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/125881
yo u d on 't make it this t im e th e race will be scratche d. " Sonny Nutter and Bill Cody co llided ear lier in the night but both made it to the Scratch Main even t along with Dubb Ferrell and Jeff Sexton. Nutter got off to an . early lead and went the distance for the win . Ferrell got past Jeff Sexton in the second lap while Jeff was holding off Bill Cody. who finished fourth. In the Handicap I\lain it was Ed Williams, who has won it three times this month after going most of the year without a win. He deserved this one; Mike Muntean put pressure on Williams all the way in the five-lap event. 00 Costa Mesa, Californ ia Friday, September 27, 1974 ~ ~ ..0 o "-' u o You 've heard of the " fl yi ng W?" Well this is the " flyi ng M" as performed by Bill Cody a nd Sonn y Nutter in the light and dark leathers respectively , at Irwindale last Thursday. with 14, Sivadge with 13, Cody with 12 and Konle with II. With the National title race just a little more than a month away. Steve Bast is the odds-on favorite to regain the number one plate. Fittingly, the season at Ventura ended the same way it started, with a capacity crowd. Irwindale, California Thursday, September 26, 1974 By Dennis Greene Ventura, Californ ia Tuesday, September 24, 1974 With the runnIng of the Track Championship, the 1974 season at the Ventura County Fairgrounds has come to an end. The 20-event championship was dominated by Steve Bast who pulled 14 points out of a possible 15 to become the new track champ and take over 20 yet another title that was fonnerly held by his brother and current U.S. Speedway champ Mike Bast . In addition to the first division show, there were five second d ivision eve nts to select the to p rider in that category. Wayne Lewis took t he ho no rs in second division. Mea nw hile in the first di visio n , it to o k 13 points t o take t he second spo t and going in t o the last race it was Sco t t Sivadge an d Mik e Konl e tie d fo r second place aga ins t Steve Bast. Big Mike and Steve Bast go t tied up with eac h oth er and let Sivadge ge t by fo r the win. Mike Wen t wide and St eve pu t on the pressure, taking over second. That was the on ly point Bas t lost in th e entire evening's rac in g and Scott ended up second o verall. Konl c 's loss dropped hi m to fo urth behind third place finis her Wild B ll Cody. Bast fin ished j "Speedway is not a contact sport!" At least this is what the referee Ralph Tow keeps saying every time there is a pile-up. This past Thursday night Tow made this perfectly clear to Rick Woods when he disqualified Woods for making what was deemed a dangerous pass on the inside of Mark Cherf', knocking him to the ground. This was one of the few times the crowd was in agreement wit h the officials . Later Woods claimed that the decision was wrong. HI had the right-of-way. Mark pulled down on me. I wasn't even sideways. trying to give him racing room but he just kept coming down until we collided. I wouldn't take a chance like that in a $5 heat race." There were several other crashes that night but most were just racing luck and no one was put out. One of the division two events was restarted so many times I lost count and they ran out of reserve riders. Finally the referee told them "if Dubb Ferrell backs up to Dan Becker at Ventura season ender. 'Way back in April, at the Costa Mesa track opener, Bill Cody won his first Scratch Main event. During the season he has had many Scratch Main wins at other tracks but another Costa Mesa win has eluded him un t il last Friday night. Co dy, Becker, Bast and Sivadge were all in top fo rm and it was easy to see that the Scratch Main event wo uld .be a thriller. Bill Cody and Steve Bast h it turn one together and it was anyone's guess who woul d co me o ut o n top . It . was Cody by o ne foot and for the nex t fou r laps that was all the lea d he could get. Becker made one of his ber ser k passes and got by Steve Bast; Siva dge spun out but not down, regai ned speed an d pulled in behind Bast for the fo urth spot. Handicap racing in the main event pays top dollar for' the nigh t and the competition is always fast and furious. Jim Gresham, who has spent most of the season on and off the injured list, . put it all together for the five-lap event that saw little Les Chanky hold off Dave Sims, one of the new riders in the ~74 season that will close in November with the running of the U.S. Speedway Championships at Costa Mesa. • AMA Board gives Speedway League go-ahead LOS ANGELES, CAL., SEPT. 27 The American Motorcycle Association at its regular meeting today gave approval for the staff to work out details of AMA affi liation with Speedway Motorcycle League, Inc . SML, Inc . is a Ca lifornia-based sports promotion firm organized to p ro mote team speedway racing in the U.S .A., sell franchises for up to twelve team s in cities around the country and negotiate contracts with riders. The fo ur fou nders are Don Dyer, Jack Long, Chris Pook and Sharon Clayton. • Steve Bast, new track champion embraces the trophy and the girl.