Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Ventura, July 20 By Dennis Greene Opening nigh t o f th e 15 th ~vc~ k of tcarn racing .under th e Nati on al Sp cedway League saw Bob by Schwartz lead th e Ventura Sh arks to vict ory over th c Orange Coun ty Eagles. Bobby's 15 point s along with Sonny Nutter's II gave th e Sh arks a six-point cdge, 42·36. • Bill ' Cody, for the Eagles, tried hard to move his team into the winners ' circle, with ten po ints, but he go t little help from his team. The next hi gh man for the team was Billy Gray, 'w ho only added six points. Danny Becker returned to the Sharks after missing the last six weeks with a broken foot. He was disappointed with his performance but still was third hi gh point rider, at nine points. Jim Ragin ,earne d the ni ckn am e Cr ashwall Ragin two years ago when he rode straight through the w all at Indian Dun es. Last y ea r he tried the sa m e thing at Irwindale and this p ast Tuesda y ni gh t at Ventura th e cras h wall an d Ragin renewed their acquaintance with Ra gin co m ing out on the losing en d with a broken shoulder. That w as in the Division T wo Main Even t an d the race w as stopped be cau se Ragin took three other riders with him. T o m Brooks, of, desert fame, already was on the sidelines bec a use o f a rule infraction. (In the first lap o f the Main . he cro ssed o ver th e cen te r p ole with both wheels to th e infield.] By th e SRA rule, he was d isqualified, but he was no t stopped fro m lining up for the rest art of the Main, an d went on to win th e race . A go od ride, but a questionable win . Tom Morely has done so well that he ear ne d a Division One Rider's Card. His win in First Divisi on tonight ma y just have put him in line for a te am rid e. No t too bad for a rookie. San Bernardino, July 2 1 By Rex Reese 32 The Bakersfield .Bandits h ave spe n t th e last few weeks on top of the league as th ey have gone from trac k to track st ea lin g the go o d s and then running away . Tonight was n o ex c epti on as - they blitzed the former occupants o f the throne the San Bernardino Sizzlers - wh o don 't have a nybody left to send to th e ho sp ital, b ecau se they can't afford to be an y worse o ff than they al read y a re. From the st ar t, th e Sizzlers we re in trouble as Dubb Fe rrel l a nd Dan T oomey put a 3· \ over hot De an Forman, and Rick Farran, who fell a lot a t the wr ong t imes. Berdoo was put at a further ps y chological d isadvantage when otherwise listless Bert Har kins pulled off a cou p le of holesh ots, and Steve Nu tter ra c ke d up II points , o ne less than teammate Ferrell. Only in the last two regular team he ats d id Berdoo fans ge t an y satisfaction as Ron Preston and Larry Shaw got. even with Nutter a nd Harkins for an earlier defeat, which was then ca pped off next with a sweep b y Dennis Sigalos and Mark Cherry o ver J eff Sexton and Brian Short. The prospects of another sw eep in th e final to sh ow up Bakersfield were shattered when Ferrell an d Nutter did it to Sigalos and Cherry . After the dust had settled, Bakersfi eld had buggered Berdoo 48-30. The Junior Speedway halftime program surprised everyone with an upset as Junior Champ Louis Kossuth fell on the second lap in the final, giving a runaway win t o Scott St. John. In th e Se cond Division Scratch Main, Rick Hukans came back from an amaz ing sidesaddle cra sh to win his heat and the Main in a close one over Stan Flanders . In the Handicap Main, Robin Ho od ca m e ou t of his forest to lead th e ch arg e until the last lap whereupon he had his doors blown off by Dubb Ferrell. OJ Z III OJ a: CI !!! z Z III c Did Dubb knock Bruce off? SRA officials were still trying t o decide aher Bakenfield·L.A. match (see story). Irwindale, J uly 22 By Rex Reese The L.A . Spro ck ets turned th e Ventura Sh arks in t o sq u id meat in a lopsided co n test th at had the Sh arks virtu all y defeated before they ever se t a tire o n the track. Problems st emmed from th e unexpected a bsen ces of Rand y Marsh , wh o se van broke d own o n t he freewa y, an d Dann y Becke r, wh o had tr ain ed fo r six straigh t hou rs th e d ay before and burned himself out in th e process. The losses left Ventura grove lling abou t in the pit s a nd c hoosi ng a pair o f First Division riders, Robin Hood a nd S tu Egli. L.A. was o ve rp o we ring to the point o f monotony as six swe eps we re sc o red by the riding p aris of S te ve Col umbo /Rob Morrison, an d Mike Bilst/Ge ne Wo ods, with three each . Bast, Woods an d Bru ce Penhal l co m ple te d perfe ct rides o f 12 points a pi ece. Penhall an d Woods go t to gether in th e final te am eve n t to p u t o ne m ore sw eep over Centura's Bo bby Schwartz and Sc o tt Sivadge to finalize Ven tu ra 's d e m is 53-25. In