Irwindale Raceway
Irwindale
at
Irwindale Raceway
Friday February 7, 1975
By: Buzz Baty
IRWINDALE RACEWAY FRIDAY, FEB.7 By: BUZZ BATY Pit rumor has it that after their trip to Arizona, all that the Bell's came back with some monumental cases of the flu and pneumonia. Papa Bell was the one with pneumonia, severe enough to put him in the hospital. Mike had the flu, which was all week long bummer, bad enough to keep him from riding tonight in a loaded 125 Pro field. Even DeWayne Jones was on the premises with the factory Can-Am, but against the Irwindale regulars, he could have mailed in his finishing position, for as much good as it did him. David Taylor took the lead away from Gary Denton, when Gary fell, and David went on to win round one over Ray Lopez and Tim Lunde. Making his first appearance as a 125 Pro was YMBB Mark Lawrence. Mark took it easy in the first go-round, but then came charging with the leaders in round two. Motocross announcer supreme, Bruce Flanders, about ate the mike on the first lap of round two, when Lunde, Taylor Lopez, and Lawrence were in a four-man box that you could have put the proverbial postage stamp over. Coining over the Steve Kurd Jump in that same box formation, Lawrence attempted to make a pass on Lopez, but ended up doing a gigantic endo. A couple of laps later, David Taylor got a case of the fall-downs and it was Lunde, Lopez, and Bob Welch. Round three was all Lunde's, with Dave Eropkin running second, Lopez getting in for third. In an all Honda field, with the exception of the aforementioned Can-Am, the final payday order was Tim Lunde, Lopez, and Eropkin.
A new wrinkle has been added to the Irwindale track. Previously, as you came down the short front straight into the huge starting line sweeper, you had a smooth approach to it. But with tractor and dirt, there is a small hill with a drop-off in the spot where you would normally begin your sweep. It took awhile for the lads to get the hang of it, but once they did, it presented no problems, it just made the racing a hell of a lot more interesting. Bill Rubly, long absent from the winner's circle, made it back in fine style tonight, winning two out of three motos on his Maico for first overall, while CZ mounted, Jeff Jennings had a one, two, three series for second overall. Third overall went to Husky-mounted, Frank Fitzgerald on consistent motos of three, four, three.
The Mini Expert field was small in comparison to some really big fields in the past In round one, it looked like another Ricky Simmons run-a-way, with Joe Tucci second, and Bill Fancher third. But rounds two and three belonged to Fancher, with Simmons falling to last place in the final moto. Fancher took the win, Jim Holley notching second overall, and Joe Tucci getting the final show spot. Remember, Joe is just now beginning to ride with that same charging style he had prior to breaking his leg last November.
The 125 Intermediates continue to show up in large number, necessiating two divisions. Steve Schilling and Steve Glatts, without Mark Lawrence to contend with, had a victory apiece with Steve Schilling getting first overall, Glatts second, third went to the steady riding of Vince Van Hook, for division two. Division one had entered the foxiest of the feminine foxes, Sue Fish, but Sue did a giant endo in practice, and according to latest reports, either broke or severely sprained her right wrist and shoulder. Notching the victory in his division was Honda mounted Rob Zamora with a pair of firsts and a last moto second. Frank Pilato, riding an FMF Honda, won the last round, making him good for second overall, while Eugene Gayo brought up the third spot.
The 250 Pro class was a Rex Staten, Jeff Vidic show. Between the two of them, they had all the wins and all the seconds. In round one Jeff Vidic got the hole shot and held off Staten all the way to the checker. In rounds two and three, Vidic also got the hole shot, and led for at least the first lap. But, in both rounds, Staten made gignatic leaps over the back chute jump, passing Vidic to win the final two motos and first overall. Vidic ended up second of course, with third going to Stu Egli in an all Maico finish. David Potts has to be cussing a blue streak about his first moto finish in the 250 Intermediate class. David finished tenth in that first round and then came back to win rounds two and three, but that wasn't enough. Marston Sollender, riding steady aboard his Yamaha, put together two seconds and a fourth, for first overall, with second overall going to Jody Uyechi, Potts, although winning the last two motos, was only good for third overall.
To digress for a moment back to the Pros, Mark Lawrence was riding a brand new Honda that he had taken delivery of at 4:00 this afternoon. His first ride on the machine consisted of about fifteen minutes during practice, before he went out to mix-it with those out of sight, fast, 125 Pros. Anyway you want to slice it, that ain't too shaggy a performance, even though he did crash in the second round. His overall finish was ninth in a fifteen man field. The Mini Juniors had a turn-out of thirty-one riders to run in two divisions. Geoff Brook No. 460 managed a first overall in division one on his Honda even though Andy Guth won the last two inotos. Andy's twelfth place finish in the first moto was responsible for his third overall behind Ron Baumgartner for Hondas in the first three places. In division two it was Dean Hoag, Mark Maxstadt, and Shon Anderson all on Hondas also.
In a small field of 100 Juniors, Terry Clanton took the honors for first overall aboard his Honda with two firsts and a second. Dan Brockman and John Wilson finishing second and third overall respectively on a pair of Suzukis.
Fifty 125 Juniors, racing in three divisions, put on lots of exciting races. Kelly Carlisle had the easiest night of the winners, winning division three with two firsts and a second. Ron Maas won the second moto, but a fourth and a second in the other two rounds gave him a second overall for the night with third going to Richard Mortensen. Division two Jim Lowe and Mark Hickey each had a moto win, but Jim took the first overall by one point ahead of Mark, Tom Earle finished third in the last moto behind Mark, which gave him third overall, both finishing the night with ten points. Consistent riding gave Ernie Ruiz the win in division one on his Yamaha, the only non-Honda in the top three for the 125 Juniors. Finishing second overall was Bill McFarland, third going to Steve Morefield.
Roy Holsheimer and his Maico swept the field of 250 Juniors for his first overall with Charles Ginter getting third overall on his Yamaha. With each of them winning one moto each, the finishing order for the 500 Juniors tonight was David Valentine first, David Throgmorton second, and Rocky Van Zant third. Carter Reid took first overall for the 500 Intermediates with two firsts and a third. Cliff Hicks was second overall with two seconds and a first, each with five points at the end of the night Trent McGee got in for third overall.
