Imperial Valley press., 1931-04-06


thrills was presented in Imperial
Valley yesterday when the county
squad OF the California Motor Pa
troll presented a motorcycle race
program at the Imperial county fair
grounds.
The speed cops" provided a crowd
Of several thousand persons with a
splendid afternoons entertainment
and all who missed it missed some
thing that was well worth seeing.
Motorcycle riders Of national re-
pute did their stuff on the big dirt
track and Joe Patrali, the gunless
boy from Chicago, putt-putted away
from the scene with the title of ma
tional champion for the three mile
distance on 2l.35 GU. in. overhead
valve motors and the plaudits of the
crowd mingled with its sympathy
for an accident which kept him
from finishing first in the 10-mile
race for the same type Of machine
In motorcycle events the riders
qualify Tor position by the time they
make. On one such trip around the
track Petrali made the loop in As AS
seconds, the fastest time of the af-
ternoon. He burned up the track
and then some.
He took the first race, q five-mile
affair, making the distance in
1856 As. Miny VAIN, who was Joes
particular rival all afternoon was in
second place and slippery" Hill of
San Diego was third. II was a great
race with Petrali proving just q
little too good for Vain.
A 10-mile solo race for stock mod
els went TO George Lannon OF Los
Angeles. with Albright second and
Kenny Baker third. Lannon's time
was ga 2-5. Wilbur Lamoreaux of
Hollywood ran into hard luck and
gave the crowd a few anxious mo-
ments when his machine caught fire
on the back stretch and was de-
Stroyed. LamoreauX came back il
other events TO show the spectators
what a real motorcycle rider can do.
The third event was five-mile
sidecar race. which gave the crowd
a new ideal OF what thrills are. al
Keeler, with Jack Nesbitt as pas
senger, took the race in 4:31. Folks
who think Nesbitt doesn't figure in
the winning might ask any of the
spectators about it, A passenger
isn't a passenger at all. Hes q
nervy galoot who climbs out Of the
car on the turns and percheS like
a monkey on the machine behind
the rider, to act as counterbalance
for the car and increase the speed
at which the turn may be nego-
tiated. Doing that while travelling
around IS miles an hour is not any
mans idea OF pink tea affair.
Speed Galore
Micky Lopez and Cordy Milan
finished second, with Lamoreaur
and Red Shepherd inc third posi-
ton.
No. 4 event was the three mile
national championship race ana
how that boy Petrali did go after
it. One might think that a bunch
Of his fellow citizens in Chicago
were trying to put him ION the
spot" Miny Vain tried staying at
JOG > rear Tire lOI HI4It d.lO
hung like leech, but the way the
Chicago bandit took the turns was
Just too much. slippery Hill
finished third. Petrali's time was
2:l5 2-5, and the announcement
was made that the previous rec
ord for this distance was 2:30, made
on a fiVe-eighths mile track, indi-
eating the speed the boys made
yesterday.
The eight mile sidecar race was
the thriller Of the afternoon.
Keeler and Nesbitt set out to repeat
their performance in the five mile
race and the rest Of the crowd
was punched with them for the
first couple of miles. Then Mickey
Lopez and Milan took the lead
with LamoreauX and Red Shepherd
also passing Keeler.
What duel the Lopez
put on. For six laps LamoreauX
hung right on the rear tire of Lopez
machine SO that to spectators it
seemed as though the first machine
was towing the second. Round and
round they went and each time
Lamoreaux tried to pass Lopez
stepped on it and maneuvered to
block the passage. He had the