1973 SuperNationals T.C. Christenson Ontario - 6-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1973 SuperNationals T.C. Christenson Ontario - 6-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
After Indy the only other major
race left is the Supernationals, held
at Ontario Motor Speedway. Prior
to the race there had been substan-
tial speculation as to who might
take home the bucks at Ontario.
Speculation because of Jim
Preisler, Boris Murray and Russ
Collins.
Preisler, obviously, had every-
body shakin’ their heads after his
8.44 blast at Indy, and quite hon-
estly a lot of people wondered
whether it had been a fluke run, or
if it was only a hint of things to
come.
Borris Murray had been absent at
the U.S. Nationals because it con-
flicted with his commitments at
Bonneville, so no one had seen his
new double. However, rumor had
it that he had cut a couple of 8.7s at
Irwindale the first time out with it,
and Murray has a reputation for
rising to the occasion (especially
when there is money at stake).
For about the last six months a lot
of people have been wondering
what Russ Collins has been up too.
Seems that he has got this room at
his new facility, and nobody except
he and a couple of employees are
allowed in it. And inside of it, sup-
posedly, Collins is building a
species of top fuel Honda that’s
going to open up a whole group of
eyes.
Consequently, a number of rac-
ers were wondering if Collins
would debut his rumor at OMS. He
didn’t, but we can tell you this. The
rumors are tine. And, though we’ve
been sworn to secrecy about its
configuration, I don’t think Collins
would mind if we said that there’s
no doubt about it opening some
eyes.
The Friday before the race is for
tech inspection and qualifying, and
there were some surprises before
the end of the day.
Sonny Routt’s twin-engined
Triumph Indy winner rolled out of
the truck looking like somebody had
been mixing Metrecal with the fuel.
Routt evidently got on a weight re-
ducing kick and built a whole new
racer, minus the Lenco two-speed
and weighing around 130 pounds
less than before. The wheelbase
was a little shorter than on the old
bike, and miracle of miracles, it was
so new it hadn’t even had time to
get rusty yet. Whether or not his
logic was correct remains to be
seen, because Routt and company
never did get it quite dialed in and
the best pilot Bob Mauriello could
get out of it was a 9.153.
A lot of people were more than a
little surprised when Dave Campos
pulled into the pits. He’d eaten it
on the big end in Texas, and broken
a shoulder. Evidently he must be a
fast healer, because he came to
race, and the only way you would
have known he’d been hurt was the
brace that he was wearing.
Murray cracked an 8.69 e.t. and
put a stop to the rumor doubters,
but the limelight ended up shin-
ing elsewhere.
T.C. Christenson rolled off the
trailer with a couple of easy 8.70
and 8.60 passes, which didn’t do a
lot for the rest of the racers’ morale.
But the show wasn’t over yet.
Christenson naturally wasn’t too
pleased with his performance at
Indy, because as far as he was con-
cerned he lost the race because he
wasn’t properly prepared. That
isn’t meant to make Joe Smith’s
performance in beating Christen-
son look like a fluke. It’s just that
Christenson is a racer, and anybody
who thinks that way always blames
themself for losing...
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