Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

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. before you run Then let Rolf Tib blin and Miekev Quade impr ove your d irt -rid ing skill tu ne your bod . Beginners to pros. All ma ke s of b ikes accept ed - rentals a vailable. Tu it ion fee of $175 .00 covers all. Contact : (ED Husqvarna InternationaI Training Center 933 So . Santa Fe Ave.. Vista, CA 92083 7 14 -724-8091 SCUDERIA Z

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