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John Sandona holds a slim advantage over IMS Scratch main winner Bobby Schwartz (GRland others in a heat.
Schwartz, Burba
impressive at IMS
By Scott Daloisio
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, APR. 21
Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz
showed no ill effects from his
European Long Track crash as
he defeated Michael Bast to
capture th e vi ctory in th e Scratch
main at John LaDouceur's Inland
Motorcycle Speedway tonight.
Schwartz, who suffered neck and
head injuries in the crash in Germany, started in the number four
spot on the grid. Gene Woods (7-Up
Godden) was on the pole with Bast
(Justice Brothers/Cody Products Jaw)
in two and ex-Birmingham Brurnmie Keith Chrisco (Vans /Kirnmat
Weslake) in three. As the tapes flew
up, SchwarlZ got the Bel-Ray Godden out first by inches over the other
three riders. Going into tum one he
took command and broke from the
pack. Woods was in second with Bast
getting by him on the inside in turn
two. At the end of lap one, it was
Schwartz, Bast, Woods an Chrisco.
The order stayed the same over the
final three laps with Schwam taking
the final checkered £Jagof the crashfillled night four bikelengths ahead
of Bast.
Tom Burba (Kenny's Muffler/Cody
Products Jawa) proved that nice guys
don 't always finish last as he won the
Handicap main from the IO-yard
line. The race had to be restarted after
Danny "Berserko" Becker (Gas ton &
Dillon Jawa ) crashed heavily in turn
three on lap two . Fortunately th e
Fountain Vall ey veteran was abl e to
walk from the track under his own
power.
On the restart, Jimmy Lawson
(D .J.'s Ticket Service/Parts Plus
Jawa ) beat Burba off the 10 and into
the first comer. Burba shot through
on the inside for the lead as they
entered the back chute on lap one.
As Burba and Lawson battled for
the lead , Mike Curoso (KEZY Wes~
lake), the only 40-yard line starter in
the event, went to the cushion and
began to pick off the competition.
Curoso took Sterling Cogar (Phil's
Custom Plating/Fat Performance
Jawa) and Dave DeTemple (Dale's
Modern Cycle Jawa) for third on lap
two . Curoso then went to work on
. Lawson taking second spot away
from the Riverside youngster at th e
end of lap three. Curoso went after
1 s but was
illllliili
'
unable to add the likeable 25-year-old
to his list of victims. Following Burba
in his ini tial 1982 IMS victory were
Curoso, Lawson, Cogar, DeTemple
and Becker, who got credit for the
wrap-up spot.
Every Wednesday night, Bob Ott
(Jawa ) brings his dog to IMS. The
dog seems to have as much fun cruising around the riders in the pits
before the races as Ott does on the
track during the races. Ott, who won
last week's Third Division main was
moved up to the zero in Second Division this week. He took the lead in
turn two on the opening go 'round as
he and Ron Blanton (Castrol Jawa)
touched , sending Blanton to the
ground.
That only left three riders, and the
only race was for second as the rookie
sensation of 1982 had another one
locked up. Wayne Leutz (S&S Construction Jawa) and Shane Hawley
(Hendricks GMC/CaJ. Coventry
Jaguar Weslake) hooked up in the
battle for second over the final two
laps. Hawley moved by for the
runner-up spot at the white £Jag but
then fell in tum two letting Leutz
claim second. Following Ott and
Leutz (the only two riders to take the
checkered) were Hawley, Blanton,
Don Bovee (O'Neal's 76 Jawa) and
Wes Randolph (Mom and Dad/John
Burr Cycle Jawa).
Pennsylvanian Warren D iem
(Maely Products Jawa) defeated New
Zealander Chris Martin (Frank Schuter Jawa) by a half straight to win the
Third Division main. Martin got the
lead on the start from Steve McFarland (Jawa) with Diem, who started
on the 10, working his way through
the pack and int o the lead on lap two .
Diem immediately opened it up and
went on to the victory over Martin,
McFarland, Randy Blevins (Hancock
Design/Grin Products Jawa ) Brain
Speaks (Jawa) and " Mad Dog" Mark
Rotondo (Cha m p io n sh ip Racing
J awa ). Rotondo crashed heavily into
and finall y over the wall in his heat
race. In his usual style: he was ready
for the restart and came back to earn a
transfer spot to th e main.
IMS will be dark on Wednesday,
May 5 due to the fair. However, all of
the top stars in southern California
will be back to do battle Apr. 28, and
who knows what "Mad Dog" Rotondo
will do for an encore at the action
track in San Bernardino?
Results
SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Bobby Schwartz; 2. Mike
Best; 3. Gene Woods; 4. Keith Chrisco .
HANDICAP MAIN ; 1. Tom Burba ; 2. Mike Curcso ;
3. J im Lawson ; 4. Sterl inv Cogar; 5. Dave DoTem.
pie; 8. Danny Becl