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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126003
Rewrite th e book! Rick Woods (left ) made a clean sweep of Irwindale, then the next night Dubb Ferrell (right) did the same at Costa Mesa. respectively. Pre st on '5 ~n_was_t:J.is third main win here in ' five weeks. Wood's made his second win in as many tries aboard a new bike which enhanced his performance. The second-largest cr owd in In land 's history was on its /fee t with approval throughout the junior speedway final eve nt. Four separate riders led d uri ng the five -tapper, before Troy Ingolia, a 3 0 · ya r d handicapper copped the triumph ._ Speedway version of the squeeze play with Ron Sexton in the middle . and Denny Scopellite looking at the came ra as if to s~ . "Why me. Lord?" Irwindale. California August 7.1975 Rewrite the record book By Dennis Greene Ventura. California August 5. 1975 Wins come In twos at Ventura. Mike Bast has had back-to-back wins in Scratch Main Events there, so has Larry Shaw, and now it's two in a row for Jeff Sexton. The Scratch Main started Sexton, Shaw, Bill Cody and Mark Cherry even for the four-lap sprint, Sexton go t out fastest and led wire to wire. Rounding o u t the good night of racing at Ventura, th e Handicap Main Even t was won by Ran dy Marsh, a ho me town boy. The pain ts ra ce ends this m a n th an d none too soon with over a dozen racers out with injuries. Just being one of the top 32 riders in points does not guarantee one a ride in the Nationals at the L.A. Coliseum on November I , 1975. There will be a qualifying round at each of the trac ks and only the top 16 men will g~t a shot at t he title. San Bermirdino. California August ~. 1975 I Another newcom er to Inland Speedway waltzed home with the Handicap Main victory. Brian Short, of San Juan Cap istrano, won the top dollar event. Nearly $4 00 was in the evening's purse, with ove r $3 0 0 for the Handicap Main. Com in g off th e IO-yard marker, Shor t ca ugh t ea rly leader Don Stubbs on the third lap , held off Bruce Penhall for the sco re. Penhall was riding in noticeable p ain with eleven stitches in his left wrist from a speedway pile-up which side-lined the popular racer for n early a week. On an exclusively first and second divis ion program , Ron Preston and Gene Woods took 'top ho nors in the division two handicap and scratch events, Th e last time Rick Woods wo n every race on the program , he left the track as the 1972 Na tional Champion. A lot has happened to hi m since then, but, one thing th at hasn 't happened Was another sweep - until tonight. "If I was ever go ing t o do it, I figured to night was it. I was going to give it my best shot, " he say s. Why this evening? It was Rick Woods nigh t, that 's why. Eve rybody coming through the gate got a free col or poster of Rick. In the stan ds were a half dozen execs from Oly mpia . Beer, h is recently ac q uired sponsors. Everything cen ter ed on Ric k \Y.oods, The Woods epic began in the third of four Handicap heats. From the 40 he came and won, taking over the le ad on the last lap from Dave Van Ho m and Craig Schaefer. That pu t him in the Semi. In that race he put away' the ' challenge of Sonny Nutter , Schaefer, Mike Co lombo , Van Hom and Scott Sivadge . Mike Bast pulled out of the Main early w ith a sour engine. Nutter fell , "because I was just go ing too fast". Schaefer also tas te d the new su rface. Dubb Ferrell, fr om the 50, could n ot catch the pumped up Woods. And Mark Cherry, starting fro m the 10, co ul d n o t hold Ric k back. Now he had to concentrate o n the Scratch Main . Earlier, he had won his heat, tr ansfering to the Semi along with Nutter. In his Semi he went up against Bill Cody , Ferrell, and the hottest Irwindale Scratch rider of late, Jeff Sexton, winner of fo ur of the las t five Mains here. In another dy n-e-mite race, Woods q uelled them, Sexton moving to th e Main with him. Also m aking the main wer e Mike an d Steve Bast. It was a heavyweight Main. Bast brothers, Woods and Sexton. Whew. Woods had drawn the pole and he dove in with the lead. Mike Bast, coming fr om starting slot two, held him on th e o utside. The lead changed six times between Woods and Mike Bast. Steve Bast was tight, too, oft en getting a wheel alo ng side his brother or Rick only to be shut off. Sexton, never giving up , was tight too . On any other night he wo uld pro bably be leading at the pace he was riding . But this night he was last. Rick Woods-killed 'e m . . . Costa Mesa. Californ ia August 8. 1975 Incredible as it may seem , j us t 24 hours after Rick Woods ·di d the first clean sweep of a Speedway program in over two years, Dubb Ferrell did it again at Costa Mesa! He won every heat ra ce, every semi and both main events. That page in the record book h as been gathering d ust since opening night 'at Irwindale in 19 73 when Wild Bill Co dy took the whole show. Bakersfield. California August 9.1975 When you're hot, you're hot. Du b b Ferrell, still ten feet in the air fr om hi s clean sweep Friday night at Co sta Mesa, raced hi s way into both Main Events at the Kern County Fairgrounds Sat urday nigh t , winning the Handicap Main and ge tting second in the Scratch Main Event behind Steve Bast. Division Two honors went to Gene Woods, the y o unger brother of Rick. Gene h as a fine style and a ton of tale nt that will move him into First Division. One nig h t next year we m ay see the Bast brothers against the Woods brothers or the Sexton brothers. Rounding a u t the re cord boo k thi s week is Sonny Nutter, who defeated Bill Gray in the Purple Helmet Match Race. Th is was Nu tter 's fourth defense of the helmet. • 17