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Rookies Rule
By Kent Taylor
Turn that dial back to 1972 for the opening round of the AMA’s Grand National Championship series, where some of the greatest names of AMA dirt track racing, past and present, are on the track together for the first and perhaps final time. Dick Mann, Cal Rayborn, Bart Markel and Skip Van Leeuwen are here, battling to get into the main event with a group of youngsters that includes John Hateley, Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts. Stars of the 1960s, taking on the up-and-coming mavericks of a new decade. It is like seeing Sandy Koufax throwing a rising fastball against Reggie Jackson, or Richard Petty trading paint with Jeff Gordon. Dick Dale vs. Eddie Van Halen.
The season kicked off with the TT and short track at the Houston Astrodome, the indoor sporting facility once known as “the eighth wonder of the world.” Houston usually offered up plenty of surprise winners, some of whom would go on to win National and World Championships, but also many others who would never again stand atop the victor’s podium to spray the winners champagne. There was enough Astrodome build-up and hype to fill up Houston Oilers’ coach Bum Phillips’ 10-gallon cowboy hat, and the event didn’t disappoint. “As can be expected,” wrote CN, “the TT and Short Track Nationals at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, was a mind-boggler. No one was disappointed this year, as there were fires, crashes, wheelies, exploding hay bales and lots of 130-decibel noise.”
For 1972, the number one plate belonged to BSA rider Dick Mann. Mann, who would turn 38 a few months later, had set one of the fastest times for the TT race. In his heat race, however, Mann would finish second to Roberts, who was competing in his very first weekend as an Expert-ranked rider.
The torch was being passed, BSA to Yamaha, Mann to Roberts, only to be intercepted by another young rider, John Hateley. The Triumph rider had been the AMA’s highest-placing rookie in 1971, and according to Cycle News’ photographer Don Woods, was a winner before the green flag even fell. He (Woods) looked straight at Hateley and Hateley looked straight back.
Woods said, “He knew he was going to win. He had his mind made up.”
Hateley took his first AMA Grand National win with apparent ease, so the crowd turned their focus to a hard-charging Roberts, who had slipped past legends like Mann and Mark Brelsford, putting on a heroic chase that fell just short of passing second-place Eddie Mulder. Brelsford is fourth, and another rookie, Gary Scott, takes a Kawasaki 350 two-stroke to fifth. It is a field of mostly 750cc four-stroke twins, making Scott’s ride even more noteworthy.
The racers returned the next night for a short-track event. Lady Luck was often a one-night stand at the Astrodome, and rarely did riders fare well at both events. For example, TT fast qualifier Dick Mann would be clocked 47th of 48 timed entrants in the short-track race. 1972 proved to be something of an exception, however, as Gary Scott and his Kawasaki grabbed another fourth-place finish, and TT runner-up Eddie Mulder was right behind in fifth, this night on a Yamaha.
A good weekend for some, but an amazing two-day run for Yamaha’s Kenny Roberts, who scored a relatively easy win in the short track, making him the AMA’s first rider to score a Grand National win in his weekend debut as an Expert. Yet one more rookie, 18-year-old Yamaha rider Mike Kidd, would finish second to Roberts.
The 1972 opener was not, as it turned out, a harbinger of things to come. Roberts and Hateley won these opening battles, but the war would be won by Harley-Davidson’s Mark Brelsford, who would go on to become the 1972 Grand National Champion. Harleys, Yamahas and BSAs. A grizzled 38-year-old veteran dicing with kids fresh out of short pants. The 1972 Houston Astrodome opener was a wonder indeed. CN
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