VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P149
In second place was Husqvar-
na rider Marty Tripes, who had
scored an overall win just a few
weeks earlier at the National
held in Mexico, New York. He
would need Bad Lady Luck to
visit Jones and a strong finish
of his own at the final event if
he were to have a chance at the
crown, but number one was still
within reach. But what might've
been one of the talented Tripes'
best chances at a champion
-
ship was punted away when the
youngster showed up at the fi-
nal race on a new bike, one that
was made not in Sweden but
in Canada. Days after finishing
second overall at the previous
event in Ohio, Team Can-Am had
managed to lure Marty over to
their squad. With Jones on top
in points and their other team
rider, Jimmy Ellis, in third, the
Canadian manufacturer had not
only secured themselves a title,
but they had also bought them-
selves a 1-2-3 finish in the final
standings.
Understandably, Tripes was
off the pace that day on his new
mount, struggling to a 7-6 moto
score for a fifth overall, earning
60 points under the AMA's scor-
ing system at that time. Mean-
while, first-moto winner Gary
Jones was plagued by two flat
tires in moto two, which would
relegate him to a 20th-place fin-
ish for a 10th overall score.
Jones earned just 11 points
for his finish, but it was enough
to grab the national champion-
ship by 24 points over Tripes.
Marty had finished in the top
three in all but one race that
season. Had he scored even a
third overall that day and the
100 points that went with it,
the 1974 championship trophy
might be sitting in his den
today, not in Gary Jones'.
It would've been a grand day
for Team Husqvarna, as team
rider Gary Semics won both
motos in the 500cc class. The
title that would go to Jimmy
Weinert on his Kawasaki, who
aced out 17-year-old Tony
DiStefano on his CZ.
Cycle News' staffer Richard
Creed offers no explanation for
the Yamaha and Honda fac
-
tory no-shows. Team Yamaha's
Pierre Karsmakers would've
been a contender for the title,
but nationalism was appar-
ently alive and kicking 50 years
ago, and the transplanted
Dutchman was forbidden from
scoring AMA points. Grossi's
injury had taken away Honda's
chance at the 250cc title. Both
factories elected to leave their
guns at home.
A late, southern summer day
along the mighty Mississippi
River guaranteed a hot and
sweaty Sunday, but a good
crowd showed up to watch a
bunch of talented guys kick up
some dust on their dirt bikes.
Twelve months later, it was a
different sport. The checkered
flag fell on an era that day.
CN
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(Above) Can-Am's Gary Jones
earned the title that year, and
with Tripes finishing second and
Can-Am's Jimmy Ellis third, history
shows that Can-Am swept the
250cc title. (Below) Husqvarna's
Kent Howerton won both motos at
the New Orleans final but wasn't in
championship contention.
