4 West Coast Nationals
4 WEST COAST NATIONALS
Nix Wins on the Miles, Van Leeuwen Takes the TTs
DAN HUNT
PORTLAND: THE MILE
Dirt track racing on the mile oval has its own sort of antique charm, harking back to days when such circuits encompassed acres. Or even whole towns.
Now, thanks to overpopulation, only three National mile races a year are held. Hopefully, promoters will persevere. A mile race is vast in scale, with speeds to match. When a mile racer thunders down the straight and heaves his machine into the turn at full throttle, the spectacle possesses the aesthetic qualities of a jet fighter changing course.
Portland Meadows is the first mile of the AMA National season. Technical innovation abounded-at least for a mile race. HarleyDavidson machines with swinging arm frames won the first three places. Such success with “springers” is unprecedented, although Dan Haaby has performed well in the West this season on the Gary Bray-tuned spring frame H-D.
The winning H-Ds, piloted by Fred Nix, Bart Markel and Mert Lawwill, used twin carburetored engines identical to those that ran so fast at Daytona this year. Cal Rayborn and Roger Reiman also ran twin carburetored versions, but with rigid frames. Valve timing was milder on each of them, to give the broader torque range needed on the dirt. Most of the H-D trackers used Ceriani road racing forks.
The recently formed West Coast H-D team was down to one member-Dan Haaby-on a single carburetored swinging arm model tuned by Gary Bray. But the bike wasn’t running well, so Haaby borrowed Fred Nix’s rigid framed spare. Gene Romero, No. 2 man on the team, had to return to riding Triumph after it was decided that there wasn’t enough manpower and equipment to keep a stable of machines for both men.
The most startling Expert entry was that of Sammy Tanner. The bike was positively gnatlike in sound-its engine was a 350-cc Yamaha Twin, similar to the Daytona factory racers. The Portland version was slung in a Sonic Weld rigid frame and looked incredibly tiny, causing many a railbird to woof, “Hoo boy, poor Sammy.”
Poor Sammy qualified the yowling thing at 44.02 sec. This was better than most of the 500-cc BSA Gold Stars, and almost as good as the competitive 500-cc Triumphs of National No. 1 Gary Nixon, Jimmy Odom, and Dusty Coppage, who all buzzed through in the 43 s.
Then came the 750 flathead part of the 500/750 class. Markel qualified best at 40.93—a hair faster than 90 mph. Lawwill, Nix and Reiman posted attempts in the 41s. Portland, with long straights and tight, choppy turns, was definitely H-D country this year.
While any mile is exciting in a Kamikaze sort of way, Portland was lackluster in the heats, because of drizzly weather, glass enclosed stands which tended to hide the crowd, and the wide divergence in horsepower, which gave a 10-sec. spread between riders in qualifying and more of the same in racing.
Markel won the first heat, followed by Cal Rayborn. Triumph stalwart Nixon managed a 3rd. Lawwill, shadowed by Haaby, won the second heat. Freddy Nix turned the third heat into sheer boredom by stretching his lead to a quarter mile. Sammy Tanner brought his Yamaha home 5 th, however, which, as a statistic, was exciting-he became the first rider of a 350-cc two-stroke to make an Expert National main event on a mile track. In the fourth heat, Roger Reiman brushed off an opening lap flourish by Eddie Mulder, who’s not so steady these days. That made four heats, and four winning H-Ds.
The 20-mile Expert final was an H-D formation. Nix quickly took the lead, followed a few feet back by Markel. Then came Lawwill. All three smoked around on a medium high groove, exciting even in their orderliness, for none bothered to shut off at the end of the 125-mph straight. They scrubbed off speed by throwing the bikes sideways, spewing identical rooster tails for the entire radius of the turn.
Dicing interest was provided by a battle for 4 th through 6th places, between the Triumphs of Jimmy Odom, Gary Nixon and Gary’s traveling mate, Chuck Palmgren. Talk about fierce! Nixon had good reason for kicking Palmgren out of his truck. At the finish, Gary jostled his way to 4th, followed by Palmgren and Odom. Then came Haaby, Rayborn, Romero, H-D rider Mel Lacher, BSA faithful Dick Mann, and Mulder. Sammy Tanner didn’t finish high enough for national points, but the Yamaha people were mighty pleased with the giant killer’s debut.
An interesting point was that despite all the H-D noise, Nixon’s 4th put him 24 points ahead of Rayborn in the race for the national championship.
Mark Brelsford, blessed with the loan of Mert Lawwill’s rigid framed H-D, demolished the Amateur competition in the 10-lap final. Tom Rockwood, son of announcer and Yamaha public relations chief Roxy, took 2nd on a Sonic Weld-framed Triumph, followed by Bill Cody, on a “rigid” H-D, and Jim Rice’s BSA.
