1969 Bakersfield CA Famosa Drag Strip Motorcycle Racing - 3-Page Vintage Article

Description

1969 Bakersfield CA Famosa Drag Strip Motorcycle Racing - 3-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page S
ize: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
BIG BLAST AT BAKERSFIELD
On the last day of February and the
first two days of March, Kern County
Racing Association ran off their 11th
annual Gas and Fuel Championship Drag
Meet at the Famosa Drag Strip near
Bakersfield, Calif.
Although there were only seven mo-
torcycles entered (along with what
seemed like a thousand 4-wheeled ma-
chines) I was rather impressed by the
show they put on.
These seven bikes consisted of two
74-inch Sportsters belonging to Dave
Campos and Bob Ables, both of Albu-
querque, New Mexico. A 65-inch Sports-
ter belonging to Gordon Kateley of San
Dimas, Calif. A 102 cubic inch Knuckle-
head Harley-Davidson belonging to
Joe Smith of Baldwin Park, Calif. A 74-
inch Knucklehead Harley-Davidson
mounted by Bill Chambers of Montclair,
Calif.
These five Harleys are run on fuel. The
other two machines were gas burners.
These were a twin engine Kawasaki,
displacing 700cc. belonging to Bob Braverman of Van Nuys, Calif, and a 40inch
modified Triumph ridden by Jim Lynch of
Bakersfield.
Being there was only one class set up
for the motorcycles, all 7 had to compete
against one another with no handicap.
Qualifying was to begin Friday morn-
ing but this turned out to be another one
of California's wet ones, so things were
set aside until Saturday.
Saturday morning came and the
weather looked good. The track had to be
dried out by the broom pushers so quali-
fying didn't get underway until 10:00
a.m. Each bike had to make 2 runs on this
day to qualify for the big event Sunday.
This was no big problem. Each machine
made 3 to 4 runs.
Bob Braverman seized a piston on his
third run but had things patched up
before the end of the day. Joe Smith had
the best E.T of the day with a 9.92 and
the best m p h. of 1 52
Sunday morning came and it couldn't
have been a better day. Pit Director, Jerry
Johnson was informed by the high brass
that the bikes would make their first
round at 3:00 p.m. on the nose This was
5 hours away, so this gave the riders a
little time for some spit and polish. A few
riders had their wives on the scene so
these fellas had a little time off.
It didn't seem very long and the bikes...
12190-6908-09