CMC-MX at Carlsbad Raceway
CMC
at
Carlsbad Raceway
Sunday January 26, 1975
By: The Scene & Bonzai Billy
During this time of year, many strange, weird, odd, and peculiar things begin to happen. Ijke last night. Whew. Saturday nights often get a little crazy and hectic, but not like last night Maybe I need to go see a head-shrinker or something. Anyway, you aren't going to believe this, while I was dreaming, I was dreaming that I was dreaming? Huh? I don't quite understand that one myself. Oh, well. I remember that I saw a three-foot rock, of nice size and quality, with limbs, you know-arms, legs, dangling from it's body (body?). The thing chased me all the way to Europe. Until I woke up. But, snore. I crashed again and lapped into another state of oddity. This time I was in a football game, funny thing though, I had a baseball uniform on. Odd. Anyway, I went out for a pass. It was a normal one. Perfect spiral. I stretched out to get it. Then I had it in my clutches, right into my big brown glove. A baseball glove.
This really alarmed me, so I woke up again, but for good. I just sat there, and as I just sat there, I began to get a strange but irresistible urge to go into my garage. Now, who goes into garages at five in the morning besides rip-offs and work-mechanics? This was beginning to get really crazy, almost comical. It was, really. I put on my DeCoster boots, a beannie cap, and I began to look for my baseball glove. Only, I couldn't find it. My Gawd, this is strange. Then I trotted outside and placed my silly hands on the handle and slowly lifted. When I opened the door, I nearly screamed. My bike! My new factory bike! It was lying there with broken spokes, bent bars, a well-dented tank, stripped nuts and bolts, bent cables, twisted frame, and a big pool of gear oil (fish oil to you "non-factory" persons.) under the eye-bugging sight. My bike had expired, it kicked the bucket, it, it, DIED!! My heart sank, almost as low as the fish, uh, gear oil.I know, it's the work of the devil! I'll get him, somehow. So I sat on the pile and began putting forth evil thoughts through my head at speeds that Roger or any other hot-shots can ever attain. Ahha! I pointed a finger into the air, my index, the sign of thought, the sign meaning number one. "Turn on the radio!". What!? So I rushed into the house and clicked it into motion. Out rushed the most tantalizing, most fantastic, most, most everything, church music. What usually got me sick to my stomach on long hauls to Saddleback in the early hours of the morning was actually making my head spin. Go away you ! !$?!!! devils! Devil, go home!! Leave. And take your smelly gear lube with you!! I laughed so hard when I saw the expression on his face that I turned as red as the factory RC Hondas. Sunday church music, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! And Sunday it was, CMC at Carlsbad. Stu and Kelvin had one-thousand and five-hundred whole U.S. Greenbacks in store for the Pro riders.
I quickly packed up and set out for the looong trip down the street to the track. Wow: A whole three miles. Gee, I live sooo far away! Anyway, almost sixty Pro riders showed up. Sixty riders of the best in the west, and all of them were goin' for that "gold." There were a few surprises out in store that quite a few of the MXers didn't know. Jim Weinert, Open Gass National Champ, was out there on his new big Yamaha Monoshock, Rex Staten was nding his days-of-the-past Maico, and Tommy Croft was on an official Factory Honda. When I talked to Tommy before his f irst^ moto, he had only had the factory bike for a week. He really likes his ride and showed it today, by cleaning up two classes without too much in the way of trouble. He proceeded to show me how his Honda made out it's power by showing me his hand and flipping it straight up and down. Power? Huh, is it fast Tommy? Is it? No BS.
The first moto of the day saw Rocket Rex Staten boogie to a holeshot in the 500 Pro class and was never touched to the finish. Not even by Jim Weinert on his new Factory Yamaha. Seems like Jim had to get it suited to him yet, when he does, watch out. While the Holladay Cycle rider and the Factory Yamaha riders had things under control, Wayne Boyer on a CZ, Jim Wilson on another CZ, Maico-mounted Jon Derhammer, and Maico's Doug Sherman had their thing goin'. They ran around the track like a ten foot rope had them attached to each other, only Boyer finished ahead of the "pack," while Derhammer, Sherman and Wilson finished up. Jim Weinert pulled the line to the first corner, but Rocket Rex upheld his name again as he rocketed into the lead after passing the National champ through the corner. Jon Derhammer, South Bay Cycles rider Jim Wilson, and Bill Rubly of Wheelsmith followed closely.
