Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

i Lar" Hei sehnln Cops Orange Main, : Woods And Bast Resume Point Duel 31: Col :e Col ...'l U :>.. u Jim Gresham slides out In front of Sonn1 Nutter .nd Bruce Haserot. ByM1keC~ Pbotos by IlenD1s Greene COSTA MESA, CAL., Aueuat 22, 1969After a layoff s1nee the nIibt ol July 4t11, Steve But came back wttll a bUC at Costa Mesa. He tI 01 shed aD IIII1mprllllslYe tb1rd on b1s lIl"ICll cap beat and sem1, but tills was wttll a tut;y yard "'nrUclll. He tIIen Pl'CceededtoerabaDlU)'wlD lDhls scrallCh heat. It was a creat D1&'ht for the Rick Woods faDs as Rick was apln on h1s way 110 cop a erand slam as he stormed from tile ftfty yard RaDd1c1ll llDe 110 wlD botb h1s heat and semi and tbeD wID h1s scratch heat. Atter tile lDtermlssion, a scheduled match race between Woods and But haDded Rick h1s flrst defeat ol tile D1Cbt. There was still hope lD tile hearts ol tile Rick Woods fan club as he came back 110 win his scratch semI as tile match races are only two 1II's, his loss 110 But would not keep him from be1DC tile flrst era.Dd slam wIDner (wlDnlng botll 1IlInrUcap and scratch heats, semis and main events) but tile 0D1y fly lo tile olotment was tbat But had also qua11f1ed for botll main events. As they 11ned up for the Handicap main event, Rick and Steve were side by side back on tile f1fI;y- yard llne; r1ght ahead of tIIem on tIIeforty-yard marker was tile Great Bear Racing Teams favorite son, Larry He1nseJIIUlII wbo had already prov- en earlY lo tile .-.oa tbat he had wbat It takes to wiD tile 1IlInrUcaP. To make matters worse, up on tile tb1rt;y-yard llDe was Steve Scott wbo had taken tile wID lo tills one tile week before. Ahead on tile 10 yard lloe was Jlm Grubam, alwaysa formidable opponent and beside him, Jobn Fa.bburD w1Io had f1nllbed second to Scott tile prmou. week. Wltll tills llneup you could UDderstand tile riPple ol excitement tbat surred throurh tile stands as tile riders assumed thelr posil1ons on tbe1r re~l1ve handlCll' llDes. Into tile flrst corner, it was Fishburn tak1ng tile lead wttll Larry Helnse1llUlll r1ght on h1s rear wtleel and tIIen Helnse1llUlll mond UDder Fishburn and just as suddenlY as if he came out of DOWbere, Woods was UDder Fishburn and lDto tile second spot and rlvlDr it everytb1ng he had 110 catch He1DselmaD. As Woods moved up on Larry, SteYe But worked lDlIO tile tblrd slot behlnd Woods but every eye lo tile stands was on tile battle for the lead as _ Woods rapidlY rarrowed tile distance be twMn himself and He1Dselman. The roar ol tile crowd cOuld be heard in Los Angeles as they came down tile back stralght on the tblrd 111' and Woods powered past Helnse1llUlll and dove lollO lbe corner in tile lead. It looked 11ke ItWasallover but tile sboutlnC and the crowd was doing more tbaD its share of tbat when all at Sieve I.st returned to Spaetlw., after • leneth, vacetlon. stra1ght and lollO tile next corner it lookODCe tile sbouts turned 110 croans as tile ed like tIIey were lashed toeetber and as unexpected happened. As Rickraveitfull tIIey came out ot tile second corner, it throttle to come out ol tile corner, he got IIlpeared tbat Woods was reallY detersome good traction and lifted tile front mined as he pulled aheadbyafewlnches. wheel up and almost lost it as he bad 110 These few lnches were all be needed u. shut tile throttle down to save it and Larry he set up for the next corner and reallY tDok advI.Dtare of tb1s to take tile lead stormed throurh it leavlDr But c:Iodglnc back. The fans were tile real w1Doers and tile rooster-tall ol track surface thrown tIIey let tIIem know It as botb riders uP by his rear wbeel. Swede savare was receiVed a staDdlnr oval1on from tile back lo tblrd spot wttll DO compel1l1OD as crowd as tbey passed on tIIelr _y 110 Steve Scott had lost it in the corner and the pllB. was out. Woods tDok tile checkered flag The llne-up for the Scratch maln was wttll a rood lead over But, butap.1nLady Steve But, Swede savage, Rick Woods Luck had cheated him out of the b1r