Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126639
Costa MeSa - San Bernardino - Ventura - Auburn - Napa - Costa Mesa - San Bernardino - Ventura - Auburn - Napa - CMta M..a - San SPEEDWAY WEEK Ermolenko wins fourth, Ayers first at Ventura By Bill Locey VENT URA, CA, MAY 3 Sam Ermolenko, getting better every week since he earn ed h is licen se here in 1981 , won his ' fourth main even t in four weeks (A bo ve) Scratch w inner Alan Christian slides in f ro nt of M ike Bast at Costa Mesa. (Ri ght) Mike Faria, Steve Lucero and Gene Woods try out different lines in Costa Mesa action. (Below) Steve Lucero gets a little o ut of shape. o f fas t raci ng at Ventura Racewa y. Ri va ling Erm ol cnko in th e smile department was G reg Ayers, winner of h is fir st-ever First Division trophy in the Handicap ma in on the wea th erbeat en track. Ermol enko 's mo to rcycle, this week su fferi ng clutch p robl em s. got sufficie nt tractio n often eno ug h to win h is heat race. Sha wn McConnell, in one of hi s pat ented wi ld o u tside rides, took Ermol enko in th e sem i; a nd Flyin ' Mik e Faria wo n th e ot her sem i. . In a sad blow to local ra ce fans, McCo nn ell an nou nced that he would be joini ng Birmingham in th e British Speedway Lea gue wit hi n the nex t few days . " J'rn rea lly gon na miss th e fans in Ventura," said McConnell, "bu t I can ' t get on a t the other tracks a nd one nigh t o f racing just isn't eno ugh. I rea lly do n 't wa nt to go, but the way things are goi ng, I h a ve to," Ov er the past few seasons. McConnell has been the most exci ting rider on th e Ventu ra track a nd ha s ma ny fans. So much for sentimental favorites - Ermolenko and Far ia outga ted McCo n nell and left hi m ou t of con tention by the second bend o f the Scratch mai n. Fari a cu t off Errnole n ko o n th e ba ck straig h t, and Errn ol enko 's rear wheel h it th e wall , ca tapu lti ng h im in side o f a n d by Fa ria by turn th ree. Erm ol en ko main tained a two -length lead over th e exaspera ted Faria until the chec kered. In Handi cap rac ing, Ayers d idn ' t g ive a nyone a cha nce, turning in three flaw less. win n ing rid es. In th e ma in . Budd y " Bud ma n" Robinson finally got by Andy No rthrup 'a nd ha rd -ridi ng SCOIl Ta lki ngton, but go there was on ly a lap to " and Ayers was too far away. scoring a n ea sy win. Besid es a great ride, a no ther advantage for Ayers was that most of the hot regula rs were in the Ha ndicap co nsy . It was the best race o f the night with McConnell bea ti ng Ro b Pfetzin g by an inc h, wh o beat Faria by a n in ch , wh o beat Steve Lucero by an in ch , w ho beat Ed Ca st ro a nd Crai g Schaefe r; well, you get the idea. J oe Kreisberg was the class o f twohea t Seco nd Division racing, winn in g hi s heat a nd th e ma in by pl enty. Kevin Krugh slammed into a fallen Ed Thurman in a turn four m ish ap with Thurman h urt ing hi s kn ee in th e main. Kreisberg got ano ther blazin g sta rt a nd took th e resta rted main by half a lap o ver Kru gh a n d Carlos I Ca rdo na. Randy Beddoe wo n hi s heat a nd the ma in, a lso by about half a lap, to take co n vinci n g , if not thrilling , honor s for T h ird Division. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Sam Ermole nko; 2. Mike Faria; 3 . Shawn McConnell; 4 . Greg Ayers . HA NDICAP MAIN: 1. Gr eg Ayers; 2. Buddy Bobln son ; 3 . Scott Talk in gton; 4. Andy Nonhr up; 5. Sam Ermolenko; 6. Shane M cDonald. SECOND DIV: 1. J oe Kreisberg: 2. Kevin Krugh; 3. Carlos Cardona; 4. Russell Romero; 5. Bently Bar rett; 6. Eddie Thu rman. THIRD DIV: 1. Randy Beddoe ; 2. John Dunn; 3. Richard Perk ins ; 4 . Jim Evans; 5. Lou is Kre isberg ; 6. Pat Sm ith. . MATCH RACE: Steve Lucero def . Sam Ermclenko, Christian cla'ws out Costa Mesa win By Jim Brown COSTA M ESA, CA, MAY 6 Alan " Crazy" Christian was the master of th e Scratch progra m tonight a t Co sta Mesa. Christian , sponsored by STP, First Nat io nal Monetary a n d Hi Po int. took each Scra tch event with some of h is mOSI feroc ious ridi ng this season . H e fell down in h is Handicap heat and failed to tra ns fer. H andica p raci ng was com ma nded by J im La wson in th e sa me victorio us style used by Ch ris tia n . DJ's T icket Serv ice a n d Roa ring Twenties Pizza sponsors La wson, wh o took eac h event sta rti ng from th e 20-yard lin e. Mike Ba st failed to tra nsfer in Handica p raci ng, but won hi s Scrat ch heat and fini shed second in the Scratch semi and mai n. Bast has won four out o f six Scratch mai ns a t Cos ta Mesa this season a nd was o n Christia n's he els but Christia n didn't ma ke a ny mistakes. Sam Ermolen ko wo n h is H andi cap hea t and cap tured seco nd in th e sem ifinal , but fin ish ed last in the ma in .