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/126010
The National lineu p : (standing, left to right) Sonny Nutter, Ji m Fishback, Rick Woods, Alan Christian , Rich MacMurray, Steve Bast, Larry Shaw (says so on his leathe rs), Bill Cody; (kneeling) Dubb Ferrell, Mark Che rry , Bobby Schwartz, Scott Sivadge, Bruce Penhall, Mike Bast, Mike Curoso; Jeff Sexton. However, the night belonged to Mike Bast and Rick Woods . Both former national titlists, Bast, returning after a . three weeks absence, and Woods, making his local bow, t urned in perfect scores of 12 each to deadlock for the track's championship . Woods' right elbow, dislocated 10 days ago during the Bakersfield qualifier, bothered him thro ughout the night, eliminating an opportunity for a race-off to determine undisputed possession of the local mantle. . Costa Mesa, California September 26,1975 By Denn is Greene, & Bill Kolberg Ventura, California September 23 , 1975 Steve Bast, the defending Ventura Track Champ, was injured Tuesday nigh t when the throttle of his bike locked wide open. He got off in tu m one just a split secon d before his bike ripped a hole in the crash wall. Steve was helped bac k to the pits and was so dizzy that 14 he di d not m ake the restart of that even t losing any ch ance of re tainin g the Champi onship . Ste ve was rep laced by Bobby Schwartz, wh o ended up riding all five of Steve's events. Scott Sivadge was just one point off a perfect score with 14 p oints to win his fir st title an d become th e new Track Champ at Ventura. Dubb Ferrell with a sco re of 13 points got second for the nigh t. (Dubb is a past holder of the Firecrac ker Derby ti tle .) Larry Shaw fin ishe d in a tie with J eff Sexton at 12 po ints each. Larry won the ru no ff for third. He was the only rider all nigh t to beat Scott Sivadge. Larry also beat Mike Bast, breaking up the tie between Sivadge and Bast. San Bernardino, California September 24 , 1975 A standing-room-only crowd packed Inland Motorcycle Spe edway in San Bernardino Wednesday nigh t to witness Scott Sivadge lead with 40 p oints going in to the fifth roun d o f qualifying for t he United S t a t e s National Ch a m pionships, one up on current speedway titlist Steve Bast. He emerged wi th a front-running total of 51 after a near-perfect night of raci ng. Only "stablemate" Sonny Nutter defeated Sivadge and kept him front attaining his third "perfecto" of the qualifiers. It took 192 events, 768 lap s and six nights of racing to end up with the top 16 riders in the nation to compete in t h e U .S. Speedway Championship. Friday night at Costa Mesa was the sixth and final r oun d of qualify ing. Scott Sivadge has been the high point man fro m the beginning and turned in a pe rfect score of 12 poin ts to earn hi m the top seat in the Nationals. His total score for the six nigh ts, 63 points. Mike Bast turned in a score of 12 points for the nig ht as well, fo rcing a run off between Bill Cody, Scott and Mike. Mike too k the checker ed with Scott second and Cody third . Mike, a two time holder of the National ti tle and Firec racker Derby winner, earned the number two spot with a total score of 59 points. The current U.S. Speedway titlist, Steve Bast , with 57 points for the six n ights earned third spot in the Nationals. Bill Cody, the third man to tu rn in a perfect score of 12 points, moved in to fourth overall with 57 points, tied wit h Steve Bast . Sonny Nutter with 11 points for the night finis hed fo urth, earning the ninth spot in the National. Mike Curoso turned in 1 1 poin ts, earning the fifth spot for th e n igh t and fifth spot for the National. Friday nigh t there was a lot of joy b ut a lot of sad ness as well. Top names in the sport like Mike Kon le, Bill Gray, Mark Cherf, Dave Sims, Bill "Meister, Larry Moon, J im Gresham, Brian Short, and a dozen m ore will j ust sit back on November 1 at t he L. A. Coliseum alo ng with an estimated 25,000 fans an d enjoy the richest race in the h istory of Speedway. • Results in Results Section. Steve Bast (leading), Jeff Sexton, John Cunningham, Mike Muntean , caught from outside off the start at Inland Speedway.