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SPEEDWAY WEEK n ight a t the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds. Gene Woods wheelies out of a San Bernardino corner. He won Ventura's Scratch main. - .. Ermolenko tries the Big Time - he likes it By Bill Locey VENTURA CA, APR. 27 Hordes of ch eapskates turned out tonight at the Ventura Raceway for ch eap beer (25¢) and some chea p thrills (T uesday 48 • night speedway). Gene Woods proved \ to be a master of good timing by winnin g the Scratch ma in on Gene Woods Poster Night. That's two wins in a row for Woods up here. But the really Big News was Guy Er mol enko who got a chance for th e Big Ti me and found it to be no Big Deal as he won all three of his rid es includin g th e Handicap ma in . Origin ally slated for th e 30-yard lin e in Second Division. a pair of no- shows gave him. as well as Rick Mill er. a cha nce to try it with th e Good Guys. In hi s initial ride. Erm olenko was as smoo th as a n elect ric tra in as he never faltered. and no one go t close. O ther first ro und winners were Miller. Rob Pfe tzing a nd " Charg in ' Ch arlie" Morse. In the third heat of the night, th ere was a scary looking accident when Bobby McLain was bumped out of co nt ro l in' tum three and hit Mike Bast with his peg before crashi ng heavily. Bast . wh o was in seco nd a t the time. shu t it down a nd sli d off h is bike and la y writhing in pain agai nst th e wall. H e was carried off th e track. As it turned o u t. Bast on ly suffered a painful bruise - I say only because in itia lly it seemed Bast had brok en his leg. Bast ca me back to ride in the Scra tc h p ortion of th e p rogram. McLain did not return. H is bike was mortall y crunched. and Bobby left with a n arm injury. In th e main . Sh an e H awl ey, also off the zero-yard line. outga ted Errnolenko a nd led for two laps. On th e th ird lap. Ermolenk o set him up ni cely. go t underneat h Hawl ey a nd cru ised o n to an easy win . Eddie In gels passed Hawley o n th e last lap for second. In Scrat ch racing. Woods not o nly won all three of hi s rid es. but he beat Bast twi ce - som ethin g most riders don 't do in a career. let alone in o ne n ight. In the main . Woo ds. in two. outgated Bast off the pole a nd managed to mai ntain a four-l ength lead until the checkered Ilag. Dan McNeill , who made both mains agai n. was third foll owed by Mike Faria . Young Bob Oil from T orra nce won the Secon d Division main by pl enty after a second place finish last week. The ubiquitous Ed Castro was second. Chris Mistretta. coming back from a n a nkle in jury. won hi s heat a nd th e Third Divis ion main for th e first time since last June. Persistent ru mor s have congealed into a firm ma ybe th at perhaps Long Track Champ J ohn Coo k and the Moran brothers ma y be coming o ur way soo n. Sta y tuned. Results Everyone was thrille d to see Mike Curoso back out after his terri ble crash last Friday. Mike wo uld li ke to thank Sea ls Ambula nce Service a nd all the people for their support. Curoso got to prove he was feeli ng good when, from his ou tside position in th e feature ma tch race, he slipped in front of Dubb Ferrell th e moment Ferrell went wide in turn three of the first lap. Dubb got th e lead back but went wide again in the last tum, and Curoso took the checkered to the cheers of the crowd. In the Third Division main event. it was Shane McDonald out first from the zero wh en four out of six bikes went down in tum two. Everyone was back for the restart. and again McDonald was first. Rusty Jennings was behind followed by John Gant, who went down in turn two after gelling hit. which caused the race to be red-flagged and over . with McDonald the winner. Jennings second and Gant third. The Second Divis ion main was hot with Mike Mazzacane taking the early lead. while Ed Lynch a nd Rick Miller battled for seco nd. Mazzacan e held on to his lead while Miller closed in , made his move a nd sto le second from Lynch . Behind them .T im McCasland got hit from behind and two went down. ca usi ng th e red flag to come o ut. mak in g this main event history. T he win went to Mazzacane, seco nd went to Mill er a nd th ird to Gary Faas. Movi ng on to First Division. th e H andicap main p rom ised to be a close race . wi th fo ur riders on the 20 and two o n th e 30. The tapes went up. and the red flag went out as the race sta rted without Dan McNeill read y. On th e restart, Steve Columbo got out first. as McNeill took second and Dennis Bransford th ird. Phil Gagnon went down in the shuffle for pos ition in tum one. Columbo held on for a lap until McN eill slid inside in turn two of the second lap. Now it was McNeill out front with Columbo and Bransford behind until the very last lap. when Bransford slid into second. leaving Columbo with third. Finishin~ up the evening was the Scratch mam event. At the gate it was Mike Faria. sporting his new southern California number " g," on the inside. Dubb Ferrell was in th e number two slot . Michael Bast in three a nd John Sandona on th e outside. Bast. as usual , was first out. with Fari a in hot pursuit. With Bast extending his lead, Ferrell moved insi de Faria for seco nd pl ace. On th e fin al lap. Bast was even farther ahead while Ferrell a nd Faria battled for second. As the checkered went out it was Bast. Ferrell . Faria and Sandona . SCRATCHMAIN : 1. Gene Woods: 2. Mike B.se 3. Dan McNeill ; 4 . M ike Faria . HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Guy Ermolenko: 2. Eddie Ingels: 3. Sh.ne H.wley; 4. McNe ill ; 5. Shown McConneH: 6 . Rob Pfetting. SECOND DIY: 1. Bob 0 11: 2. Ed C.str o: 3 . Kerr y M iller; 4. Robin Bourgeo is: S. George Arma s: 6. Warren Diem . THIRD OIV: 1. Chris M istrena; 2. Steve McFar · lane ; 3. Keith Rylaoce; 4. Guy Helderlein; 5. M ike Coniglio; 6. M ike Smart . MATCH RACE: Gene Woods def. Dubb Ferrell. SECOND DIY: 1. M ike M ....cone: 2. Rick Miller; 3. Cary Fe.s. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. D.n McNeill: 2. Dennis Br.nsford: 3. 51.... Columbo . SCRATCHMAIN : 1. Micheel Bose 2. Dubb Ferrell: Bast, McNeill manhandle Costa Mesa Christian, Strommer slide to IMS wins By Gary Hoffman By Scott Daloisio Results MATCH RACE: 1. Mike Curosa; 2. Dubb Ferrell . THIRD DIY: 1. Shene McDoneld; 2. RuSIYJennings: 3. John G.nt. Mike Faria; 4. John Sandone. SAN BERNARDINO. CA. APR. 28 COSTA MESA. CA. AP R. 30 T he racing was hot on wh at start ed to be a n overcast Friday Alan Christian p icked u p his first victory o f the season as he wo n the contro versy-p lagu ed