Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 12, 2014 P131 drastically when season-long contender Dick Mann got his foot ran over, breaking his leg and ending any real title hopes. Romero pulled to within shout- ing distance of Rice in the standings, but he still had a long way to go. At the massive Nazareth (Pennsylvania) Mile (ac- tually a mile and an eighth) Rice, along with several other Triumph/BSA riders decided to run the triple- cylinder road race engines. Romero, coming off his win in Sedalia, elected to stay with the tried and true twin. Initially it appeared Rice made a perfect choice with the three-cylinder. He was fastest in time trials, breaking a track record in the process, and com- fortably won his heat race over Cal Rayborn. Unfor- tunately for Rice, his bike lost a chain in the final. He didn't lose any ground to Romero, however. He too had mechanical problems and finished one spot behind Rice in 12th. Almost unbelievably the AMA scheduled the Indy Mile the very next day after Nazareth, forcing rid- ers and crews to make a 600-mile overnight haul to Indy. Romero and the rest of the BSA/Triumph crew were helped by the factory flying them by private jet to Indy. Aldana came through to win Indy on Dick Mann's BSA. Romero finished a solid fourth and caught a break when Rice's BSA broke. The series left Indy with Rice now holding a narrow points lead over Romero with new title contender Aldana surging in third. The series then moved from Indy to Sacramen- to. Romero remembers driving non-stop from Indy to California and helping out Nick Deligianis, Mike Libby and Axtell at Axtell's shop in Glendale all week helping get his bikes ready. "We worked until 10 or 11 o'clock Saturday night before we left for Sacramento," Romero recalls. "This guy who hung around named Applegate was going to drive me up there and turns out he was only good for about a 100, 140 miles and he was fading. So I drove the rest the way up there and got there with just enough time to crash out and sleep in the hotel for a couple of hours and then get up and go to the races." On race day it was decision time. Triumph had built a couple of three-cylinder flat track bikes and Pat Owens (Triumph/BSA's crew chief) really want- ed Romero to ride one at Sacramento. "Out of respect to Pat, I tried the triple and man it was fast," Romero remembers. "But it was a little bit of a handful in the corners and it came on pretty hard. The old Sacramento Mile [not today's track] had a relatively narrow groove and I knew it would be risky to race the triple. I got on my twin and it just hooked up out of the turns so perfect. I told Pat I was sticking with that one." The championship was essentially down to Rice, Romero and Aldana, but the title chase would end that day. Rice crashed in turn one af- ter the checkered flag of his heat race, breaking his nose and being captured by the cameras of "On Any Sunday." He rode on in the final, but with pain and an ailing machine. The other contender Aldana, bailed hard off his BSA triple on the first lap of the main and was out for the day. So with the other two challengers down or out, Romero took full advantage and won the race in a runaway. The Sacramento victory clinched the 1970 AMA Grand National Championship for Romero, but Romero says he didn't know until after the race. "Suzy Mann came up and congratulated me in the hotel parking lot after the race," Romero said. "I thought she was talking about for winning the race, but she said for winning the championship." That's Romero's version. His buddy and road roommate Aldana remembered it differently. "He knew he won the championship," Aldana smiled. "I shared a room with him and remember he had all the different point scenarios taped up on the hotel mirror before we went to the race." Whatever the case, Romero had clinched the title with two races remaining in a crazy two-week cram of Nationals. He put icing on the cake in the next race when he won at Ascot Park where Tri- umph famously presented him with a big check for $10,000 for winning the championship. CN 1970 TITLE Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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