Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Costa Mesa - San Bernardino - Ventura - Auburn - Napa - C_ta Mesa - San Bernardino - Ventura - Auburn - Napa - C_ta MeA - Sa SPEEDWAY WEEK M ike Faria leads Shawn McConnell and M ike Curoso in IM S action. McGill, Gilbertson great at Auburn By Jann Houston AU BU RN, CA, MAY 28 An en th usias tic crowd of northern California speedway fans go t th e Memorial Day weekend o ff on th e right foot tonight, wi th an unforgettable n igh t o f racing. There is no doubt th a t to nigh t's Scra tch mai n even t wo u ld be hard to eq ual an yw h ere. After a restart wh en th ree o f the four went down o n lap one in turn three, it was a quick recoverv for everyone . Ron McG ill got the lead o u t o f th e ga te. H owever, by turn two a nd in every turn to fo llo w for the firs t th ree la p s, there was a side-by-side ba ttl e be tween McG ill, Bu ddy Ro binson and Duane Ya rro w, with McG ill managing to hol d the lead on the stra ig h ta ways. Goi ng into lap four, Yarrow d ro p ped to a clear third, a nd th e batt le bet wee n McGill and Ro binson grew m o re intense by the second, as anothe r scorekeeper's ni ghtmare deve lo ped. Dri ving into tu rn fo ur, a deter m in ed Ro bin so n ca m e o n th e o utside of McGill and fin ish ed th e race in a half lap wheelie across th e fini sh lin e as a j ubilant McG ill g ra bbed the chec kered flag for a victory lap. Wh a t a different ending to the ni g ht fo r McGill compared to th e previous Friday evening, wh en h e spent the last two laps of the Scratch m ai n lying unco nscious o n th e track after a run in wi th Yarrow. L ucky nu mber 13 An d y Gi lbertson took the lead in the H andica p mai n with J oh n Vol k second and Marc P rin ce third . As th e race co n tin ue d, Gilbertson held the lead with pos itio ns cha ngi ng beh in d him in every tu rn. G ilbertso n in creased hi s lead wi th every la p ; going int o turn three o n th e last la p , h e h ad a strai g h ta wa y lead on th e rest o f the p ack for hi s seco n d H andicap main win of th e three-week o ld season. J o h n Volk was seco nd and Ro n McGill third. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Ron McG ill ; 2. Budd y Robin· son; 3. Tom Ferr is; 4. Duane Yarrow. HANDI CAP MAIN: 1. And y Gilbertson; 2. Joh n Volk; 3 . Ron M cG ill ; 3 . M ar c Prin ce; 5. To m Ferri s; 6 . Pat Li nn . SECOND DIV: 1. Kevi n Frenc h; 2. Robert Curry; 3 . Mike Leli a. THIRD OIV: 1. Denn is Davis; 2. Curt M ill er; 3 . Ken Gray . JR SPEEDW A Y: 1. Scan Br ant ; 2. Bart Bast; 3 . John Houston. J r.; 3. M ike Parson; 5. Darrell A ndarson; 6. Coors W right. Faria, McConnell too.fast for Ventura 26 By Bill Locey VE NTURA, CA, J UN E I For a variety of reasons , a n umber of riders did not show u p in Ventura tonigh t. True. T his lack of riders h u rt th e program . False. T h ose tha t did make it - 18 D-I riders in all - ca me to ride and put on a sen sa tio na l series of exc iting races a ll over th e n ew ly-groomed (and smooth) Ventura Raceway. Sha wn McConnell was as successfu l as h e was exc i ting in winn ing h is seco nd H andicap main of 1982. This eq uals his co m bine d total for th e p ast two years. And poo r Mike Faria - he's in a rut - h e wo n th e Scra tch mai n , again . Surprising R ick Mill er raised more than a few eyebrows with h is most co n sistent ni ght of th e yea r. H e made both mains. In hi s ini tial H andicap h eat, Mc Connell provid ed a n o bject lesson to riders an d fans alike, namel y, never give up. O ut of it, or so it seem ed a fter goin g too w id e in th e seco nd bend, Shawn cruised a lap as th e frustra ted ride r in last place usuall y does, but then sta rt ed to go fast. Still a quarterlap behind any body on th e final lap, McConnell surp rised everybody by pa ssing Gary Ford (and h is sic k bike) just in time to make th e transfer. Earlier , at the front o f th e ra ce, Bobby " In sa ne" McLa in passed Grey Ayers in the last turn to ta ke the wi n . P h il G ag non d id lik ew ise to Denni s Abbott for a la st tu rn thrill er , an d R ick Mill er a nd "Ho ll ywood" Steve Bauer were th e o ther wi n ne rs of quick races. In a sem i, Bauer led fro m sta rt to fin ish, but behi nd him - basic speed way chaos. Program co verboy Guy Ermol enko set up R o b Pf etzin g a nd passed h i m o n th e in sid e. a nd Miller riding harder th an ever, managed to h ol d o ff the h ard-ch a rg i n g Tom Mor ley for th e final tic ket to the m a in even t. The o th er sem i was beyond adjectives, one of th e best races o f th e seaso n . McConnell went a ro u nd G agnon o n the fourth la p to take th e lead, bu t eveyo ne else - McLain, Ayers and Abbott - all had a shot at th e win un til th ey ran out of lap s. It was a typical short track rac e but on a larger tra ck wi th lots of spe ed - wo w. In winning th e Handicap main , McC onnell resorted to a seldom- seen tactic (for h im ) - the inside game . Usua lly, Shawn rid es th e o u tside, wh ether he need s to or no t (the Danny Becker Syndrome?) In fifth place a fter two la p s, Shawn moved it to th e insi de and started m uscl in g people as ide , o ne per lap. Bauer wa s the fina l vic tim o n the fina l lap, good enough fo r a well -d eser ved standi ng ova tion from the fa ns . Meanwh ile, Fa ria , knowing a good thing when h e sees o ne, followed in McConnell 's tire tracks and finished second. Faria was h is usual self in Scra tch racing, wi n n ing a ll three of hi s rides with quick gates that ende d speculation by turn two . T hat 's three in a row, fo ur out of five, five Scratch mains overall and six trophies from Ventura so far . Got a ll that? You' ll be tes ted at a la ter dat e. R ick Miller , subbing for Charlie Morse who suffered a broken wrist a t Costa Mesa, fell into a Scra tch ride bu t ea rned everyth ing th ereafter. H e went arou nd Pfetzing in turn two, fell in beh in d Faria and h eld on for th e transfer in h is h ea t rac e. In th e semi, Curoso was n ot o n ly back, h e was g o ne, bu t M ill er outga ted Bauer and Keith " For Rent " L arsen a nd h eld th em off with a fla wless rid e. In the main, again behind Faria (isn 't every body?) Miller held off McConnell's entire repe rt o ire of n ifty night moves, earning a second. W hoa . Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. M ike Fer ia; 2 . Riel

• Cover