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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125865
Speedway
North
By Sneaky Pete
NAPA, CAL.,JUNE 8
Reno riders took home the majority of the prize money at the Napa
Town and Country Fairgrounds
Speedway opener.
Rich IIIacMurray won the Scratch
Main even t and maybe he has finally
Bill Manly came up fast in Speedway style , he re sh own w inn ing
it away f ro m Bruce Penhall at Costa Mesa. Speedway p ays be tte r
than a ny othe r racing, is d rawing ride rs f rom f a r a nd nea r.
Main s p rod u ces many winners, few o f
who m have had more then two wins.
Dave Galvin has four. His third came
this past T uesday in the five -lap,
six-man event, then he got his fourth at
Irw indal e on Th ursday night.
Phill\loon WdS the fart hest rider back
on the 20-yard line wit h four rid ers o n
the te n - Greg Hasero t, Rick Smith, Bill
Manly and Dave Galvin. Bob Schwartz.
o n the zero, h ad the advantage. Dave
ran in to traffic in turn one but worked
to t he insid e and was on his way for the
wi n.
Stephen Sc hlanser, a name n o t
mentio ned this season, got his first win
eve r as a speedway racer, taking the top
sp o t in the Division Two Main,
Bakersfield, California
Wednesday, June 12, 1974
Go ing fro m the damp wet air of
Vent ura to the dry desert air of
Bak ersfie ld on a Wednesday has always
be en hard o n the riders an d the m achine
as well. It is n o t uncommo n to see a
rid er pass out af ter his event, or to see
an engine blow sky h igh fro m t he wrong
mi x of nitro. T his week all that and
mo re too k p lace as the te m pe rature
t ook a big j ump o n t he sc a le.
Bill Gray likes hot weather and there
was no catching h im in the Handicap
. Ma in at all. Eve n the brilliant rides of
Sonny Nutter and Mike. Curoso we re
not up to the speed of the former TV
star.
One of the biggest reasons speedway
keeps growing is the h o m e to w n talent at
each track and Bakersfield is no
exception. They have produced several
riders who have gone .. n to the top.
o
George Ferrell is the newest one to win
on his ho m e track, and it was well
deserved after running second there all
season.
Whe n the Scratch Main event rolled
up , Mike Bast had to win it to give him
a perfect score. Not for the nig ht, or the
week or the month, this win mean t that.
he has gqne one full year without a loss
at this track in the Scratch Main. Steve
Bast and Larry Shaw both thought th a t
Mik e 's inc red ib le win streak h ad gone
on long enough. For t w o laps they t o o k
turns h o ld ing off Mike b ut h e m oved to
th e insid e and on the first lap h ad the
lead b y a n inch or two. T hat was all he
ne eded a nd Mike crossed the fin ish lin e
ou t in fro nt.
Irwindale, California
Thursday, June 13, 1974
Two a wee k is t he ne w ga me in th e
Handica p Main eve nt race. T wo week s
ago Bill Mei ster w on back-to-hack then
th e next week Mark Cherf, an d t h is
wee k it w as Dave Ga lvin o n T ue sday a t
Ven t ur a t he n again a t Irw in d ale o n
Thursd ay nigh t. D ave was push ed all th e
w ay b y Wednesd a y ni ght win ne r Bill
. Gray as D an Becke r put hi mself in a
po sition t o sweep b y b oth o n th e
o utside an d if no t fo r a small b obbl e b y
G ra y in t he las t t um Bec ker would h ave
h ad a clear shot at the checkered fl ag.
Afte r a couple o f weeks do wn in th e
du mps Jeff Sexton seems to be getting
it back to geth er. Jeff won a Handica p
Main last month at Costa Mesa, but for
the past few meets his riding has not
been up to par. Last Thursday at
Irwindale, though, he held off both Dan
Becker and Sonny Nutter for a w in in a
Handicap Heat. Sexton is once again
making a good a mount of mains, an d
now starts o n the 40 -yard-line a t Costa
Mesa.
T he Bast Win Ma chine was in full
force as both brothers had at each o th er
in t he Match race . Steve won the
two-lap sprint but ran second to Mik e in
the b ig money eve nt, the Scratch Main .
Costa Mesa, California
Friday, June 14, 1974
Deep and we t was Friday ni ght 's
trac k at th e fai rgrounds.
T he first half of t he show had more
re starts then the rest of the week put
t oge th er. Cycles we re falli ng al l around
th e track. Fortu na tely n o o ne was hurt.
For the second st raight week Mike
Bast won every Scratc h Main eve nt.
His win Frida y ni gh t over D ubb
Ferre ll, S teve Bas t and Dan Becker was
all b u t predicted by t he anno uncer
w he n he sa id, "You ca n all go ho me Mike has the pole."
Lcs Chanky got his fo u rt h win this
season when he ran away wi th the
Han d ica p Ma in eve nt we ll out in front
of Scott Sivadge,
Orange Co. lnt'I, Raceway,
Irvine, Calif. Wed., J une 12, 1974
A f ter severa l weeks of poor
attendance at
the speedway on
Wednesday night at the Irvin e .track , the
fans are finally realizing that vth e all
Second and Third Division show is one
of the best nigh ts of speedway that they
can see. One can see just how much
work goes into becoming a Division One
rider.
A record crowd was on hand this
past Wednesday night to see Bill Manly
ho ld off the challenge of Steve Bonham
wh ile Wayne Lewis and Phil Moon
worked each other over at the back of
the pac k.
Scott Parker, new to the sport th is
year, got h is firs t win in a Ha ndicap
Ma in eve n t.
Irwindale, California
Saturday, June 15, 1974
T he fifth ni gh t o f speed way for t he
Divisio n One riders w as h eld in
conjunction w it h fu nn y ca r show
Sat urday n ight a t Irwindale. A ro c k
band, thrown in for good m easure,
provide d ad di tio nal enter tain me nt.
The en ti re w eek o f raci ng h as b ee n
co lor ta p ed b y Speedvideo Productio n s.
T hey are a n ew te levis io n p rod uct io n
com pa ny h ead ed up by sp ortsw ri ter
Steve Parker (whose n ame you have
see n i n Cycle News an d o ther
pu blications). S pcedv ideo hopes to sell a
we e kl y m otorsports show based aro und
s peedway racing to a nationwide
ne t wo r k o f ca b le televis io n stations.
•
Rcsu lts in the Resu Its Section.
Walk
whipped the bad lu ck that has jinxed
him early in the season. Handicap Main
event winner Alan Christian lost his
chance for a 'd o u b le ' when he wheelied
off the line and had to shut off. In a
display of really hard riding, Alan
worked his way up to second at the
finish . S. R.A . (North) point leader John
Cunningham w as th ird.
Russ Powell was the only 'flat lander'
to dent the near m on op o ly o f t he
Nevada rid er s when h e finis he d second
in th e Handicap Main .
S teve Mo o re on the A .j.S . powered
mach ine won th e Division T wo Mai n.
Secon d an d t h ird wen t to Windy
Fo re man an d Ro n Long.
Deep yardage rid e rs put the lon g
Napa st r aigh t aw ay s to good u se a nd
only o ne Handicap win (heat race) was
fro m the T hi rty. A ll othe r wi nners came
from the I' orty.
•
Results in the Resul ts Section.
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