Howerton and Hart Haul In the Hail at Hangtown - Part 3
Dirt Diggers
at
Hangtown
Tuesday April 6, 1976
By: Scott Heidbrink
250 PRO With all the names in this race, it too was another one for "guess who will win?" There were over 20 people that had an equal chance of winning. When the gate dropped, almost im¬mediately Rich Eierstedt dropped out. Charging for the first corner, his throttle stuck and he was heading for the fence. He grabbed the clutch and sat out the remainder of the race. In the lead was Can-Am's Jimmy Ellis. He had got the advantage and was leading Husky-mounted Kent Howerton. These two were so close it would take a doctor to separate them. And they stayed just like this for almost the entire moto. Ellis would have the lead, then Howerton, then Ellis, etc. It went back and forth so many times there was no keeping track of it. Finally, Howerton pulled away from Ellis when Jimmy started to have bike troubles. Ellis lost his brakes!
While all this was going on, there was a battle deluxe for third. For a while it looked like Billy Grossi was in third on his Suzuki, but he was down a lap. He had trouble on the first lap and didn't get un¬derway until the pack came around again. Actually in third was Jammin' Jimmy Weinert and Tony DiStefano. These riders were going back and fourth with big Tony finally getting the advantage over the Yamaha rider. The suprise came in fifth place with Kawasaki-mounted Steve Wise. He is from McAllen, Texas and he is just now starting to make his presence known. Wise was cooking in fifth and his Kawasaki was running primo. His mechanice Jim Felt was doing things right.
Another rider that was looking good was Sal DeFeo. He had to follow Wise for a while then he pulled into the fifth spot, forcing Steve back to sixth. Sal has had his troubles, but today he was making his Maico sing and he was cooking. Gary Semics and Kenny Zahrt were having fun racing together. They looked like follow the leader. Kenny had the lead and Gary was right behind. Kenny had the clean shirt and Gary was roosted.
After about 20 minutes, things started calming down. When the checkered came out, it was Howerton with Ellis close behind. DiStefano made it to third with Weinert fourth. DeFeo was fifth and Wise sixth. Semics passed Zahrt and took seventh while Kenny had eighth. Mike Runyard was riding around very quickly, but bothering no one all day. He ended up in ninth on his Can-Am. Gaylon Mosier, riding for Wheelsmith, took tenth.
The second moto was another story, with Howerton getting the hole shot and followed by Weinert, DiStefano, Ellis, and the rest. Grossi, who ended up 23 in the first moto, was cooking and passing riders like the Berserko Billy everybody knows. The battles were forming and then Weinert dropped out, leaving Billy Grossi now in second place. DiStefano was in third and trying to pass Grossi. Then he decided to cool it and wait for Billy to make a mistake.
Ellis was in fourth, with nobody around him. This race also turned into an enduro, with loads of riders dropping out. When the checkered came out, Howerton had a huge lead over second place DiStefano. It seems Gross! low sided on the last lap.
Gross! was still able to take third for this moto. Ellis took fourth looking very casual. In fifth place was Radical Richard Thorwaldson, who actually looked very mild all day. Following Rich across the line was Maico teammate Steve Stackable. Runyard took seventh and John Savitski took ninth. Overall, Howerton swept the class winning both motes. DiStefano took second with his 3-2 finish and Ellis brought home third. The suprise was fourth, Mike Runyard, with his 9-7. Consistent riding pays off. Fifth was Stackable, who had an 11 in the first moto.
It was a funny day. The early morning was all rain, the middle of the day it was not raining but it was cloudy. The track was even steaming. (That's what I call smoking around a track.) Then the end of the day it was clear and sunny. Why couldn't that have come five hours earlier?
Really, it didn't matter, since this was a great race and everybody that was there really enjoyed it. Now, everybody can't wait until next year so they can go back and do it again.