1977 Houston Astrodome Shorttrack Racing - 4-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1977 Houston Astrodome Shorttrack Racing - 4-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, Vintage Magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
The reasons for the unexpected being
commonplace at Houston are numerous.
For one thing, the racetrack size, shape and
surface vary slightly from year to year
because it is only a temporary circuit built
inside the Astrodome just for this weekend
of racing. No one has a “home track”
advantage and no one gets to figure out the
ideal tire, gearing and suspension com-
binations ahead of time. The 'Dome races
are also the first Grand Nationals of the
season, and hordes of riders show up, most
of them with brand-new machinery which
hasn't been fully de-bugged. In addition.
Houston tracks are smaller than their out-
door counterparts, and-for reasons pecu-
liar to indoor courses—somewhat slipper-
ier. So contrary to other events on the
circuit, brute horsepower is not the answer
at Houston: getting what power you do
have onto the ground is the problem.
The biggest surprise of the '77 Astro-
dome weekend was that there were no
surprise winners. John Hateley. always a
threat at a TT event, became the first rider
ever to win the Houston TT twice, repeat-
ing his 1972 victory. Reigning Grand Na-
tional Champion Jay Springsteen, who
won seven dirttrack nationals last year,
picked up where he left oft' by scoring a
runaway win in the shorttrack.
“Little John” Hateley is little in nick-
name only. Gifted with enormous talent
and versatility, seasoned with racetrack
savvy befitting someone twice his age,
Hateley now competes only in Grand Na-
tional events that are to his liking. After
five years of eating hot dogs and driving
cross-country while campaigning most of
the races on the Grand National circuit, he
decided before last season to hang up his
steel shoe to pursue a career in West Coast
motocross. Dusting offhis National No. 98
ftattrack racers only for American Motor-
cyclist Association races at Houston. Ascot
and sometimes the TT at Castle Rock,
Washington, Hateley has stayed mostly in
the knobby-tired field and is building a
reputation for being a top-notch berm-
crasher. In the end it was his motocross
training that brought him to victory circle
in Houston.
Likable John Gennai had qualified his
privately-backed 750 Triumph fastest for
Friday night’s TT, with the ultra-trick
monoshock 750 Yamaha of Kenny Roberts
second and Hateley’s Triumph third. All
three won their respective heat races, and
the fourth and final heat went to unknown
rookie expert Mickey Fay on an elderly
BSA 750 twin.
Rick Hocking, last year’s TT winner,
was the first to be stricken with bad luck
when his Yamaha TT500 refused to run
before the start of the first heal. He was
replaced by the first alternate, shorttrack...
13787-AL-7705-09