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/125885
"'-I 51 • • • .... g ~ g By Dennis Greene Mike Bast earned his first title o f th e. 19 74 seas on Thursday night at Irw indale wh en he ca p tured th e long track cro wn from Mike Curoso. Bast turn ed in a ncarperfect score o f 14 ou t of a possible l S points, dropping just on e digit all night, and that was to Son ny Nutter. ~ tO') ...-l ~ >n .... Q.I ..c 8 Q.I r The fin al Sp eedway ·sh o w o f t he 197 4 seas on at Irwindale ran with the style that the tr ack has be come known for . The half-time sh ow saw " Super Ken " a ttemp t a new ramp-to-ramp jump reco rd . He made a successful jump bu t was just three fee t sh ort o f the re cord. Following the jump he said he was ha vin g trouble with his ta keo ff because the o verhead lights were blinding him. In ad di tio n to the Division One title, there was also a Second Division title award ed . In his first y ear of Speedway , J im Fishback h as taken his desert tal ent and adapted to Speedway , rolling up an impressive record in hi s first sea so n. He did . so well that h e go t a sh o t in first divisio n an d wo n a Handicap Main. Th is p ast T hu rsday night at Irwindale, in the Division 11 even ts, h e won his heat race , go t th e last trans fer spo t in the semi an d won the main event and Division 11 titl e at Irw indale. ;:. 0 Z w Z w w 'o " "' Z Z w C > IXl 0 "' I0 :I: a. Jeff Sexton's wearing so me new nosegear. Flankers are Danny Becker (left) and Sonny Nutter Iright!. COsta Mesa, October 25 , 1974 Just one more night of racin g is left at th e Orange Co un ty Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa and that is the night we h ave all been wa iting fo r, wh en th e new U.S. Spe edway Champion will be cro wne d at th e end of th e 20-event ni ght , all scr at ch races. This past Friday was a good i n d i ca tion o f what is to co m e . Three-ti me cha mp Ric k Woods led th e Scra tch Main eve nt wi th tw o-tim e and current cham p Mik e Bast tr ailing. It took Mike thr ee lap s to get past Woods for th e win. Mik e is still ri di ng with a" brace o n h is -left wrist. .In th e last official Han dicap Main of the year, Troy McK ee took over the lead from Les Chanky to wi n the eve nt, ru nning h is total of Han dicap Main wins . to th r ee fo r th e seas on. Every ye ar at this time 1 put my he ad on th e bl ock an d try t o predict th e winners. Bu t not th is ti m e - all yo u get is just the fac ts , m a 'm. Ne xt Friday night there will be 20 events, all scratch races. The win ner of eac h race will receive th ree points. Each rider will race in five events m aking 15 points a pe rfec t sco re. 1 do n't see anyone, no t even Mike Bast, d oing that . Anyway, here are th e season totals so far; make y o ur o w n pred ictions. Mike Bast has wo n 41 scratch m ain even ts o n the four Southern Cali fo rn ia tracks; Bill Cody is a dist an t seco nd wi t h 12 win s, Steve Bast and Dan Bec ker have I I eac h, Rick Woods ha s fou r, Sonny Nutter has th ree as does Du b b Ferrell, Jeff Sexton has t wo an d Mike Cu ro so an d St eve Nutter each have o ne . Bill Gr ey, Sco tt Siva dge, Larry Sha w, Ed Williams, Larry Moon an d Mike Konl e are all in the Natio nal , bu t did not w in even o ne scratch main all season . Those are the statistics, bu t th ey really don ' t .mean much wh en the ent ire seaso n is decided o n just o ne ni gh t. Th ere are a tho usa nd th ings th at co uld change it on Nove m ber I. What [ think will make th e big differ en ce o n race nigh t will be who gets knoc ked off. Each and everyone o f the 20 events is of th e utmost imp ortan ce an d no o ne will give an inch all night. The resul ts will be close with possibly ro ugh riding an d so me do wned riders. The scoring is simple; three po ints to the wi nner, tw o fo r seco nd, o ne fo r third and ze ro for fo urth . The riding, how ever , will be th e key. Ma ke no mistake, it w ill be good. - • Sonny Nutter got a chance to hose Rick Woods briefly. . Mike Bast, brace and all, is the new California Long Track Champion at Irwindale. Scott Sivadge and Mike Konle hang the outside. You're all turning into a bunch of Animals! Jim Fishback garnered a bunch of gold in two divisions at Irwindale but did they have to bring in Roddy McDowell t o kiss him? And the vaudeville troupe's in. 23