Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE T he year was 1976, movie goers were flock- ing to Rocky, Taxi Driver, Network and All the President's Men; we were learning about a Georgia peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter; Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" and Paul McCartney and Wings "Silly Love Songs" dominated the airwaves. On TV we watched "All in the Family," "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "Sanford and Son," and all year America was celebrating its bicentennial. The big story in American motorcycle racing going into the '76 season was Gary Scott leaving Harley- Davidson. It was a stun- ner. Scott was leaving the factory squad he'd ridden to the AMA Grand National Championship in 1975 and was striking out on his own. Scott felt the money Milwaukee offered him was an insult; there were personality conflicts be- tween Scott and managers of the Harley factory squad and Harley-Davidson didn't have a competitive short track or road-racing machine. The chances of winning the long and grueling Grand National Championship as a privateer would be a nearly impossible task, but the strong-willed Scott thought he could do it. That year's Grand National Championship spanned 10 months, crisscrossed the country totaling 90,000 miles of travel to 15 different states and totaled 28 rounds. The championship was made up of eight half- miles, six miles, four short tracks, five TTs and four road races in one of the most balanced calendars in the history of the series. The '76 season saw a number of ups and downs, twists and turns, and instead of Gary Scott defending, or Kenny Roberts earning back the title, it was a teen- aged Harley-Davidson rider from Flint, Michigan, who emerged as the surprise victor that year. The young- ster's name was Jay Springsteen. "Springer" made one of the most memorable come-from-behind charges ever in the final eight rounds. What worked into a three-way battle for the cham- pionship was made even more interesting by the fact that each rider took a different approach to winning the number-one plate. Roberts, the factory Yamaha rider, would rely on his emerging dominance on the road courses. It didn't quite work out as Yamaha planned it would, since Roberts claimed only one vic- tory in the four road race nationals that season. Springsteen, Rookie of the Year in '75, hoped to take the more traditional dirt track route to the title riding on the tried and tested Harley-Davidson XR750 with tuning by a young and talented Bill Werner. Scott was going to try to get it done with a variety of bikes, specialized for various venues. He'd race Yamaha's at road races and short tracks, Harleys for THE BICENTENNIAL CHAMPIONSHIP P126 The unflappable "Springer." Springsteen and Kenny Roberts battling for the championship.