Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Wednesday night before a standingroom -only crowd at the Inland Motorcycle Speedway. The victory for Mike was his third California State title, having taken the top spot in ·1973 and 1976. Only his older brother, Steve, holds more C:alifornia State Championships with SIX . Gating off the starting line with his usual brilliant style, Bast quickly notched victories in his three rides with . wins over Dave Sims in race one, over Bobby Schwartz in number two, and over brother Steve in his third outing of die night. In event four for Mike (event 16 in the 20 ·race program) , Mike had to battle with youngsters Dennis Sigalos. Kelly Moran , and Brad Oxley to score his fourth triumph of the evening. The trio gave Mike a run for his money in the early going of the four-tapper before he took the checkered flag . Following event 16, four rounds ofcompetition had been completed with Bast leading at 12 points. Bru ce Penhall and Ron Preston each had totaled 11 markers , while Alan Christian had 10. Well, it just ha ppened tha t those top four riders in points were to all meet head on in even t 17. It would be th e final rides for each of the top po intsmeri , and the California State Championship was on the line. Preston was on the pole, and he was hot this night. Penhall started in pos ition two with Bast in three, and Christian on the outside. At the start , Preston and Penhall, surprisingly, led the field into the first corner. Preston stayed low and Penhall high through the first two corners. but it was Bast who drove, 'righ t to the crashwall for traction, and ' passed both riders for the lead corning', out of the second tum. Bast then held off all challenges from Penhall and Preston to score his fifth win of the night and a perfect 15 points; It was the second year in a row that Mike had totalled 15 markers in the state final. The second place finish for Penhall gave him 13 poi nts and second overall in a fine ride , while Preston's third was his finest overall finish ever in championship competition. Ron to taled 12 points for third overall. In the J u nior Speedway State final, little Lance King easily outrode his competition to claim the state title. CN 1""""4 I-< Q.) .D o .... u o (A boveI Kelly Moran gets radica l under presalre from Ron Preston and the pack. (Right) Junior Speedway riders will have their own championship at Costa Mesa on Oct. 22. (Below Left) An all t oo familiar sight - Mike Bast carrying the checkered flag after a Costa. Mesa win. (Below right! Ron Preston's sponsor, Select Vans. sponsored the last regular night at Costa Mesa. gave away thousands . of dollars worth of van accessories. Results Mike Bast 15, Bruce Penhall 13, Ron Preston 12, Steve Bast 11, Alan Christian 10. Kelly Moran 10. Bobby Schwartz 9, Bob Mclain 9, Dennis Sigalos 6. Dave sims 5. Craig Schaefer 5. Jim Fishback 4, Mike Faria 3. Mark Cherry 3, Mike Muntean 3. Brad Oxley 2 . Irwindale track championship By 'T om Blattler IRW INDA LE. CA, SEPT. 29 In what was to be the final speedway race ever at Irwindale Raceway, four-time national champion Mike Bast continued California Speedway Championship By Tom Blattler SAN BERNARDINO, CA Speedway racing's most dominant rider ; Mike Bast of Canyon Country, CA, successfully defended his California State_ 18 C hampionship when the four-time national champion scored a perfect total of 15 points in five rides to claim the Golden State crown last his unbeaten streak by putting together another perfect score of 15 points to capture his second consecutive Irwindale track championship. . The track title at Irwindale m a rked the third championship t his year that Bast has taken , as the 24-year-old also claimed t he Ventura . trac k .ch am pionship a nd t he California State Championship -at San Bernardin o . In all three Bast rode to perfect 'totals of 15 markers. On a relatively heavy track last Thursday night, Bast opened his winning ways in the second event of the night. Up against Bruce Penhall , Alan Christian and young 'B o~ b y

• Cover