Corona Raceway
CRA
at
Corona Raceway
Thursday May 30, 1974
By: Tom Blattler
As the noise problem at Corona Raceway is being licked, and the right silencers are being used, the number of motorcycles is now increasing each week on Thursday nights.
This week the 250cc classes supplied much of the action on the l.Lmile course, as the Senior, Junior, and Beginner classes really had some excellent racing.In the 250 Seniors, it was the Orange County boys, Bruce Baron and Mike Gillman, gaining first blood off the starting line in the first moto, as the two Yamaha riders have now got the Corona course down pretty good. Another Yamaha rider, Greg Done, began chasing Baron and Gillman, along with Dennis Hazlett, and Pat Killilea. A very good battle then developed on the final lap of the first moto with Done, Hazlett, and Killilea all scrapping it out for the third position, but Done was able to hold them off for third.
The second moto saw almost the exact same thing as the opening moto as Baron took the win followed by Gillman and Done. However, Hazlett, one of'the top 250 Seniors at Corona Raceway, had his Yamaha let go in the second moto, and he was out for the night. Taking fourth on his CZ was Killilea.
In the final four-lap moto in the Seniors, Killilea got a super start and he battled Baron for the lead through-out the four laps. Pat got his CZ flying and defeated Baron with third going to KTM-mounted Steve McFarland. However, Gillman, who was second after the first two motos, broke his Yamaha in the final moto and put him out.
Looking at the overall standings, Baron won easily with two wins and a second. Killilea, who also rides for La Sierra High School in the high school motocross at Corona Raceway, made an excellent comeback and ended up in second overall as the final race victory really shot him up in the standings. Gillman finished third overall followed by Done and McFarland.
The 250 Junior class saw the AAA Cycles Bultaco of Pat Hawley do the number on the rest of the field and take the win easily. Pat captured the first two motos and even crashed in the third moto to finish sixth, but Hawley's lead, after two motos, was just too much for anybody to overtake. Pat has been showing an excellent riding style on his new Bultaco, and he will probably get moved into the Senior class very soon. Finishing second, behind Hawley, was Honda-mounted Bert Meacham, as he finished with a sixth, and two seconds. Kevin Bennett rode his Yamaha to the third spot overall followed Dick Miller (Mai) and Jeff McKelroy (Bul).
In the 250 Beginners, Penton-mounted Jack Trotter recorded his first victory of the year at Corona Raceway, as he won the first two motos and finished third in the final race. Bultaco-mounted Galen Twitchell took second with third going to Butch Lamb.
High School motocross will return to Corona Raceway for the next three Friday nights, with five schools competing on May 31st (Palm Springs, Colton, Bloomington, Ramona, and Arlington), six schools go at it on June 7th (Elsinore, Perris, Hemet, Chaffey, Moreno Valley, and Norte Vista), and six more schools on June 14th (Fontana, Redlands, Eisenhower, Upland, Poly, and La Sierra.
