Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ra - Sacra mento _ Nal .ento - Napa - C.-ta ..... - San Berna rdino - Ascot - Ventu C. .ta M... - San Berna rdino - Ascot - Venh lra - Sacra SP EE DW AY W EE K Faria and Harlan Bast, Jr. share the hon ors at Aub urn By Jann Hous ton AUBU RN, CA,JU NE5 It was the hottes t night of the year, over 1000, as the third week of northe rn Califo rnia speedw ay got under way in Aubur n. Controv ersy flaired in the fourth Scratch heat when Referee Truma n Bailey allowed Ron McGill and Tom Ferris to restart' after jumpin g the green flag, which was being used due to a malfun ctionin g starting gate, This inciden t laid the founda tion to the real flair-up of the evening . Dave Faria, obviously protest ing the McGillFerris inciden t, got a big head start in his Scratch semi event. The race was red·flag ged for a restart with Faria ordered to the pits. Faria, who's temper rose a degree or two above that of the hot night air, parked his bike on the starting line, and refused to leave the trackl After a short while, his brother Mike, proving to be the numbe r one that he is, came on the track and convinc ed him to leave. Right or wrong, it was not the way to prove a point. As a result of his actions , the referee suspend ed Dave's AMA speedw ay license for one year. In the Handic ap main, Harlan Bast, Jr., riding in Division One for the first time, jumped into the lead with Joe Leduc second and Ron McGill third. On lap four, McGill took Leduc on the outside to move into second position . As the thrills continu ed, Duane Yarrow , riding off the 50-yard line, got past Leduc for third, but it was Bast lookiil' good as he took the checke red flag, the perfect end to his first night In Division One, having already won his heat and semi events_ There is no doubt about it, Harlan Bast, Jr. was ready for Division One. In the Scratch main, Mike Faria, back from placing eighth in the World Qualifi er at the Los Angeles Colesiu m, got the holesho t out of the gate from position two and held it as Eddie Ingels left him no room for error. Positions in the fast race never change d as Faria )O'on, Ingels took second by a tire length, Bert Stephen s got third with Tom Ferris fourth. In the Division Two main, Mike McDon ald took the lead with Craig E1stins a close second. Eistins went down on lap three, allowin g Mark Dragon y to move into second. McDon ald took the win with Dragon y second, Doyle Jester third. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Mike FIrio; 2. Eddie Ingolo; 3. Bert S_ _ 4. Tom_ - . Jr.; 2. Ron McGill; HANDICAP MAIN: 1. _ 3. Ouono V.,aw; 4. Bert Stephens; 5. Joe Leduc; 6. Ron Long. ON fWO MAIN: 1. Milt. McOonoId; 2. Mort< Orogeny; 3. Ooyto.- ... OIV THREE MAIN: 1. - . Cuny; 2. Curt Miller; 3. Jock_ . JR MAIN: 1. John Houston, Jr.; 2. Bart· Boot; 3. Bobbv Hedden. up with 14 points - good enough to take the 1981 Taft Track Champ ionship before an appreci ative standin g-room -only crowd at the Frankli n Field Arena. Adamo ended up in the winner' s .circle five times in seven. tries during the abbrev iated racing season on his home track. But it wasn't all that easy. After three full rounds, the outcom e was still very much in doubt. Adamo had a BoDerek·m inus-on e (9) after narrow ly defeati ng John Foster and Bobby McLain . Bert Stephen s, who lost to local Randy Griffith , had eight points along with McLain . Foster was still close with seven. In Event 1!1, Chris Hedge started on the pole with "The Taft Tornad o" Grant Salyers - beside him, and Adamo in his favorite starting position, lane three. the tapes flew up, and Hedge beat everyone to tum one as well as to the checke red flag four laps later, handin g second- place Adamo his only loss. In Event 14, McLain was outgate d by Foster and trailed around tum two. Trying to pass on the outside , McLain caught Foster's rear wheel and went over the handleb ars, crashin g hard. Eventua lly, McLain exited under his own power - albeit shakily - and was thus history for the night. On the restart, Foster, off the pole, defeate d Stephen s. The last race on the program gave Stephen s