Starters MC - District 37 MX at Santa Barbara Airport
Starters MC
at
Santa Barbara Airport
Sunday April 20, 1975
By: Scott Heidbrink
The Starters MC gave everybody a break last Sunday by having a race at a different track. Reactions to the track were varied. Many liked it, others didn't. The reason might have been because it was a tough track. Many tracks stay smooth all day and racers call it moto -cross. But up here, the track has many assorted bumps, jumps, and tight turns making a good motocross track. Their track really tested the ability of many riders, as the 20 minute motos tired the best of them. Even as far as it was, all the district racers came out to do battle on this black soiled track. Not to be repetitive, but the Women's division was again one of the best of the lay. Just before their first moto the track was watered. So before their moto, the girls were allowed one lap of practice.
During this, little Sue Fish caught her bad ankle in a rut and twisted it again. Despite the pain, she still rode the race. When the rubber band snapped, the girls were off. Sue surprised everybody and grabbed the early lead with Cheryl Acres right on her fender. Johanna Stenersen had her D-G Honda right up there trailing in third. Sue quickly tired with her bad ankle, letting Cheryl by, then Johanna. Now the battle was on. Cheryl Acres was really flying on her 125 Honda. But Johanna was closing fast. The two were dicing for the rest of the moto with Cheryl keeping her advantage at the checkered. Sue Fish, the only Expert out today, stayed in third overall position. Coming into fourth overall and third Junior was Chelle Blythe, also on a D-G Honda. Paulette Napoleone was also right up there but she couldn't break into the top three.The Novice girls were having fun as Gale Webb took the victory for this division in this moto. She was closely followed by pretty Jeanette Linden, riding a swift Bultaco for Goleta Valley Cycles. Linda Stinebaugh brought home third on her Target Suzuki. As the girls lined up for the second moto there was a question on everybody's lips: Who would win? The band snapped and Paulette Napoleone had the hole shot on her unsponsored Honda. She was gassin' it as she led until Sue Fish finally managed to get by. Paulette was still moving out but then Johanna Stenersen and Cheryl Acres also got by. There was a real tight race as Sue Kish tired again and dropped back letting Johanna and Cheryl would go wheel-to-wheel all around the track for almost six laps. Johanna started out with the lead, then Cheryl took it and Johanna tried everything to get by.
Then, about two or three laps from the end, Cheryl made the one mistake Johanna was waiting for. She missed the berm going into a comer and went right over the top. Johanna capitalized on the situation and motored back into the lead. Cheryl got up and back onto the track without losing a position. After the race she said that she just cleanly missed the turn, and she couldn't explain it. Johanna went on to win the moto grabbing first overall in the Junior division with her 2-1 finish. Tied for points was Cheryl, but the last moto advantage gave the win to Johanna. Third was Chelle Blythe with her two thirds. Paulette got fourth. Sue Fish ended third overall for the day, but she still got first Expert.
In the Novices, Jeanette Linden rode her Goleta Bul in for the win in the second moto, giving her the overall. Gale Webb took second cinching second overall. Linda Stinebaugh got another third for third overall. The 250 Expert bout was another fine race to watch. After some trouble in the first moto, there was a re-start in which Allen Cooke was started backwards. He came from this odd position to finish third in this moto. The winner was the swift Bultaco rider Andy Segale. But it was the second moto that brought all the thrills. Off the line Cooke had the lead, only to be passed by Pro rider Doug Grant. Grant, making a rare appearance, was just keeping the home fires burning, as he doesn't intend on racing on a regular basis.
One couldn't tell by today's performance, since he was flying faster than anybody. Cooke and Segale were battling for second overall or first Expert. Allen had it but Andy took it away when Cooke lost his back brakes. Things started to settle down with Grant in the lead and Segale in second with Cooke holding on to third. Coming on in fourth was speedster Larry Bird, riding his fast Montesa. And when the overalls came out, that's just the way they read, Segale taking first Expert with a 1-1 sweep. Cooke took second with a 3-2 finish and Bird in third with a 5-3.
The 250 Novice class looked like Kirk Benke was going to sweep both motos. He rocketed to an early lead in the first moto. He never had any pressure from any other rider as he flew on his Steve's Bultaco. Following him in second was Donny Faulkner, riding his new 250 Bul. In fact, this was only his second time racing in the 250 class. Donn Dancer made it a three way sweep in the first moto as he rode his Bultaco in for third. The second moto got started and it looked like Kirk was going to win again as he had the lead. But his luck ran out when he got a flat tire and his rear pipe mount broke. He also had five spokes missing from his front wheel. Now that's not the way to finish a race. So now in the lead was Bucky Bartz, riding a 250 Honda 4-stroker. But he didn't hold it long as Faulkner soon out-powered the four banger. From here on in, Donny had no trouble winning the race. Bartz took second followed by Dancer again in third. When the overalls were tallied, Faulkner had the win with Dancer second and Bartz third.
The 125 Expert class was another thriller as the Sambo's Team was there to show their stuff. The only one missing was Fred Joehnch, but he was in the pits boosting team spirit. Both motos were dominated by the yellow Sambo's Honda of Mark Gambetta. He was at Indian Dunes Friday night and didn't look all that fast, but on Sunday, he was a completely different rider. He was just WFO every place on the track. No one could even get close to him he was so swift. And his Sambo's bike didn't miss a beat. For a while it looked like there might be a 1-2 finish for team Sambo's as Jack Keese was right up there in second. But he crashed in the first moto dropping him to seventh, right behind "Cruiser" Joe Kehoe, king of Van Nuys Blvd. (P.S. It looked like Joe had a complete harem out with him as he brought three lovelies to the track with him). In the second moto, it was Sambo's 1-2 from start to finish. Gambetta had the lead with teammate Keese right behind for the entire moto.
Jim Connolly was moving on his Bultaco Holding down third, with Butch Linden on a rapid Goleta Valley Cycles Bul in fourth. When the overalls were tallied, Gambetta swept in for the win with his 1-1 finish. Connolly got second with his 5-3 finish and Linden got third. As you remember, his wife took the win in the Women's Novice division. Keese took fourth because of his bad first moto. The Starters did a fine job and everybody got their long motos. The track was conditioned as best they could and it stayed fairly good all day. There was a slight dust problem, but I am told that today was one of the better days and we were lucky it didn't get windy. The next District 37 race will be at Valley Cycle Park this Sunday with the Double Crossers putting it on. Make it out there since they will run the long Valley track, which is also a true motocross track.