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/1546306
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P137 his privately sponsored Can-Am. Other 1970s legends, like Jimmy Ellis and Billy Grossi, were also now privateers, riding machines that were nearly showroom-stock. None of the extenuating cir- cumstances might have mattered anyway, because the fastest rider in America and maybe even the world that year was Kent "The Rhinestone Cowboy" Howerton. The Texan had won his first championship in 1976 but had spent the next several seasons battling every other rider for sec - ond place, behind Hannah. In late '79, however, Howerton upped his game with a strenuous train- ing program that gave him the stamina he needed to race with and sometimes defeat Hannah. His strong finish to the '79 season made him the odds-on fa - vorite to win the 250cc crown that Hannah could not defend. It would be one of his best-ever years, and he easily wrapped up the 250cc title before the gate dropped at the final race at Colorado. Although he didn't need another win, a racer is a racer, and after a bad start, Howerton began to pick off one rider after another, even if he couldn't see who he happened to be passing. Up front, a local KTM rider named Boo Stichter was having the ride of his life, leading the top riders on his home track. "I remember being out in front," Stichter said years later, "and just thinking 'Well, where are they?'" Stichter's heroic homeboy ride would not have a storybook ending, as Warren Reid and Steve Wise both made their way past. Coming up through the pack was Howerton. Dust, rocks, energy- robbing high altitude—did he have enough left in the tank to catch the front-runners? In the history of sport, there are many examples of someone finally cracking the code to beat their op - ponent. The Red Sox finally topped the Yankees to reach the World Series in 2004, and the 1980 Buf- falo Bills ended a 20-game losing streak against their AFC rival, the Miami Dolphins. After losing 16 consecutive times to Jimmy Con- nors, tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis finally beat him in the ATP Semi- Finals at Madison Square Garden. "And let that be a lesson to you all," he famously said afterward. "No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." When you're tired of the bully kicking sand in your face, you cough up the 50 cents for the Charles Atlas Dynamic Tension bodybuilding guide. Eating roost from Bob Han - nah's Yamaha had been a steady diet for Howerton for a couple of seasons, and the Rhinestone Cowboy decided he'd had enough. His newfound training program involved a lot of running, so much running that "it made me so sick I nearly quit." But he worked through the pain and "pretty soon, I was beating [Hannah]." As the 1979 series ended, on any given day, Howerton was swapping moto wins with Hannah. In Lakewood, the two-lap sign had come out and Howerton "got mad." As Cycle News reported, "Howerton apparently gets faster when he gets mad. In an aston - ishing charge, he went by both Stichter and Wise by the white flag. It didn't end there because he wanted it all, and in that last lap, Howerton slipped by leader Reid to cap his catch-up ride." The winning effort took its toll on the new champ, who struggled with severe stomach pains in be - tween motos and nearly missed the gate drop. "When the one- minute board was up, I was still running across the starting area," Howerton said afterward. The second moto went to his team - mate Darrell Schultz, with Reid again in second, but Howerton's third place finish was enough to give him the overall win. "I would have beat him this year," Howerton had told Cycle News when asked about Bob Hannah's absence. "I'm stronger than ever and my bikes are much better than before." No more sand in the face. It wasn't his fault that the bully wasn't there. CN Subscribe to more than 60 years of Cycle News Archives issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives Newly crowned Kent Howerton capped off the 1980 250cc MX season by winning the Colorado National. Goat Breker won his first National in the 500cc class.