a chance to tie Adamo for the lead. Numer ous spectac ular but injury-f ree crashes led to three restarts , all of which ended the same - Adamo first and Stephen s a few lengths behind . Bert ended up second overall with 12 points. Novice D-l rider elsewhere, but a star in Taft, Hedge crashed on his first ride, good enough for last place and no points. Hedge came back strong, however, earning 11 points out of a possible dozen. In a runoff for third that took three restarts , local Randy Griffith manage d to stay up long enough to lose to Hedge. The final event of the night feature d Adamo versus Salyers in a best of three match race. As an extra incentiv e, the crowd put up $!I7l in cash for the winner - $250 less than last year - but good bread nonethe1eIa. Salyers, the Taft promot er, failed to win a main event all year, but defeate d Adamo in the third and decidin g twolapper to earn the cash. Central Valley speedw ay racing continu es on Saturda y nights at Carruth ers. Results 1. Fronk -.,., 1141; 2. Bert Stophono 1121; 3. Chrio . Hodge 1111'; 4. R8ndy GriIlilh 1111; 5. John Foow 1101; 181; 8. Gront 6. S _ Miller 181; 7. Bobbv _ SIlven 17); 9. Oennio A I _ (III; 10. 0... Cox (51; (5); 12. 0... W _ 141; 13. 11. Guy _ Heolh l3l; 15. Don W..." Mb Coniglio 141; 14. _ l3l; 16. ~ Voughn (2); 17. Bob Plolzing 12l; III. Gone Connon 12l; 19. Perry _ _ 1Ol. MATCH RACE: 1. SIlven cWo -.,., 2 of 3. ' - . runoff lor lhird. Inge ls and Ferris thril l fans at Napa By Jann Hous ton NAPA, CA,JU NE 6 Ada mo win s Taf t Tra ck Championship By Bill Locey TAFT, CA,JU NE6 Frank Adam o won It was week numbe r two at Napa, with cold ski jacket and blanke t weath er, but the excite ment of speedw ay action took the chill off the air. In the Scratch main, Eddie Ingels got a fantasti c start from position two, as "Flyin' Mike" Faria came off the wall. By tum two on lap one, it was a side- b -side battle, as Eddi~ held the pole in what can only be called a perfeet exhibit ion of speedway. He knew all Faria needed was one small mistake , a mistake which never came. Faria went just a little wide in tum four on lap four, giving Ingels a clear shot for the checke red flag. Faria was second, Duane Yarrow third and Marc Prince fourth. This race was an exampl e of why Ingels. who finished t"'-ird in point standin gs in the 1980 season, is current ly leading in points for 1981. Mike Faria, who has been numbe r one for the past several years, and Duane Yarrow, who is number two, have some compet ition this season, After a restart in the Handic ap main when Marc Prince decided to get a little head start, John Volk took the lead with Tom Ferris second. Volk went wide in tum three on lap two which was all Ferris needed to take the lead as Duane Yarrow moved into second within inches of Ferris. Volk droppe d to fourth with Mike Faria moving into third. The posi~ons never change d as the race continu ed. Ferris held the pole and took the win in a photo finish with Yarrow . Faria was third, Ingels fourth. What a racer In Division Two, I hesitate to call it a race. Harlan Bast, Jr. (who just the evening before at Auburn swept the Division One Handic ap portion of the program ) was, for a reason yet unexpla ined, placed in Division Twol There was plenty of room on the Division One side of the program ; in fact anothe r Division Two rider was moved up for the evening , leaving Bast in Division Two. Oh, well, back to the "race." With Bast at least a straigh taway ahead of the remain ing four. it was Pat Linn battling Bill Thoma s, Dan Sweeto n and Mark Dragon y, as he moved from fifth position on lap two to take second by lap five. Thoma s was third and Sweeto n fourth. Hopefu lly, Bast will be in Division One by next week, and we will have an exciting Division Two . main. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Eddie Ingolo; 2. Mik. Forie; 3. Ouono Yom-. 4. More Prince. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Tom Ferrie; 2. Ouono Yom-. 3. Eddie Ing*; 4. _ . Forie; 5. More Prince; II. John Vol<. - . Jr.; 2. Pol linn; 3. OIV. lWO MAIN: 1. _ IllI """'"-- OIV. THREE MAIN: 1. Curt Miller; 2. 