NRA-MX at Valley Cycle Park
NRA
at
Valley Cycle Park
Sunday January 12, 1975
By: Scott Heidbrink
It was a bit windy, but that didn't keep the racers away from Valley Cycle Park, as NRA was throwing another of their fine monthly motocrosses at Valley. The wind helped dry the track a bit prematurely, but dust was not a problem. All the classes were fairly full and the competition was tight. Some of the best racing of the day came from the 250 Expert class. The first moto found Bultaco ace Jon Miller getting the hole shot and flying in for the win. Jon was OTG as he motored his red streaker across for the checkered. Hot on his heels was Mike's Racing Center's Ricky Salmon, green leathers and all. Rick was moving, but not swift enough to catch the speedy Miller. Mark White rode his Honda Elsinore in for third.
Moto two was another story. Miller copped the lead again and for the first half of the moto it looked like he might do a repeat number and cop another first. But Salmon was moving quicker than ever. He had a poor start, but easily passed everybody until Miller was all that stood between himself and the checkered. The heat started to tire Miller as Salmon was now right on his fender. One more lap and Rick was past and going for the win. Miller kept second and White again took third. Moto three was a bit different, Salmon took the early lead never to be touched. He was gone. The battle was for second, and this time White wanted it worse than anybody else, so he kept the position. Miller had to be content with third.
No one could get near Randy Berkeley in the Open Expert class. He was gone after just one lap. Heidbrink photo.
Overall, Salmon copped the bucks with his 2-1-1 finishing record. Miller still had the points to secure second place while White had to be content with third. In the 500 Expert class, there were only two words to describe it: Randy Berkeley. He took all three motos with out working up a sweat. Randy was in shape for this one, as he simply motored in for all three moto wins. Giving him some trouble, though, was another star from Mike's Racing Center, John Maroney Sr. This is the fast cat of the Old Timers, but gee, he sure can out distance most local Experts. John is sooooo smooth, he never seems to get tired. John managed to bring home three seconds for his day's work, securing second place cash. Third place went to yet another Mike's Racing Center .rider, Sherman Andrews. All three were Maico-mounted, if you haven't guessed.
The 500 Intermediate class was an easy one to predict. It was the sole possession of Chuck Lanzarone. Chuck, who rides for C.H. Industries, recently purchased Jim O'Neal's old Grand Prix Maico and can Chuck make it fly. He swept all three motos in his class. And since they were combined with the 500 Experts, in the last moto Chuck was second for a while, then third-against the Experts. He was moving fast. Had he been riding Expert class, he might have taken home some cash. Mason Clark took second on his Husky, which seemed to be having troubles today. The 100 Junior class had a real good battle going between Kent Bernstein, on a C.H. Industries Suzuki, and Jim Cote, on a 100 Elsinore. Kent won the first and last moto, but Jim was moving in the second. These two were always wheel-to-wheel in one of the better races of the day. Kent came out ahead, with Cote second and Joey Bertschi copping third on another Suzuki.
Stan Franks had to hold off Kelly Swaim in the 125 Beginner class. Stan's Honda was quick enough to record a win in the second moto, but he had to be happy with seconds in the other two. Allen Johnson took third home riding a Suzuki. Jim Tassano swept the 125 Expert class riding a swift Honda. Kevin Berger followed Jim in all three motos, recording three seconds to net him second overall. Pat Nixon was third overall, but since Pat is an Intermediate, he was awarded first Intermediate and Steve Steel got third Expert.
John Ferro swept the Junior 125 class with three firsts. Ron Godel took his two thirds and a second and traded them in for second place while Mark Sparks had to be happy in third. Russ Geiger was the man to beat in the Minicycle class as he took top honors over Allen Cramer and Bill Lallis. Terry Mason won the Mini Junior class, beating out Tony Loza and Jim Crowder. Tony Mason was flying high on his Maico in the 250 Beginner class, as he went for three first place finishes, guaranteeing him first overall. Second went to Mike Cholaz and his Bultaco. Jeff Beard, riding a mono-shocker YZ, almost had second, but with a sixth in the last moto, it dropped him back to third overall.
Kawasaki-mounted Mike Brewer took the 500 Beginner class while Don Shively couldn't quite catch him. Hal Gray was content in third. Steady riding paid off for Bill Hagen in the 250 Junior class. He rode to a couple of seconds and a third. But that was good enough to net him the first place trophy. Second went to Roosevelt Willingham, riding a hauling Husky. Jere Mason was third, on a Maico. Fred Wachter took the 500 Junior win with Jim Tyler second and Francis Charbonean third on a Maico.