one, and Steve Scott, a top 11ne- up in anybut as tile riders all say, "wait till body's race.When ~l1Dg gate went next week." up, it was But and Woods loto tile cor(Results on page 26) ner, bumping elbows all tile way and coming out tile same way. Down tile back Sonn, Nutter Tops Woods And Bast As Wldte.an Starts Wednesda, Ni•• t Speedwa, ~r, HelnsellUll h.s led Ilick Woods two weeks In • row-up to the I.st '.p. Chanky was able to take tile lead but the fair-hatred boy of the Great Bear team, Larry Helnselman soon pulled lo under him and as he did, Chanky drifted to tile outside and gave Jim Gresham a chance to move up beside Chanky. As tIIey accelerated down tile stralghta way, it was Gresham and Chanky side by side wttll John Carter pulling abreast of botll of tIIem on tile outside. As they went into the corner, Gresham's engloe blew up and it stra1ghtened him up and Chanky straightened uP to miss him and Carter stood b1s up to miss Cbanky wltll tile net result being tbat Chanky and Carter went elf tile end of tile track. Chanky was able to stay uPr1ght and re-enter the course to finlsh wttll a second but Carter had hooked his wbeel on Cbanky's mach10e and spWed quite hard after leaving tile track. Helnselman missed tills entanglement and went on to wiD easilY. Not to be outdone by teammate HelDselman, Paul Conserriere crabbed tile lead lo the A main and it looked for all tile world like he m1ght possibly hold it soft berm and lost 1t, leavlnr the lead to soft berm and lost It, leavlng eh lead to Nutter who tIIen proceeded to come on 11ke gangbusters. Woods was lo second, but tbat didn't last long as Steve But was seelctng revenge for his loss In the trophy dash and he stormed around Rick to move loto second. The only th1ng wrong with Steve's plan to catch Nutter was thet Sonny wasn't going for It and it didn't take Steve long to realize It as he couldn't seem to close the rII' between them and although he was display1ng some beaul1ful cornering styles, Nutter's Joe Casperoff tuned Jawa was reallY percolal1ng and Sonny tDok the A main checkered flag wttll a gravy win. (Results on page 26) By Mike Capallte PACOIMA, CAL., August 20, 1969- Witll tile shift to Wednesday nlghts for tile speedway at Whiteman, the acl10n didn't chaDge a bit as tile faDs saw more tbaD a fair share of excil1ng racing and some pretty spectacular spUls. 10 tile C maiD wbeD Harlan But went dowD, Gre( Haserot wastDo close toaYOida coll1s1oD and wbeD tile dlWt had cleared, tile two mach10es were stuck tDptller and it ook about elCbt pitmen to 11ft them up and twist them around to sepuate the rlaDt puule. s.ck after a Jonr aheeDce was SteYe But w1Io proceeded to baDd11Y wID h1.I heat and b1s semi lIws ..-iDe him ol a spot in tile A maiD. He alao quaHfed for tile trClPb7 dash. Rick Woods dIdI!' t baft it quite so euy as he wound up lD tile same Semi as Larry eelDselllWl, lUt week's maID - * wlDMr. It wasDlpand tuck for two Iapa wltll tile alaDda hoJd1Dr eltller Woods ......... ters Befnselmen or supporters and all of them cheering tIIelr beads off. GolDr into tile last 111', WoodS set Larry up lD tile corner and just as he made h1s bid, He1Dse1m1 ns' mach10e m1ased. beat and Rick sbot by him for tile wID. As tile flag was dropped for tile trophy dash, Wooda ahot to tile lead like he was JATO aseisted and SteYe But was r1ght beh1Dd him. SteYe was able to pull up to Rick but tbat was all as Wooda was doing everytblng rlCbt and rot tile kiss from tbe lovelY trophy rlrl. The crull in tile C maiD took out two ot tile rldel's but left DO doubt as 110 tile wiD..-. Jlm ADlMr_ led it from tile atart and '1t"oo1Cb 8tll Mor1eJ was r1vlnr it eteJ,lbUC he bad. he coaJdD't_e\ll and after tbey sJowed dowD for tile red flag, 8tll dldD't ban much choice bat to settle far a second. . The B maID was tile ~ one far tile Great Bear Rac1Dr Team. YOlIIIC u.. JI........ sllys low elld Steve lilt tries IIIe "S• ..,. adl. It .1I1tHe. SUdI•• T_" If_e la W ......, alcJlt

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