Memo From Boston Garden
MEMO FROM BOSTON GARDEN
"...His Strategy Was To Get His Truck Loaded As Quickly As Possible."
JOHN H. WAASER
NEW ENGLAND is officially known in the AMA as District One. Except that if you look in the AMA books, very few activities are listed for District One, for New England has, for several years now, been independent. The all-powerful New England Sports Committee controls scrambling, the most prevalent form of the sport here. Thus it is that when the AMA comes to New England to promote a race, a lot of eyes are watching closely. When we arrived in Boston, we were told that very few tickets had been sold for the bike races. The stands were about half full, and most of the people there seemed to be active New England competition riders. So the AMA was laid open for inspection right on enemy territory, as it were. How did they do?
Right from the start riders were complaining. (Jene Romero dictated a memo into my tape recorder that the AMA officials were violating the “No Smoking” signs. He finished by saying, “This is Gary Nixon speaking.” Riders were arguing among themselves to see who would have the honor of informing Mr. Watson that he was in violation of this local ordinance. It was generally agreed that Gary Nixon was the man for the job, since he wasn’t entered, but Gary declined. So much for the riders’ meeting . . .
A look at the bikes showed the extent to which this type of racing is popular in other sections of the country. Local riders had their scrambles iron for the most part; George Millette was even riding his 125-ec Yamaha, as that’s all he had available. Mark Brelsford had a truly beautiful paint job on his machine. He says it gets painted only once a year. He’s pretty careful not to put it down. One rider had two stingers coming out of one expansion chamber, each stinger capped by a muffler. Since mufflers are mandatory, this setup should be quieter and produce a bit more power, right? (Actually it was a bit more noisy, and as for power, well . . .) The AMA was allowing the bikes to run at 96 decibels on the “A-slow” scale, along the backstretchfour times as much noise at a greater distance than was permitted for the Berkshire Trials. This was the second racing event we’ve attended in recent weeks where mufflers were mandatory for all entrants, and it’s the way to go. We could even hear ourselves think.
Riders are much more relaxed here than at a National Championship event, even though there is a $5000 purse at stake. Billy Dutcher talked freely, said he had put his Bultaco together from spare parts they had had lying around the factory. That’s the trouble with being a factory rep. If you have a new machine, and a customer wants it, and you can’t get any more, baby it’s sold. Mark Breisford sat in a corner cutting away at his tires. He says that it doesn’t make too much difference until after the thing lets go, but then he gets a bit more traction for regaining control with the cut tire. Later he reversed the tire on the rim. We asked Gene Romero what his strategy was at these Yamaha Cup events. He replied that his strategy is to get his truck loaded as quickly as possible. They’re not really his cup of tea, and the appearance money he gets is enough to tide him over until the weekend, when he collects from BSA Incorporated at the big event. Nevertheless, Gene was filing his tires in earnest before the semi-final. He finished 5th in the semi, putting him out of the running, and loaded his truck as quickly as possible.
The AMA insisted upon holding time trials, even though everybody would qualify. How else could they have a trophy dash? Or determine the starting order in the qualifying heats? The bikes looked very tame, not nearly as exciting with only one on the track at a time. Officials had said that there would be only one trial allowed; no second starts. Gary Fisher fluffed a plug, succeeded in getting a second trial, and later said, “Would you believe my first time was faster?” Dave Aldana showed up late, during time trials. The AMA said he couldn’t run. Nixon ran up. “But this is the guy who came to Boston to run ads for this event. This is the guy the crowd has paid to see.” He insisted that for evening events the sign-up time was 6 p.m. Dave doesn’t need any practice, he said. Officials said the sign-up deadline was 3 o’clock. Finally they agreed to let Aldana and a couple of other late arrivals run, and set up late time trials for them. “We got caught without a rule,” said one official. Duke Fennel was angry. “Give me the book. I’ll show you.” Other officials broke in to break up the argument, took the book and put it away. It was one of the best shows the evening offered. They should have let the crowd in earlier to see it.
After time trials the riders took Don Emde’s Honda minibike (it’s in Don’s contract that he can only ride BSA, so he very carefully emblazoned BSA on the tank), and were holding a front wheel sliding contest. Get the thing going, lock up the front wheel brake, and see how far you can ride it like that. Control was poor, spectators were sent scurrying away. The fun continued until Dave Aldana bent the rig against a concrete post.
