Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Bast blasts to eight straight speedway wins • Story & Photos by Dennis Greene Ve ntu ra, Califo rn ia Tu esday, May 7 With the opening of 3 more speedway tracks this week the season is in full swing. Cal Expo., in Sacramen to ( F ri d a y night), Oran ge County In ternational Raceway (Wednesday night) and Ven tura a t the V entu r a Fairgrounds on (Tuesday night) all opened their doors for th e start o f th e 1974 season . OCIR is playing host to all Second and Third Division ride rs, som ething the sport ne eds this year. The number one com p laint of all th e Division Two and Three riders is th a t they don' t get enough rid es to get good enough to enter the Firs t Division. OCI R is gi~n~ them the chance the y want, and this is a good place to watch where the new talent will be coming fro m . Opening night was all Bob Ross; he won both Mains and gave a fir st-rate per formanc e at the same ti me. Speedway fans, this is one show that you should not overlook. International Speedway promotions are again hosts at the Ven tura Fairgrounds every Tuesday night with a full show of First Division riders along with D ivision Two and Three competitors . Opening night was outstanding. A near-tumaway crowd was on hand to see Mike Bast stretch ou t in the early laps of the Scratch Main event for the win over Sonny Nutter, Bill Cody an d Larry Shaw. The win for Bast ran his unbea ten streak to five nig h ts running. Nelson Fonte is a new rider this year and had not been heard of until a month ago when he cam e out for the qualifying rounds and scored enough points to earn a dual license. He has lost _ no time letting everyone know th at he digs th e sport and is here to st ay. Nel son held off the rushes of both the Bast boys to win his first-ever sp eedway race in the Handicap Main. The night had just one black note when Kirk Alexander blew a tir e on the back straigh t and tri ed to co mp lete th e turn, went into a wh eelstand and did not get off the bike b efore it hit the cem en t wall. He was taken to th e hospital with a badly broken left leg and th e word is that he will be ou t for several months. This is possibly th e worst injury ever in recent U.S. speedway. Bakersfield, California Wednesaay, May 8 Six in a row for Mike Bast ! Whether it is Costa Mesa, Irwindale, Bakersfield or Ven tura, Mike Bast is the guy you must beat to win a Scratch Main event. He keeps on proving it night after night. Mike has only missed three ti m es so far thi s season and all three losses were to Bill Cody . This past Wedn esday night it was Steve Nutter, Mike Curoso and Wild Bill Cody trying to get the National Speedway Champion in th e Scratch Main but he lived up to his motto " t hey shall not pass." Yet another name has been added to the Bakersfield Handicap winners colum n. Guy Waterson, from the 2(}.yard line, got the jump on Larry Moon and with pressure p ut on by Dan Becker, he stayed out in fro nt of hi m and Mike Bast and the rest of the field for the win. New names seem to be the game at Bakersfield, so why not in Division Two? Steve Hein (number 3 12 for those of you keeping a score card ) ran away with the Main event the five other guys who had been racing for a year or more just asked, "Who was that?" Most of yo u at one ti me or another have seen on the road a hitchhiker with a big dog or a surf board or something. and y o u have said to yo urself, "Who is going to give him a ride with all that junk?" This is what Rick Smith was faced with when his truck broke down in the mountains on the way to Bakersfield. He unloaded all his race gear and the bike and st uc k out his thumb. He got there with time to spare. as Irwindale, California Thursday, May 9 Would you believe seven straight? Yep, Mike Bast did it again . in the Scratch Main event a t Irwindale Thursday night. Sonny Nutter, Mike Curoso and Mike Konle added their names to the list of riders unable to break the Bast streak. Big Mike Ko nle made a push from the 30·yard line in the Handicap Main Nelson Fonte force s Dave Simes all the way to the inside: Neither appears too happy about th e situati on . Reigning U.S. Speedway Champ Mike Bast that carried him to the lead for his first big money win of the season. The Main had a tense moment when Larry Moon lost it in tum three, hitting the crash wall just behind th e downed Troy McKee . It looked as if the b ike . had hit Troy, but this was not th e case . It did land o n Larry. but he managed to ge t in to th e restart. only to ha ve th e motor go sour. Costa Mesa, California Friday , May 10 6 Eight straigh t for yo ur National Speed way Ch ampion , Mike Bast as he ro unded o ut th e wee k j ust as he started b ac k on Tuesday by winn ing th e Scra tch Main event. Mike m issed his cha nc e to get in th e Handicap Main eve nt in his firs t race when he we nt into a tum too hard and fell on th e we t surface. J eff Sexton , the 19-year-old rider that I have been telling you to kee p an eye on. did th e job Friday night in the Handicap Main at Costa Mesa . Sexto n star ted on t he 30-yard line w ith all the rest of the field ah ead of h im except for Dan Becker on th e 50. J eff moved past th e slo wer ri ders wi th style and spe ed as Dan stayed on his tail all the way . Jeff sta ye d cool as Dan p ushed on th e o utside d oing a gian t wheelie. Dan go t it back under co ntro l, b ut he co u ld no t take the glory away fro m J eff. who fini shed t wo bike len gth s ahead of Dan. Sonny Nutter had a record going for him th at is to be en vied . In the las t se ven match races he has been vict orious. This has been a t all th e tracks, and for the third we ek in a row he came o ut as Kin g in Feature Match raci ng at Costa Mesa. Nutter was to mee t Steve Bast , b ut an injury 's to Steve' s leg kep t h im out. Mike Curoso filled in for Steve b ut like all th e o t hers he fell to th e King of m atch racin g, Sonny Nu tter. More bad luck was to co me Mike 's way later w hen he ta ngled with Big

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