Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

All grins. Bruce Penhall (whosa brother is pitting for him nowl takes the plaque for a history-making grand slam of Team and Handicap halves of the Irwindale program. By Rex Reese San Bernardino. California May 19. 1976 By Dennis Greene Ventura, Califo rnia May 18. 1976 Maybe the environmentalists th rew a life ra ft to the Sharks, who were drowning in last place in the league. They had only won once before on their hom e track, and that was over the sam e team they beat this time - the L.A. Sprockets from Irwindale. At the end of eight events , it looked as if the Sharks might sin k ou t of sight. Three t imes the Sprockets took o ver th e points lead; five times the Sharks pulled it back to a tie ; and, most important, they led five tim es and wer e leading at the end of the 13 even ts, 43 to 35. The Sharks were one man shor t all nigh t be cause of the injuries suffered by Dean York last Saturday night at Bakersfield. He will be ou t for several weeks with a broken left ankle and leg and possibly a couple of broken rib s. Dean , along with Dave Sims, and team captain Sonny Nutter, have all had some kind of leg injury this season. Danny Becker took the underdog battle to th e finish line winning four out of five of his rides, burning in a high poin t score of 14 points. Bruce Penhall was high scorer for the Sprockets with 12. Each team h ad one clean sweep. Steve Columbo/Mike Bast for the Sprockets and Randy Marsh /Scott Sivadge for th e home team. Steve Columho put it all together in the Handicap Main Event, outriding Mike Bast, and putting his 30-yar d advantage to good use . 10 Division Two honors were carried off by Ron Rose. Tonight was the most decisive victory for the Sizzlers, and at the same time, the most embarrassing showing so far for the Orange County' Eagles, as the Sizzlers blistered their feathers off with a 26 point victory . Larry Shaw and Mark Cherry did the he aviest damage to O.C., with their only threat co ming from Eagle captain Rick Woods who almost had to carry his team on his back. Indicative of the way things w ere was in the opening heat as Shaw and Dean Forman m ade a clean sweep over their opponents Jan Ballard, who could only post a third, and Bill Cody, whose bike broke on the third lap. The Sizzler sweep was the first of five, Coming in to the final, the Sizzlers had such a lead they could have mailed in their rides. Sizzler captain Larry Sh aw h ad pitched a perfect ball game by the fmal by winning all of his heats , wh ile Mark Cherry did second best. Woods and Cody faced them off, w ith Rick out for some blood; but Cherry be at him to the checkered wh ile Larry smeared his otherwise perfect night with a th ird. Final score, 52 -26. The Second Division Main had some good ridin' an ' slidin ' as Steve Fortune made it over a hot and he avy Rick Hukans . In the Handicap Main, Dennis Sigalos put age before be auty by holding off regular heavyweights Alan Christian and Jim Fishback. Larry Shaw 's hot night turned into another bummer as he laid it down to avoid Robin Hood who was making good until he crashed. By Rex Reese Irwindale. California _ May 20.1976 The Sprockets looked as if they were going to get robbed by the Bakersfield Bandits as five heats went down with both sides neck and neck. A new track surface was laid out for tonigh t wh ich m ade it a ta cky affair for th e riders, who stuck like glu e through th e turns. In the sixth heat, Norm Denny and Gen e Woods shut Dubb Ferrell and Bert Harkins off at the p ass to sweep th e heat and make it a runaway for L.A. The points spread was st ill hot between both teams until the nin th heat when Denny and Woods almost literally had a run-in with Steve Nutter and Jim Gresham. Nutter was leading, closely followed by Woods, until the third tum when Gene went wide and punched Steve out of the action. With pride hurt worse than body, Nutter was terrifically PO'd. In th e 11 th heat, tensions rose once more as Mike Bast and Steve Columbo faced Nutter and Gresham. A broken tape by Columbo eliminated him and he was replaced by Bobby Ross. Revenge was on everybody's minds as Bast and Nutter viciously d iced it out. Steve's head got the best of him, however, as he overcooked it and let Bast by. As Bast and Penhall went into th e final, it be came apparent to the scorekeepers that a record was in the making sin ce both riders had perfect sco res of 12 each. As th ey rode it out, Mike literally gave the victory to Bruce to make him the first team rid er to win every heat at Irwindale. L. A. w o n 44 to 34. Steve Nutter later gained some measure • of revenge as he too k the Handicap Consolation; while "Super" Bruce Penhall came from a shaky win in his first handicapper, then won the Semi, and fmally crowned it off with a super victory for the Handicap Final. By Denn is Greene Costa Mesa. Californ ia May 21.1976 One of the most evenly matched team events of the new season was run Friday night at Costa Mesa, when the Eagles played host to the Ventura Sharks. Three-time U.S. Speedway Chainp, Rick Woods, led his team to victory by just four points, and it was th at close all night. The Sharks go t off to an early lead, sweeping the first event: Scott Sivadge first and Bobby Schwartz right behind him, giving the ir team five points. Jan Ballard and Bill Cody co uld only manage one point fo r th e Eagles. The Sharks were still leading after the second event, 5 to 7. That was to be the last time for th e Sharks, event three worked out to a tie score. The Eagles went ah ead by four points, on ly to have the Sharks come right back and tie up the score when Danny Becker and Dave Sims had a clean sweep ov er Alan Christian and Bill Gray. Not to be outdone in the next event, Rick Woods , and Mike Muntean swept over Scott Sivadge and Bobby Schwartz. For the next six events the score kept going up and down, but always with the Eagles in control. Final score : 41-37 . Select Vans again p ut up $200 for the winner of the First Division Handicap Main Even t. This week Bill Gray was given the che ck after his w in over Jan Ballard and Dave Sims. Fred Sidner keeps on winning the Division Two Main even after having yardage added each week. That 's one way to work your way up in to the money and First Division. By Dennis Greene Bakersfield. Califo rn ia May 22.1976 The two top teams in the Nati on al Speedway League met head on at th e Kern County Fairgrounds . The Bandits, in second pl ace, played . host to the leading San Bernardino Sizzlers. The firs t five events went to the Sizzlers with Jim Fishback and Mark Cherry leading the way , assisted by Team Captain Larry Shaw and Dean Forman when they pulled off their onl y clean sweeps of the night over Jim Gresham and Steve Nutter. Event six brought the score even as the Bandit's Team Captain Jeff Sexton won that event and also ,th e next two he was in. But it was Dubb Ferrell who helped clinch the victory for the Bandits. Dubb nev er got beat on ce all night, giving him a perfect 15 points. Sexton added 12 and Steve Nutter a big 10 for a final score of 43 to 35. Dubb Ferrell came back in the Handicap Main to cop a perfect night. There were a half dozen changes in the Division Two Heat Race because of a rider getting hurt during the week. Write-in rider, Louis Lindwall, took over the lead in the third lap and went the dislance. •

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