Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

C..ta Mesa - San Bern_dlno - Ascot - Ventura - Sacramento - Napa - C.-ta Mesa - San Ber~no- Ascot - Ventura - Sacramento· SPEEDVVAY WEEK can win no matter who he is up against? Find out next weeki Results SECOND DIV. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Morty SpoIImon; 2. Kym Mauger. 3. Dwight Hill. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Brad Oxley; 2. Dennis Sigeloe; 3. Gary Ford. SCRATCH MAIN : 1. M ike Bast; 2.llennis Sigolos ; 3. SMwn McConnell. o 00 (j) Ford fast in First Division debut at Costa Mesa By Ken Kellogg _ COSTA MESA . CA , JUNE 6 Every week is something different and at Costa Mesa, it's never dull. This week for a flashing 15 seconds, we were reminded of Gary Ford made his First Division debut 8t ColIt8 Mesa a winning one. Results SCRATCH MAIN : r, Mike Bast; 3. M ike Mu nt ean; 3. Dave Sims; 4. Dennis Sigalos. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Sterling Cogar; 2. J ohn Sandona; 3. St...... Columbo; 4. Dave DeTemple; S. Jeff Cormelle; 6. Jock Koe. SECOND DIV: 1. J oe Burmeister; 2. Paul Belisle; 3. Faas; 4. Ed Thu'man; S. Dan Bravirot! ; 6. Dwi ght Hill. THIRD DIV: 1. Pst Hawley; 2. Dennis Abbon; 3. Tom Conr ad; 4 . Ken Williams; 5. Bill Bun ting; 6. Don Bovee. MATCH RACE: 1. Dennis Stgalos def . Alan Christ ian. ea.v Bast and Oxley best Ascot sliders By Gary Hoffman GARDENA, CA, JUNE 5 The action seems to get better every Thursday night here at].C. Agajanian's Ascot Park. This week was headed up by eight or . 40 time National Champion Michael Bast. This may have been his first time out at Ascot this year. but he made it look like he had been riding it every day. Winning every event he rode in except one , Bast , with the winning combination of fastest bike and cunning racing strategy, was almost unbeatable. Adding more excitement was one of the top point scorers on our victorious U.S. team , Dennis Sigalos. Twentyyear-old Dennis of Fullerton looked dynamic on the familiar quarter-mile track and was definitely the one to beat. During intermission, he related that he was very happy to be back in California and wished he could stay longer than two days , though he loves riding in England where he has a 9 \.i to 10 point average. Dennis is familiar with a quarter-mile track, but there are always adjustments to be made on any new track. He changed his gearing a bit and added some more guards, (an absolute must on Ascot dirt) and rod,' a little bit more like a flat tracker with emphasis on traction . The feature Match Race pitted Sigalos against . Mike Bast. Bast. winning the toss of the coin. threw it to the crowd (last time he gets my quarter) as his custom and took the outside starting position. Getting a tremendously fast start . Mike took a quick lead over Sigalos and sta yed a fairly comfortable bike length ahead to win the two laper.. Then came the Handicap Main. With Bast not qualifying . Sigalos looked like a sure winner. At th e start, all the way from th e 60-yard line , the number 30 motorcycle was off like a jet. Before turn one Sigalos was JUSt inches behind last week's champ " Bad" Brad Oxley . Into th e second lap , Denny Pyeatt pulled out with bike problems and Oxley and Sigalos were a tight one and two with the Canadian Gary Ford in the number three spot charging hard. The third lap was the same and through the last lap the battle was still going strong. Oxley, riding an unfamiliar bike with an apparent abundance of power. got the checkered flag first by no more than a half a bike. Ecstatic about winning his second Handicap Main at Ascot and beating the talented Dennis Sigalos, he showed the crowd a little wheelie action in the infield. On to the Scratch Main. What a line up . On the pole was Keith Chrisco who won the Scratch Semi-final earlier in the evening. Beside him was Sigalos. Next was Shawn McConnell. And last , but never least, on the outside was the champ, Michael Bast . The gate flew up and the riders were gone. Into the first turn, Bast took a quick jump over Sigalos and into the second lap they wre running close enough to exchange phone numbers. Chrisco's engine suddenly seized and he quickly pulled in the clutch