Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

SPEEDWAY WEEK Ford motors to double Visalia wins By Bill Locey VISALIA, CA, JUNE 4 Canad ia n Ch am pion G a ry Fo rd , in his 1983 Central Valley debut, strutted h is stu ff in awesome style as he wo n both Mike Bast was hot last week. Ayers, Springman ride high at Ridgecrest By Scott Daloisio RIDGECREST, CA, J UNE II Speedway came to Ridgecrest for its second-ever ap peara nce Saturday night with Greg Ayers and J eff Springman sweeping th e Scra tch a nd Handicap portions of th e program res: ectively, while J esse Fi nche cap tured h is first-ever Junior main . In the Scra tch main , Ayers came from the number four spot on th e sta rting gr id to lead into th e first corner over J ohn Foster , Ron Blanton and Ed Castro. Ca stro, moved from last to seco nd on lap o ne, with Foster getti ng Blanton for third o n lap two . With lead er Ayers in ch es a hea d, th e other three riders were having a war for second until Blan ton asserted himself a t the whi te flag , determined to make on e last ch arge at th e leader. Ayers momentarily parked in turn two on the fin al revolution, forcing Blanton to slow and a llowin g Castro to blitz back by for second. Ayers recovered in time to fight off Ca stro for the lead with Blanton mo ving' back into second off th e last corne r, but still falling two lengths short at th e chec kered. Foster was forced to slow with mechanical ill s on the fin al lap. Sprin gman (Bill's Pipes) thrilled his goo d buddy a nd biggest fan Jack Mack by leading wire to wire to capture th e exci ti ng H andi cap main . Coming from the zero, Springma n was th e initial leader over Jim Clausman and Randy Beddow. Clausman a ttem pted to relieve Springman of th e lead on th e second revolu tion wh en they made contact, sendi ng a shower of sparks into th e air. Springman recovered , but Guy Wat erson was able to move by Clausman for th e number two spot and immediately began to pressure Springman. Mark Dwyer, one of the cro wd favorites , had come all the way from the 40 to pass Clausman for third on lap four. On th e final lap, Dwyer went to the cushion on the back straight, found some traction and went by Wat erson for th ird. It looked as though the 20year-old from Riverside was going to make a challenge for the lead com ing off th e final corner when he hooked up and did a wheel ie, a ll o w in g Springman to win by two lengths. Results 26 SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Greg Aye rs (Wes) ; 2. Ron Blanton (Godd); 3. Ed Cast ro (Jaw); 3. John Foster (Godd). HANDICAP: 1. Jeff Spr ingman (Wes) ; 2. Ma rk Dwyer (Jaw); 3. Guy Waterson (Jaw); 4 . Jim cteusman (Wes) ; 5. Randy Beddow (Jaw); 5 . Greg Ayers (Wasl. JR ; 1. Jayme Finch; 2. Jasso Finch; 3. Ryan Evans; 4. Steva lson; 5. TIm Geweclte; 6 . Kelsey Gordon. main events a t th e Visalia Pa rk Plaza Arena. As if win ni ng bo th mains were n 't enough, Ford won all of his rides en ro ute to th e ma in s as well - that 's six -for-s ix, but who's co unti ng? Suffice to say, it doesn 't ge t any bett er than that. The Scrat ch main was a wild affair with frequent lead cha nges by Ford a nd Gran t "T he Ta ft Tornado" Salyers, with Ford wi nn ing by a spoke. Rapid Rob Pfetzing was pfast, but not pfast enough , tak in g th ird; a nd th e ever-imp roving Donny Butl er, making mains every week, brought up th e rear in fourth. Facing life off the 40-yard line next time, Ford came off the 30 a nd began passin g people as if th ey were sta ndin g still. By th e tim e th e chec kered came out, Fo rd had a big lead an d a big win. Anoth er Taft local, Randy Griffith, was second, foll o wed by Sa lyers a nd old-ti mer Rick Farro n . Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Ga ry Ford ; 2 . Grant Salyers; 3 . Rob Pfetzing; 4 . Donnv Bu tler. