Resweber Snares Point Lead At Peoria

RESWEBER SNARES POINT LEAD AT PEORIA

DAVE EVANS

"HE'S NOT AN EXPERT at this sort

of thing like Hammer and Buchanan are, but he gets better every year." So said one of the Peoria M.C. club members, and he was right. Last year it was a third place . . . this year a pair of seconds.

The chips were down for Carroll Resweber at Peoria's beautiful TT course. With Dick Mann out of the running with his crushed hand all wired together, only Bart Markel, with a one point lead in the national standings, remained as a serious challenge to his fifth consecutive Grand National Championship. On top of all this, C. R. has never really excelled at TT's, and with only six events left on the national docket, three were TT's.

Bart, with his eyes On a big double win, brought four bikes to Peoria. Carroll, with absolute faith in tuner Berndt's ability to keep the machinery running, brought only two bikes ... a disc-braked 45" and a more normal 55" H-D. Duane Buchanan had his flying BSA, while Ronnie Rail brought along an old, rigid-frame H-D which seemed entirely unsuited to the course as he bounced from bump to bump during practice. Resweber had his stopwatch running as Markel circulated on his 45" H-D during practice, and watched anxiously as Bart spun over the course with ease. He winced when he saw the time.

Markel, with extremely fast footwork by his crew, was able to make almost every practice session. After studying the course carefully he turned up the wick and promptly discovered all manner of bothers with his 55-incher . . . both in the bottom

end and at the gas tank. Bart scoured up a gas tank from a spectator while his crew worked frantically to repair the lower end. C. R., meanwhile, was concentrating his efforts on the little 45-incher, admitting that the bigger bike was throwing him all over the course. His strategy became fairly obvious as practice went on and on without the 55-incher ever touching wheel to track. By capturing a first in the 45" class, even a split with Markel would keep him only 1 point behind in the standings. With two track races, a TT and a road race left on the schedule, he would then have an excellent chance of retaining his # 1 plate. Apparently his strategy was working, for at the end of time trials for the 45" class he had turned fast time of 29.95 seconds, just .50 seconds off the track record, held by Duane Buchanan.

During time trials, Jody Nicholas spilled hard, eliminating his chances in the 45 inch race; however, he recovered in time to qualify for the 80 inch class. Howard Winchester's Triumph burst into flames on the first turn, but he coolly stood up on the pegs until he could dump at a safe speed . . . then had the fire almost smothered with sand before the fire crew got there to put finishing touches on the blaze with C02.

The first heat for 45's was pretty much a walkaway for Resweber. Sid Payne, with an enormous, swollen left hand which he got from scraping it down to bone against the inside guard rail at Springfield, was doing a fine job until he overcooked it and spilled just before the checker fell. (He rates kudos just for showing with a hand

like that.) In the second heat, Dick Hammer, who has gained a "wild man" reputation out here for his cut-and-thrust methods at tracks like Santa Fe and Springfield, rode to a smooth, easy win in the heat. Heat three was a Markel benefit which he took in a breeze. During this heat, however, we began to do a little second guessing about Ronnie Rail's hardtail H-D, as he bumped to a nice, bonecrushing second place.

In the 45" final, C. R. (with what must be the lowest first gear in Harleydom) moved quickly into first position, followed closely by a smiling Bart Markel. Bart hung tight to Carroll's rear wheel, studying his technique . . . looking for weak spots. He pushed to the inside, then to the outside, finally taking the lead on the 4th lap to many cheers from the crowd. In the end, Bart had gained 9 points towards the Grand National title . . . Carroll gained 7. Pencils were put to paper, and it was seen that Markel led by 3 points . . . overall.

Dick Hammer again put on a smooth riding display in the first of the 80" heats. The only spot of excitement was Dick Andrae's nasty spill from which we were glad to see him immediately walk away. Home-towner Larry Williamson followed Dick over the line, with Ralph White fourth. What was shaping up to be a tremendous duel between Markel and Buchanan in the second 80" heat ended abruptly when "Moon" unloaded on the second lap. Then came the unexpected as Markel slowed and stopped on the south turn ... his engine had blown! This time it was the top end, and it killed his chance for a double win ... or any points in the 80" class at all. Sid Payne, still fighting off the pain in his left hand, took first in the heat. Resweber won the third heat, but not before considerable doubt was thrown on the matter by Roger Reiman, who threatened to pass on every straight and corner. Carroll had a little more push coming out of the turns, though, and showed the way to the wire.

The only mystery in the final was "where will Resweber finish?" Dick Hammer stepped out front immediately, and held it all the way, for his first national win, although C. R. made a good effort to grab front spot on the first few laps. Larry Williamson moved up to push Carroll a little, but was unsuccessful. At the flag, it was Hammer, Resweber, and Payne, who sneaked out a third place from Williamson. So Carroll picked up 7 more points, now to lead Markel by a scant 4 point, overall. However, with two dirt track races and a road race left on the schedule, and only the one TT in California, Carroll's lead seems secure. Of course, another "Springfield" could happen, and oval races are Markel's cup of tea. We'll just have to hold our breath and see! •