20-Miler And Number One To Markel
20-MILER AND NUMBER ONE TO MARKEL
CAROL ANDERSON SIMS
BY VIRTUE OF his winning performance at Sacramento State Fairgrounds' one-mile dirt track, Bart Markel assured himself of the Number One plate in 1963, and tied Joe Leonard for the number of AMA nationals won in a single season — six. Markel, four-time Michigan state champ, had previously accounted for the 5, 10, 15 and 50-mile nationals as well as the 45 cu. in. T.T. title. But his Sacramento didn't come easy.
Shirtsleeve California weather, a cloudless sky, and a well-prepared track greeted riders and spectators for the running of the fourth annual 20-Mile National Championship, promoted by J. C. Agajanian. Tension mounted early; at inspection time Markel’s bike was declared illegal because of non-regulation alloy front forks, but these were hastily replaced by tuner Ed Warren as practice began.
Qualifications brought several spills, most spectacular of which involved national dirt track point leader Jack O’Brien. Sliding sideways off the groove as he approached the first turn, Jack laid his BSA down and rode it out for about 200 feet, displaying such expert form that he was greeted by a resounding cheer from the crowd when he jumped to his feet and walked away.
Stopwatches were the order of the day when Joe Leonard, Triumph mounted, took to the track — and with good reason. Three-time Grand National Champion and winner of 25 nationals including last year’s 20-miler, Leonard’s switch from Harley to Triumph this season had been watched with interest. The pits and stands were humming when it was announced that Joe had clocked fast time of the day — 41.79!
Following the riders’ parade — always impressive on a mile — came the amateur and expert heats, with ten men lined up in a row for each ten-mile race. And race they did — hard, fast and close.
First amateur preliminary event went to Ron Nelson (Triumph), though no less than five riders led at one time or another including Dale Norlund, who parted company from his H-D on the first lap. Second was Clyde Litch (BSA); third, Tom Clark (H-D). Time: 7:21.71.
Gil Alison wheeled his Harley to a new track record in the next amateur go,
turning the 10 miles in a crackling 7:16.64 to knock 3Vz seconds from the old mark. Early leader Dick Moore (BSA) went down on lap one without injury, and Mert Lawwill (BSA) pressed Alison hard until retiring on lap 7 with mechanical difficulties. Harley riders Jerry Seguin and Thad Coleman wound up second and third.
Last amateur heat saw a ding-dong lead swapping duel between Elliott Schultz and Homer Stapps, with Jeff Sperry nipping at their heels until late in the race. Schultz (Enfield) took over and stretched his advantage from the 8th lap to the finish, and Arnold Castellano (H-D) nosed past Sperry (H-D) for third in the closing seconds. Alison’s newly - established record was lowered considerably, this time to 7:11.13.
The stands were buzzing as riders pulled to the line for the first expert 10-miler and, as the flag fell, Joe Leonard powered ahead of Roger Reiman, George Roeder and Don Hawley. Roeder soon assumed second spot and began to close the gap, battling fiercely with Leonard until the 6th lap when he took over the lead — and held it. The terrific pace of the race was emphasized by the announcement of a new track record — 6:59.28
— which shattered the former mark of 7:05.13, set in 1961 by Carroll Resweber.
Much interest centered on the next expert heat as Dick Mann, nation’s point leader until breaking his hand in a spill at Springfield, was entering his first race since the accident. Pushing his Matchless into an early lead, Mann was dogged, first by Stuart Morley and then by Sid Payne, with Payne taking over on lap 7 as Sammy Tanner snatched third from Morley. Then followed a do-or-die bid by Mann that had the crowd on their feet and cheering
— and two laps later he resumed the lead, although now he had Tanner to contend with, as Payne dropped to third. On the last lap, Tanner led down the back straightaway and through the turn, but at the checker, as the grandstands resounded with a mighty roar, it was Mann by a wheel, in as determined a bit of riding as one is ever liable to see. Payne (H-D) followed Tanner (Triumph) across the line, and the time was 7:05.43.
