Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Blame it on the full moon By Dennis Greene and John Bethea IRWINDALE, CA L., APR . l!4 It all started off with the sensation of the 1975 season, Bobby Schwartz, facing off against a strong lineup in Heat One. Bob had just come off his ~eat~st week ever in speedway, wmnmg the Handicap Mains at Irwindale, Costa Mesa and Bakersfield. Because of that torrid pace he had been bumped back to the 20·yard line. Schwartz, with the cro wd screaming him on, held the lead but only briefly. Jeff Sexton, from the 40, and then Mike Bast , from the 50, crep t by with Bast finally emerging th e victor. Bob, however, held on to th ird a n d that was eno ugh to transfer to th e Semi. Beginning of the crash that netted Bruce Penhall (fo reground) 32 stitches and Bob Hedrick (sliding) a blazed behind. Mike Bast in a rare loss of control as the classic Flying W in the background hooked h is rear wheel. 8 Th e first Handicap Semi pitted Schwartz against Woods, Sexton, Bruce Penhall, Cody and Shaw. Woods, dialing in on the outside cushion, made his move early and garnered the lead on lap three. Getting passed by Woods when he is going strong would depress anyone. Anyone, that is, but Schwartz, who just aimed at Woods and the chase was on. The whi te flag appeared and the pair crowded together in tum two. Woods dipped to the inside of the track . to try and block off Schwartz, but his drive drifted wide and Bob moved alongside, getting a wheel underneath, and out drove Woods to the third tum. - The fourth Scratch Heat pitted "Wild Bill" Cody against Sonny Nutter, Mike Konle and Scott Sivadge, This was a real battle. Cody drove into the first tum in the lead, but tangling right behind him were Nutter and Konle, for a restart. Again Co d y popped up as the leader, and again it was Nutter and Konle driving at each other. It came to a head in tum one of the final lap as Nutter dove in hard on the inside of Konle and went sweeping to the outside to square o ff tum two. Mike riding the o utside, suddenly had Nutter in front of him with nowhere to go. He backed off sligh tly but jus t kisssed Nutter's rear tire and they both wen t sliding into the fence. In the Second 'Division Main, the falling wo es cre pt up with th ree of the six in the race spilling. Bobby Ross, who survived that incredible third heat, picked off the victory , For the Handicap Main, Steve Bast (jockeying for position) was alone on the 50. Schwartz was off fast and first, Woods made a mad dash trying to catch the little squirrel who had pounded his image in the Semi. Woods, who was spraying dirt allover Sexton and Ferrell (third and fourth) , was right on Schwartz as they cam e out of the final turn. Rick tried one last effort, pulled alongside but was nipped out of the win by a mere 12 inches ! And the tale doesn't end there. Bob's father, "Cadillac Jack," is resting comfortably in the hospital where he 's been for several weeks. "I just wanted to win the opener and present the trophy to Dad," says Bob. "Now, I've gotten four. I don't bel ieve it . My Dad doesn't believe it . It 's just all too incredible. Did I pass Woods in that semi? Did I really?" Before th e Scratch Final got underway, Mike Bast was disqualified. Mike reached up to adjust h is visor and had a brief lap se, thinking he was instead pulling in the cl utch. lIe d umped it into gear and snapped the bottom two tapes. It was the secono time in fou r nights that he'd been , disqualified for the same infraction . Woods got the jump and never looked back. Steve Bast tried both the inside and outside lines to find much needed traction but he couldn't find any more than Woods had and that was the story . Costa Mesa, California April 25, 1975 With Bob Schwartz's fourth Handicap Main Event in a row coming Thursday night at Irwindale, all the pressure was on him Friday nigh t at Costa Mesa. Schwartz had been moved back, as is the custom in the sport, to a further yardage mark. It was too much for the young lion, as he missed a transfer spot and his chance to ride in the main event. Bruce Penhall ra ced to glory in the Handicap Main, run with just five men after Rick Woods was unable to come to the starting line due to a badly cut leg when his primary chain broke, hitting him in the calf. Bruce held off the outstanding rush of Larry Shaw and Les Chanky in front of a full house of screaming fans. Lightning Larry Shaw, along with the Bast Brothers, were to run second to Mike Curoso in the Scratch Main. Curoso, o n a bike prepared by Louie Unser, of the famous Unser Brothers, raced to the head and was still stretching o ut his lead at the finish line . Division Three went to Ric k Fa rren. It migh t be cal led a survivor event because there were so m an y p ile-ups in one of the heat races th at th e even t was cal led off and the transfer sp ots we re given to the three riders still left standing. Bakersfield, California April 26, 1975 Bakersfield fans were on their feet Saturday night for the Handicap Main when hometown hero Dan Toomey wen t to the lead, and for five laps held on to win. Dan was all smiles as the fans showed thei r appreciation for a fine ride. Mark Smith, also of Bakersfield, put the troops away in the Division Three Main making it a full night for the home team. It was one of those full moon nights and there were more than the usual amount of pile-ups, Five riders went to the hospital, though none were too serious. Bruce Penhall took 32 stitches in his knee after tangling with Big Bob Hetrick. Bob got hooked on the foot peg after hitting the ground an d came o ut with a rather big strawberry on his ba ckside. Mike Bast missed out on a transfer after a minor crash in a Handicap Heat whe n first year ride r Dean Fo rm an went down, taking Mike with him. Mike got back in the race, but it was too late . Unite d Stat es Champ Steve Bast took the Scratch Main Event for the second straight week, on the same track that he won the title of California State Champ. The Pu r p le Helmet Match Race pitted Mike Curoso and Steve Nutter, and for the second week Curoso was ~u m~anL . • Results in Results Section. "We gotta quit meeting like this. My Ole Lady's gettin' suspicious: '

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