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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125673
CHANKEY'S SPEEDWAY COUP~ Les is as aggressi,e ~ on t'e tracl as 'e is wit' t'e' t;Ol'" girls. :5 o G By Mike Capallte COSTA ·M ESA, CALIF. May 22, 1970Sixteen-year-old Les Cbankey pulled a coup on the old pros Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds and went home with the trophy for the win in the Handicap Main Event. Les, who is the son of Joe Chankey former Hungarian speedway champ, made his dad the proudest man at the track with this win as Joe has been coaching him for the last year. By virtue of his just moving into the handicap program, Les was given the definite advantage of a scratch start, whUe the rest of the riders was positioned at various 10-yard distances behind him, with Rick Woods having the greatest handicap of 60- yards. In his heat race, Les was passed by Gus Lauer who started on the 20-yard line and everyone was passed by Great Bear Racing Team member, Sonny Nutter. Starting way back on the 5 -yard line, Sonny worked his way through the pack with beautiful speedway control to zap the lead and win the heat going away. In the Semi and the Main Event, Les must have had a pep talk from his dad as he took the lead and made sure he held it all the way for wins in both of them. Alter the intermission, the crowd was treated to a speclalmatch race between Wild Bill Cody and Big Mike Konie, both members of the USA Racing Team. The USA Racing Team, which is captained by Bob Cox and sponsored by Valvoline oU, has added a new member in the form of Jim Peterson. And the way Cody and .Konle were going at it, the team might _ need some reserves. Cody got first, Konle got second, whUe Bob Cox almost got a coronary worrying about his team members wrecking their machines with a main event yet to go for each of them. The crowd favorite again was the mini-bike race at Intermission which saw the win going to Dave Carlson with Rod Sibley second and Jell Ward coming in third alter falling twice in the corner and remounting to finish the race. Rick Wood's brother, Gene, was unable to start alter the, starter cord on his machine broke. Gene was very disappointed as he had on his new leathers which are an exact copy of the ones worn by brother Rick. The Second Division Main Event was pretty much all Joe Anderson's, as he kept Steve Gresham at bay until the ' checkered flag, with Scott Autry finishing third. Jim Peterson who f1n1shed first in his heat race by a wide margin, had trouble with his machine and had to retire, a dlsappointment to many of the fans, as Jim was looking sharp and it would have been an Interesting race. In the Handicap Main Event, Les Chankey put it on them, while Stu Morley was Larry Moon leads J im (52) Peterson as cushion surface lies. able to move into second spot and hold it ahead of Rick Woods. In his heat, Morley had f1n1shedsecond to Bill Cody, but in his Semi-Main, he was riding flawlessly and took the win over Gus Lauer, Sonny Nutter and Don Hawley. Stu, who occasionally has more than. his share of bad luck, is a great favorite with the fans and received a huge ovation from the crowd alter receiving the checkered flag ahead of Woods. The Scratch Main. Event again looked like a replay of the last four weeks as Rick Woods kept his Main Event win streak intact. Woods again leaped Into the lead and kept it there for the entire race, while Stu Morley made a valiant bid to move up on him, but Rick was not taking any chances and was real1y pouring . it on. Holding down third for the USA racing team was Big Mike Konle, while Gus Lauer spun out in the corner and stalled the engine to cop the fourth position. Rick Woods who always puts on a crowd-pleasing display of SPeedway riding is going to be sorely missed for the next two weeks, as he journeys overseas to the JA WA factOry. He is traveling with the US Importer and they will be picking up some new machines as well, as getting Rick a few starts In some European Speedway events. (Results on page 31) Stu Morley (inside) and Gus Lauer go into first turn i n marked differences of style. Four riders in a turn at one time is common place and action is wild with scratch mains featuring riders like Rick Woods (outs ide), Mike Konle ( inside) , Stu Morley (center) and Gus Lauer.