Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.." Irwindale Speedway - - N IRWINDALE, CAL., July 20, 1972 Speedway racing enthusiasts couldn't have ~ked for a better team racing debut! The team concept, which has already become a reality at Costa Mesa and Bakersfield, came to Irwindale last Thursday evening and the result was one of the closest team matches yet run. The Irwindale Eagles took on the Costa Mesa Lions in a 12-<:vent team program and squeaked out a 38 to 34 point win. A week prior, the Lions had downed the Eagles at Costa Mesa 40 to 32 so it was sweet revenge for the Bill Cody-led Irwindale six. The match was totally up in the air for almost the en tire program. The teams remained tied throughout the first two heats before the Eagles pulled out a slight lead. By heat six, the evenly matched teams were tied up again and it was neck and neck down to heat 12. Heat 10 saw a brillian t display of _ N i ...f ... '" _. c> ~ en ~ w Z W ...J (.) > (.) By Ralph Springer team racing by Eagles Cody and Sumner McKnigh t. After briefly scrapping for the lead, Cody dropped back and let McKnigh t pull ahead and then stayed right next to him, blocking away Steve Bast and Larry Moon. The Eagles scored five allowing Bast to pick up a scan tone point. Heat II saw Rick Woods, the Lions' skipper, leading for three points hut Mike Konle and Jim Gresham also picked up three in second and third, setting the stage for the final heat with the score Eagles 35, Lions 31. Bill Cody and Ron Taylor led off for the E:agles with Steve Bast and Greg Haserot carrying the Lions' colors. Bast forced his way by for the win but Cody and Taylor collected second and third which gave the Eagles the winning margin of 38 to 34. Greg Haserot fell in that final heat, reinjuring a suspected broken finger from in an earlier heat. Great riding was not limited to one team. In' heat six, Steve Bast allowed More Motocross (Nobody Gets Left Out) CMC Lions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - By Bruce Flanders WILMINGTON, CAL., July 21, 1972The sidehacks headlined the motocross show at Lions this week. Those guys could find room to get around each other in places that the solo bikes complain abou t as being one-grooved comers. A combined total of sixteen hacks were let loose three times on the famed night course. The fans were standing on their feet from the first comer until the . checkered flag. Probably the largest crowd in the history of motocross at the ubeach track watched a field of OYer 220 riders compete in a total of 45 motos. The racing started promptly at 7:30; as always, and was over at 10:45. As you can imagine, the action was super.fast and jam-packed but only one ambulance trip was required for a suspected leg fracture. Chuck Bower pulled out the win in the 125 Expert on his Penton while Ken C.ook managed enough poin ts to take second money. Dave Pessy continued lt CRClViotocross - - - - - - By Christopher Ostlind ELSINORE,CAL.,July 16,1972 - The CRe put on their usual once a month motocross at Rawhide Park and there was plenty of competition for everyone under hot sunny skies. The Rawhide course is really more suited to the bigger hikes with its deep dirt, . SWItchback straights and fork·bottoming bumps. This is not to say that what is rough is a drag. Quite the contrary. The big "play" tracks in the cities are little more than a modified TT surface and the hot riders of these races sometimes find their hands full when the going gets a little rough. The Rawhide track gives you all the workou t you need and the competi tion is there so you can't dog it. Probably the best racing took place in the 250 Novice class as close to 20 riders went off in each of three motos with number one in their minds. First moto winner was Bill Johnson (Yam) followed by Don Lyon (Suz) and then Eddie Johnson also on a Yamaha. The second moto saw hot Lyon take it with aggressive Mike Jackson righ t on his tail and Mike Allen (Bul) third. . The start of moto three was a psych out affair as Lyon and Allen diced back and forth for a while until Lyon built up a convincing margin and won the overall going away. Final order of finish was Lyon, Allen and Jackson with all three riders getting trophies for their efforts. Open Novice riders were involved in some heavy races as three Intermediates were thrown in for good measure and the response was great as Malco, Husky and CZ riders streamed around the course. Novice winner was Pat Patterson (Hus) followed by Rick Sieman on his stunning radially-finned Maico, and then Robbie Giles on his super quick CZ. Intermediate honors went to Stewart Dowd on another Maico with Bob Nelson (Hus) second and Graig Kleeman (Mai) , third. his domination of the 250 Expert on his Ossa with the Candy Man, Bob Hershey finishing second.' . The 500 Expert had Bill Payne ending up on top after two very determined fir.st place finishes but pressure was brought to bear by Pessy who ended up second in the standings and went