Goodbye Springfield
GOODBYE SPRINGFIELD
CAROL SIMS
Last Year For The Fabulous Fifty?
WITH ONE LAP to go, after leading the Springfield, Ill., 50-miler from the start, Mert Lawwill’s powerful Harley faltered, slowed drastically, and the complexion of what had seemed to be a runaway race changed completely. Victim of a burned piston, the leader nursed his ailing mount down the front straightaway as 30,000 fans moaned in sympathy, then turned their attentions to the snarling battle for second, 17 seconds behind.
So closely knit were the runners-up that ten riders had managed to nip into the top five at one time or another during the race on the one-mile oval. Now victory lay within the grasp of four of them — Bart Markel, Gary Nixon, Roger Reiman and Dick Mann.
Down the back straightaway they roared, three Grand National Champions and the current number two man in point standings. Through the last turn and heading for the checker, the outcome was still in doubt. Then Gary Nixon squeezed that last little ounce of power from his Triumph, Markel nosed ahead of Reiman, and the crowd went mad as the most unpredictable Springfield National of all time reached its frenzied climax.
Only as he pulled into the winner’s circle did it become obvious that Nixon was minus his skid shoe — he had ridden the last ten laps without it, emphasizing a valiant will to win that paid off handsomely. Unexpected victory gave the Baltimore, Md., ace $3230, while Lawwill was forced to console himself with $960 in lap prizes and a ninth place finish.
Following Markel, Reiman and Mann across the line were fast-closing Bennie Bowden, Tom Heil, Neil Keen and Chuck Palmgren. TT champ Sonny Burres, looking smooth in his first ride on the mile, rounded out the top ten.
Several favorites had fallen by the wayside as the sli ppery track and mechanical failures took their toll. Record-breaking fast qualifier Gene Romero was first to leave the field. He unloaded without injury on lap two and rejoined the pack 20 laps later. Former winners Ralph White and Sammy Tanner also hit the turf, White managing to get back in for 13th place. Vagaries of a mechanical nature forced Babe De May, Fred Nix, Chris Draayer, Mel Lacher and Larry Palmgren to the pits.
Nixon admitted after the race that he had given up all hope of beating Lawwill. “I was concentrating mainly on staying up on that slick track and getting second,” said a weary Gary, accepting hugs from his lovely wife, Mary. “When a guy’s as far ahead of you as he was, you can’t catch him unless something happens -like it did to him.”
And that’s what you call “racing luck.”
AMATEUR EVENTS
Jack Warren, hard-charging Clio, Michigan Harley rider, led wire to wire in the Amateur 10-lapper with a fine display of horsepower plus ability. He was pursued, first by fast qualifier Jerry Seguin, then by Rick Yaeger, but to no avail. Lennie Waldo, never farther back then fourth, took third at the finish ahead of Dale Atkinson and Shorty Seabourne; all but BSA-mounted Seabourne rode Harleys. Seguin wound up last in the 12-man field after losing his skid shoe at the half-way point.
Tragedy marred the running of this year’s Amateur class events. A horrifying five-man crash on the third lap of the firstheat race took the life of 26-year-old Bill Corbin from Marion, Ohio, and San Francisco’s Rick Vetter later succumbed
to injuries. Concord, California rider Joe Schmidt is still hospitalized. Jack McNairy of Albuquerque, N.M., was treated and released, as was Tim Harris from Van Nuys, Calif.
Eagerness of the yellow-plate riders making their first appearance on the mile, plus extremely slick track conditions and the unyielding surface of a newly-installed cement crash wall were the tragic ingredients of this, the worst accident in Springfield history.
AFTERMATH
And now, at presstime, comes the announcement that Springfield — the ultimate American dirt track race for 20 years — will be no more. Illinois State Fair board officials have scheduled a USAC midget car race to replace the classic 50-miler in 1967, due, they say, to rowdyism of cyclists attending the National Championship event.
Seventy arrests took place over the weekend as 5,000 motorcyclists descended on the Illinois capital for the traditional big car and motorcycle events. Over half of the arrests were for disorderly conduct or drinking in the streets, the rest for illegal mufflers, lack of drivers’ licenses or reckless driving.
Although the officials’ concern is certainly understandable, we feel that cancellation of the biggest race in American motorcycling is hardly warranted due to the actions of a noisy few.
By contrast, on the very same weekend as the Springfield race, a sports car race was held at Watkins Glen, New York. A death occurred during the races, and 75 sports car fans were arrested in the tiny town for offenses ranging from drunkenness to breaking and entering, vandalism, rioting and burglary. So far, no move has
been made to cancel further sports car races at the upstate New York road race course, and only brief local press notice was given the destructive orgy.
Perhaps if all race fans were to write the Illinois State Fair Board, Springfield, 111., and express their disappointment at the cancellation ruling, clearer thinking would prevail, and the decision, undoubtedly made in moments of emotional stress, would be rescinded. It’s worth a try.