Perhaps the most interesting machine in the Amateur main belonged to 7th finisher Jack Wilkinson. The bike is a Honda 450 that churns out 52.8 bhp and is reportedly the second most powerful Class C engine ever tested on C.R. Axtell’s dynamometer (the first is an H-D Daytona rig).
Wilkinson’s tuner, Dave Peterson of Garden Grove, Calif., gave CYCLE WORLD some details. The 450 is a production dohc Honda. The major modifications are welded-up pistons and a specially ordered cam grind from Kenny Harmon.
The unusual aspect of this cam is that it allows the use of stock torsion bar seat pressures, which are about 20 to 30 lb. To do this, the cam is gently ramped to its 0.450-in. lift, and duration is long at 304 degrees. The useful range of power is from 7200 rpm, where the engine is putting out 40 bhp, on up to just over 10,000 rpm, where the 52.8 bhp figure is reached.
Now all rider Wilkinson has to do is figure how to put those numbers on the ground.
CASTLE ROCK: 30-LAP TT
Castle Rock, Wash., is a folksier place than Portland. The TT course is small. It stands in a large weed patch. The stands sag. The first reaction is one of incredulity. A National? Here?
But surprise, Castle Rock is a better show than Portland. The audience can get closer to its heroes. The riders are beginning to enjoy the vacation from the Midwest part of the National trail. Everyone camps-and jumps into the Cowlitz River, a few yards away, to cool off. “Hodad” Eddie Wirth spent part of race day appraising the merits of a jump from a high bridge into that cold water. Fortunately, he decided to pass, at least until next year.
Sheer variety of machinery makes this countrified TT show fun, too, without overshadowing rider skill. Even an Amateur class rider such as Bentley “Barbeque” Hardwick can traipse up from Texas with his “daddy’s demonstrator,” a stone heavy BSA Hornet untouched by tuner’s hands, and win respectable bucks in the main.
Expert hardware was a garble of bits and pieces. Untouched frames were the exception. Mert Lawwill ran his fabulous 314-lb. 883-cc Sportster (CW, June ’68). Dallas Baker’s 650-cc BSA Twin was in a Sonic Weld TT frame, which had a wide double cradle, heavily gusseted steering head, extremely wide swinging arm pivot mounting, and diamond section swinging arm, all in lightweight steel alloy. Even Triumph’s Gary Nixon uses a Sonic Weld swinging arm on his TT bike. Dick Mann ran his special BSA Twin with its variable engine positioning.
One of Bart Markel’s H-Ds carried a rear disc brake, but after practice he swapped this for his drum braked machine. Markel, like the majority of H-D factory riders, uses the 750-cc flathead engine in TTs. The flathead delivers less horsepower than the Sportster unit, but is lighter and less top-heavy, an important factor in handling. Lawwill won Castle Rock last year with a flathead. His present Sportster is the only one of the H-D TT bikes that truly handles well, a result of his frame development, and engine lightening through the use of alloy heads and some judicious removal of casing metal.
Dan Haaby and local favorite Emil Ahola were the only two other H-D threats riding Sportsters. Haaby has been hampered by suspension problems, inability to place power on the ground, and top hamper, although he does better with the bike on a groove track, which Castle Rock was not.
So time trials favored the nimble 650-cc vertical twins and Mert’s H-D. Northwestern TT ace Sonny Burres qualified fastest at 25.91 sec. with a stock framed Triumph. Eddie Wirth, on a BSA, and Lawwill tied for second fastest time at 25.96. Seven or eight places down the list came Cal Rayborn, fastest of the H-D flathead riders.
Burres headed Skip Van Leeuwen in the first heat, with Dan Holton 3rd. Cal Rayborn led the second heat for a few laps, but was finally pushed back to 4th by Dusty Coppage, Jimmy Odom and Eddie Wirth. In heat three, Oregonian Mark Williams beat Lawwill and Baker. Eddie Mulder, riding a Triumph, played with Markel and Nix in the fourth heat.
Surprise of this part of the evening was Gary Nixon, who failed to put his bike in the main, even with the benefit of a semifinal, new for AMA Nationals this year. The track puzzled him somehow and he couldn’t seem to find the best gearing, or an effective drive through the infield dogleg to the half-mile turn.
The main event was every bit a cliffhanger, and enthusiastic crowds enjoyed it for the full distance. Mulder scooted to his usual early lead but disappointingly faded ever rearward, after Burres forced his Triumph to the front.