Now' the crowd was arriving, and the qualifying heats were run off without incident. Well, almost. Kenny Roberts got hold of Louis Moniz’ handlebar while going down the straightaway. Louis said later that he had never heard of anyone being put down on the straightaway, “but I’ll file that away in my memory, and I’ll see him again.” Local scrambles rider Earl Durkee finished 2nd in his heat, a huge grin on his face.
After the qualifying heats came the minibike race. Yamaha supplied a line of Mini Enduros, and everybody hopped on and started circulating around the track. Odom grabbed the lead, and when anybody pulled up to challenge Jim, he just grabbed the guy’s arm and pushed him back. So a few people got smart and cut through the infield to get the lead. The riders continued circulating long after the checkered flag. Just as the officials got them all put away, Gary Fisher somehow got out to the line and waved his arm in a signal for everyone to race around the course backwards. The crowd got really turned on as this portion of the event dragged on. Perhaps the real problem with indoor racing is that the show is so short. Twenty-lap qualifying heats with up to 5 0-lap finals might better suit the crowd.
After the minibike race they held a one-lap celebrity race on Marx Big Wheel trikes. This was ridiculous; its only saving grace was its short duration, and the fact that the trikes were presented to a school for the deaf. The kids then took their new possessions out for a brief lap.
The trophy dash, by rights, is the most exciting part of the evening’s performance. But as he did all night, Duke Pennell was dancing around with the flag, getting ragged starts. Bill Dutcher and Frank Gillespie were thrown back to the penalty line. Dutcher later said that there isn’t supposed to be a penalty line for a trophy dash, and that if the starter isn’t capable of handling events with national riders, then he shouldn’t be out there. This left a two-man trophy dash-and Louis Moniz, knowing full well that he couldn’t beat Castro, who had the inside line, got foolish and tried to put Don down in the first turn. Louis went down, which handed the win to Don. Gillespie took a distant 2nd, followed by Dutcher and Moniz.
At about this time, the crowd started getting impatient at the slow running of the event. A female drum and bugle corps was brought in, along with a female color guard. Sounds good, right? Wrong. The color guard included three boys filling in, who looked out of place. Commands were given very poorly, marching was sloppy, instruments poorly played and out of tune. The crowd started stomping its feet and clapping its hands. The AMA officials probably aren’t used to that sort of thing, and continued in their own slow way.
Another delay was caused in the staging of the semi, as Billy Dutcher bumped Dave Aldana a good one. Billy quickly waved his hand to show that it was all an accident, though Dave, who took it good-naturedly, must have had some doubts about that. They checked the machine over very carefully; the only damage was to the clutch lever, and they straightened that. The crowd continued to get more impatient, and shots were fired, apparently from a starter’s pistol. Again the starter was poor, and Bill Dutcher, along with local rider Durkee, were bounced back to the penalty line. Dutcher maintains that his tire patch was not over the second line. From where we stood it was obvious that Louis Moniz had crept over the line, but he was not penalized. Dutcher wondered if the officials were out to get him. Moniz tried to put Dutcher down from the outside-a foolish move-and Louis went down himself. Dirty pool is a way of life here in these events; the only way to avoid it is to get out in front. The start is all important.
Then they announced a consolation race for the top riders who did not qualify for the semis. As the consy riders were lining up, the officials decided that they would run the final instead, and run the consy after that. So they lined up the final. Keith Mashburn got into the lead. Keith was one of the few riders who kept his bike in an oversteering attitude most of the evening. The difference shows clearly in the photos-Keith’s front wheel is turned out, while most riders held the wheel in. Keith’s way is flashier and faster. The crowd loved him. After the final they stormed down to see him and get autographs. There wasn’t a legitimate photographer there who got a good picture of Keith; the crowd got to him first. He stayed as long as the crowd wanted him to, signing autographs-a real hero. Meanwhile the crowd was destroying the arena, taking down the finish line banner and everything else that wasn’t nailed down. The AMA decided not to run the consy. George Millette says he got paid 2nd-place money for that on the basis of qualifying times. Far out ...
