Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125863
They liked the Baketown track enough to put on some kinda show: Sumner McKnight , Norm Denny , Dubb Farrell and Troy McKee. Cody. It was Larry Moon putting on the p ressure as Mike went for the win. Curoso was third and the wrap-up went to Bill Co dy . Bakersfield, California, May 29, 1974 Bast beats Bast, collects reward By Dennis Greene Ventura, California May 28, 1974 Dean York became the third hometown rider in three weeks to win the Second Division Main race this past Tuesday night at Ventura. Dean won the six-man event from the 20 -yard handicap line, where he started alongside previous winner Randy Marsh. 16 The race was York's for the five laps, wire-to-wire , Bill Manley surveyed the bumps and grinds and earned his way to the Handicap Main Even t, going on to win it by just a few inches over Dave Galvin and Bruce Penh all. Manley is another rider who has m ad e it up to First Division after only one season in Division Two. Larry Shaw was put out of shape in a crash. Mike Bast came to his aid and in no un ce rtai n words Mike told the referee he thought he was doing a bad job. This made for hot tempers and it showed in Mike's riding. He agressed into the Scratch Main Event along with Mike Curoso, Larry Moon and Bill Larry Shaw had been in two crashes the nigh t before and this past Wednesday he was knocked off again , this time req uiring hospitalization for a slig ht concussion. As on the nigh t before, it was th e Bast Brothers goi ng to Lar ry ' s aid because the ref did not stop the race. Everyone got upset. and th e ref laid out fines for riders bei ng on th e trac k without permission an d for abusive lan gu age. It has reac hed a poin t now where several of the top riders have stated they will not ride unless the referee is replaced with someone who has the riders' safety in mind. Dean York steers around Rick Black who assumes the Muslim prayer position at Bakersfield this week . Ba ker sfiel d in vite d some o f th e northern riders to com pete in Ker n County this week. Ric h MacMurray and Norm Denny came down to m ee t the best riders head on. Both were impressed with all the new changes to the race t rack and for th e most part it was a good night. Rich was the cen ter a f a can troversy that started when he ducked under the starting tapes in a scratch race and it was re-star ted. This b rought up a question: he di d not break the tapes and it is not possible to duck under them because the lower tape is only a foot off the ground. The ref said he was not in the starting box and that MacMurray was rolling when the gates went up and ducked underneath to keep from breaking them. If this is true, there was a starter error, but the race was re-started with no penalty, even though the rules state that if a rider makes an unfair start he will be penalized 20 yards. This nearly led to a riot in the Scratch Main Event when Mike Bast got a start that looked very m uch the same as the one that Rich had had. Mike jumped out to an early lead and brother Steve Bast looked to the starter for a re-start. He was so sure t hat the event wou ld be stopped that he pu lled to the side of the track an d started to come back to the line, but the red nag never ca me out and Mike went o n to the win with Mike Curoso and Troy McKee t railing. Steve asked wh y the race was not re-started, The ref said it was because Mike was not rolling when the tapes went up. Mike and the ref were the on ly ones who saw it that way, and the fans were pretty much divided in -their thinking, with boos bombarding both brothers. Mike came back on the track, thinking that Steve had been put out of the event, only to find that it was