home with the I:;iggest paycheck at the end of the night. As I said, the hacks were the mind-blowers and Steve Evans, the GM of Lions has said that he would like to have them back again because of the outstanding show that they put on. To give you one quick "for instance" of hack racing that went on, check this. Sanner, the monkey of the Honda Four hack, unloaded off the chair going into the tigh t comer after the Lions Leap jump. Stevens pulled over to the side of the track while waiting for his partner to catch-up and get back on board. Meanwhile Sanner finds himself sitting square in the midclJe' of the track looking eyeball to eyeball at two ou tfi ts . that are charging down at him. Sanner gets up and makes a quick check to see if all of his original equipment is still with him and runs up-track to get back on the chair. By this time, Stevens has watched about four or five hacks go by and knows that there is only a little more than a lap to make back the lost ground. in the time that was left those two guys passed four hacks and ended up third in that moto, flying like they were possessed by the devil himself. R.A.C.E. Corona - - - - - By Bruce Flanders CORONA, CAL., July 20, 1972 - On a cool July night, the riders turned out in big numbers (over 175 total) to put on one of the nicest nigh ts of racing at the converted oval. The purse was over 5370, which exceeds the minimum of 5350 for. the second time in less than three weeks. Dennis Hazlett was the only rider that required any medical attention and the word is that a few stitches will set him straigh t. The rest of the evening was trouble free, including the bicycle wheelie contest. There were over 60 entries in the wheelie contest and the winner, judged by the crowd, got off a run from the starting line. clear through the '!2 mile corner on the rear wheel. All this while waving the peace sign with one hand at the stands. Rex Staten won the 500 Senior on his CZ over Bryar Holcomb on his Suzook. The first moto in this class was probably Lbe best race of the evening. as Holcomb showed Staten the way to the checkers but only after a tough battle. Staten won the 250 class also, but his main threat was Rich Eirstedt who put his Maico in to second twice and first once before the night was over. Bruce Baron put his Husky home in front of Jeff Vidic on the final results but those two put on some of the best action as they battled. Vidic will be a name to watch in fu ture motocross results. Larry Moon to take the lead and then slipped in behind and blocked off th Eagles team riders, giving Costa Mesa maximum points. Woods did the same in heat nine, putting Guy Waterson in front and then dropping back to block out Jim Gresham and Ron Taylor of the Irwindale team. Mike Konle effectively blocked for Ed Williams in heat eigh t, giving the Eagles a maximum score. Konle earlier stunned the crowd of 5475 fans in heat three. Lions rider Steve Bast had gated into the lead but Konle, riding a high groove all nigh t long, rode around Bast and in to the lead to score a popular win. Ed Williams, on loan from- the Ventura Chargers to fill for suspended Ste've Gresham on the Eagles squad, did journeyman duty. Ed won heat three, . rode to fourth in heat five and then came back to score upset wins in hea ts six and seven, making him happy but quite tired. Bill Cody and Mike Konle tied for high poin t honors for the Irwindale Eagles with nine apiece and Cody gave teammate Konle the opportunity to meet Lions high scorer Rick Woods (11 pts.) in the match race. Woods is very hard to beat in a two-lap scratch affair but no one was counting on Konle's mastery of the Irwindale high groove. Konle got by Woods once, was repassed and then rode around the outside of his foe to take un upset win that had the stands rocking. In the Handicap portion of the program, Mike Curuso got by Ron Stewart early and was never headed. Bill Cody and Rick Woods staged their own race for second with the npd going to Cody at the line. Stewart was fourth with Danny Becker fifth and Mike Konle sixth. Robin Nicoledes took the Second Division Main with Gary Densford close behind and Mark Cherry, Bill Firnhaber, Jim Shaw and Paul Henderson trailing. This Thursday evening, Irwindale .hosts a normal program of scratch amd handicap comptition. Costa Mesa Speedway - - - - By Ralph Springer COSTA MESA,CAL.,July 21, 1972Make way for Mike Bast, the new king of the hill at the Orange County Fairgrounds speedway. Bast has apparen tly unseated track favorite Rick Woods as the man to beat every Friday evening and demonstrated just exactly why last week, trouncmg Woods in the Scratch Main event. Friday nigh t's victory was the third such Costa Mesa victory over Woods by Bast in as many weeks. And like the other Bast wins, last week's was a carbon copy performance with Mike. gating perfectly and then swinging sideways in to the trrst tum' before anyone else could stick a wheel under. Woods tried valian t1y to poke and prod for an