misunderstood and wrongly ap-
plied. Ask Jimmy Ellis, the long-
suffering Team Can-Am rider.
Navigating a deep mudhole on
the track, Ellis' machine snapped
a handlebar in two! "I didn't fall,"
bemoaned the Connecticut rider.
"[I] just went through the mud
-
hole and it broke."
Ellis would return to win the
second 250cc moto that day. It
is a textbook illustration of these
early days of motocross, as
many rider/bike combos would
demonstrate the practice of "win
one, break one." The first works
bikes were devils in disguise. As
Team Honda's Warren Reid later
expounds, "They were always
trick. They weren't always good."
Ellis' misfortune handed the
victory to Marty Tripes, who was
onboard a Husqvarna in 1974.
Tripes took the first moto win
and the eventual overall, even
though he could only muster a
fifth-place finish in moto num
-
ber two. Other riders, like Team
Yamaha's Tim Hart (second and
sixth) and Pierre Karsmakers
(seventh and second) also had
good and bad motos. "Consis-
tency, or a lack thereof," wrote
CN's Lane Campbell, "was a key
factor in today's 250cc race."
It was a different story in
the 500cc class that day, with
Weinert winning both motos.
Weinert, who hailed from Middle
-
town, New York, was in a tough
battle for the title with CZ rider
Tony DiStefano long before he
was known as Suzuki's "Tony D."
DiStefano was just 17 years old
(and carried the same number
on his CZ) and was the points
leader in the class, only to suffer
a thumb injury shortly before the
New York round. In Mexico, Tony
rode with a modified twist grip on
his bike (an "orthopedic throttle"
according to his rival Weinert).
It would be neither the throttle
nor his thumb that would plague
Tony on this day, though. Instead,
his Czechoslovakian motorcycle
would let him down, with both en
-
gine and chain issues. DiStefano
still managed a top-five overall
finish, but well behind Weinert,
who was on his way to winning
his first National Championship.
The AMA granted the Moto-
Masters facility two more Na
-
tionals, with the series returning
in 1975 and '76 for 500cc Cham-
pionship events. The natural-
terrain track, with its signature
"Devil's Drop Downhill" (Lucifer's
Ladder when run the other direc-
tion), is still in existence and
going strong.
"The [Moto-Masters] track is
similar but not the same as it
was," says track owner Richard
"Bunk" Bristol, who has been the
track's sole proprietor for the
last seven years. "Over the years,
we've had to make changes to
the track for the modern bikes,
and it has more jumps. We also
modify it for the vintage races to
suit the older bikes."
Bunk attended the track's
first National in 1974. "I was
there," he said. "We lived just
up the road and, well, I probably
shouldn't tell you this, but we
snuck in and had a good time. I
don't really remember the race. It
was a long time ago.
"It's interesting the track has
made it this long," says Bunk.
"You don't need a million dollars
to keep it running, so that's prob
-
ably why."
The Moto-Masters track is one
of the oldest, if not the oldest,
motocross tracks in New York.
Bunk says it could be the oldest
but says Unadilla and Thunder
Ridge have been around for a
long time, too.
On August 17-18, the Moto-
Masters Park will celebrate
the 50th anniversary of its first
National with a vintage race
weekend. The AHRMA event will
undoubtedly be a resurrection
of great old brands powered by
sweet-smelling pre-mix! It will be
1974 all over again!
CN
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P137
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
The Moto-Masters track
is still running races and
will celebrate its 50th
anniversary with a special
vintage race this month.
