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/126045
No "Bottoming Out" SPEEDWAY WEEK By Dennis Greene and Rex Reese Ventura, California May 4, 1976 Air Forker "Air-Sp ring " Conversion Kit Whether it 's the J ackhammer 100 or your own favorite trail, you won't bottom out. Elim inates springs and spri ng sag. Install y ourself. Creates an infin itely adjustable "air·spring", .a balanced front fork system , and a' true progreso sive rate spring. Forks are adjusted -to you r own riding style by sim ply addi ng air pressure. F its mo st cycl es: 1 year parts an d workmanshi p guar ant ee . Only $13.95 p lus 75 cen ts postage and handling . 3 weeks delivery. Send check or money order to : Pioneer Cycle Produds Dept . N 1523 Grant St . Downe rs Grove, 11 .60515 Inquiries Invited A bad week for Sh ark s; a rough nigh t fo r team captain Sonn y Nutter! No t onlv did he su ffer th e agony o f defeat, but deankles as well. Sonny slammed into th e cem ent crash wall o n th e fro nt straigh taway, hi tt ing 'o n his back side bu t his legs swung into th e wall, bad ly bruising his ankles. li e was un abl e to get o ut of bed th e next day for his te a m's m at ch against th e Sizzler s '. - ;.. o f San Bernardino. The Sh ar ks had t he po in Is lead twice and tied th e sco re up seven ti m es, bu t th e Ban dits held th em up fo ur ti mes with Dubb Ferre ll turning in high to tal o f 14 poin ts for th e night. His team cap tain , J ef f Sexton was sec o nd o verall with 12 points. There was only a two p oin t sp read going in to th e last even t. The Band its pulled off a clean sweep ge tt ing first an d se co nd fo r five points, m aking it 42 to t he Sh ar ks' 36. San Bernardino, Califo rnia May 5, 1976 SPORTING GLASSES' IIItQ... D " " ,,"". a/ it T R , Q I N r, - - R".e "' tr " - F L. ., f l5 ""W & - HA N C,(; L1DINGt Sie liNG- -HUNT ING FOR USE l!f ALL SPORTS TBU R E~ UIRE EYE PROTECTIO Nt CKEC!t U tEs!: PEATURES: • Qual1t1 canatructionl • Can bt worn oye r .cat ey . g l • • • • • ' • S••• thr ou ldl t r .... tor l OOi' unobatruc t .c1 v18 10n I n all di r e ctional *,.* • Tot a l prote cti on - optica ll,. co rrect , d h t or t l on..tre e le na.a gu ard ag&1n a t fl yIng o b j e ct. frolll a ll po. .lble a ng l • • • e The lenua are 1 /8" t hi ck , m r-e than t.,1 ce ... t h ick •• ~ . t p;O ell:lell on the lIl r ket t oda1 l a • To t a lly kn o ck. ou t ann o yIng . ye-v ate ring wi nd with o u t g iv i ng l Ou . 010 • • 4 1n r •• li ng 11 ke &Oat fl; ogg lea d o l • r it.• a .er70M c oator t ab l ,.t • St ay& put , won ' t f l 1 orrl !EST 0• • LL , COST•• " LOW ONLY W E NAIL Is team spe edway a contact sport? Ven t u ra's Dean Yo rk and Sizzler Mark Che rry express a row, held back J im Fishback in t he Handicap Main . Desp it e his usu ally su icidal st y le , Fishback ju st co uldn't get past Prest o n. Irwindale, California May 6,1976 It was bad news for the Sizzlers as Mike Bast rolled to a three poin t win in the first heat; That's expecte d. But unexpecte dly , Jim Fish back, wh o usually ea ts everybody alive on th e t r a ck , suffered th e ultim ate embarrassment during th e fourth team event when te ammat e Bill Meister slid o ut in t he last turn on the last lap , causing Jim to trip and fall as he cru ised by , much to the sa dist ic delight o f th e Irw in da le fa ns . J im later regained so me lo st face du ring t he I I t h even t by p ressuri ng Sprocket Bruce Penhall in to a crash to ta ke a firs t . The damage had been do ne halfw ay through the te am ra ces as San Bernardino fai led to catc h up with i n c l ud e . po ata ge, handli ng & tu . . whe re ap pl i c ab l e . , PROMPTLY. Al PERFORM ING PRODUCTS 456 Rktco1:um Dr• . San Jose, CA 95123 -DEALER U QUIRIES I lfVlTED I