Bad Day At San Jose

Bad Day at San Jose

Roeder Wins On A Bumpy, Hard Luck Track

DAN HUNT

EXPERT DEWAYNE KEETER commented A that San Jose's flat track would have been better if it had been bumpy and slow, or smooth and fast. Treacherously, the longish half-mile horse racing oval was both bumpy and fast. Everyone was getting into "conditions," as racing parlance has it. A condition — which may be anything from a double ended Pogo stick action to an out-and-out high side flip — ended the day for the nation's leading AMA amateur, Jimmy Odom, before it even began. He crashed in practice and injured his leg.

The new venue for the 7-mile AMA National claimed several other riders be fore the day was over. Expert Roger Rei man got his H-D into a condition in qualifying after sailing into the east turn at a seemingly reasonable rate. The result ing crash put him out for the day.

Amateur Roger Goldthwaite, always a top contender, unloaded in practice, had his Royal Enfield come flipping down on his Bell Star helmet, and was able to smile about it 60 seconds later. He didn't fare as well in his heat race and was carted off to the hospital. Another Amateur favorite, Earl Lout, broke a leg in a three-bike tangle in the north turn during the second heat, started as the middle machine lifted both wheels off the ground during deceleration.

Among the non-crashers, things were go ing drearily in their own way, save for a few. Expert Sammy Tanner's BSA seemed down on power, then tied up. Jimmy Nich olson had wrenched his arm in a crash the week before, and found it still was bother ing him after a night of camping in Big Sur; So Jimmy lent his Triumph to Sam-

my, who went out and qualified in, the 30s, good but not exceptional. Al Gunter's beautiful swinging arm Matchless G5OCSR, a rarity in a type of racing dominated by rigid framed machines, was probably giv ing him the smoothest ride any man had that day, but Al seemed to have no speed exiting from the west turn in what was an unusually tight line; a traction problem, perhaps. Another new machine, the special framed Honda 450 of Amateur Marty MacDonald - which has had some mod erate successes at Ascot - showed han dling problems, ironed out somewhat after fiddling with tires and wheelbase. An other admirable experiment, the 441cc BSA Victor of Amateur Ron Lastra, seemed to handle well, but was down on power. Cubic inches seemed to count for much with the rather flagrant lack of any decent stretch of surface to point a front wheel at or slide the back wheel over.

BSA faithful Dick Mann was looking remarkably smooth and efficient in qualifying. Smooth, but undecided about line, was H-D rider Mert Lawwill, still second place in championship points. Both managed to break 30 seconds.

H-D teamster George Roeder, who looks hairy but could find a fast line through a haybale if he had to, broke into the 28s, as did Dan Haaby. Point leader Gary Nixon, who seemed to have identical Triumph No. 9s all over the pit area, also looked fast and smooth in qualifying, adding a nice foil to what was shaping into a Gold Star/V-twin track. Fastest man out was that diminutive Gold Star rider who frequents the winner's circle at Ascot, Shorty Seabourne. He dropped into the 27s.

Then came the usual bit with the Motor Maids, and a sourly played National Anthem which seemed rather appropriate for the day.

Dick Mann won the first Expert heat in the same neat way he qualified, followed home by Seabourne and Bob Bailey, Triumph. Fred Nix managed a beautiful recoup to a transfer position after a bad start. Haaby put his Gold Star comfortably in front throughout the second heat as Roeder and Nixon diced for second spot; Roeder passed Nixon and was repassed in the same turn on the exit, then got by Gary for good in the next turn.

The third heat was particularly delightful as Eddie Mulder, having nodded his approbation to a rather naive flagman, got off to an unusually excellent start. It's not

that Mulder had done anything unfair. As one wag put it, Experts are accustomed to starting their own races by nodding at the flagmen, who, psyched out, find themselves waving the white. But this flagman was crushed. The whole Expert heat had left and he hadn't really wanted to wave the flag. So the black flag came out, which is a rather dangerous practice in a close-contact first lap, and the troops were lined up once more, Mulder one bike length to rear. The crowd booed the decision, the pits hurled epithets at the Establishment, and Mulder himself wisely vented his anger by merely pushing the offending official rather than socking him in the kisser, which would have put him out of the race. Whoopee, went the crowd, this is better than TV wrestling. Bango, off they went again, and Steady Eddie wheeled his way to the front, although he did not stay that way for long, lacking the flat tracking experience necessary to stay ahead of Mert Lawwill. He also dropped another place to Triumph rider Richard Hardmeyer.

Lawwill, who had been running wide early in the heat, then cutting it tight after he got in front, commented: "Well, I've got all the power I need. Now all I have to do is find the line somewhere."

In the Expert final, unfortunately, Mert faced two men who had already found a line and another to whom it didn't really matter. So when the flag went up, he found himself tailing Dan Haaby, George Roeder and Shorty Seabourne, and unable to change the situation. Haaby stretched a comfortable lead from Roeder in the early

laps, but it was only the result of George's classic game of lie-back-and-wait. At lap 11, he turned the loud handle just a little louder, reeling in Haaby at an alarming rate. As if it were all pre-ordained, Roeder passed Haaby in the last lap to take the checkered flag. Then came a wilted Haaby, Seabourne, Lawwill, and Dick Mann and Gary Nixon, who had been having their own little wheel to wheel race within a race. As Gary was only two places behind Lawwill, Nixon lost little margin from a safe national points lead. Neither rider, however, can afford to miss a main event in races to come.

BSA rider Jim Rice won the Amateur final, having led most of the way. The real battle was for second — finally won in the last laps by Bob Self, Royal Enfield, after passing third place man Jan Crawford, BSA.