AMC-MX at Carlsbad Raceway
AMC
at
Carlsbad Raceway
Sunday January 5, 1975
By: Valerie Jurus
I owe special thanks to a couple of very considerate and helpful people, Robbie Powers, for spending six hours in the sun writing lap positions and times down, and to the main lady of AMC, and one of her girls, Terry, for writing all the names, numbers and results on dittoed copies. I wish all clubs would do that. It really helps a lot. AMC had a good turnout today, even though CMC was having a big race at Saddleback. The rumor was that AMC was having a $500.00 purse today. You know what? It wasn’t a rumor! There really was a $500.00 purse. I could hardly believe it.
The first race of the day was the most exciting, in my opinion. They ran two thirty minute motos for each class. That took up so much time that at 4 o’clock they still had three races left, so they cut all the races down to ten minutes except the Pros. They ran for 20 minutes. About four of the local 125 Pro hotshoes showed up here at Carlsbad. Marty Smith (Hon), Billy Urban (Hon), Ron Turner (Hon) and John Smith (Hon). One of the most outstanding riders today though was Mike Palhegyi (Hon). I’ve never seen him before, but this guy really has a nice style. Billy Urban (Hon) got the hole shot the first moto and held Marty Smith (Hon) off for three laps. John Smith was in third and looking good until the third lap when he dropped it somewhere around the bottom of the downhill. Ron Turner moved up into the third place position. John Smith picked his bike back up only to find he had a flat tire and couldn’t finish. Mike Palhegyi moved into fourth place on the fifth lap by passing Dave Miller (FMF) on the downhill. Marty finished first by half a lap with Billy Urban (Hon) in second and Ron Turner in third. The next moto was the 125 Beginner and Minis combined. Robbie Douthit (Hon) dominated the 125 class with Wayne Crapno close behind for five laps until Powder Puffer Joann Milly (Hon) passed him somewhere along the line. The minis were running really strong today with Mini Expert Kurt Sofka (Yam) almost taking the 125 class. Mini Beginner Jeffery Eaton (Hon) won his class, and Jeff Throop and Billy Evans came in first and second in the Mini Junior class.One person everybody was glad to see back today was 125 Intermediate Ed Poland. Ed hasn’t raced for the last five months because of a broken leg. He held the lead for the first seven laps. But it’s not the hottest set-up to run a 30 minute moto for your first race in five months. Good luck with your racing, Ed. We hope to see more of you around Carlsbad. Greg Toyama (Hon) finished first that moto with a tired Eddie Foland (Hon) and Skipper Skeen finishing second and third. Randy Neely (Hon) broke down on the eighth lap. 125 Juniors were off and running. Mike Raines (Hon) got the hole shot and proceeded to finish, in first place. Danve McMillan (Bui) was holding second until his bike broke. That’s when Alex Collins took over second place but finished third in that moto. Robert Schmidt (Hon) rode to a well deserved second.
The next class was also another interesting and exciting one. Jeff Borden (Mai) and Bruce Baron (who says he wants to be a singer in a Rock arid Roll band) got the hole shot. Jeff held first place for 12 laps until Bob Stem passed him on the drop-off and got a first for that moto. Bruce held second for three laps, but dropped back to fifth for four laps, then he moved up to fourth for six laps and finally moved up to third on the last lap. Gary Ogden finished second that moto and Jeff finished fifth. Mike Stearns (CZ) was having some problems, I guess, today and didn’t do so well. I guess bad luck was running it’s course and some how found John DeSoto (Ossa) who crashed twice and DNF’ed the first moto. The 125 Beginner class was cleaned up by Steven Van Zant (CZ) Mitch Alden held a steady second and Randy Haas (Yam) finished with a good, fast third.
The 250 Juniors ran a strong race today with Angelo Hammond (Hon) holding the lead for a first, and Paul Berquist (Mai) close behind finishing second and Bob Winters sticking to a strong third. The Open Experts were up next. Pete Maly (CZ) was right out front with Paul Needels (Yam) chasing close behind. Jeff Poland got hit on the hairpin and started out in dead last. Jeff moved all the way up to second and stayed there for the finish. Jeff Browning (CZ) caught up to the leaders and finished third.
The Open Junior class was strongly won by Bruce Butler (Bui). Second place was taken over by Fredreik King (Kaw) and third place was won by Paul Kirby (CZ). The Open Intermediate class was taken over by Scott Still (CZ) with Paul Hughes (CZ) finishing second and Lee Evans (CZ) finishing third.
Once again the 125 Pros were off and running for the second moto. Marty Smith (Hon) finished first overall. Billy Urban (Wte) finished second and Ron Turner (Hon finished with third overall. 125 Beginner class, and Robbie Douthit (Hon) toofc first, overall. Richard Symic (Hon) finished second, and Powder Puffer Joann Milly (Hon) got a third. Good for Joann. Greg Toyama took the first overall position in the 125 Intermediate class with Eddie Poland (Hon) finishing second and Skipper Skeen taking a smooth third.
This 250 Pro race had better luck (for some) than the first one did. Mike Stearns (CZ) held the lead for the first seven laps until Gary Ogden got by him, then Bob Stem (CZ) took all of them and proceeded to finish first overall. Gary Ogden got second overall and Eddie Cole (Bui) got the third. Mike Dauthit won first overall in the 250 Intermediate class with Steve Montague close behind, finishing second and Larry Lewellen (Mai) taking the third place title. The worst crash and burn of the day was when Don Stenerson got hit by one of his friends on the top of the hairpin and got taken away in an ambulance. 250 Beginner Steven Van Zant got the first overall with Mitch Alden finishing second and Ralph Turney the third (CZ) getting third. The 250 Junior class was won by Angelo Hammond on a Honda. The second overall place was won by Paul Berquist (Mai) and third was taken by Mike Ramos (Hon).
The overall win in the Open Pro class was taken by Pete Maly with Jeff Poland giving him a good run for the money. Third place was won by Jeff Browning (CZ). By the way, today was David Moates’ first Open Pro race. David did very well and finished with a sixth overall win. The Open Junior class was won by Fredreik King on his trick Kawasaki. Bruce Butler finished second and Sandy Pulford rode to a quick third. Scott Still (CZ) won the Open Intermediate class by a good length with Lee Evans (CZ) taking a second and Paul Hughs (CZ) cleaning up with third. Well that’s it folks. Today was a beautiful day, both weather and race-wise. I wish all clubs could put on and run a race as well as AMC does. And thanks again for your help, Robbie.