Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

..... l-< .-< . 0~ (Clockwise starting above) Scott Talkington stays in front of Robert Pfetzing at Hemet. John Cook rode well at the Costa Mesa opener, but a miscue in the Scratch main put him in third. Costa Mesa Scratch main winner Mike Bast goes under Alan Christian. with Gene Woods and Mike Faria on the outside. Mike Curoso. here leading Gene Woods. scored a perfect 15 at Hemet. but didn't fare as well in the Scratch main. Ermolenko tastes victory in premier Hemet race By Jim Brown HEMET, CA, MAR. 20 Just where are the Hemet Fairgrounds? This is a q uestion speedway fans probably w on' t be asking again as local resi- 42 dents and dedicated speedway fans put H emet Fa irgrounds o n th e speedway ra cin g map last month . T o the a mazeme nt of promo ters a nd speedway fans a like, the cro wd at the new facili ty wa s eq ual to almost 10% of the population of H em et; a small town a bo u t 50 m il es so u theas t of Los Angeles, . Track preparation was o f such qual ity. very few problems occurre d du ring the event. The weatherman th reatened rain, but with fans and racers crossing their fingers and holding th eir breath, the first event fired off right on time. Kelly Mo ran sweep the first event for th e first th ree poin ts on th e new tra ck , bu t some bad luck in event II left h im with a zero . Later on in the even ing the no-points ride cost h im, as he missed a run-off for th e main event by one h eart-breaking point. Dubb Ferr ell , normally consistent, ra n h ot a nd cold with two threepoint ra ces and th e rest zero 's. Mike Bast , a lw ays a tough co m pe titor, h ad a bad day, bu t st ill racked up eigh t points. In event 8 h is bi ke was m ore a nxious than the tapes wh ich cos t him a zero. H e ca me back to form in hi s la st two races wi th wi ns , bu t it wasn 't enough to boost h is po int to tal. . Scott T alkin gton , referred to as th e " rookie," gained respect wi th a very steady, h ard-rid in g da y. H is big su rge in event 3, w he n h e passed Bast , was a surprise. Ba st rega ined his fro nt position , h owever, and Talkington fin ished wi th one point. After coming to the meeting as a rookie, and being listed as a reserve , going home with eigh t po int s certainl y made T alking- ton 's ri de to H emet worthwhile. Mike Fari a only m issed a perfect sco re by two points, but in th e main event, shared some bad luck and ended up in th ird place. Mike Curoso ca me out of a slump and captured a pe rfect sco re of 15 points. After five very sm oo th rides and winning the most points, the main event left him in fourth place. Coming into the main event, it was Curoso first, Fa ria second, a n d th e thi rd and fourth posit ions requiring a run-off between Gene Woods, Sam Erm o len ko a n d St eve Lucero, a ll holding 10 points. Lucero had steady rides, wi th two wi ns , but hi s las t ride gained no points. Lucero plucked th e win out o f Wood's h and when h e launched p ast h im in event 8 right as the chec kered fla g was co ming do wn . Errno len ko 's mou nt sli d ou t from u nder h im in h is first rid e, bu t he came back with two wi ns in h is second and last ri des. In their ru n-off, Woods did a " don u t" com ing o u t of turn o ne, leaving L ucero to wi n with Errnolen ko close beh in d . Event 21, th e main event, was bagged by Sam Ermolenko. Although he had won Handicap mains before, it was h is firs t tast e after two and a half years in speedway, of the sweetness of a main event victory. Results FINAL POINTS: 1. Mike CuroeP(15); 2. Mike Feria (13); 3. (TIE) Gene Woods/Sam Ermolenko /Sleve Lucero (10); 4. Kelly Moren (9); 5. (TIE)Mike Ba.l/ SconTarkington (B); 6. Tom Burba (7); 7. (TIE) Dubb Ferrell /Raben PfelZin~ (6); B. J im Lawson IS); 9. . John Foster (4t, 10. (TIE) Dennis Briggs /Denny Scopell ite 13t, 11. Dave DeTemple (2); 12. Denn is Bransford II t. 13. Mark Dwyer (0). MAIN : 1. Sam Ermolenko; 2. M ike Faria; 3. Mike Curoso . Bast 'nails down Costa Mesa opener By Jim Brown COSTA MESA, cA, APR. I It was no April Fool's Da y jo ke th e many people that were turned away from the ticket booths at th e Orange County to Fairgrou nds Fr id a y night. T h ose

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