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/1525848
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P133 the chase for number one, and he had come out on top of the points battle in both 1973 and 1974. His closest competitor, Gary Scott, had finished second each year, and in 1975, Scott's employer, Harley-Davidson, led by team manager Dick O'Brien, was determined to regain that top spot in AMA racing. The championship would be determined in late September at the running of the San Jose Mile, and even though it was a two-man war, the battle that night was intriguing in so many other ways. To be sure, there was Gary Scott, with a battalion of orange-and-black teammates. And there was Roberts, astride his new TZ 750 dirt track racer that had stunned the dirt track world earlier that season at the Indianapolis Mile. Roberts versus Scott would have been worth the price of admission. As Grand Funk Railroad opined that year, this rivalry alone was "some kind of wonderful!" But fans on hand that night would witness more "clean out of sight" racing drama. The two-stroke racers were now a force to be reckoned with; in addition to Roberts' TZ, both Scott Brelsford and Don Castro were mounted on Kawasaki 750 triples that were tuned by super - star mechanic Erv Kanemoto. On traditional four-strokes were Harley riders Corky Keener, Mert Lawwill and Rex Beauchamp, along with number 65x, a rookie named Jay Springsteen. All were pre-race favorites, on a race track which, by the way, cared not a whiskered plug for any pre- race favorite. The first heat began with fast qualifier Beauchamp on pole, a combination which usually meant that every other rider was going to be fighting for second. If a racer took exception to that rule, they did so at their own peril. "I look at one spot in the first corner and the starter at the same time," he had once stated in a Cycle News interview, "[and] I'm going to that spot unless somebody knocks me down before I get there. If somebody gets in the way, I still head for that spot!" Like other great dirt trackers before and after him, Beau - champ hailed from the state of Michigan, and he had taken a steady ride to secure his place among the elite. Under the guid- ing hand of O'Brien, Beauchamp had become one of the top flat trackers in America. He believed that he could be number one, de- spite his disdain for road racing, which, according to Cycle News, was something he found boring. Beauchamp was both fast and confident. "Kenny Roberts," he said, "is by far the best rider I've ever seen." Is Roberts, the two-time champ unbeatable? "I can beat anyone on dirt," Beauchamp said matter-of-factly. Not in this heat, however, as it would be Brelsford on Kanemo- to's Kawasaki powering to the win, with Rex second, Hank Scott third and Rick Hocking, on another TZ 750 taking the last direct transfer to the main. Beauchamp was saving his best for when it counted. Heat number two saw two more two-strokes making Six two-strokes made the main. Despite only one cracking the top 10, the AMA banned multi-cylinder two-strokes barely before the dust had settled after the race.