Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Division and Jeff Dodd won over Ron Rose in Division Three . San Bernardino. California July 16. 1975 Sha wn McC o n nel l and Ron Pre st o n held th e spo tlight at In lan d Mo to rcycle Speedway before the largest cro wd of the lo cal seaso n , a nd "Lady Lu ck" played a lar ge su p p o rting role. In th e Handicap Main. Preston led all the way in t he five -lap co n tes t. stay ing clear o f tr ouble th ro ugho u t. In the third lap , a three-rid er p ile-up spread ou t o ver tum fo ur, wiping ou t Dean Forman. Wayne Lewis and Denny Scopelli te, 11,e win was Preston 's rust of the: se ason, driving from the 10 y ar d stripe to edge Mike Gross and Robin Hood. The Scrat ch Main "brough t down the house " wi th a three rider duel which lasted in to th e final lap. With "hard lu c k " Bob Hetric k showing the way, new co m er Don St ubbs ro c keted into the "Head hun ter " b roads ide , sending th em both to sod. McConnell , in ho t p u rsu it , swooped by to take the chec ke red flag, with Hetric k scram bling to h is fee t and o n to hi s b ik e for secon d. Newpo rt Beac h's Ge ne Woods and his n ei gh bor fr om Huntin gt on Beach , J an Ballard, sec ured th e Scratch an d Han dicap Consolat ions, resp ectively . Ballard dou b led for th e nigh t, edg ing Dean Fo rman, las t week's Scr a tch l\lain vict or, in a n arrow Match Ra ce. Le o Blac k finally broke th e " alway s the bri des mai d, never th e bride" m old, cap tu ring th e Third Division Main . . Irwindale. California July 17, 1975 It lo o ked like it was going to be a n igh t for St eve Bast and Dubb Ferrell to lo c k thro t tles in showdowns in both Mains, b ut it never really m at erial ized . Steve lost his ch an ce for the Scr tch Main a when his Jawa ble w while leading the sem i. And Ferrell, m a kin g both Main s, co uld not m ake it on the outside line after doing so well there earlier. The first of the two Scmis was a t r e m e n d o us battle do wrn to the ch ec ke re d between Ferrell an d Bru ce Pe nhal l for the final bump spot to t he Main, Mark Cherry was the winner with J an Ballard second, but afte r a se e-s aw race fo r th ird, Ferrell moved into the Main . In th e second Semi Bill Co d y su spec t ing a cra sh in fr ont of him, la id it down while the o u t-o f-shape riders in fro n t someh ow saved it . Scrat ch he at ra cing started with Stev e Bast runn ing away wi th th e win wh ile Sonny Nutter se ttled Randy Marsh for th e o ther transfer spot. The next heat saw Mike Bast run to an early hu ge lead only to lose all bu t three fee t o f it to Fe rr ell who was closin g fast . The h ir d heat wa s t a ken b y Bobby Schwartz by on ly four fe et over Mi ke Curo so, an d th e final he a l was the capp er as Rick Woods ee ked out J e ff Sex t o n for the win b y less t han three inc hes! After Rod Sexton defea te d bro the r J eff in th e Handicap Ma tch Race by ab ou t four feet Ue ff cam e from 60 y ard s back in two laps ), the Scrat ch Semis go t ready . Eit her Semi looked like a go o d Fina l on an y other night. 'The first race was the m oment when Steve Bas t was leading wi th less than t wo laps left whe n h is m ach in e broke down. Mike Bast took the win with Curoso lead in g Sexton home . The final se mi went to Rick Woods in another tigh t four-tapper over Du bb Fe rre ll. l\lain event t im e star ted with Div II go ing to Rod Sexton over Crai g Bradley and Rod Cowell. The Han di cap l\lain fell swiftl y t o J an Ballard fo r his first of the year. Sonny Nu tter collected the Scratch Consolation vict ory over a field th at bro ke down. In fact, Nutter was th e only one to c ro ss the lin e un de r p ower. Schwartz took second, dog-paddling across. The final race of t he n igh t was th e Scratch Main, and it star te d ab ru p tly wi th Ferrell taking the lead fro m the ou tsi de . But th ings tu rned bleak for Dub b as he slowly slid back to last. Mike Bast too k over early an d held it t o the end wi th Cu ros o second and Woo ds t hi rd. Costa Mesa, California July 18. 1975 La st wee k's all tim e reco rd fo r \ at te n dance was shattere d t his p as t Friday ni ght when so me 14 ,000 people tried t o fin d a seat in a stadiu m th at on ly sea ts 10,00 0. The overflo w crowd lined eve ry inc h o f th e c ras h wal l, even st oo d on roo f tops. T wo time U.S. Sp eedway Ch am p Mike Bast wor ked his way in to both main events, winning the Scratch Main ove r Dubb Ferrell. Mike Cu roso and Bill Co dy . Mi ke Cu roso d id the jo b in th e spec ial once-a-year Match Race fo r the Fair Derby . The trophy is in keeping with th e Coun try Fair the me . It is a st ra w h at th at has been b ro n ze d. Mik e will keep it for one year. Billy th e Bullet Meister too k th e Handicap Main, stay in g just in ches ahead o f Du bb Ferrell for the five lap s. Bakersfield. California Ju ly 19, 1975 So n ny Nutter lost the b r onze straw hat Frida y night at Co sta Mesa in th e Fair Derby to Mike Curoso , bu t this Saturday n ight in Bakersfield Sonny won the Purple Helmet Mat ch Race in two ou t of three: wins over Bruce Penh all. The b ig story o f the night was the duel win of Mi ke Bast. For the th ird time th is season Mike has won both the S c r at ch and Han d icap l\lai ns so m e thi ng no othe r rid er h as done . It was an im p or t an t event fo r Curoso, who was right on top o f th e S RA p oints list . The d ual win by Bast put h im ou t in fron t by a nar ro w m ar gin . Dean Yor k was pro bab ly the m ost d isap p o in te d guy o f the n igh t wh en he lo st the Handicap Main t o Bas t in th e las t ten fee t. • Jamey Michaels Racing Productions Presents Class 'C' Short Track Racing at Indian Dunes Money to Expe rts Classes - Minis, 100, 125,250, & 360 (if entries permit) Races run 2nd & 4 th Friday o f every month Class ' C' traction only All new facilities Tech . inspection 7 p m Practice 7:30 p m First race 8 p m En try fee $5.00 213-540-2351 DO IT ON THE STREET DO IT AT THE DRAGS DO IT IN THE DIRT BUT DO IT WITH Whacko! Mik e Konle and Bill Co dy striving to m iss downed ride r at Ventu ra. Konle ' s fr o n t wheel is already done for the n ight. YOUR WEST ERN U.S. UM!ED WAREHUU SE (408) 243-7149 KITS . PARTS - 24 HR. SERVICE De ale r Inqu ir ies Invited Performance Spe cialists for Califo rnia an d the West Coast 4902 STEVENS CREEK BLVD. • SAN JOSE, CA 95129 Mik e Patrick s YAMAHA at CORONA ll Ol E. 6 th St reet, Corona , CA .• . ( 714 ) 735-7721 t;j:i' * ROKONS RT340 Endures $ 995. rn the crate * Carnes Cyd e Shop 84 59 Foothill Blv d ., Sunlan d, C A 91 04 0 213-352·1 458 13

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