opening but to no avail. Bill Cody and Sumner McKnight trailed home in third and fourth. In the Handicap Main, Kurt Lewis took a surprise win from the 10-yard line, hugging the pole and never letting Mike Curuso through. Mike finished second with Guy Waterson third. In fact, the only. "Big Name'!" in the Handicap 'final was Mike Konle and he could only manage a dismal fourth. Ron Stewart was fifth and Scott Autrey fell for last spot. Greg Haserot downed Ron Taylor in match race action and Bill Firnhaber collected the Second Division Main over Troy McKee, Ken Cartee, Dave- Galvin, Billy Meister and Robby Waite. Meister and Waite hit the Costa Mesa dirt during the event. Bakersfield Speedway----By Sportphoto BAKERSFIELD, CAL., July 19,.1972 - You thful Mike Bast showed everyone the quick way home tonigh t by sweeping both sides of the program to turn in the trrst clean sweep of the two-thirds completed season. This was also Mike's fifth Scratch Main win and second Handicap Main win of the year here in Bakerstown. Mike Curoso came from behind to win the Handicap Conoy, followed by Jim Gresham and Ron Stewart. In the Scratch Consy, Danny Becker came from behind Curoso to pick up the win. David Galvin out-lasted the second division group to win both his heat 'and the Main. The Feature Match Race was Big Mike Konle all the way, taking the lead at the gate and showing Danny Becker the quick way to the checkered despite Danny's efforts. - --- - ~ ~~ By Bob "Lefty" Turner Welcome to the Second Annual Lefty Turner Mid-Season Awards Ceremony. If you are a speedway fan or rider you may tmd the- next few paragraphs interesting. To those of you who felt the pressure of being a nominee over the last few weeks, relax and read on. You may have won. The categories were arrived at. by balloting. Which is a fancy way of saying that Lefty and all of his buddies sat around until the wee hours of the morning hashing it out. The first award is a classic. It· is the "Pioneer Barber Award" and with a title loke that is was deemed that onlu "short hairs" should be elgible. The award consists of a half-empty bottle of Wildroot, a partial gian t size tube of Brylcreem and a full quart of Jeris Wild Rose Tonic. The nominees in this category were, Dennis Greene, the intrepid photog; Ed Meister, the thinning promoter: and Pee Wee Cullum, the starter who still wonders if Theresa Martin is the only girl riding Speedway. The winner in this category, although not originally nominated, is Harlan Bast. I t was also decided to increase the booty with the addition of one comp.le te brand new razor blade. The next presentation is for "Best Televised (one time) Special Speedway Race." Although originally scheduled to become a series, the Nielsen ratings precluded any other opinions and the series was cancelled. The award goes to Harry Oxley, promoter from Costa Mesa. It was a nice experiment, Harry. Tbe next award is for the "Least Improved Rider of the Year." Originally this hardly coveted trophy was to go to Don Cullum. Since Cullum has changed sponsors and started running hard again it now must be considered a tie between Ruben Benites and Stu Morley. . The "MISTY" award is nex t. It is called misty because it brings a slight moistness to the eyes when you think about it. Also the letters in the title each mean something: Most Inspirational Speedway Track Ya-hoo. This goes to sometimes referee Dick Aurandt, who at least inspires the riders with his articulate ideas and presentations nearly as much as he perspires them with his Ya-hoo decisions. There will be two awards in the announcing category. The first sub-category is for Best Announcing by a Non-rider. This goes to Lightning, Wild and Sensous, Larry Huffman for his great play by play commentary, that nobody can hear while the race is in progress. Also for his death-defying leaps onto the scoring table, which prbably scare the hell out of Pat Munro, the scorekeeper. The other sub-category is Best Commentary by a Washed-up Speedway rider. This goes to Bruce Flanders "Yawn", who doesn't do any leaps on the scoring table. He spends that portion of his time reliving his harrowing experiences, (Like folding speedway bikes in half into the crashwaJl.) while sucking on his favorite refreshment. Oh, doo da day. The next award is "The Golden Midol Trophy" and it goes to Theresa Martin, for actually never getting lapped. She came back to give it another try ....and still wasn't lapped. Keep on slidin' Theresa. Nex t is the "J oe Kubichek I-<:an-get-it-for-you-Wholesale Award." This was originally scheduled to go to Sumner McKnight but since the final ballots have been in and coun ted it has been rumored that McKnight was discovered paying retail for some racing goodies. Not wan ting to risk the chance that he migh t be a discredit to the award, Lefty decided to change the recipient. The Award now goes to Jack Milne, who is one half of the promotion from

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