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/126013
o ..... Speedway exposed! Nutter bares his soul (among other things) for the media o By Dennis Greene and John Bethea 00 C'l ~ ~ ..0 u Costa Mesa, California October 17, 1975 Any sport in order to grow mu st get exposure. Sonn y Nutter has done his share tim e after time and no w has let it all hang out. Sonny, owner of "Speedway Onl y, " a bike shop in Santa Monica, wen t to Hollywood T uesday for some test shooti ng. He may not be Burt Rey nolds but more th an likely he will be the center fold of Play Girl magazine. Nutter showed the fans that he ca n race too. He won the Handicap Main Friday night and took second in the Scratch Main . former Scottish Bert Harkins, National Speedway Ch amp and a super person, is in the U.S. for several weeks. He rode Thursday night at Irwindale and after getting run over and nearly put out for the night with a damaged left leg worked his way into the Handicap Main Event, only to end up last because of the pain every time he put down his foot. Bert 's luck was not much better on Friday night at Costa Mesa . He was interviewed by the voice of Speedway, Larry Huffm an . Bert was asked about the small track, said it 's like ridi ng in a tea cup. (The tracks all over Europe are 320 yards and longer, the track at Co sta Mesa is less than 200 yards.) Bert was leading the Handicap Sem i when in the last lap the little tight tu rns got the best of h im and h e went down. He walked back to the infi eld un der his own power bu t was given a ride to th e pits by Mark Cherry. Mike Bast was not on hand anyw here this week after th e fight last week at Costa Mesa. The S.R.A. Board came do wn very hard on th e young superstar. He was fined $25 0 an d a one week suspension. He will be on hand November 1 for th e Nationals. Dub b Ferrell streaked by Sonny Feisty Scottish fonner champion Bert Harkins, too sore to walk, gets a lift back to the pits from Mark Cherry. Nutter in the third lap of the Scratch Main and went on to take the checkered flag for the sixth time this year. Irwindale; California October 16, 1975 It was a scr atch event which saw the lead change six times between three of the four on the track during the four laps and it was also an event that ended in the final tu m with the third p lace rider pu lling it ou t for the win. The event was the first Scratch Semi- Final. The particip an ts were Larry Shaw , Mike Konle, Steve Nutter and J im Fishback. Nutter had gotten the pole, Shaw the outside . The outside line was a critical one. If ridden just right, it was a blockbuster that would swoop the field . A few feet off in reading it correctly, and the rider Pucker time in the Division II Championships at Irwindale, but winner Gene Woods keeps his cool, even as Leo Black appears to be losing his. 8 would be wallowing in loose stuff just spinning his wheels. Shaw read it right. He squ are d off the second tum and spurted into the lead with Ko nle on his tail, Nutter third and Fishback fourth. Suddenly, Shaw's front wheel lofted with too good a bite. He slowed and Kon le took over. In the confusion, Fishback took third. But Shaw was not about to give in. Fighting and clawing his way around the oval, h e came in sid e o f Konle and regai ne d th e lead . Fish back closed and Nut te r hu ng tight b eh ind h im. Again Shaw got too much traction, this time on the fro nt chu te, and he nearly looped it wh ile head ing for th e cras hwall. Konle got the lead back momentarily, but it pu t Shaw on th e outside again wh ere he once more read the track correctly an d drove around for first. Back and forth they went. Th e white flag appeared wi th Sh aw leading Ko nle, Fishback an d Nutter. No change in turns one or tw o . On the back straight, Shaw went wide to set up for the final two bends and Ko nle went high, too. Suddenly, Shaw was scra ping the wall in an effort to retain balance, control and the lead. Konle was sucked into the same position. Fishback, seeing this, drove desperately inside for the pole. He got there and shot out of the final tum from third to first by just a few feet. The crowd absolutely went insane. For the Main, it put Fishback, Shaw, Sivadge and Curoso together. Sivadge from the three slot grabbed the lead and after two laps of battling with Curo so, held on for the victory. Mike "\ maintained second after that with Fishback third and Shaw fourth. "Big J im " was ne ver in contention - the only race he lo st all nigh t. On the Handicap sid e, Fishback won his heat and his Semi, each time coming from the 20 yard line. He took over early in the Main fro m Scotland's Bert Harkins who brie fly led from the 30 . It was Har kins' firs t ever ap pearance at Irwindale and th e cagey Sco t did a masterful jo b in adjusting to the relative sh ortness of th e track co mpared to ' tho se b ack home. He crash ed along with two others in his h eat and despite a very pain ful left leg, got b ack up to make the resta rt. He finished th ird, th e fin al tran sfer spot. Then, in another wild race, he again made the final transfer spot in the Se mi. Bu t, it was Fishback's Main . Af ter n Harkins mad e yet another fi e start,Jim rode aro und, to ok over and never lo o ked back. The Nu tters , Sonny an d Steve, to o k up th e chase an d even tu ally finishe d in that order in second and third. Curo so too k fourth with Penh all fifth . Har kins, his leg sti ffe ning up, slowed to last. The track Cha mpionships for Division 11 and 111 were held this night in three-race motocross sty le. The six q ualified riders ran three times, each time drawing fo r a starting positio n. Th e top p oin ts rider after three races was . declared the track champion. Division 11 went into the final a tie between Fred Sidner and Gene Woods. Sidner had wo n the first race and Gene the second. Leo Black wo n th e final event, but Woods was there for secon d and go t the title. The points : Woods, 15, Black and Sidner 13 , Steve Hein I I , Rob in Hood eigh t, J an Ballard two and reserve ride r Dan Waller one. Division III saw Sterling Cogar nearly three to take the sweep his Championships. Louis Lindwall won the first race with Cogar second and that's when Cogar took charge , winning the final two . Final in points: Cogar 17 , Lindwall 15 , Bobb y Ro gers 11, Terry Bilt on nin e, Gary White seven , and rese rve for Dan Sch oen, Kenny Best fu= • Results in Results Section. Th ' Animule had a pretty good week, with a Handicap Main win and a rousing Scratch Semi win at Irwindale.