But Weinert promptly passed Rex back in the next few corners. It looked like Weinert had something to show Rex. Then Staten repassed Jim at the top of the uphill and exploded down the downhill never to be challenged again. Jim seemed to be taking it easy. Something happened to Derhammer on the uphill and he dropped out. Wayne Boyer soon took over third and kept it. The Wheelsmith team of Rubly and Mike Yorba were having it out in the midst of Boyer, Wilson, and Sherman, but the pair ended up behind Sherman, but ahead of Wilson. Val Tamietu. of past Honda fame, grabbed the holeshot on the 250 Pros in the first moto, but he and his Maico were passed by Dan McKee on another Maico. Right behind was Gary Jones, Tom Croft, and Rich Grafton. In the first few laps. Croft got by Jones and his works Can-Am over the drop-off and later grabbed the lead away from McKee on the downhill. McKee began to slowly pass into the back field as Jones, Grafton, Marty Smith, and Gaylon Mosier moved up. Smith mysteriously dropped out of sight and pitted. "Suspension isn't sorted-out." According to a mechanic. Mosier, who was involved a first turn pile, which also took his gas cap, was moving up very quickly on the leaders, only he was a lap down.
He got by Grafton, Jones, and even the leader, Tommy Croft, with a little battle to make it worthwhile. Grafton passed the 250 National Champ in hot pursuit of the Factory Honda. Rich Grafton had his privateer-backed Yamaha going full out, only, he ran out of time, although he looked like he was going to definitely pass Croft. Tommy Croft showed the way to second moto gang of 250 Pro riders by taking the start and holding it to the finish. Gaylon Mosier and Gary Jones, both of them used to ride Hondas, had a battle for second, while Dan McKee and Val Tamietti traded off for fourth. Mosier was forced out of serious competition when he broke his brake rod cable, leaving Jones to an easy time in second. Richard Grafton was moving up very quickly from first lap problems and jumped to' third by mote's end. Marty Smith didn't run in the second 250 moto, 'cause "if you don't make it in the first moto, you're just out of it for the day, really". It makes sense, Tommy. But Marty was having it out in the 125's also.
Warren Reid grabbed the start in the first 125 Pro moto, being closely pursued by Gary Jones' Can-Am and Dave Eropkin on his chrome Honda. Tommy Croft was just waiting behind the three for something to happen, and something didn't, so he just decided to do it befor the first lap's end. He passed Eropkin, Jones, and Reid for the top spot. Jones fell back to about tenth, while Marty Smith worked from a mid-pack start to right behind Croft by the fifth lap. Mike Bell, Jim Weinert, and Warren Reid kept things mixing behind them. Bruce McDougal was supposed to show up and ride the factory, er, production Monoshock 125, which was just introduced at the recent Anaheim Road Show. "Bruce is sick, he's got the flu and he couldn't make it, so we're letting Jim ride it." It was Jim's first time on the bike, with no practice, he was doing really good. Fourth at this point. "He just got on it and went", replied his mechanic. Tommy and Marty were going at it, like usual, but Marty finally got by over the back-section jump and gassed-it into the lead. Marty and Tom stayed about evenly throughout the race until Marty seized his bike just before the last-lap flag. Tom then inherited the lead, followed by Bell, and Weinert.
Warren Reid once again grabbed the lead in the 125 Pros. Croft waited a little less longer and passed him a few corners later. Behind the pair was Dave Eropkin and John Smith of the Carlsbad Raceway Team. Smith and Eropkin both got around Reid and went after Croft, who was still pretty far-ahead. Mike Bell passed both Smith and Eropkin on the downhill. Eropkin made another move and passed Bell back. Smith was fighting off Weinert until John fell in a slow corner. Weinert pitted his bike the next lap, along with Smith, with a seized bike. Warren Reid and Bob Maxwell then took over the spots which Weinert and Smith left to them. Croft finished with a long lead, followed by Mike Bell, Dave Eropkin, Warren Reid, Rick Sheren, and Bob Maxwell. All on Hondas. Honda has a total clutch in the 125 Pro class, but with Weinert's showing on a pre-productwn machine, which is stock, no two-ways about it, "stock" a lot of fast dudes will be Monoshocked. When I went over to check on the Yamaha team one more tune, I saw some dude from MXA. His name started with a "B" but It couldn't quite be as Classy as "Banzai Billy". And, guess what, while I was cleaning up the back of my truck, I found my baseball glove.