Neil Keen led wire-to-wire in the final expert prelim on his BSA, but there was plenty happening behind him all the way as Darrel Dovel, AÍ Gunter and Bart Markel swapped the number two position repeatedly. Keen turn one lap in 41.11 as he stretched his lead to 10 lengths over Markel, Gunter and Dovel at the wire. Time: 7:00.03.
Jack O’Brien roared back from his unfortunate spill earlier in the day to take the expert consolation race after a spirited fight with Gary Nixon and Roger Reinl, who finished in that order. Jack set a new 5-mile record of 3.36.30 en route, erasing Troy Lee’s old time of 3:39.00.
It would be hard to imagine a more closely contested race than the ten-mile amateur final. At the drop of the flag, Homer Stapps spurted into first spot, but his lead was short-lived, as fellow Harley riders Gil Alison and Jerry Seguin soon scampered past. Then Tom Clark and Clyde Litch began to move and, by lap five, it was Alison, Seguin, Clark, Litch and Elliott Schultz. Litch really turned up the wick on his BSA the following time around, gobbling up four riders to take over the lead in inspired fashion. The first five were almost unbelievably close for several laps, with Schultz gaining steadily and taking over second spot from Alison with one to go. Ron Nelson unloaded without injury on the last circuit, and the checkered flag went to hard-riding Litch over Schultz, Alison, Seguin, Stapps and Clark. Another 10-mile amateur record entered the book; this time it was 7:08.49, nearly 2Vz seconds faster than the previous mark set earlier in the day.
Champions galore lined up for the 20-man, 20-mile national, and excitement was at a fever pitch as they roared away from the mark. Joe Leonard’s Tim Witham-tuned Triumph gunned into the lead as the field rounded the first turn and at the end of lap one he was well in command, followed by Roeder, Gunter, Mann, Payne and Tanner. Running seventh on the second time around, Markel zoomed into third place behind Gunter by lap three, and took over the runnerup spot on the next circuit.
Then followed a terrific two-lap struggle between Leonard and Markel, with Joe expertly parrying Bart’s determined thrusts. But the battle was short-lived as, accompanied by a massive groan of disappointment from the crowd, Leonard retired on lap six with a flat rear tire, once more the victim of bad luck that has plagued him in every national he’s entered this season.
Now Ralph White moved up to challenge Markel, but Gunter and Roeder quickly assumed the 2, 3 positions and Neil Keen passed White shortly thereafter, closely tailed by Sammy Tanner.
At the halfway point it was Markel, Gunter, Roeder, Keen, Tanner, White, Mann, Stu Morley and Darrel Dovel; Dovel charged into 6th place on the next lap as Tanner got by Keen, dropping White back to 9th. Places were changing so fast it was hard to know where to look, but on lap 12 all eyes were on Gunter, as he blasted by Markel to take the lead. Bart was ahead the next time around, however, and held it until lap 17, when Albert once more roared to the front on his beautifully tuned BSA. Meanwhile, Keen and Roeder were swapping third place ahead of Dovel, Tanner, White, Payne and Mann, but Dovel moved up to challenge soon after, passing first Keen and then Roeder to nail down third place for good.
Though Markel got back around Gunter with two laps to go, the outcome was in doubt right down to the checker, so fierce was the fight. Going into the first turn on lap 19 they were neck and neck, with Gunter on the outside. Markel drifted a little wide, however, forcing Albert out of the groove and into second place. Though quickly regaining lost ground, Gunter could never get back around the No. 4 Harley, and Markel sailed across the finish line a bike length ahead. Following third place Dovel were Roeder, Keen, Tanner, White, Morley, Marty Malchow, Payne, Mann and Roger Reiman.
In winning the 20-miler, Markel set a new course record of 13 minutes, 53.10 seconds, including one lap at a fantastic 40.98, and brought to a close the unprecedented four-year reign of Carroll Resweber as Grand National Champion. Resweber, recovering from injuries sustained at Lincoln, Illinois recently, is expected to be back in the saddle by the start of next season and will, you can be sure, take up where he left off in the ceaseless struggle for the coveted Number One plate. •