Then it was Burres’ turn to fade. He suffered from lack of sleep, having spent the entire night putting right what his mechanic had put wrong. Skip Van Leeuwen edged up from midfield and took over the lead. But Mert Lawwill had worked his way to 3rd. Off the half-mile turn he swooped into 1st!
Van Leeuwen stayed close, repassed once, and was again pipped by Lawwill in the infield. In the tussling that followed, Mert’s foot was run over, and his hotshoe came loose! Slowed by the dangling piece of steel, he relinquished 1st to Skip once again, then was passed by Emil Ahola, Dick Mann and several other riders. This was a devastating loss, as Castle Rock points would have put Mert within reach of an assault on the national championship.
At the finish, Van Leeuwen was still in front and Mann had worked his way past Ahola. Another “sleeper,” Paul Bostrom, passed Burres to take over 4th. Burres was 5th, and then came Haaby, Coppage, Odom, Jim Corpe, Mulder, Wirth, Dan Holton, Nix, Lawwill, Markel and Mark Williams, in that order.
In the Amateur bash, BSA rider Jim Rice beat Mark Breisford and Jim Jones.
In terms of National points, Castle Rock was inconclusive, as the biggest bundle of points went to Experts who were not in real contention for the crown. Nixon still led, and for all the good Castle Rock did him, he could have stayed home and watched Star Trek.
ASCOT: 50-LAP TT
Two men are making a monopoly of this season’s motorcycle events at Ascot Park, the Los Angeles speed arena which hosts races for almost any wheeled vehicle, from sidehacks to Chevy-powered sprint cars. One of the motorcycle heroes is Mel Lacher, who, at the time of Ascot’s 50-lap TT promotion, had scored a run of almost 10 straight victories in the Friday night flat track races.
The other big money winner is Skip Van Leeuwen, undefeated in Ascot TT events this year, and winner of the 1967 Ascot TT National. Despite the mass arrival of all the top points scorers in the AMA series, no one really expected anyone but Van Leeuwen, and his 100 percent reliable 650-cc Triumph, to be in the lead at the close of the 50th lap.
And win he did. But not in the effortless manner that his fans had predicted. Dan Haaby wrestled with his Sportster-engined Harley-Davidson to such effect that he finished only 3 sec. behind, and forced the favorite to set a new race record of 39 min.,
11.74 sec.
Dan’s challenge began during practice. He heaved his bucking H-D around the two sweepers “borrowed” from the half-mile circuit, through the twisty midfield section, and over the soaring artificial ramp below the grandstand, to set fastest qualifying time, 46.59 sec.
He finished 3rd in his heat, however, behind winner Dusty Coppage and Dick Mann. Van Leeuwen won the next heat, from Ralph White, and Lawwill claimed the third one. Bart Markel suffered disaster here when he trailed in last, slowed by brake troubles.
The main developed into two races. There was the battle for the lead, and also a midfield struggle between Gary Nixon and Cal Rayborn, the two leaders in the AMA points table. After Castle Rock, Nixon led with 350, to Rayborn’s 326. So, every point was vital.
From the start, Van Leeuwen and Haaby charged shoulder-to-shoulder into the lead, with the Triumph rider emerging first from the hectic struggle. Dusty Coppage soon passed Haaby, and Mert Lawwill and Gene Romero were close behind. Nixon, in 6th place, held off a pack of assorted H-Ds, Triumphs, and BSAs, with Rayborn at the tail of the group.
After 14 laps Lawwill had passed Romero, but Nixon had lost three places. Bob Bailey now led this pack, while Rayborn was back in 12th place. Eddie Mulder skidded into the pits for adjustments, then almost mowed down a line of spectators as he barrelled back into the race. Then Lawwill’s effort was shattered, first when he stopped to alert his pitmen of a loose rear brake linkage on his H-D, then when he halted next time around for attention to the components. Although he restarted, the lost time was sufficient to shut him out of a high placing.
Dick Mann was another in trouble. As he slid into the long turn after the grandstand, the rear axle of his BSA broke. In a skillful display, Mann held on to the bike until it slid out to the fence, where he neatly stepped off.
Meanwhile, Haaby repassed Coppage, and in a spirited ride, Dallas Baker swept through into 4th place, only to be stopped by ignition troubles. With 10 laps remaining, a mixture of other people’s mechanical ailments and his own steady riding allowed Rayborn to take 5th, but Nixon stayed in 8th place.
In the closing laps Haaby courageously attempted to catch Van Leeuwen, but consistent Skip was able to keep his lead, and passed the flag 3 sec. ahead of the H-D man. Coppage placed 3rd, followed by Romero, Rayborn, and Ralph White. Nixon recovered a place to finish 7th.