and coasted disappointed into the infield. Now it was Bast and Sigalos way out front of McConnell. Turn four. Last chance for victory. Fifty feet before the finish line, Sigalos turned on what seemed to be an extra surge of power he had been saving, coming right up to Bast's front wheel, but finishing just short. Second Division racing again seemed to be in number one form. Looking strong and riding hard all night. Marty Spellman waited for all the right m oments and took his second Division Two Handicap Ma in even t at Ascot. Next week is another special treat . Back from Eng land for a short enga gement will be the crowd favorite Bruce Penhall. Will Mr. Bast be able to slide past Penhall on the quarter-mile? Or will Bra,d Oxley show both of them he the mid-70s craze of "streaking." Some brave soul put his all on the line, jumped the fence, ran across the track and out of sight. But enough on the smaller events of the evening. That was nowhere near the excitement generated by the night'S racing as Alan "C razy" Christian continued to prove he is the best at Costa Mesa . Alan made it an unbelievable nine Scratch Mains in a row . It didn't look like Christian was going to do it tonight because Dave Sims was the hottest rider on the track going into th e Main event. In fact during his Scratch Semi, Christian had to do what was probably the hardest riding of the season just to finish second and be able to tr ansfer. On the last lap of that Semi, he moved inside Shawn McConnell and made the transfer spot. In the Main , it was Christian and Mike Muntean off the line together putting Sims and Dave De'Ternple third and fourth . Sims was unable to recover from his bad start and finished third though he tried everything to get past Muntean. He tried inside, outside. high and low. but the big man refused to yield and kept his eye only on Christian. Finishing fourth was De'Temple, In the Handicap Main, a stranger appeared on the line . Two months ago, no one had ever even heard of Gary Ford. Gary (like all new riders) must start the season in Third Division on the zero-yard line. Quickly he moved into Division Two and even there proved that this boy from Canada could move . He was slated to ride Second Division on the !lO·yard line, but due to a scratch, was given that big break, the First Division ride. Ford proved up to the task. As the tapes went up, Muntean got a fantastic start and in turn one nearly passed Ford. De'Temple, no stranger to working his way through traffic, began his precise "pick-off", But he ran into some trouble as Louis Lind wall wasn't going to give in and so while Muntean, Lindwall and De'Ternple began to battle it out, Ford lengthened his lead. The battle for second place was between Lindall and Muntean and on lap three, Louis seemed to have it under control. Muntean wouldn't quit. though. and regained second. finishing ahead of Lindwall and DeTemple. The Division Two Main has been exciting and close for the last couple of weeks; this week was no exception. Alan Martin . a zero -yard line rider, got as good a start out of the gate as anybody could. Steve Lewotsky and Wes Randolph , both 10-yard riders, tried everything possible to pass Martin , but it couldn't be done. In turn two of lap three Martin hit some soft dirt and for an instant, I thought he was going to lose it , but he didn't. He regained control and went on to win the race followed by Lewotsky and Randolph . The Third Division Main winner has been on top before. Jimmy Odell beat out Kerry Miller and Steve Rogers. The match race was between "Bad" Brad Oxley and the visitor from across the sea. Dennis Sigalos. Oxley took the gate and Sigalos rode the outside to pass him in the first turn. In the straightaway, Brad's fast bike caught and passed Sigalos before they went into turn three . The two changed positions at least seven times during the race. but at the checkers where it counted, it was Oxley. Resul ts SCRATCH MAIN: 1. AJon Christian; 2. Mike Muntean; 3. DaveSims; 4. lance King. HA NDICAP MAI N: 1. Gary Ford; 2. Mike Munteen; 3. Loui. Lindwall; 4. Deve DeTemple . SECOND DIV. MAIN : 1. Alen Martin; 2. SlOYO Lewotsl

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