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/126014
SRAseason closers By Dennis Greene and John Bethea Costa Mesa, Californ ia October 24, 1975 T he final even t of th e 19 75 Speedway seaso n at Costa Mesa was a new sho w to th e regular fans, and so me thing new in U.S. Speedway: Best Pairs , seven teams of two men each. The all-scratch p ro gram was set up just like any championship with four lap , fourman events, 21 of them . Scoring was the same, th ree-t wo-one-zero , Each team had six rides with a total of 30 possible po ints if any te am took first and second in every event. The te am o f Mark Cherry and Mike Bast tu rned in t he best total of 24 poi nts. In their first event, t hey did ge t first and second over the team of Rick Woods and J im Fishb ack, for five poin ts. Rou nd t wo put them up against Steve Bast and J eff Sexto n . Steve wo n for three points, Mike Bast t oo k se cond and Mark to o k th ird. Ro und three saw Bast and Cherry vs , Bill Cody and Dubb Ferrell. Ferrell ran away for the win and three po in ts, Cherry two points, Bast one and zero fo r Cody . During the in terrnission, the Junior Speedway Cha mpionship was run, two four-man scratch races with the first two in each race go ing to the Main. California State Ch amp, Louis Kossuth, won his heat race and Shawn Moran to ok seco nd , putting them in the Main Lanc e Kin g, last year's title holder and Kell y Moran won the transfer spots in th e second heat race. The Main event was wo n by California State Ch amp, Lou is Kossut h with Lan ce Kin g ta kin g second, foll owed by Kelly Mo ran and his you nger brother Sha wn . Round four put Bert Harkin s and Steve Nu tter to th e Ch erry- Bast t est . Steve was a reserve rider who got called out to t he night's eve nts when his co usin So n ny Nutter was inj ured and could not co ntinue to race. Sonny 's bi ke lan ded on hi m after crashing along the front straightaway wall . He will make the National. Mike Bast again took top spot and th e three points, Steve Nutter was second an d Ch erry third, add ing four mo re poin ts to their total . . Round five - Larry Sh aw, Scott Sivad ge, Bast first, Sh aw second, Ch erry third . Add fo ur more point. Round six a nd the last chance to ou tsco re Fishback and Woods. With Mike Curo so an d Bru ce Pen hall t o th e test, th is time it was Mark Cherry runnin g o ff with th ree p o in ts while Mike Bast took two. Five m ore points and th e ove rall win for Mark Ch erry and Mike Bast ! Irwindale. California October 23. 1975 Steve Nutter recorded his first -ever major victory when he defeated the top field of riders on hand fo r th e 19 75 Racewa y Track I rw in d a le Cham pionships befo re a crowd of nearly 4, 000. Nutter and Dub b Ferre ll, the o nly two riders one point shy o f a perfect eve ning, m et in a w inner -take-all runoff at the en d of th e scheduled 20 eve nts. Ferrell broke the t ape at the start, and the victory immediate ly fell to Nutter. The top 16 point scorers at Irwindale Ra ceway all season comprised the lineup. But of those who d idn 't ride was Steve Bast , who reports that he has a heart c ond it ion and is presently on medication. There is speculation in the Bast camp th at the defending National Champion may be forced to miss the upcoming Nationals at the Los An geles Coliseum. However, Steve was on hand to spectate tonight. Nutter lo st his bid for a sweep of th e program in Event 10 when he go t a te rr ib le st art and was last in tum o ne . His front wheel lofted off t he line and UJ Z UJ UJ a: o 1Il Z Z 0 10- UJ ....._..:.....;:;. .......... _ Louis Kossuth (Kids Shop) leads the Juniors in their track final at Costa Mesa, That engine of Kossuth's looks like a rotary-valve Komet Kart powerhead. Is our guess right? J im Fishback grabbed th e lead , which he held to the end. Nutter got around Mike Konle and Max Koemans to finish se cond. Ferrell's loss of one point came when he had to face Nutter in event No . 15. It was close all the way, with Nu tter barely getting the win. Mike Bast's two blotches came when he had to face Ferrell in ra ce No. I and Nutter in event No. 20. Otherwise , he had a st ro ng . night. Favored to do wel i, Rick Woods, who flew home from Hawaii this very mornin g, co uld n't unwind and finished way down in the top ten. He lost to Nutter in race No.2, broke the ta pe an d was d isq ualified in race No.6, lost to Bruce Penhal l in event No .9,' was defeated by Bast in race No . 16, and then took second to Ferrell in Event No. 10 . Tied for fourth overall were Bruce Penhall and Jim Fishback. Each won two even ts, and had a sec o nd and two thirds in their five rides. Curoso and Cody tied for the sixth place position . Results aVE RALL POINTS: 1. S teve Nutter ·(19) . 2 . Dubb Ferrell (19). 3 . M ike Bast (18 ). 4. Bruce Pennall (15).5. J im F ishback ( 15).6. B HI Cody (14). 7 . M ike Curoso (1 4) . 8 . Sonny Nutter (13). 9. R ick Woods (12). 10. Larry Shaw (11 ). II . wayne Lewis (10). 12. D ave Sims (8) . 13. Mark Ch erry (8) . 14 . Mike K o n le (7) . 15. Ma x Koemans (5). 16 . Steve Columbo (2) . ·won runo ff NOTICE TO ALL PARTIES ,. Joe Bolger's unique "Bolger Suspension System" design and all property rights therein offer clear advantages over known motorcycle suspension systems. Infringement of the "patent applied for" rights or infringement of the patent, following issuance, will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the United States and International Patent Laws. Joe Bolger Products, Inc. Summer Street Barre, Massachusetts 01005 13