Lincoln 5-Mile National
LINCOLN 5-MILE NATIONAL
DAVID A. EVANS
THE DAY started well enough with bright, clearing skies, the fairgrounds in beautiful condition, and even coffee ready when the gates opened. Last half-mile National Chapionship race of 1962, the 5-Miler held at Lincoln, Illinois was promoted by the Lincoln Motorcycle Club. Practice got underway but, sad to say, the track had not been properly prepared. As a result, dust cut visibility almost to zero and was, many felt, the direct cause of a tragic accident which took veteran rider Jack Gholson's life and sent Carroll Resweber and Dick Kiamfoth to the hospital, Resweber with multiple fractures of the right leg and Klamfoth with chest and back injuries.
The accident happened when officials sent a group of experts out to practice before the course was clear. J. C. Robertson, amateur No. 94L, was still on the track and both Gholson and Jim Pahud collided with him. All three men went down. Resweber, blinded by dust, hit the fallen Gholson, immediately followed by Klamfoth, then Larry Fredrickson. Fortunately, Robertson, Fredrickson and Pahud walked away.
Only then was the track watered.
Eventually the first expert heat was started, with Darrel Dovel shoving his Triumph into a nice lead at the end of lap one. Bart Markel wasn’t to be denied, though, as he relentlessly dogged Dovel, finally inching by on the front straight. Bart then opened up a little lead of his own, leaving Darrel to fight it out with Jody Nicholas. Finishing order was Markel (H-D), Dovel (Triumph), Nicholas (BSA).
The second expert heat was even more exciting than the first, with Digger Helm first off the mark followed by Robert Crouch, Roger Reiman and Duane Buchanan. Crouch was momentarily in command on the second go-round but Helm, ever-persistent, came right back and led til the final lap when Art Barda, after getting off fifth and moving steadily by his competition, clipped Digger for the win coming out of the last turn.
The third expert heat was a tour ^ de force for Ronnie Rail while Everett Brashear and Tony Murguia put on a rugged scrap for second place honors. It was a wheel-to-wheel fight through every turn and up both straightaways that saw Murguia pull ahead by scant inches at the fall of the checker.
Unfortunately, much of the excitement centering on the amateur class was put to an end when Duane Shadley unloaded in his heat. The Shadley-Estep duels which have sparked the amateur class this year have been truly thrilling, and all were sorry to see Shadley lose out at Lincoln.
A restart of the first amateur heat, caused by a spill in the second turn, provided some diversion when Thad Coleman, who had jumped the flag on two false starts, was reprimanded over the P.A. system for being so eager. Some of the crowd even booed him. Coleman wasn’t disturbed in the least, however, and ran away with a decisive win on the restart. Dave Estep made it look easy in the second heat, as did Jerry Ashcroft in the third.
Estep had his sights set on first place in the amateur final, but hit a soft spot coming out of the second turn. As he fought to regain control, most of the field sped by. Dave began to pick off rider after rider at all points on the course, but in spite on his fine, spirited ride, he finished second to Ashcroft’s very smooth win.
Then the nine expert riders lined up for the 5-Mile Championship. Markel jumped into the lead immediately, stretching his advantage to a full three-quarters of a lap by the end of the race. Darrel Dovel made a poor start but moved up steadily fighting each rider for each place. He caught up with Ronnie Rail towards the end, but was unable to pass. Barda, Murguia, Reiman and Nicholas followed the first three across the finish line.
In the end, Bart picked up another 9 points on the road to the No. 1 plate for 1963. With three more events left on the national schedule, only Ronnie Rail remains within shooting distance of Markel’s present total. Bart needs to place well in just one more event, and the plate is his. •