Van Leeuwen collected the major share of the $7500 purse, and 62 points, which are virtually useless to him as he does not contest the full AMA round. Rayborn’s 28 points made his total 354, only 13 less than Nixon’s total of 367.
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Among the Amateurs, Jim Rice repeated his Castle Rock form, sliding his BSA to a win. Mark Brelsford attempted to stay with Rice, until his Triumph failed. Another BSA, ridden by Jim Petersen, made 2nd spot, followed by Ben Fakkeldy and his Triumph.
SANTA ROSA: THE MILE
A rider has to be something of an iron man to follow the National trail, and sometimes the need for this quality has nothing to do with racing. The 10-mile event on the mile oval at Santa Rosa is an example. It was scheduled one day after the night TT at Ascot. This left the riders a scant 11 hours to cover a distance of more than 500 miles between the two tracks.
If a rider is extremely well organized, he can fly, and someone else drives his bike up, but this is the exception. More typical was Mert Lawwill, who was forced to drive northward, trailing his machinery behind him. Delayed en route, he missed practice. So how did he and some others feel? Droopy.
In spite of that, Santa Rosa’s virgin run as the 10-mile National mile track was a great show. A sweeping, slightly rough, tight groove track-unlike Portland’s “power” track-led to an astonishingly snug range of times in qualifying.
Bart Markel, whose twin carburetored H-D “springer” looked slow in practice, posted fastest time at 41.28 sec. But the 500-cc Triumphs of Gene Romero, Jimmy Odom, Chuck Palmgren, and Gary Nixon also posted times in the 41s and 42s, and a total of around 20 Experts qualified below 43 sec. Even the hottest Amateurs were in the 42s. Triumph rider Dave Smith was fastest at an impressive 42.18 sec.
The Expert heats, in contrast to Portland two weeks before, were sheer pleasure. Lawwill, riding his twin carburetored H-D with his own square section swinging arm, led Markel on Lap 1 of the first heat. Then both swapped places for several laps. Markel was in front at the end, followed by Mert, Jimmy Odom, and Dick Mann, on his self-designed swinging arm frame BSA Gold Star.
Then came a Triumph heat. AMA No. 1 Gary Nixon diced with Gene Romero for 1st, with Gary finally emerging on top. BSA riders Phil Todd and Shorty Seabourne took 3rd and 4th.
Chuck Palmgren took the third heat. Dan Haaby, on his H-D springer, emerged a comfortable 2nd, having eliminated his practice session carburetion problems. Then came Dusty Coppage (Triumph) and Eddie Mulder (H-D), who slumped from the front to 5th, then struggled back up to 4th to save himself the trouble of having to ride the semi.
After his magnificent display in practice, it figured that Freddy Nix would win the fourth heat. Before the track got chewed up, Fred was riding the turns feet up all the way from the apex. In his heat, he was followed by teammates Cal Rayborn and Roger Reiman, both on rigid-framed H-Ds. Then came Ron Kruseman on a Triumph.
In the 10-lap feature, Lawwill made an excellent start with Nixon and Nix at his back wheel. Markel zapped all three, seemingly with horsepower, through turn one and the back chute. Triumph riders Palmgren, Romero, and Odom were holding their own party when they were almost run through by Reiman and Rayborn. Freddy Nix, meanwhile, passed Lawwill and Markel to take over 1st and easily hold it.
The midfield haggling grew “louder” until Reiman, Haaby, Romero, Odom and Nixon all seemed to lunge for the same spot. What ensued was terribly confusing until Nixon lost the groove entirely and went out high to do some dusty gardening in the soft stuff.
Order was restored for the checkered flag, with Nixon four places farther down. Nix came through for the $ 1000-plus purse, followed by Markel and Lawwill-in the same order as at Portland. Then came Palmgren, Reiman, Haaby, Romero, Odom, Nixon, Raybom, Coppage, Clyde Litch, Dewayne Keeter, Todd, Mann, Seabourne, Mulder, Kruseman, Pat Gosch and Dick Newell.
Once again Mark Brelsford had Mert Lawwill as his sponsor, and rode the spare rigid framed H-D to victory in the Amateur main. Triumph rider Tom Rockwood followed him to 2nd.
And off they went with the Experts once again to do battle in the Midwest. It was obvious from the National trail’s swing westward that Harley-Davidson was more serious than ever in its pursuit of Nixon’s crown. One wonders, however, whether the H-D army of specialists is enough. Now, if Rayborn were stuck inside of Nix, then Bark Markel was grafted on, and a sprinkling of Mert Lawwill added for wit...
