Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.' I' III • ~ E t"'t"'O") ,....... to C'I l-o q; ..0 0 ..... u 0 u.s. Speedway Championship Fast Bast keeps the title By Bobi Scott CO STA MESA, CA, OC T . 15 Holding true to his own predictions, as well as those of just about everyone else, U.S . National Speedway Ch am pion Mike Bast once again proved he is the undisputed master of American speedway competition. And no matter how many people would rather see someone else run off with an u pset , anyone with any racing sense will have to admit that as long as "master" Mike is even listed in the program to .start , he's a sure bet to win. Sixteen finalists made up the National Championship field under the stadium lights . of Costa Mesa's Orange County Fairgrounds. A few younger riders were sparsely sprinkled among the seasoned veterans of two and three years past, and some of the youngsters entered the fray for the first time of their professional careers . It had taken them all season to get tpis far and no matter what the outcome would. eventually bring, the fact that they had qualified for this prestigious title race · added stature to their . presence. . Northern Ca lifornian Mike Faria, a relatively new rider on the Costa Mesa oval , destroyed Mike Bast 's chances for . a perfect evening as he holeshot the starting gate in the first event of the evening, leaving Bast , Scott Sivadge : and Mike Muntean still spinning their wheels on the line. Bast's m iserable . sta rt in that first even t was deceiving, though. It only took one lap for Bast to work past the Sivadge/Muntean duo and he was gaining ground on Faria as the finish flag dropped . Former National Cham pion Steve Bast and another top contender for th e '78 titl e, Alan Christian, met Jim Fishback and Dennis Sigalos at the line up for the second four-lap event. Brother Bast slid off with an easy win after .pulling the lead off the start from the inside pol e. Fishback started the evening wrong in his first event and never could sh a ke .the handling problems he - seemed to be having. Bast , on the other hand , had no t rouble throughout the entire program.Veteran speedster Larry Shaw carried off a win in the restart of event three (the gate malfunctioned) against yet another favorite, Mark Cherry. Shaw, who has cons istently finished in second and third place for th e title race for many years , looked as if he would again create havoc with th e scores as the evening wore on . Bruce Penhall's rowdy fans had plenty to scream about as "T he Fox" took his 4-valve J awa high on the outside cushion of the short , tight oyal ,. snatching the win from outstanding rookie Kelly Moran, Bobby Schwa~tz and Steve Columbo in the fourth event. Penhall , who had not gotten the best of starts, changed his line im me d ia tely ' as Moran and Schwartz blocked the tight exit hole off th e first turn and hit high on th e outside, sweeping past the pack and into the lead on the second lap , never to be challenged. The fourth event ended the first of five sets of races , and so far the only upset had come with the Faria/Bast confrontation. Between sets th e soft , gritty track '!las re -groorned and prepped to e r ase the d eepening grooves resulting from various strategic lines the 16 riders had followed earlier . It was a very damp , cool fail nigh t - almost perfect for racing on what is su p posed to be a damp . not too wet . not too dry track . But humidity was causing the riders' face she ilds to fog up on the starting line. resulting in many of them holding the ir breath 'on the line at the start for mo re reasons than one. Kelly Moran put the stops to Mike Faria's scoring efforts in the start of the next set of four races. Penhall , Steve Bast .and his champion brother Mike captured top scores in their next series of even ts, lea ving Bruce and Steve tied for the title 'with six points each while Mike trailed one point down with five. But it was still too early to predict the outcome anything could happen , and probably would . .. mechanical failure , m isjudging a line, locking handlebars, you name it. Dennis Sigalos holeshot the start of the third set of races for his only win of the night, while Ron Preston, who had crashed hard only two races earlier, m ade a gallant recovery and displayed his best efforts in thi! form of a win in his next race. Halfway through the program , event II , Penhall, Alan Christian, Mark Cherry and Mike Muntean faced off for wha t was to be the firs t of .two key events. Off to ' an even start. Christian edged into the lead as Penhall blasted into his high outside groove again . But this time the high riding' Penhall was kept at bay th roughout all four laps as Christian calmly exploded around . each corner in a classic exhib ition of stylish expert skill for th e win . The second ' key event was next on the gate as both Bast brothers lined up with . Moran and Shaw. Mike pulled Steve off the ga te, • leaving Moran behind in their wake . Mike knew well the stakes at hand and made no error for brother Steve to take advantage of. . (Continued on page 1J) lAbove; The assembled cast. Mike Bast (kneeling in front! won. (Left) Penhall. Mike Bast and Steve Bast in the w inners circle. (Belowl M ike Bast leads Kelly Moran. brother Steve and Larry Shaw. Mike won. 10

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