The Scene

THE SCENE

IVAN J. WAGAR

BY THE TIME you read this column, Daytona will be over and in the record books, an unfortunate fact of life when dealing with the necessary lead-time of a large circulation monthly. We already have previewed some of the exciting new 750 racing machines for the March classic in issues that go on sale before the race. Normally at this point we would wait for the checkered flag at the end of the 200-miler and report the results in our next issue.

One last minute development, however, compels me to put pen to paper for the benefit of all H-D racing fans. It deals with a news bulletin from HarleyDavidson to its dealers, stating that the factory will not participate at Daytona. This will be the first time since 1911 that a factory Harley-Davidson entry has not appeared for an AMA National Championship race.

The problem seems to be that vendors have been tardy about deadlines, and the factory personnel can do little but twiddle their thumbs while they wait for outside contractors to deliver the completed subassemblies. Under AMA rules, 200 machines must be built and available for sale, and identical to the approved model. Thus, even if the factory could produce the necessary few factory racers for the event, the machines would not be eligible to compete.

This 200 availability requirement also carries over into the new FIM rules for Formula 750, under which all seven AMA National Championship road races will be sanctioned for this year.

The Daytona race promoter, NASCAR President Bill France, Jr., is anxious to find a way to get the Harleys to the line for the race. There is good reason for Bill to be concerned. The H-D factory for years has hosted a dealer meeting in conjunction with the Speedweek. Last year the factory spent in excess of $40,000 in promotional and dealer activities. And that figure has nothing to do with the racing budget for the week. Loyal Harley fans travel from all parts of the country and Canada for Daytona, and the absence of the orange and black racers, not to mention Cal Rayborn and company, is very disappointing. There is an even larger band of Daytona regulars that go there to see the Milwaukee Bad Guys get beat that also will be more than disappointed over this latest happening.

It was for these reasons that the AMA Executive Committee spent considerable time discussing the possibility of an exemption or a compliance extension for Harley-Davidson. Committee member John Harley hung tough on not wanting an exemption. His reasoning was that H-D, more than anyone else, was responsible for the 200 requirement in the AMA rule book. That and the claiming rule is what made (or was intended to make) AMA racing honest.

At the time of the meeting it was known that MV Agusta also was in trouble with production schedules. At that date there were 54 MVs in the country and counted. There were 38 more ready for transit, but the factory simply was not capable of producing 200 units before Daytona. And that was another reason for John Harley to hang tough. As he put it, "We could build a few tool room racers and be at Daytona. We could produce parts orders for the 300 racers we are building. We could prove that the vendors have caused the delay. But we, as much as anyone, wrote the rule book and we are not going to cheat to make Daytona. We know that some people have shuffled bikes from one warehouse to another, changing engine numbers en route. We also know that one firm brought in 200 motorcycles and converted all but a few team bikes back to street machines. But if the AMA grants an exemption for us, they will have to do the same for MV, and where does it all end?"

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I am with John completely. Few people will miss Calvin, Mark and Mert at Daytona more than I will. The new machines are good. The mules (the term for the prototype development racers) have been running at 168 mph at Daytona in trials and with Calvin, one of the best road racers in the world, the chances of a Harley-Davidson win looked very good.

Proponents for an exemption argue that we are not dealing with a foreign factory that might make promises and then not follow through. They argue that here we have a company in our own country that we can force to abide by our wishes, and we know that 300 machines have been ordered and will be built.

But the reason I am with John is that H-D and its racing chief, Dick O'Brien, has attempted to heap integrity into racing in their efforts to erase the stigma that H-D controls the AMA.

H-D's refusal to accept an exemption means that it now will be very difficult for the AMA to grant any favors to MV Agusta. And that, too, is unfortunate. The absence of both of the racing giants will hurt the races, and Agostini's nonappearance will not go down too well with the dollies. The dashing Italian usually doubles spectator attendance at European races; most of them dollies.

On the plus side of things, we will have Paul Smart with us for the year to add a bit of international flavor to things. I have known Paul for about five years and predict that he will get along well with our top flighters. Known in native England as Small Part, Paul will join Gary Nixon and Yvon DuHamel under the Team Hansen banner on Kawasakis. The other teams remain as discussed in our two previous issues.

A new development, but not a change in line-up, is that transplanted Aussie Kel Carruthers, has taken Kenny Roberts under his wing. Kel feels he can convert the Northern California youth into a world champion road racer, and that Roberts has more raw talent than any young rider he has seen anywhere in the world—not surprising when you look at the Astrodome results and realize that Kenny is leading the points race for the National championship. Carruthers, however, made the prediction six months ago. Those Aussies make good crystal balls.