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NorCal Speedway By Sneaky Pete SACRAI\IENTO, CAL.. JUNE 21 John Cunningham won this evening's Scratch Main event against a starting lineup that (along with John), were ·aIl co mpet ito rs in last year's state meet at Bakersfield. Four very fast laps and at the finish it was Cunningham, Norm Denny, Alan Christian and Paul Orlandi. A veteran of many years in class 'C ' competition, George Carter is in his first year of speedway racing. His Division Two rides were for the first three weeks of the season and in only his fifth week in the First Division, won tonight's Han di cap Main . Seco nd we nt to Dale Stetler and third to another firs t year rider, Jim Chil d ress. Joe Casey has resigned as referee an d replacing hi m will be Paul Minor J r. With three years of class 'A' racing behind him, Pau I is well aware of the various problems that can occur in speedway. If there was a "good guy" award, it would have to go to Harry McGill . Afte r a heat race tangle with the wall left Dale Stetler without a bike for the restart, Harry brought out one of his bikes for Dale to ride. The results of Harry's good deed? Dale's second pla ce in the Handicap Main also earned him his best pa y day of the season . • Results in Results Section. • • • And here's a Nutter. Cousin St eve tangles w ith Nelson Fo nt e at Ventura Tuesday nigh t. This led to a rare brawl. into both Mains along with Steve and Mike Bast. For the second straight night, Steve outrode the U.S. Champion, ~Iike Bast, for t he win in the Scratch Main event. Phil Moon , one of the newest First Division riders, picked up his third Han d icap Main win of the season. Phil just ma de it to the line an inch or two ahead of Jeff Sexton, w ho tu rned in a brilliant ride for second place while holding off Dan Becker. Costa Mesa, Californ ia Friday, J une 28, 1974 Friday nigh t an d the end of the we ek came fo r the Division One riders, or what the re was left of the m. . There were several changes in the program because of so many ride rs ge tting wiped out this week. Bruce Penhal l out - broken ankle. Scott Sivadge out - cracked wrist. Dave Sims out - concussion. Bill Manley out sprained back. Jim Gresham out severely cut left leg , Troy ~lcKcc out battered and bruised. Bill Grayout getting a skin graft on his left arm. It looks like somewhere along the line Speedway became a co n tact sport. Costa Mesa was not to escape withou t its pileups either. Mike Curoso and Sonny Nutter locked handlebars Sonny Nutter in action . going down the back straightaway and both bailed off just as their mounts hit the wall. There were some very irate fans on the crash wall yelling obscenities at Nutter because it looked as if he was putting an elbow into Curoso before they tangled. In truth, he was trying to push away so he cou Id set up for the next turn. Curoso did not see it that way and there were words. Both are too good riders to believe that one was out to /(et the other. The Bast Win Machine took both Mains. Steve, fro m the 40·yard line, raced past the other five riders in the Handicap Ma in with Mike Curoso trail ing for second. Mike Bast won his second King of the Hill match race, this one over Dan Becker. When they both carne back in the Scratch Main. Dan was right on Mike 's tail with Steve .Bast running third and Sonny Nutter coming on fourth . It was as ligh t as day on ' the trac k - with all the lighting that was provided by a t,v , crew there to tape speedway for relase at a later date. O.C.J,R,. Irvine, California Wednesday, June 26 , 1974 There are now two nigh ts of Division ~ nd Three racing, one on Two Wednesday nigh t at OCIR, and now also on Saturday nights when all the Valley residents can go to Indian Dunes where division two and three riders have at it and each other. Wednesday night at OCIR, Jim Fishback kept his win streak pumped by winning the Handicap Main, Phi! Moon triumphed again in the Scratch Main . The Saturday night opening of Ind ian Dunes was great. The facility is a page right out of the past. If you are a nostalgia freak, and we re in teres ted in Speedway when i t go t its start at Whiteman Air Park in 1968, you 'll love this p lace. John Grout is the voice on the P.A. system, as he was in 1968. Walt James, one of the promoters at the Dunes, is one of the guys who in '68 made the space available to the Speedway racers at Whiteman. The tr ack is the largest in the southland, nearly one-sixth of a mile with a breakaway back wall and cem en t front. The surface is very much like As cot. The 'two riders who go into the re cord books as th e track's first winners are well kn own to Division Two and Three fans. Phil Moon took the Scratch Main , and the Handicap Main honors went to Tom Sawyer. _ Results in the Results Se cti on . Mike Rooney leads John Cunn ingham in th e Napa Scrat ch Main . John, running with a pair of semi-functional (be nt! fork leg s, bounced around to a hard-earned second. Rooney wins Napa Story & photos by Jill Van Geem & Patr ick Neil NAPA, CAL .. J UNE 22 Ra ce three o f the 1974 seaso n got underway a little late due to the delay of the ambulance. Fortunately it went unused all night with many minor spills but none of major consequence. The new referee, Paul Minor, showed his strength on his first try at officialdom and showed the riders that his power would be supreme on this chilly evening, One controversial competitor, Rich ~lacl\lurray, was ousted in Event 13 when it was determined that Rich had been just a little too aggressive on Corner Three causing a nasty spill among . the other three riders. Event Four, a handicap even t, had John Cunningham back on the 70 mark which is abou t a third o f the track back, almost too far to see the starter pop the tapes up. John is an old hand at this, and can probabl y hear th e star ter before he can see the start. John did several thirds, a second and a first for the night and was putting on a fine show which co uld give the Bast bo ys some serious tr ouble. Mike Rooney also did quite well, putting in a total of three firsts, second plus a third for the evening. His defeats were due to bad starts in Event One against Ron ~IcGiII (track record time holder) and in the Handicap Consolation where a hot race for first wen t on between Paul Orlandi and Norm Denny. Orlandi was putting his machine sideways to preve n t being taken insi de by Denny as Norm just co uld n ' t be tempted to try the outside line . Orlandi and Denny caused a crash on the first try at a Scratch Semi start. On the restart, t he two mixed it up and again a restart was made. This time the race con cl uded but only seemed to get things stirred up for Events 19 and 21. When the Scratch Consolation ca me up, Denny was not about to let Orlandi best him again and left Orlandi o n the last lap. on the last comer in the second place spot taking the checkered nag as the crowd cheered the two very competitive rid~rs home to the pi~s. •