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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126428
aaaalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaeaa.,* aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaea aaaaal.eaaaaaaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.I••••• SPEEDWAY WEEK th. (Above Keith ChrilIco out-elbows Leni Faas et San Berdoo. IBeIow) Officillis put Gene Woods out of the nICe for alegedlY causing. pile up just 8fter pic we. anepped et Coste M.... Obviously. Woods W8S bummed out. but no more 80 then his fans. to the victory. The champ capped his perfect evening with an easy WID over Dave DeTemple, Keith Larson, and Shawn Moran. Track regulars Schaeffer, Sandonna and Lindwal;l all rode well, finishing with 10 points apiece. The trio of Pyeatt, Woods and McNeiIJ tied with nine points. Shawn Moran, one of only two to defeat Bast in a Scratch Main here this year, started well with seven points after three rides, but faded fast as he came up empty in his final two appearances. Bobby Hill took the second division trophy for the second week in succes· sion on his home track. Second division no·shows shortened their program to two Handiap heats plus the finaL Hill won his first heat easily eventhough the race marked the return of that wild and crazy guy, Moose Kennedy. The final proved more difficult as Hill got a bad start, but finally got rolling to pass Jim Turner on the third lap, Alan Davidson on the fourth lap, and won it going away. Promoter Jim Naylor is taking signups for the final Ventura speedway show to be held during the County Fair on Tuesday nig~t, October~. Moon madness settles on San Berdoo By Dennis Greene • SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 5 With a full moon hanging over the race track, about the only thing that didn't happen was someone turning into a werewolf. Bast wins Ventura track championship By Bill R. Locey VENTURA, CA, SEPT. 4 "The Michael Bast Speedway Show," concluded its engagement at Ventura Raceway with predictable brilliance before 1500 or so dazzled patrons. ., 30 Fresh from winning the American Championship last week, Bast won all five of his scratch rides here to earn the 1979 Track Championship trophy. It was his seventh Scratch Main victory in nine Tuesday night tries this season. The other riders made Bast work for his win. well, a little anyway - he was actually behind in two racesl On his first ride, the famous Capricorn from Alta Lorna found himself third by the second turn. He then passed John Sandonna on the straightaway, hugged the inside line for a lap, and fmaUy painlessly passed Dan McNeill who bobbled momentarily from the outside line on tum four. Denny Pyeatt, Gene Woods, and Alan Christian were the other first round victors. As it turned out, the title was decided in the fifth race as Bast went head to head against last year's champ, Alan Christian. "Crazy" Christian, shelving his Darth Vader blacks for more familiar red leathers, had finished second to Bast in four earlier Scratch Mains here, and came close to winning it all. Christian held a slight advantage after tum two, then it was wheel to wheel with Bast for a lap until Christian's fortunes took a tum for the worse. Tum four to he exact. Taking the outside line, Christian, with a furious drive had Bast momentarily covered at the comer when he bobbled and crashed. Although he remounted and was able to pass Mark Belanger for third, it was the party ender for Mr. Christian. Perfect thereafter, Christian finished the night with 13 points for second place. The champ's third ride was over by tum one, as he convincingly bested Phil Gagnon and Lou Lindwall. The traditional Bast-Woods barn burner failed to materialize in the next round. LocaL favorite Woods, unable to consistently emulate his outside-lineSan-Berdoo-wizardry on the narrower Ventura turns, had to settle for third behind Crail{ Schaeffer as Bast cruised Whether you believe in moonishness or not it really doesn't matter, but it's nice to have something to lay the blame on. Things like a four· lap scratch race with choppersl That's right, the promoter let four fans on their big long choppers have at it and would you believe it, they brought their own trophy girl! Then there was a three·wheel race on Honda ATC's that put one rider in the hospital ... If regular speedway racing wasn't enough to hold your attention, there was the Jeep pull in the infield, with Gene Woods tearing the trailer hitch off the Jeep Cherokee he was driving; or you could have watched the female wrestling match in the grandstands. The full moon even got to the speedway. racers. One of the third division events was started three times because of crashes. The last pileup put first year rider Steve Murray over the wall with a broken leg. Greg Ayers finally won the division three main event after taking part in those pileups. Racing on your birthday is no big thing, but as Kevin Weeda rode to victory on his ~lst birthday, you could see the smile from ODe end of the track to the other. He also won the division two main event last Friday night at Costa Mesa: He's improved a lot in the closing weeks of this season and with some practice this winter, he'll get a shot at division one early next season. Back from his latest injury, a broken nose, Leni Faas won the first division Handicap Main event after a great battle with Sterling Cogar and John Cook. There was moon work in this race too; Phil Gagnon got dumped into the wall, dlen Craig Schaefer did an up and over wheelie that sent him sprawling on the ground. As the night wore on, the Scratch Main event saw newly-crowned American Speedway Champ and current U.S. National Champ Mike Bast change leads with Gene Woods twice in the four· lap event. Bast won it by a foot or so with Woods seconds. Brad Oxley took third and after the moon's final act for the night, Alan Christian picked himself up off the ground for fourth. Bast blasts Ascot By Dennis Greene GARDENA, CA, SEPT. 6 The lights were turned off for the last time on Ascot's quartermile this past Thursday night. With the final event of the season taking place on the smaller track, speedway racing will move onto the lon~ half-mile track October 26 and agam, one week later, on November~. -One of the biggest problems Ascot had to put up with this past season was riden signing up to ride and then not showing up on race night. Sometimes there were valid reasons for not fulfilling their obligations, like being injured or blowing up their bikes the night before, but unfortunately some riders simply did not want to ride. Whatever the reasons, it hun the show several times. A record was set on closing night when 17 of 36 signed up riders failed to show. Fortunately, a lot of true speedway riders go to all the races in hopes of getting a chance to ride when someone does not show up. The fans always get a good show for their money. Hopefully, with a three weeks layoff between the National and the frrst event on the half-mile track, all the top riders will be in shape to race. Both Kelly Moran and Bruce Penhall will be home for part of the winter and plan to ride at Ascot. Mike Bast won the fmal Scratch Main event of the season - as he has done for the past seven straight times he has ridden at Ascot. Mike, with his newest speedway title, American Champ, will be looking to win the long track title as well. He could very well carry the title of seven-time U.S. National Speedway Champion if things go his way on October 6 at Costa Mesa. Turning in one of.his best rides of the season, Leni Faas took the Handicap Main event. That's two nights straight for LeniI He won at San Bernardino and so did second division rider Greg Ayers. Greg won in division three at San Bernardino and division two at Ascot. Sims and Oxley ransack Costa Mesa By Dennis Greene COSTA MESA, CA, SEPT. 7 More moon problems, a~d not just of solar system variety. Gene Wood has had a whole week of referee decisions go against him. Wednesday night, Woods was left sitting on the 50 yard line with his hand in the air when the starting gate went up; so was Keith Chrisco. Both tried to make their point after the race, but it fell on deaf ears. Tonight, in the Scratch Main event, Gene again had the hammer fall on him when the race was red flagged in