| August 25, 2024
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Short But Sweet
By Kent Taylor
For many motocross racing fans, the famous Unadilla track in New Berlin, New York, was long considered to be America’s purest MX track. Lush greenery blanketed the rolling hills where Mother Nature’s course was laid out. European riders like Roger DeCoster spoke highly of promoter Ward Robinson’s commitment to honoring the essence of the sport and the five-time World champ made the most of that familiarity, winning numerous Trans-AMA events there.
In the early 1980s, fans in the western region of the U.S. were blessed with their own version of Unadilla, the CDR (Continental Divide Raceway) Tech Track in Castle Rock, Colorado. Besides MX, the facility also featured a 2.8-mile road course, a half-mile oval and a drag strip. Like Unadilla, the race day at the CDR MX track began on a natural course. There were no man-made jumps, and the first competitors out for practice were treated to a ride through knee-high, dewy, wet grass. The CDR track was pristine in the morning and weathered well over the course of the race day, even though it almost seemed too serene to roost.
In its short, two-year run on the AMA circuit, the CDR Tech Track would grab for itself a healthy heaping of MX history. In 1981, it served as the final stop of the AMA’s 250cc chase. The ’81 season had been the year that Kent Howerton and Bob Hannah, once good friends, became bitter rivals on the racetrack. It began, as do many public tiffs, in the press:
“I was being interviewed by a journalist,” Howerton would say years later, “and he asked me about Hannah. I told him that I thought Hannah was riding faster than ever. But when the story came out, I was somehow quoted as saying, ‘Hannah has never been faster than me.’”
That was enough for “Hurricane” Hannah to declare war on his former pal, and the two racers launched a cockfight that would last all year. Between the two of them, Howerton and Hannah won every 250cc National that season. At Saddleback Park, the acrimony was on display for all to see, with both riders guilty of ramming into each other.
Howerton, the reigning champion, eventually padded a very comfortable lead in the points standings and heading into the final round at Castle Rock, he needed only to play it smart, finish in a points-paying position and defend his title. Hannah would need to win both motos and hope for a disastrous day for his rival.
When the gate dropped for the first moto, Howerton was in the lead. By the time the riders had completed lap one, Hannah had moved into second place. When Howerton received that information via his pit board, his strategy was kicked into gear; the champ pulled over to the side of the track and allowed Hannah to motor past.
Hannah obliged and took the lead. Then, in a final attempt to engage his opponent, he promptly slowed, turned his head and gave Howerton a glaring look. Staring him down like an Old West gunfighter, he motioned for him to “come race for it!” With a taunting wave of his arm, Hannah hoped to entice Howerton into either pushing himself or his bike too hard. He needed the Suzuki rider to flirt with disaster; it was all he could do and he was going to give it his best shot.
Howerton, however, refused to take the bait and, in a playful response to both his Yamaha rival and the crowd of speechless fans, he lofted the front wheel of his Suzuki and rode a skillful wheelie up a bumpy hill as if to say he could indeed race Hannah—if he wanted. The moto ended with Hannah on top and Donnie Hansen in second. Howerton, safely crossing the finish in third, had won the title, all according to plan.
The following season, Castle Rock was again the site of the final 250cc National event of the season. Team Yamaha rider Rick Johnson came into the day well on his way to his first championship, with second-place man Donnie Hansen needing his own miracle if he was to overtake Johnson in the points race. God must’ve been a Honda fan that day because Hansen received his divine intervention when the front wheel on Johnson’s Yamaha broke, handing the championship to Hansen.
In the 500cc class that same day, Hansen’s Honda teammates Chuck Sun and Darrell Shultz took the moto wins, with Shultz getting the overall victory as he made his way to the 1982 AMA 500cc title. A good and godly day to be on a Honda!
The CDR Tech Track was on the AMA Motocross National schedule in 1984, but the property was unexpectedly sold to real estate developers just before the race was supposed to take place. At the last moment, the race was relocated just up the road to Lakewood, Colorado, where the AMA Pro MX race is held to this day. The CDR Tech had but a brief fling with professional motocross, however, it was certainly an affair to remember.CN