Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a- c M iI M_ - sa. Bernardino - John Cook did some styIin' at Costa Mesa; he leads Alan Christian here. Cook fizzles, Ermolenko sizzles in Ventura By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA, MAY I I Gu y Erm ol enk o , pro vin g beyond a reasonable doubt tha t he ca n go fast with the good guys, won th e H andicap main for th e seco nd time in the last th ree weeks . An d Dave DeTemple, riding hard for the second week in a row, won the Scra tch ma in for his first Ventu ra Raceway trophy si nce last August. The featured fast g uy , U .S. Long T ra ck Champ John Cook, showed eno ugh tal ent to win both ma ins himself but ca me up em p ty in his first visi t here since 1979. Cook, going fast o n th e outsid e just far eno ugh ou t to avoi d th e rea l sticky stuff a nd a few bumps cr uised quickl y a ro u nd th e slo wer traffic and was in seco nd a nd closing fast on Eddie Ingel s after but two laps. BUlOn the home straigh t, Cook's spark plug sho rted o ut with a flash , and fla sh, Cook's bike d ied and he fin ished last. Besides In gels, Errnolen ko a nd Cra ig Sch aefer won u neventfu l heats, and Mik e Curoso , in a phenomena l ride, found h imself in seco nd after just one la p o ff the 40yard line and wo n convi nc ingly. After Dann y McN ei ll thrash ed everyo ne severely in his semi, the other six riders in th e ot he r semi p u t on one of the best races of the year. Imagine six ride rs go ing a t least twice as fast as they do on those dinky tracks abou t five yards apart, and with more lead changes tha n the most diligent sco rekeeper can keep tra ck of. Ermolenko held out unti l the third la p when DeT emple and Ste ve Lucero got by. T he n it was DeT ernpl e, no Lucero, no Ermolen ko - you get th e idea. At the line, DeTemple bea t Ermolenko by a n inch, who bea t Lucero by a n in ch, wh o beat Curoso by a n inch, who bea t Mike Faria by a n in ch , who heat Sh ane Hawley only because someone had to come in last. Not on ly did Errnolenko not fold under pressure, he stayed right in there dicing away wi th som e other famous dicers. This guy 's going to be co ming off th e 40 before half the fans can even spell h is name. In the ma in , Ermolen ko cras hed wide in th e first tum , kept it running, remoun ted and joined in the chase. On the seco nd lap, Sch aefer fell in th e th ird tum , a nd Errno len ko laid it do wn . T he race was red -flagged , a nd Schaefer was excl uded. Not o ne to let such an o p portu ni ty pass by, Ermolenko - apparently crashed o ut - came back to win th e restart. It was a re peat of the semi with five riders changing positions at every turn. Errnolenko won a close one over Lucero, Ingels, DeT emple a n d McNeill. Ma yb e Erm ol enko sho uld give half o f h is dough to Schaefer, wi thout wh om th e trophy would not have been possible. In Scratch rac ing, Cook wo n h is heat by a bout six mil es. But in hi s semi, Speedway R ider' s Ban e struck again - th e Dreaded Brainfad e - a d isease tha t a ffl icts superstar a nd novi ce a like. Cook, who now knows a ll about liters, meters, ki lometers a nd driv ing o n th e wrong side of th e road, was unabl e to co unt to fou r. After three laps, he shut down thi n king he had wo n the race. allowi ng Faria and Ch arl ie Mo rse to ga in transfer spots. Cook got his reven ge by winning the match race and th e Scra tch consy. H e'll do a lot better wh en he returns in August. DeTemple go t th e gate from the third spo t in th e main a nd led from tum two u nt il the checkered. Faria , Morse and McN eil followed. After Doug Domokos put on h is wh eel ie show aro u nd th e track a nd over a parked car, the D-2 riders took over as a tri o of 7l 4s - Pa t H awl ey, Wes Ra ndo lp h and Ed Castro wo n the heats. La st week's winner, J oe Kreisberg , cras hed and fa iled to tra nsfer. Tim McCa sland won his third Ventura trophy in the you ng season - two in Second Division. H e d id it by wi nning a yawner over Castro by abou t 10 len gths. In D-3 action, the man with the memor abl e name - Ben tley Barrett - wo n h is first-ever Ventura tro py with a con vinc ing ma in event win . Ven tu ra loca l Mike Co niglio was second. By the tim e you read th is, you wi ll ha ve missed Lance King 's retu rn to his favor ite track fro m last seaso n. Bu t next week , we're hopin g to ge t two of th e most exci ting riders in speedway, the Moran brothers - "The Menacing Midget " Kelly a nd "T he Miracl e Worker" Sh aw n . Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Dove DeTemple; 2 . Mike Faria; 3. Charl ie Morse; 4. Danny McNe ill . HA NDICAP MAIN: 1. Guy Ermolenko: 2. St eve Lucero: 3. Eddie Ingels; 4 . Dove DeTemple: 5. Danny McNeill; 6. Craig SChaefer. SECOND DIV: 1. Tim McCasl and: 2. Ed Cas tro: 3 . George Ar mas; 3. Dan Braviroff ; 5. Pat Hawley; 6. W.. Randolph . THIRD DIV: 1. Bentlev Barren; 2. M ike Coniglio; 3 . Carlos cardona; 4 . Chr is M istr en a; 5. Guy Hel · derlein; 6. Russell Romero. MATCH RACE: 1. John Cook del . Mike Curoso. Bast, Lawson leaders at 1MS By Scott Daloisio SAN BER NARDI NO , CA, MAY 12 In a battl e of the three major brands in the Scratch main at John LaDouceur 's Inl and Moto rcycl e Speedway ton ight , J a wa ca me ho me one and two with Mik e Bast pi cking up his third IMS V_tara - Aa_ar. ~. Napa - Coata M_ - San Scratch win of the year. Gen e Woods (7-U p / Ma trix God den ) go t an other good start fro m th e pole po sit ion to tak e th e early lead over Bast (J ustice Bro thers/ Knobby Shop j awa ), Mike Faria (Cycle Gear J aw a ) a nd Mike Cu roso (B&:B/ Carlisle Weslak e). Bast went to th e outside to take the lead from Woods in tum four on th e open ing go ' ro u nd. Far ia then cha llenged and took second a way from Woods on lap two in th e seco nd corner. Faria, who by now had a clu tch th at was shooting spa rks, was a ble to close o n Bast but was never a ble to mount a head -to-h ead cha llenge. At starter Sid Sutton's checkered, it was " Wo rld Class" Bast by five bikeleng ths o ver Faria (seco nd for th e seco nd night in a row), Woods a nd Curoso. Popular local rider J im La wson o f R iverside mad e it in to the IMS victo ry ci rcle for th e first ti me in 1982 as he too k th e win in th e Handicap main. La wso n (D.J.'s Ticket Service/ Pans Plus J awa ), Cha rlie Morse (FO M Ra cin g / H i-Po in t J aw a ) and Rob Pfetzin g (Valvo line / P RP Weslak e) rode three abreast for the lead unti l Law son too k co mma nd in tum four on the open ing lap . Kurt Strornrner ( Mt, View Foreign Auto/ Hair by Bev Weslake), wh o wo n th e last IMS Handi cap main , went to th e ins ide o f Mor se a nd Pfetzing in tum two o n the second lap for th e num ber two spot. Morse p ulled back alo ngside go ing down th e back chute and stayed with Strom mer until he mom en taril y bobbled in tum four, g ivi ng St rorn m er full co n trol of second . Dave DeTem pl e (Da le's Modem Cycles/ Sn ap On Tools Jawa ) moved from the 40 to tak e th ird from Morse on la p th ree and second from Strommer on th e back ch ute o n th e fin a l la p . Law son co nti n ued o n hi s way to the checkered where he was fo llowed by De'Tem pl e, Strom mer, J eff Tomlin (Harriso n Heat in g an d Cooli ng / House of Hand leba r j awa ), Morse a nd P fetzin g. Lawson started his ride o n the 20. . Rookie rider Bob Ou (Jawa) continued his fine ridi ng as he ma de it two o u t o f th e last th ree ma in s in Seco nd D iv ision . J imm y O 'D ell (Lu bri- Tech J aw a ) too k th e early lead from th e zero over Ou a nd T im McCaslan d (Gaston &: Dill on j a wa ), bo th o f whom were co mi ng from th e 10. Ou im media tely bega n to p u t the hea t on O 'Dell and relieved him of th e lead spo t on th e seco nd circui t. McCasland a lso go t by O 'Dell , who th en fell o n lap three wh ile runn ing thi rd . Pennsylvania 's Warren Diem (Ma rti nez / G P Promoti ons J awa ) mo ved from th e 30 to take second from McCasland near the finis h after McCasland took one fin al shot at Ou in th e fina l comer. For the record, it wa s Ott over Diem , McC a sl and , Denn y Scopel lit e (H ot Moves Wesla ke), Ste ve Bau er (Yoak u m Co ncre te J awa ) a nd O' Dell. Rand y Blevins (G rin P roducts/ Hancock Design Jawa ) mad e it look easy as he won his second stra ight Third Division main and will now move u p to Second Division. Bria n Sp eaks (Jaw a ) too k the lead o n the s tart over Dou g Duboi s (Harl eyDavidson of Fu llerton Jawa). Blevin s im m edi a tel y began to move a nd blasted by Speaks for the lead in tu m four on lap one. Steve Flanigan (Jawa )got by Ken ny Williams (J. A.P.) for third on lap two and Speaks for second o n lap th ree, but he was un abl e to ca tch the streaking Blevins . For Blevin s it was his second stra ig h t sweep o f Third Division. After Belvin s a nd Flanaga n, it was Sp eak s, Williams, 42year -o ld rookie Mike Dwyer (Ja wa ) and Du bo is.. J ohn Coo k (FO M Racin g/Hi-Point J aw a ) gave th e crowd its share of thrills as he rod e both th e pol e a nd th e cu shion th rough out the nigh t. After win ning the Scratch consy, "T he Ameri can Cowboy" tossed hi s gogg les in to th e sta nds m uch to the delight of the a p precia tive IMS crowd. T he first Th ird Division heat saw o ne rider fly over th e back ch u te wall witho u t hi s bike. Another rider man aged to pl ow into th e machine (o n a red flag ) a nd fall off hi s bik e. Unfortunat el y, his kill switc h fai led to work , a nd the bike too k o ff o n its ow n like it was possessed. Everyone in the infield ran for cover (including yo urs tru ly) as the bik e co nt in ued to sto rm aro und by it self a t Iul l throule. Fortunately the bike fin ally cras hed into th e wall a nd sh u t itself off, m uch to th e relief o f everyo ne in th e infield who had wo rn ou t the so les on th eir shoes tryin g to dodge th e mad dog. T he exci ti ng night o f speedway raci ng and speed way's version of "T he Exor cist" was ma rred by th e very serio us cras h o f Sha ne H aw ley (He ndricks G MC/Ca l Cove ntry Weslak e) wh o was leadin g h is H andicap semi a t the tim e. It is bel ieved tha t H aw ley broke th e fern ur in his left leg in the jarring cras h. Promot er La Do uceur has added two more First Division Handicap hea ts a nd one mor e Handicap semi to th e week ly Wedn esday n ight shows. It gives th e IMS fan s a chance to see 12 mo re Fir st Division riders each n ight. The 1981 top point man in southern Ca li fornia , Lan ce Kin g, returns from Engla nd to do ba ttle in the IMS wa r sched u led for May 19. Also on han d will be " Ju mpi n' J im " Prat t. who wi ll a ttempt to jump fo ur cars o n a bicycle a t interm ission. All chi ldren 12 years o ld and under will be admiued free wh en accompanied by an adult on th e 19th . On May 26. Kellya nd Shawn Moran will be a t IMS to do ba u le with the best in sout hern Ca lifo rnia. It will also be Cycle News Class Four License Nigh t. If you 'sho w your class four licen se o n th e 26th, you will receive SI o ff o ne ad ult admission . Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. M ike Bast; 2. Mike Faria: 3. Gene Woods ; 4. Mik e Curoso. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. J im Lawson: 2. Dave DeTemple; 3 . Kurt Strommer; 4 . Je ff Tom lin; 5. Char lie M orse; 6. Rob Pfetzing . SECOND DIV: 1. Bob On ; 2. Wa rr en Diem : 3. Tim McCasland; 4. Denn y Scopellite; 5. Steve Bauer; 6. J immy O·Oeli . THIRD DIV: 1. Randy Blev in s: 2. Steve Flanagan; 3. Brian Speaks; 4 . Ken W illiams; 5. Mike Dwyer ; 6. Doug Dubois. MATCH RACE: 1. Grea t Brita in; 2. A rgent ina (lMS announcer Bruce Flanders w ill be ma iling the results to the U.N. in an anempt to solve the Falklands Islands confl icts .) Christian, Ermolenko exhibit excellence at Costa Mesa By Gary Hoffman COSTA MESA, CA, MAY 14 John Cook, visi ting from England, a nd G en e Woods stole the sh ow tonight a t Harry Oxley's weekly wild west show at the O ra nge Co u nty Fairgrounds. Cook d idn ' t win his main event or his match rac e with Woods. H e did win the hea rts of many with h is wild,

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