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/125986
. t:; 0.. -c "Bumblebee" Schwartz shocks the Handicappers By Jo hn Bethea & Dennis Greene I RWIN DALE, CAL., APRIL 17 At last: Speedway has returned on a weekly basis to Southern California, and it was kicked off Thursday at Irwindale Raceway with a hu ge field o f 36 Division I riders. Larry Shaw cam e from the 20 in the first 0 f six Handicap Heats 6 to barely ed ge out Dale Galvin and Steve Bast, wh o was ch argin g from the 50. Th en Bob Schwartz ca pt ured Heat Two as he muscled his way to th e fr ont early and held back th e late charge of 30-yarder Bruce Penhall an d 4 0-yarder Danny Beck er. Dave Sim ms kept the low-y ardage ad va ntage working with his IO-y ard dri ve to th e fro nt in Hea t Three, defeati ng 50-yarde r Mike Bast. T hat the me also held t hro ugh Heat Four when fro nt row sitter Randy Mar sh would n ot allow Mike Konl e to find an ope ning fr o m th e 30. Then t hings q uickly turned about with Heat Five. And wh o else but Rick Woods to d o it ? Fro m t he 40, Rick chose the o utside cushion and flat do mina ted, t akin g over the lead at the mid way point. So nny Nutter then did alm ost the sam e t hing in Heat Six with Phil Moon taking second, o nly Sonny did his trick fro m th e 4 0 by us ing half of the outsid e an d half of the pole. The Handicap Sem is saw Sch wartz co me up wi th another st art-t o-finish win wi th to sec ond. In the second Semi, Simms was also chased by a Bast, this one was also ch ased by a Bast, t his o ne Mike, an d also held ou t over the formidable 50·yarder. The ex pec te d tigh t m at ch with Nu tt er and Wood s never developed as Ballard zeroed in an d took the win with Mike Curoso second. Nu tte r topped Woods for third and fourth fo r Consolation transfers . But, before a rematch could come , Woods' bike quit d uring his Scrat ch heat and he had to retire for the night. Shaw took th e Consy win with Nutter knocking b ehind him. And all th is after a restart forced by Larry Moon who was pe n alize d b ack to the 40. Schwartz th en tripled for a perfec t Handicap nigh t wi th a narro w Main victory over Mike Bast charging from th e 50 to take second. In Scratch action, it started pe rfec tly for th e year. In a se e-saw battle that changed leads h alf a do zen times, Steve Bast just barely defeat ed Curoso and Nut te r by less th an a foo t at t he fin ish and it was by far th e best race o f the ni ght. Scratch Semi ac t io n pitted the Bast Brothers together for th e firs t time of th e ni ght. Mike, who St eve ad mit s is a much better starter , go t th e dri ve and dove into tum o ne first and never lost it with St eve trying hard to ca tc h him. Cody an d Beck er were erased. In the Main, it was again th e Bast Brothers faci ng Sexton and Ferre ll. Mike, with his good st ar ts , das hed into the lead an d was again never headed. Steve, meanwhil e, was h aving tro ub les with his other two foes, was swa llowed up and finishe d last. Sex ton ro lled off second and Ferrell third. The Feature Match Race went to Steve Bast over Rick Woods. Steve go t the better drive and Woods, finding out the outside tr ac k wasn 't as go od as it was earlier, co uldn 't ca tc h up in the two-lapper, . Results in Result s Section. Costa Mesa, Califo rnia April 18, 1975 "For those of you headin g to t he speed way trac k, it has been so ld out. " This is what y o u m ight have heard co min g from a helico pter flying overhea d on the San Diego free way Friday night. Th e turnaway cro wd of so me ten thousand people we re o n hand to see the open ing nigh t show. On e may h ave th ou gh t he was seei ng a try-out fo r a new N BC co lor pe acoc k with all the new racin g leathers that wer e m ade up during t he winter lay off. Color , co lo r an d mo re c olo r, bright o ran ge, yellow, green br own and silver, and all th is on One guy! So much co lo r that a circus wou ld have to han g its head in shame . The spotlight shown on Bob Schwar tz in th e Han dicap Main Even t as he hel d off th e rush o f two ti m e U.S. Speedway Ch amp Mike Bast . Mike had to se ttle for secon d afte r working his Steve Nutter's got rainbow leathers and gold leaf helmet numbers. bu t Bill Cody's got th Rick Wo ods geu a pushoff t o check out the Pork Chop. Division Th ree rid er Deni s Porter, co-builder of the sectioned sportster special, gave it a heat w in at Costa Mesa.