Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

z The new champ and the old champ. Bast judges his line as Rick Woods goes wide trying to get by. 24 thinking, but I missed by a mile. It was not because I did not know what I was writing about, but I didn't take into consideration just how much inner strength some of the guys would call upon. Mike Curoso was, in my opinion, the biggest threat going into the night's competition.' He would be the big deciding point in every race because he has been riding so well these past few weeks, but if you recall, I said he would come in fourth at best. Mike got second spot, losing only two points for the nigh t; one to Mike Bast and one to third place finisher, Larry Shaw. I said that Curoso would take some or all of the importan t poin ts from the top contenders, 'but I was still surprised to see him turn in the best ride of his young career. Larry Shaw made a believer out of me by ridipg with all the skill and talent of a champ, and it looked as if he was going to go all the way up until his third ride which put him into the race with Mike Bast, Mike Konle and Steve Gresham. He got off the line a little late and tried to make up the lost time but in vain. This was the only race that Larry did no t win for the nigh t, coming in last. II he would have finished in second or third there would have been a three way run off for first. Steve Bast, the rider I picked to run away with the whole ball of wax came in fourth, losing poin ts to Larry Shaw, Mike Curoso, Dubb Ferrell and Mike Bast. Steve ended up with II poin ts. I did say that no rider would get a perfect score, and I thought a score of 12 would be the winner. The defending champion, Rick Woods, finished way back in seventh place and was not much of a challenge all night. He got off in his first race and for the rest of the night was way out of shape. In his second ride he got a third but was still a bit loose. Finally, in. event II, Rick's third ride, he put it all together and picked up three points, outriding Guy Waterson, Sumner McKnight and Dubb Ferrell. He moved back one spot in his next ride,event 15, when he was beaten by Dan Becker in the only event that he won all night. Rick came back strong in his last ride, event 19, when he outrode Scott Sivadge, Steve Gresham and Ricb MacMurray. Rick ended up the night with nine points, tied with Dubb Ferrell. Dan Bekcer has been a crowd favorite all season and was the dark horse and many people though t he migh t rise to the occasion and put them all away and go home- the new King of Speedway. But the pressure was on and it was too much for this 18-year-old racer. It was sad to see that the harder he tried the more trouble he got in to. On several occasions he wa:. trying so hard that his bike just got away from him. He fell in his first ride and got in for a third in his second ride for one point. Then again in his third ride he fell only to come back in his next ride to win the three big points. In his last race of the night Becker got off once again after pushing it too hard. This resulted in a small fight in the pits after the last event. Dan ended up in. 15th spot with the second lowest score of only four points. The only rider to have a harder night of it was Scott Sivadge, with a score of three and finishing 16th (last) for the night. Neither of the two reserve riders were called on during the evening. Standing by on the off chance that some one might drop out of the competition were Jeff Sexton and, from up north, John Cunningham. Cunningham had driven over 700 miles to make it to Costa Mesa, and Sexton had removed a cast from his broken foot two weeks before the doctor had advised him to. Their disappointment was evident as they glumly waited, suited up, in the pits. Mike Bast rode every race like a champ and no one gave him a thing. He had to work in every event and he did outride everyone to glory. Mike has won the title of Mr. Speedway, the National Class A Speedway Champion. Put this together with the two other titles he is now carrying as the California State Champion and the Ventura Track Champion, plus last year's title of Pacific Coast Champion, and the fact that he was the U.S. Speedway Champion in 1972, and you must give him all the respect that a true champ has coming. Mike has in all ways been one of the better spokesmen of the sport and now with this upcoming Australian tour that he and his brother are about to undertake, it is a good feeling to know how well the United States will be represented in the sfort of Speedway. On Saturday night at the awards banquet Mike, like the true sportsman he is, gave credit where credit is due, thanking his father who has kept the motor up all year and the rest of the Bast entourage for the SU,pport all season. You readers will be able to follow the Brothers Bast in their travels this winter \ in Speedway, as Mike will be writing his own columns for Cycle News while they are overseas. As at any banquet the big thing is the gold and there was lots of that for eve ry on e there. Each rider who qualified for the race received a plaque and there was one special award given to the most improved rider. It went to Sonny Nutter. Sonny got off to a slow start earlier this year and it looked as if he was going over the hill, but the truth of the matter was that Sonny was spending so much time getting his own motorcycle shop off the ground that he did not have the time to devote to racing every night as he has in the past. There are still three more speedway events this year in the southland. This Thursday night at Irwindale there will be a special race meet of nothing but handicap events for th'e first division riders. The next night at Ascot will see the class A bikes taking the place of the regular Friday night class C show. One week later, the final event of the season, again at Ascot. • Results 1. Mike Bast 2,. Mike Curoso 3. Larry Shaw 4. Steve Bast 5. Sonny Nutter 6. Dubb Ferrell 7. Rick Woods 8. Don Cullum 9. Guy Waterson 10. Bill Cody 11. Steve Gresham 12. Mik!! Konle 13. Sumner McKnight 14. Rich MacMurray 15. Dan Becker 16. Scott Sivadge Sonny Nutter finished fifth in the Championship and received an award as most improved rider. Here he leads Steve Gresham, Don Cullu", and Dubb Ferrell. / 14 13 12 11 10 9 9 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 3

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