th e Handicap Main everybody was rooting for Gen e Woods, wh o , wh en th e gate lifted, went ab solo ooo tely b ers~k on his trick four valve J awa. But while Gen e was riding the au tside , Mark Cherf was on the inside righ t behind him, every now a nd then ca tch ing up as Woods would lose some tracti on in the comers. In the last two turns, Cherf barely edged out young Woods. Costa Mesa, Ju ly 23 By Dennis Greene All-time Speedway grea ts Sonny Nutter and Bill Cody have held the bronzed tribute to the Or an ge County Fair, a straw hat. In the past it was a one-on-one match race for th e tr ophy. This year there were seven even lS to pick the winner. First Mike Bast . be at Alan Christian then Bobb y Sc h wa rtz put J eff Se xton away. Nutter did it to Woods a nd it was Bru ce Penhall o ver Dubb Fe r re ll, In th e second round, Bast bested Schwart z and Penh all go l Nutter, a nd for th e fir st time in several years, there were two . riders go ing for the hat wh o had nev er won it before. Mik e Bast lined up on th e o u ts ide with Bru ce 'Pen hall o n th e pole . T he ga te went up an d Bru ce jumped o ff t o lead it wir e-to-wir e, grinni ng all the wa y . Bru ce st a yed hot and went on 10 wi n th e Handicap Main , wh ich was st ill being talked abo u t hours a fte r the races were over. The talk w as abo u t whether th er e was a red n ag put o ut hal fw ay th ro ug h th e race (no). When St eve Columbo cr ashed o n th e front st ra igh t , ' t he red n ag was ta ke n o u t o f t he stand an d wa s in the hand o f t he sta rter. That m ade Dubb Ferrell a nd Mike Mun tean slo w down , but th e nag was not wa ved a nd th e race was n ot st o p ped . Jeff Sext on was th e o nly man to m eet the challenge o f Penhall nigh t. That came in t he Scra tc h Main as J eff head ed Bru ce o ff.for all four lap s. Bakersfield, Jul y 24 By Denn is Greene The fir st o ffic ial p ro tes t of the fin al results o f a match was filed in wri ting with- the SRA re feree t on igh t. '!\li ke Bast as team ca p tai n of the L.A. Sprocke ts an d SRA board member, filed his ream's protest of th e 13th eve nt wh ich saw Bru ce Penhall fa ll down before turn o ne o f- the first lap . Bru ce said he was pu t down by Dubb Ferrell. , Leading up 10 the protest wa s o ne o f the closest nights of . racin g all year. Neither le arn ever got m o re th an a two-poi nt lead. Six tim es the y splil th e score a t three po ints each ; a s bo th team s turned in tw o clean swe e ps and four t imes t he sco re was t ied u p . At th e e nd of the 12 races Irwind ale , was a head 3 7 to 35. T he 13th a nd final . event is for high-point riders o n ly. Bru ce Penhall and Mik e Bast wer e , in for Irwindale /LA ; Dubb Ferrell a nd Steve Nu tter were re p rese nting th e Bandits. All n ight te am racing had be en th e word with the fro n t-ru n ne r se tt ing the pace so his te ammate co u ld tak e o ver se cond , spot. That is wh at teams a re all a bo u t. The Bandits had to ge t first a nd third to , tie up the sco re o r a clean sw eep for five . poin ts a nd t he win. As th e ga tes went up, every on e -got o ff toget her. Penhall had a bo u t a foot lea d as th e fou r rid ers pi tch ed it sid ew ay s goi ng in to th e fir st tum. From m y angle in th e infield, I co uld n ot sa y wh e th er he di d ge t h it b y Ferrell , but so me thi ng did ca use Bruce to slide o u t and do wn . A t th e sa me time Bast had to go wide to m iss Bru ce, leavin g Nutter an d Ferrell all alo ne to run off with th e sweep they need ed to win. The protest wi ll not hea rd until Mo nd ay n igh t and this pa pe r will already be a t th e p rin ter. The fin al, b u t no t officia l score, shows the Ban d its wi th 40 points and I_ A. wit h 38 .. ? There w as even tro u b le in th e Handicap hal f o f the show. On e rul e that has bcen badly overlooked th is year says that no ride r m ay ride in Firs t Divisio n until the S RA an d pro mo te rs agree th at th at rid er ha s ear~ed t~ e right. Becau se o f so m an y rid ers In Divison O ne be ing injured, several lower di vision ride rs have bee n p ushe d ahead to fill in th e spaces. T his has led t o eve n m ore riders Kclli ng hurt . T his pr acti ce was hopefull y brought t o a stop when the bo ard mem bers on hand sai d th at if se vera l rid er s wh o did not carry a Fir st Division ca rd, wer en't take n out of th eir even ts , som e o f th e Fir st Division rid er s wo uld p ack up a nd $0 home . T hose lower di vision riders were remov ed , a nd th e - sho w went u n with J ac k Martin w inning th e First Division lIandicap Main . Bobby lI ar d ison , o ne of th e rid er s se t bac k, won th e Second Divi sion I\lain . Results in Resul ts Section.

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