Husqvarna Sales- Service· Parts Fac to ry tr ai ned me chanics Machin e shop facilit ies Fu ll service engi ne wo rk " If we don't have it. uiell get it fo r you" , ,H~ YAMAlofA 24020 Nar bo nne Ave., Lomita, CA 9071 7 12131 534 ·2311 Mike Patrick's YAMAHA al CORONA 32 Tonight seemed like a sick. ni ght , fo r ra cin g. Earl y drizzle and ram had n ot only cut into the crowd a tt en da nc e, but also changed t he personalit y o f t he track from cushy to a harder an d b umpier sur face that would dev elop , grooves ' and holes during th e evening. . Also -th e hurts h ad taken manpower o u t of the Sharks as So nn y Nutter was st ill down an d Danny Beck er 's sto mach wen t berserk on him from food po isoning. J an Ballar d filled in for Sonny and Dave Sims was back o n t he ros te r af te r being ou t for two we e ks wi th a crac ked 'an kle. San Bernardin o's Sizzler s on th e other hand were st ro ng, furth er bolstered by Dennis Sigal os in his firs t te am ride. An upset was still possible as th e h ilfh point men of both teams were placed m the fin al. The start made it look as if th e Sh arks would win as Fishback plowed in to the second tum wall, leaving Mark Cherr y to defend Berdoo's hon or against Sco tt Sivadge and Randy Marsh . Sivadge Jed , but Cherry popped into seco nd w hic h was all it took for the Sizzlers to ' a t th e Sharks by tw o poin ts (4 0 to 38 ). Ron Preston, fo r the se cond wee k in 110 1 E. 6t h Street, Corona , CA ~. ( 714) 735· 7721 ~. U.S. Champ Mike Bast stri kes a "Where'd they all go?" pose . Irwindale. So great wa s the points spread, th at by th e fin al (Irwi n da le 47 to San Bernardi no 's 25 ) wh at ever happened next would be an ticlimactic. And it was as Irwindale captain Mike Bast fin ished an almost perfect night fo r his team with another win , fo llo wed by Bruce Penhall wh o covere d for him. Final score was 52 to 26, th e biggest point spread yet. Gene Woods looked like he had it all together in th e Handicap Con so lat ion as he led the pa ck, showing th e traits th at co me from a ch am pion sh ip family . But what's this?! Jim Fishback had worked himsel f up th ro ugh the heavy traffic fro m th e 4 0 y ard line to creep up behind Woods. Just as Ge ne rounded the last tum on the last lap on his way to a sure win , Fishback took t he inside line and ju mp ed ah ead. In th e Handicap Main, Marshall Pugh took a sho rt early lead, but too man y errors p ut him dead last as .Bruce Penhall and Fred Sidn er m oved in to take over. Costa Mesa, California May 7,1976 Mike Bast, th e curren t U.S. Natio nal Speedway Champ and three ti me holder of th at title, brought his te am , the Los An geles Sprocke ts, to Oran ge County to meet the Eagles an d their te am captain, t he on ly other rid er in the nat ion to ho ld Speedway 's highest hon or th ree tim es , Rick Wo ods . Four tim es in 13 events, Mike Bast beat Woods, in cluding th e hi gh p o int man final r ace. Woods, however, did a fin e j o b .o f team racin g all nigh t as eviden ced by his team's vic tory over the Sprockets. Woods has m ade several major changes o n his team . Eddie Reeves, o ne of the riders from En gland, has been m oved fro m a reserve spot to full-ti me teammate of Alan Christi an. J an Ballard, me n tion ed ear lier is n o w on the Eagles' tea m . The first te am even t of the ni ght ended in a co nt ro versy when Steve Columbo o f the Sprockets was black flagged o ff th e t rac k. Steve ha d mad e co n ta ct with Eddi e Re eves; Reeves ' right fo ot pe g had gone in to th e rear wheel of Col umbo 's b ike, tearing ou t a dozen or so spokes and making the tir e go flat. Colum bo kept on go ing as his rear wheel wobbled allover the place, spo kes were bein g shot out like little