The Irwindale Nationals
THE IRWINDALE NATIONALS
BOB SANFORD
When $6500 Waits In The Tower, A Winner Not A Record Holder Be!
BORIS MURRAY, the nation's current top speed record holder for the quarter-mile (166.35 mph), blasted his twin Triumph to a 9.47 elapsed time victory (159.85 mph) over favored David Campos in the final round of Top Fuel Eliminations at the NHRA sanctioned, second annual United States Fuel and Gas Motorcycle Nationals, held at Irwindale, Calif.
Murray’s win followed by only minutes the final round victory of Sonny Routt in the Top Gas Eliminations. Routt, also aboard a twin Triumph, aced out Larry Joe Yaeger with a run of 10.64 sec.
More than 100 of the Top Gas and Fuel bikes from throughout the country were on hand to try for a share of the $6500 purse (counting contingencies), including the sizeable crew from House of Wheels in Houston, Texas, led by Pat
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But David Campos did. The Albuquerque, N.M., Harley rider qualified in the number two spot with a run of 9.15 sec. And then in the third round of eliminations, Campos turned in a 9.14 against Danny Johnson, to give him the national e.t. record by just one onehundredth of a second. Campos went on to defeat Jim Lineweber, aboard Clem Johnson’s Vincent “Barn Job,’’ to advance to the finals.
Miller and his triple-engine Yamaha. As usual, though, most of the bikes were Harley-Davidsons, except for the aforementioned Triumphs, a Vincent or two, a cou pie of BSAs, an occasional Honda, and a twin McCullough streamlined minibike.
Rain had fallen sporadically over Southern California during the previous week, and there were dire predictions of the second annual Irwindale rain-out. But the sun made a miraculous appearance first thing Saturday morning, and did not so much as blink during the two-day meet. Track officials had done an outstanding job of promoting the event, and, although sparsely attended on Saturday, drew an estimated 5000 fans for the finals on Sunday. At least 500 of the spectators arrived on bikes, running the gamut from Honda Trail 90s to Kawasaki Mach His to super-sanitary Square Four Ariels.
Qualifying started Saturday, and last year’s winner and national elapsed time record holder, Joe Smith, wasted no time in turning a 9.09-sec. run, 0.06 sec. faster than his record. This gave him and his Harley-Davidson the top qualifying position, but he wasn’t able to produce the required back-up run (within one percent) to establish a new national record.
Murray, the veteran rider and frame builder from La Verne, Calif., had his toughest battle in the second round, where he was paired against Smith. But Smith turned in a disappointing 9.50, and Murray advanced to the semi-finals with a run of 9.38. Murray turned in his best run of the meet in the semis, when he turned a 9.35 in defeating Sonny Raslawski’s H-D.
So the stage was set with Campos, who had not turned more than 9.28 throughout the meet, emerging as the odds-on favorite. Murray, however, had other ideas, and brought his 1300-cc Triumph to the line, after making a last minute change to an M&H tire. (The company, incidentally, offered a sizeable contingency award to the Top Fuel winner using their product.)
After burn-outs, the pair staged and the countdown began. Murray was just a hair quicker out of the hole, but both were away in smoke. Murray cleared first and began to pull away. However, Campos and his big Murray-frame Sportster weren’t far behind and looked like they might close the gap. But no such luck. Campos blew his engine just before the light, and the tall, thin pro went through for the victory.
Routt also had a bit of luck in gaining the Top Cías championship, lop qualifier, Ron Fringer, was defeated by Bob Petrie in the first round, and last year’s Cías winner, Harold Fide, and runner-up, Marv Jorgenson, both went down with mechanical problems.
Mike Tedder of Lawndale, Calif., took Top Street Eliminator on his Honda Four, when Kawasaki’s Tony Nicosia red-lighted in the final round. Additionally. the following new national records were set:
