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/126068
Wild Bill Cody and Mike Bast engage in a friendlY ank le bending contest at Costa Mesa. To make it harder they did it during a race. ea c h , Bas t was o n th e po le wh ile Penh all took th e o u tsi de ; Son ny Nutt er and J im Fishback were in be t we e n . Bru c e a nd Mik e smoke d o ff th e lin e , with Bas t leadin g; bu t the drama hadn 't even laste d o ne lap wh en Bru ce lo st it in the third tu rn and fell, m uch to the ex treme disappoin tmen t of the cro wd. Bast walked away for a d ecisive victory a nd the c ham p io nsh ip . Nutter finished second a nd Fishback third. while Bruce Penhall motored in as the moral victor, last . San Bernardino By Rex Reese SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. , SEPT. 29 If yo u 're going to go out, do it big. That's what Inland Motorcycle Speedway did as it ended the season with a track championship meet to decide who could rule th e roost by roasting the rest as the top sixteen sliders got together to get it on in one • 44 last free-far-all at Berdoo. • S urprises were to be expectedly unex pec ted, w hile on the other han d, people perhaps wondere d (since Mike Bas t di dn't show) how m uch Bru ce Penhall would win , and who, if' anybody, could stop him. There were at least three good answers to th at problem; Bill Cody, Alan Christian, and Gene Woods. While Bruce slid his way in t o what would be a p er fec t nigh t of racing, he still had to work for it, By themselves, Co d y, ,Ch risti a n, an d Woods see med to be al most unst op p able in th eir respective heats, winning almost everything. Only when they rode against each o th er , or agai nst PenhalI, were there a ny problems in scorin g, which gave " Su per Bru ce" a trem endous strategic adv an tage over h is fo es. With Cody, Christian, and Woods trailin g close enough to possibly overtake him, the smalle st mistake Costa Mesa By Dennis Greene I wou ld 've been a di sast e r for Pen ha ll, In fa ct, Cody cam e the closest in the first half of the program, runn ing dead even with Bruce in scoring wins. But la ter, "Wild Bill" faltered, by scorin g two seconds, whi ch left the door wide o pen for Penhall to slide home free and pick up the track championship. Irwindale By Rex Reese IRWIN DALE, CALIF ., SEPT. 3 0, 1976 T he Irwin d ale Racew ay tra ck c hampio ns hip was held wit h a full co n tinge nt o f 16 riders. an d two reserves, co m pet in g in 20 he ats to d e term in e th e ul tim ate c h am p. Ye t, the en t ire n igh t mi gh t as well have been devo ted to o n e ra ce between two rid er s. It seemed that the hearts of many fa ns were set on wheth er or not the title wou ld fall to either Mike Bast or Bru ce Penhall. Even the promoters seemed to hav e th e sam e ide a in mind since the fin al even t had Mike a'n d Bru ce together to assu re th at on ly o ne rid er would come ou t on top. . Both riders had perfect sco res go ing for them all night; everyone el se served on ly as scenery to decorate the stage sin ce it appeared tha t th eir own performance s were the only handicaps co m par ed to Bast a nd Penhall. Berm-crazy Gene Woods wa sn't e ve n warm while, su rprisin gly enough. Alan Christ ian s till p roved to be a threa t to th e lead ers. Dub b Ferrell had a ho t/co ld n igh t as he a nd h is Fair chil d co u ld only win o r lay go o se eggs. Th e fin al cou ld n' t have been b e t ter if it had b een p lann ed, Wil h 12 po int s COST A MES A,CALI F.• OCT.l, 19 76 The number one team in the National Speedway League, the Bakersfield Bandits. proved th at ev en with only two riders they can still beat a ny team ar ou nd T he Best Pairs Championship was run Fr id ay ni gh t a t Costa Mesa, with Dubb Ferrell an d Jeff Sexton adding u p 33 points to top the star-studded field . Mike Bas t a nd Bru ce Penhall, fo r th e L. A. Sproc kets, totaled 29 points for second spot int the event. Ventura ca me in th ird with 24 points. Costa Mesa fini sh ed with 20 a nd San Be rn ardino 14. T h is was th e fin al eve n t before' the Nation al on O cto be r 16. when the titl e. of M r. Speed wa y . th e U.S. ;\iat ion al Sp ee d way Ch am p. will be up for grabs. Speed way 's to p 16 rid e rs wi ll all be • go ing fo r t he go ld .