Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 12 MARCH 25, 2014 P113 up and take notice. It also gave Bell the confidence that he could indeed run with riders at the top level of the sport. So Bell started racing West Coast Na- tionals in 1977 and went full time on the circuit in '78. If Hannah was on a major roll with his six- straight Supercross wins, Bell too was on a mini-roll of his own. Just a week before the Su- perbowl, Bell scored his first AMA National win - the AMA 500cc National at St. Peters, Missouri. So he too was full of confidence coming into the Coliseum. Both Hannah and Bell rode with Ya- maha. As usual the Superbowl was truly one of the big events of all of motorcycle racing. 62,000 fans showed up to watch the event, likely the best at- tended race of the season. As expected Hannah easily won the night's first qualifying race to make the main. Bell on the other hand, was a bit quieter in his path to the main. He'd finished second to Maico's Darrell Shultz, but had a bit of a struggle getting past another Maico rider Dennis Brand to make it to the runner-up spot. Tension was thick at the starting gate for the main event. The riders lined up for the final were a Who's Who of that era's motocross racing. Steve Stackable, Marty Smith, Rex Staten, Gaylon Mosi- er, Jim Pomeroy, Rick Burgett, Tommy Croft, Kent Howerton, Gary Semics, Jim Ellis, Darrell Shultz as well as Hannah and Bell, were the big names in the race. One of the pre-race favorites, Tripes, didn't make the main when his bike broke in quali- fying. When the gate dropped on the final it was Semics nailing the holeshot and getting out to the early lead. Bell got a bad start and was barely inside the top 10. The only good news for all the other riders in the field that night was that Hannah had gotten caught behind a multi-rider pileup in the early going and was even farther back. Bell battled with his old rival Weinert in the early laps, as Hannah came charging up from the back and was looking for a way around Ellis. Six laps into the 20-lap final the crowd was amazed to see the top runners come together in a massive battle with eight riders running in a tight string. With five laps to go Semics was still leading, but Bell had worked his way all the way up to sec- ond and was charging hard. The pipe on Semic's Can-Am had gotten damaged in a run in with a lapped rider and it slowed his bike late in the race. With three laps to go Bell moved by Semics to take over the lead. Hannah too zipped past the slowing Semics. The crowd came to their feet as the race picture became clear. It boiled down to a two-rider showdown between the two Yamaha riders. For a lap and a half Bell held off every pass attempt Hannah threw at him. It was a wonderful display of defensive riding by Bell. "At one point Bob slammed his front tire into my leg," Bell said. "He definitely was letting me know he was there and was trying to pressure me into a mistake." Bell took the checkered flag to the roar of the approving crowd. The young, still relatively un- known Bell had beaten the best in Hannah, one of the few times The Hurricane was bested when he was on top of his game. Bell was mobbed by fans, friends and his team. He felt almost an out of body experience, so great was the elation. "When I woke up the next morning, I thought I had been dreaming. But my father had put the first-place trophy at the foot of my bed and there it was – I really had actually won the Superbowl of Motocross! It was one of the proudest moments of my career." Bell went on to win many more races in his ca- reer, but perhaps none more memorable than the night at the Superbowl when he beat Hannah at his best. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives BELL'S BIG SURPRISE

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