0... Fonte; 3. EJnw Mc:ao.y. JR MAIN: 1. Bert Baot; 2. MIlo Pnano; 3. Wright. Can Foster and Sim s spe edy at Cos ta Mes a By Ken Kellog g COSTA MESA. CA,JU NE 12 With last week's near-r ecord breaki ng 16 restart s, this week had to have fewer. It did; there were only a couple of misha ps at the Orange County Fairgro unds. Unfortuna tely in one of them, a rider was injured . Dubb Ferrell' s conditi on at the time of this writing was not known. The feature match race was suPJ)Olled to feature Ferrell and Dave De'tein ple so Lance King was asked to fill the open spot. Lance accepte d and the race was off with a new announ cer for the half time event: "Lean" Gene, the dancin g machin e. Bruce Flander s. you have nothing to worry about. The twolap event went four laps for some preplanne d reason with 17-year -old King coming out on top. In the Third Division main event, Bently Barrett was first going into tum one with Tim McCasl anrl. Barbon Bibee and John Gant following_ By lap three, Barrett was alone in first place. McCas land held onto second and Gant moved into third. In tum four of the last lap, Gant made his fmal bid for second but was unsuccessful by only inches. Some ot the best Second Division riders in speedw ay were in this main event. Bob Pfetzing, Shane Hawley, Chris Hedge and Keith Larsen are all !IO-yard-line riders and occasio nally ride First Division. This race proved to be a good one. Hedge was first in tum one with Victor Robled o second. Robled o went down and Hawley did a nice job of laying it down to avoid malting tracks on Robled o's helmet. The race was restarte d, and all riders were allowed back in because it was only the first lap. On the restart, Guy Ennole nko was in tum one first with Hawley but second place place. by tum three, but in tum four he went down. Larsen took third on lap three. In the last tum, Hedge went from third to first and stoled the win from Ermole nko with Larsen third. This was Hedge's second main event win in a row at Costa Mesa. The First Division Handic ap main saw John Foster take the le!,d in tum one and ride the entire race in first place. John held off a field of top riders to take the win. Bobby McLain took second. Craig Scheafe r worked his way through traffic to move up on the leladers . On the lut lap. he took third from Kurt Stromm er. , The Scratch main. as usual at Costa Mesa speedway, was a matchu p of only the best. In lane one - Dave Sims, lane two -Dave DeTem ple, in land three - Mike Bast. and far outside in lane four - the Canadi an Nation al Champ ion Gary Ford. Both Sims and DeTem ple were in first in tum one followed by Bast and Ford. Sims took the lead soildly on lap two. On lap three, But moved into RCond. moving DeTem ple to third with Ford still fourth. On the last lap, Sims was still alone in first, Bast second and now Ford went into third and that's how they finished the night. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. 0... SimI; 2. Mb Baot; 3. Gory Ford; 4. 0... DeTemple. HANDICAP MAIN: I. John ......; 2. Bobb v-; 3. Croig ~ 4.1Curt SIrornnw. Guy _ ; 3. SECOND OW: 1. Chrio Hodge; 2. Kollhu.... lllIlD lllV: 1. JohnGon l. ~ IIonwlt; 2. Tim Me<" ' ld; 3- . Chr istia n cruises for thre e at IMS By Scott Daloi sio SAN BERNA RDINO . CA, JUNE J.O Alan "Crazy " Christ ian, aboar d the STP Jawa, made it three Scratc h main victories in his last four outing s at John La Douceu r's Inland Motorcycle Speedway Wedne sday night. John Sandon a on the Rialto Truck PartsJa wa took the lead from the pole position for the second week in a row over Christi an, Michae l Bast on the Justice Brothe rsJawa and Mik~ Curosa on the KEZY Weslak e. Christi an, who started in the numbe r three ilot, swung wide coming out of tum four on the openin g lap and took the lead from Sandon a as they crOllled the line at the.end of the lap. Sandon a, using the imide, pulled even in tum two on the second lap with .christi an moving out on the back chute to take the lead for keeps. Bast move"a up to challen ge Sandon a for the runner- up spot on the final lap with Sandon a taking the

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