": .., " lIJ :;: W Z w ...J U >- U '. by J ack Mangus Ph otos by Bob Lenk LO UISVILLE, KY ., June 9 - Canadian Dave S eh l won the Louisvill e Nation al Half-mil e for th e third tim e in th e last f our yea r s a s h e l ed 1-2-3-4-5 H arl ey-D avid son sw eep of th e e ven t held at Lo uisvill e D owns . The sell out crowd, an no unced at 9,8 83 , wa tch ed Sehl lead fello w Harley riders, Mert Lawwill, Jim R ice, Rex Beauchamp and Corky Keener for the en tire twenty laps. T he crus hed limesy lime sto ne surface of Louisvill e Downs produced some exci ting practice sessions that saw Yamah a fac to ry rider Don Cas tro, Sehl, Lawwill, Be au champ and Keith UJicki es ta blish th emselves as the . fast guys. Castro was th e only h ot shoe usin g a Dunl o p t rials universal tir e. T he "kn obby " Dunl op al lo we d Cast ro to ride hi gh, producing roo s te r ta Hs th at absolu tely b eserked the crowd . Wi t h t he seve nty plus en tries trimmed dow n to the for ty eight fas test by time trials, th e stage was set fo r the first of the four heats. T he first two fini sh ers in each of th e heat s wo uld advance to the n ational , whil e fin ishers three through eig h t would advance in to o ne of th e two se mis. In he at one Mert Lawwill to o k the lead in tum o ne foll o wed b y Dave Seh l. Lawwill pulled out a co m fo rta b le lead on Sehl wh o was being pressured b y T ri u m p h factory rider, C ary Scott. Scott got b y Sehl in tum one on the fifth lap and held second to th e finish t o advance to th e National along with Mert, wh o cap tu re d the p ole position. The second heat was red fla gged o n th e first lap when Don Castro, the San Jose National winner who o cc upied th e pole for th e heat, unloaded in tum three while giving chase to Dick Mann who h ad taken the lead at the wav e o f the green flag with a tr emendous ho le shot. Castro w as unhurt and Yamaha 's "Dirt." te am manager, Shell T ru itt , h ad his bike back o n th e lin e within the e igh t minutes repair time all owed b y th e AMA . Castro co uld n ' t explain wh y he go t off and remember only " b anging off Cene R omero" pri or t o unl oadin g. Bugs m ade the restart a rep eat of the o rigi n al as he t ook t he le ad in tum one and im m ed ia tely pulled o u t a lead that h e h eld to th e fin ish. Behind Mann th e ac tio n was all in the figh t fo r secon d as J im Zeig le r pressured Chuck Palmgre n all th e wa y . Palmgren , aboar d th e Dan Curne y All Ame rican R acers Yamah a, sh u t t he d o or o n Ze igle r o n the last lap in tu rns three an d four an d took th e second spot to advance in t o the National. In th e th ird heat, Jim R ice took the lead at the sta r t and began pullin g a way fr om th e field to b uild u p a tw enty bi ke len gth lead ove r ru n ne ru p Ke n n y Roberts. Rice's ap p are nt fac to ry team - - " "--.. . .. Me rt won the pole but couldn 't catch Sehl in the bi g one. s Ga ry Scott led J im R ice Briefly . -- " Hi , M om. I won t"