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/182943
CN III ARCHIVES P110 BY LARRY LAWRENCE CONCRETE JUNGLE B efore Supercross came into its own, indoor flat track was a popular form of off-season racing. Races were held on concrete arena floors with many of the leading stars of the AMA Grand National Championships present. Talk about sheer chaos. These tiny little tracks brought out the best and worst in riders. With mere hundredths of a second separating transfer spots from also rans, passing was so tough that one of the only ways to get to the front was punting the guy in front of you. The only problem with that was if you gave someone the old heave-ho, you were sure to get payback later in the program. So popular was arena flat track that for the winter of 1972-73 the AMA initiated the American Indoor Short Track National Championship. Much like Grand National Short Track and TT racing, indoor flat track had its specialists. In the early 1970s two of the best indoor flat trackers in the country were Rick Hocking and John Gennai. They would battle most of the season for the championship. This genre of racing reached its zenith, highlighted by landmark sold-out indoor races held in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Indoor short track was very popular in Northern California, so it was appropriate that the American Indoor series began and ended in the Bay Area. Bikes in the series were a variety of mainly 250cc to 350cc two-strokes, with Bultaco, Ossa and Yamaha being the most popular mounts. The first of the eight-race championship was held in Oakland Arena (now known as Oracle Arena) on October 7, 1972 in front of over 5000 fans and it didn't take long for the hardcore bashing of indoor racing to show its ugly head. At the start of the 20-lap Main, Gennai led going into the first turn on his Bultaco, only to be laid out by pole winner Hocking, with David Aldana hitting the deck in the melee as well. The tone for the series was set. The restart went to Hocking and he led from start to finish. There was a big battle for second with Dave Hansen knocking Gennai out of the way and Aldana following. They finished with the Yamaha of Hocking winning and Hansen and Aldana rounding out the podium. Round two moved back East to the Pittsburgh Civic Center, and Gennai took the hard lessons he learned in Oakland and put them to good use. Again he and Hocking battled at every turn, but this time it was Gennai coming out on top with Mike Kidd coming home third. With the win Gen-