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/126462
o 00 0') Sigalos, Penhall and Christian slide t By Ken Kellogg COSTA MESA. CA. MAR. 7 With the long silence of the off season over. the smell of motorcycle fuel in the air and the roar of a near capacity crowd, the Spring Speedway a-ic opened tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in the first of a three·race weekend .mes. There are some new changes this season which will improve starts and the fairness of the race. One of these chanp is a green staging light alerting the riders to get set." Another major change is when a rider is down and causes a red flag restart. he is auto· matically disqualified from that event. Mike Bast, riding from the !>O'yard line, was off to a fantastic start by win· ning his first heat by more than four bike lengths. It was not to be for the U.S. National Champion. though. In event number seven Mike went down in tum two and was hit by another bike and sustained a poIIible dislocated hip. This was not a show to be slowed down by such an incident. A couple of riders expressed opening night jitters, U 14 but they were ready and anxious to compete. The Handicap Main had fans stand· ing for every lap of the five-Iapper. Dave DeTemple went into tum one a little shaky and nearly had Steve Nut· ter in his tail pipe. Dave Sims hung tight to the rail and wouldn't give way to an incredible amount of pressure from Bruce Penhall. However, all the bikes fighting for positions two and three gave DeTemple just the edge he need· ed and Dave took the ftrst·place trophy horne. Second went to Sims and third was an a~ive Nutter. The smooth· talking yet rowdy Bruce Flanders had the entire crowd screaming their lungs out for their favorite riders who loved every minute of it. The Scratch Main event began with Sims setting the world record for the fastest tire change - under two minutes. With the new tire on, Sims was indeed ready to race. However, so were Denny Sigalos. Alan Christian and Penhall and race they did. Bruce tried the outside turf but was unsuccessful. Sigalos' bike was indeed tuned well as Denny beat out all others and captured his first 1980 main event win. Second was "Crazy" Christian. Penhall. who is usually able to take advantage of the outside traction. was unable to do so tonight and finished third in front of Sims. The regular season opener for Costa Mesa begins April II and with the new rule changes and some surprises, it will prove to be another exciting year in speedway. Results HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Daw DeTompIe: 2. Daw Sims: 3.1lruce PenhalI; 4. Leni F-. SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Denny SigaIoo: 2. Alan Chrioban: 3.1lruce _ ; 4. D.... Sims. By Ken Kellogg GARDENA, CA, MAR. 8 Mike Bast, winner of 11 main events at Ascot, was unable to ride tonight because of the injury sustained at Costa Mesa on Friday. This did not affect the excitement generated by the quarter-mile track style of racing. Ascot management has put up a new lighting system which gave new brilliance to all four corners of the track and made the viewing much better for the fans. In the Support class Main event Jeff Tomlin fought off a crew of future contenders to win hands down. The First Division Handicap Main saw a familiar face back on the !>O yard line - Bruce Penhall. Bruce had a fast start, but in tum three Keith Chrisco and Dave DeTemple went down causing a red flag and a restart. The race was restarted only this time with· out Chrisco, per the new restart rule. Bruce PenhaU got off to another fast start and methodically picked off riders while attaining speeds of about 70 MPH. Bruce took first place. just ahead of Keith Laursen and Alan Christian. The Scratch Main event was the best race of the night with Under 21 World Champion Ron Preston, Kelly Moran (fourth in the world championships), Penhall and Sigalos with the hot bike of the night. Kelly took the gate and going into turn three everybody was still in extremely close quarters. In the front straightaway Penhall took the lead with his quick bike and smooth riding. Sigalos followed Bruce dosely and had Bruce turned around Denny would have taken the lead. However,