CMC-MX at Iwindale Raceway
CMC
at
Irwindale Raceway
Friday January 10, 1975
By: Buzz Baty
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Through out last year, competitors at Irwindale were told to get there early, as entries were being limited to 250. Well, here it is 1975, and at 6:15, fifteen minutes prior to the close of entries, Irwindale was sold out to the limit for riders. After a six week hiatus, none of the Quarry Warriors had lost their touch. Under a cold, bitter, biting wind, David Taylor picked up where he left off in '74, putting away a very talented fifteen-man 125 Pro field. Out to defend his newly-won No. 1 plate for the very first time in a nighttime event was Mike Bell. But, it was Taylor's wins in rounds one and two, plus a real granddaddy of a dogfight in round three which earned him second place that gave him the overall victory. Mike Bell-No. 1, Dave Eropkin-No. 2, Don Bongiorno-No. 3, and of course, David Taylor- No. 51 went at it for the first five laps with Bongiorno running in front, while Eropkin, Bell, and Taylor did their best to do something about it. With Bongiorno still running in front as they approached the 180 degree right-hander off the back chute jump, Bell started to make a pass on Eropkin, only to have Taylor pass both of them, taking over second spot, with Bell third, and Eropkin, who had been second, now fourth. That was the order in which they finished, with the overall going to Taylor, second to CMC champion, Mike Bell, while third went to Bongiorno.
Sixty-seven 125 Juniors had it out in four divisions. With all the new numbers and new bikes, it's going to take me awhile to get used to who's who. Tremendously impressive, turning in the only sweep of the night for the 125 Juniors, was No. 17V, Ron Maas on a Honda winning division four. No. 84Y, Shawn Beal epitomized that old saying that you gotta finish to win. That's just what he did, finish third three times to finish first overall. Dividing up the wins were Rudy Chavez in round one, Bill McFarland in round three, and John Ferris in round two, but the rest of their action in division one was too erratic to do them any good. Rick Fiore picked up where he left last year, winning his division, division two, while division three winner, Mark Braunwalder almost matched Shawn Beal, except that Mark had a fourth place finish in the second round, but still got the overall win in the 125 Juniors, division three.
Doug Nicol rode his Long Beach Honda XR to the win over Bobby Jones in the Mini Expert class. Photo by Buzz.
Fifty-five Minis, fifteen of them Experts, made their debut and No. 76D, Honda mounted, Mark Maxstadt had division one of the Juniors pretty well shut out with a pair of firsts and a second to win his division. While Jeff Dye, who didn't race much last year, did in division two with a pair of firsts and a fifth. Based on past performances, there are four names I would have put at the top of the list to win the Mini Experts. First all, Bobby Jones, who had won the Irwindale Pro Night mini race, Lance Moore wood on his screamin' Yamaha, Doug Nicol, and Bill Fancher. I would have been awfully close to right. Nicol won the first round, Moorewood won the second round, Fancher took a third in round one with Bobby Jones hanging in there with a fifth in the first round. Moorewood beat Nicol in round two as Fancher crashed, and Jones got in for third. This set the stage for round three with Moorewood and Nicol tied on points. Off the starting gate, and down the now widened starting straight, Lance Moorewood and Doug Nicol were WFO for the first corner, when Moorewood went end over end in what could have been a disastrous pile-up, but the very quick thinking and riding expertise of Bill Fancher saved Moorewood a lot of knobby marks and skin. Bill quickly slid his Honda sideways and brought it to a halt, just short of the downed Moorewood. Jones took the third round win after the crash, but the overall victory went to Nicol, second went to Jones, with the steady riding of Ron Utaski giving him third overall.
Marc Cartwright picked up on his winning ways winning division one for the 250 Junior contingent over Floyd Haas and Roy Holsheimer. Although Holsheimer won the last two rounds, his eighth place finish in round one did him in. Doing poorly in round one also was the nemesis of Rick Welch in division two. Rick could do no better than eleventh in round one, coming back to win rounds two and three, but Jack Serjeant, after winning round one, backed it up with a pair of seconds for the first overall.
It was like a ghost from the past. The man has to be at least 52 years old, he can legitimately be called the father of road racing in this country. He was the winner of the 1956 Grand Prix at Catalina. Mounted on a 4-stroke Honda, carrying the number plate No. 46, was the one and only John McLaughlin. Even announcer, Bruce Flanders couldn't believe it when he read the name, and said, 'Aw no, it can't be', but it was Bruce, it was, and he didn't do too badly, finishing fourth on the big bore Honda in the Junior class which was run combined with the 500 Intermediates. Mike Roy picked up the win in the Juniors with consistency, although Phil Dragna and David Aleman shared the wins in the individual motos. Roy did his number one finishing act with a pair of seconds and a fourth, second went to Aleman and third to Dragna. Carter Read is back in his winning ways, taking the win in the Intermediates, Brian Armstrong took second and third went to Trent McGee.
Huff Hadley impressed hell out of me with the way he attacked the course, picking up two firsts and a second for the overall win. Over seventeen fast and determined 100 Juniors. Second went to Dave Meloy, while third went to Brian Simmons. Scott Stringer managed to win the last round but the Suzuki mounted Scott was twelfth in round one, so was regulated to fourth overall in the final tally.
The 250 Pros had Jeff Vidic back carrying number plate No. 10, and riding a Montesa. Val Tamietti was back with a number plate two digits shorter than last year, No. 61 instead of No. 63, and for the first time that I can remember, Jeff Vidic was totally shut out from winning any of the three motos. Jeff blew to the front in moto one, but couldn't hold it over Hal Strauss. Strauss was then disqualified in the second moto for cutting the course, which had a lot to do with his third overall finish. Tamietti took third in moto one, then came back to win the final two rounds to take first overall ahead of Will Harper.
Mark Maxstadt took his Honda and Jeff Jennings old number to victory in Division I of the Mini Juniors. Photo by Buzz.
As I said before, the more things change, the more they remain the same. In the 125 Intermediates, twenty riders contested for the first spot. Eugene Gayo won round one, and ended up eighth overall. Mark Lawrence won round two, and ended up fourteenth overall. Ross Thompson won round three and ended up fourth overall. While Mark Arsenault, now carrying numer plate No. 329 instead of No. D20 he carried last year, took the win with steady riding and staying out of trouble. Second went to Eddie Clark with Lance Bryson getting third. Tim Silva and Calvin Uyeda both had a win to their credit, Silva in round one ending up with ten points, Uyeda in round three, ending up with ten points. By now, you all know the rules, so you know that Uyeda won it with Silva second, Larry Lutz getting in for third in the 250 Intermediates.
Jim West was out with a brand new number and brand new machine to take on the 500 Pros. Jim now rides with No. 85 aboard a Maico, no more Husky. Joe Johnston now No. 22 busted his buns when his shocks froze up in the first moto, while he was leading, and the only other part of the 500 Pros that comes anywhere near being a story besides Jim West sweeping the class was young Jeff Jennings on a big bore CZ, looking oh so very, very, good. Jeff nailed down second overall on his brand new CZ ride. Stu Peters and Kelvin Franks have come up with a real humdinger. Two $1500 purses, back-to-back. One at Carlsbad Raceway, Sunday Jan. 26, one at Saddleback Park, Sunday Feb. 2nd. But there's a little zinger they have put in there, the top Pro in each class who rides both events and comes out on top will get an extra $100 to fatten the wallet!
