Kenny Roberts Makin' a Living

To become the AMA National Champion, you needed to have the most total points from Dirt Track: Miles, Half-Miles, TTs and Road Racing.  If you were employed by a manufacturer(Roberts was Team Yamaha), you rode what they had - your bike might be competitive, it might not.  Roberts had to ride a highly modified Yamaha 650(750) and try to keep up with the dominate Harley XR-750.  He's pushing it hard, harder, on the brink of crashing.  Trying to win with under-rated, underpowered equipment. It was bad for points - but great for honing his sliding skills, how to use power, how to negotiate with Yamaha and go road racing in Europe.  Roberts had been to school and was ready to take on Europe on the pavement.  It led to Roberts becoming World Champion.  A hard way to make a living.