CRC MX at Valley Cycle Park
CRC
at
Valley Cycle Park
Sunday November 10, 1974
By: Scott Heidbrink
A huge crowd of racers decided that Valley Cycle Park was the place to be this Sunday, as they all came out to race with CRC in their Pussy Cat Grand Prix.<BR><BR> Where they came up with that name, I do not know, but everybody I talked to like the track. It was a perfect Grand Prix, with a little of this, some of that, and a touch of everything.
They used the standard moto cross track, but they started on the other side of the Valley. In fact, when the riders finally got to the motocross track, they were running it backwards from what they have been doing for the past couple of months.They used the rear portion of the park, including some mean looking hills. But all the riders didn't seem to have too much trouble negotiating the track.<BR><BR>The best place to watch turned out to be at the base of one hill which brought the riders back into the starting area. Here, after a few passes, the hill turned soft and dusty, making it hard to see past your duck bill. Add a couple of three bikes using their brakes all the way down and you can start to find some good sized ruts. To add insult to injury, at the bottom of the hill, there was a mud hole that would put Hopetown to shame, it was so deep. According to some riders, it was up to the bottom of their gas tanks. And these were 250's, not XR-75's.
So it was quite a challenge for these 300 plus racers to try and conquer. And they had to ride this track for a full hour! After just one lap many racers had a look of complete body cramps. This was a tough track. But once they pulled off after getting the checkered, they all had words of praise for CRC and the way they ran the entire event.
Because the event was so long and quite a bit of passing took place lap after lap, it was hard to keep track of the riders. For this week we got the results to the Experts and Intermediate classes and next week we will have complete results for all classes. So if you don't see your name this week, try again next week.<BR><BR>The Experts and Intermediates all had a good time, as a good number showed up to do battle. In the combined Expert class, it was Rick Storey taking his Yamaha across the line first after a full hour of going WFO. Rick topped all the others as he held out for the entire race.
Grabbing second Expert overall and first 250 was Mark White, riding a 250 Honda. Hot on his heels was second 250, third overall Tom Grant, making his YZ work over this tough terrain.<BR><BR>Third place found second Open Expert, Mike Burkharht, who was riding a rapid Maico. Fourth overall fell to steady Rocky Morrison, who was riding a 250 CZ. He also got third in his class.
Sixth overall took the honor of being the first 125 and that was Jim Bawson, riding a fast Kawasaki. He topped many bigger bikes in doing so and he looked very fast.<BR><BR>Gary Bang was seventh overall, and fourth 250, while Butch Linden from Goleta Valley Cycles came out and took a second 125, eighth overall finish.<BR><BR>In the Intermediate class, it was Dale Rueter winning the class, riding a 125 Honda, believe it or not. He was on the gas as he topped all the Intermediates today. Quite a feat considering the track.<BR><BR>Second Intermediate was another 125 rider, this time it was Evan Marcus. Marcus was also on the gas as he took a high finish. Third overall and first 250 was the Pen ton rider Mike Johnson. Second 250 and fourth overall fell to Tim Sarian, one of the fast cats from last week's race at Hopetown.<BR><BR>First Open Intermediate was Bruce Carpenter on a CZ. Overall, this was a fine day of racing at Valley with the CRC club. They did a fine job and you should have seen the trophies.
It would make the winner blush to see what they were giving out. Totally fantastic. Not just the usual plastic junk, but really high class brass for your living room.<BR><BR> If we didn't hit your class this week, don't forget, complete results next week. So stay tuned.