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Gary Ford ; 2. RandyGriffith; 3 . Grant Salyers ; 4 . Rick Ferron; 5 . Donny Butler; 6 . Larry Willey. CHAllENGER MAIN (SECOND & THIRD DIV. COMB): 1. Rod Pires; 2 . Marty Van Blargen; 3 . Todd Varner. SCRATCH; 1. Pfetzing del . Salyers. Bast, Hill blast to Napa wins By Jann Houston NAPA, CA, J UNE 4 Mike Bast made his fir st guest appearance at Napa tonight, giving the larger-than-normal crowd a taste of sp eedway like th ey'd never seen before on th e northern Cal ifornia tra ck. In th e Scrat ch main , Bast had th e pol e positi on , brother-in-law Bill y Meister was in th e number two po sition , David Faria was th ird , with Duan e Yarrow o n th e wa ll. As usual , Bast had th e im media te lead , fol low ed by Meister in a n unusually close second, as Yarrow a nd Orlandi battled it out for th ird and fourth positi ons. In turn two on th e second lap, Yarrow went wide into the wall , losing control momentarily a nd giving Orlandi a cha nce to move into third, a nd that was the fin ish order. On th e Handicap side of the program, it was lfi-year-old Steve Hill from Fresno who dominated the scene tonight, after being moved into Division One after a last-minute program change. In hi s first heat, in hi s first ever Nor-Cal Division One rid e, Hill managed to hold his lead in a smooth, flawl ess rid e, and on e he will surely never forget. Mik e Bast was one of the field behind him and he was forced to settle for a second behind Hill. In the main event, after also winning his semi, H ill took the lead and, as in hi s previous two events, he never kn ew wh at it felt like to be seco n d. Dennis Davis and Rocky Robin son were " w ild and crazy" as th ey went tire to tire in a battle for seco nd and th ird. At th e fin ish it was Hill , with Davis by in ch es o ver Robinson , followed by Ron McGill, Steve Crawford. a nd Ro n Sweeto n, respectively. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. M ike Bast; 2. BillyMeister; 3 . Dave Faria ; 4. Marc Prince. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. St eve Hill; 2. Denn is Dav is; 3. Rocky Robinson; 4. Ron McGill ; 5. Steve Crawford ; 6 . Ron Sweeton. SECOND DIV : 1. Mike Parsons; 2. Bart Bas t; 3. Brett Flory; 4 . Bill Cal icura; 5. Mike Dyer ; 6. AI Underwood. THIRD DIV : 1. Ross Eichelberger; 2. Johnny Vaughn; 3. l eonard Miller. JR MAIN: 1. Scott Brent; 2. Darrell Anderson; 3. Bobb y Hedden; 4, Tommy Hedden; 5. Coors Wrigh t . Bast best at San Berdoo By Scott Olloisio SAN BERNARDINO, CA, J UNE 8 Michael Bast had a perfect night, including two wins over defending National Champion Shawn Moran, as he thrilled a large crowd by winning the "T uneup fo r Lon g Beach" a t Inl and Motor cycle Speedway. The big surprise of the night was Sam Ermol enk o, who has been rid ing th e two Jawas formerly piloted by Sha wn McConnell. Ermolenko easily took even t on e, leading all th e wa y over John Sandona a nd Alan Christian. Event two was a thriller as Sh awn Moran went wire to wire to win o ver Mike Faria, wh o tried a slings hot move o u t of th e final co rner on ly to fall sho rt by two feet. Coming from th e o utside in event three, Bast (J us tice Bro s.lRivcrside Mitsubishi Wes) was last out of the gate, but he quickl y d ucked to th e ins ide to take th e lead from Dave DeTemple in spectacu la r fashi on . Bast was cruising wh en th e red flag was displa yed, ending th e race on lap three after . DeTemple and Dubb Ferrell got together. The main pitted Bast against Shawn Moran, Ermolenko and Far ia. At th e lin e, Ermolenko broke a primary cha.in a nd sen t for his backup bike wh ich su bseq uen tly would not fire, forcing him to deject edl y wat ch th e main from th e infield. On th e seco nd tr y for a start Moran was first from the pole position over Far ia a nd Bast, who was com ing from slot four. The defending National Champ held first until th e third turn when Bast made a daring ins ide mov e to go from last to first. At the sam e time as Bast went by, Moran broke a chain and joined Ermolenko on th e infi eld . Faria tri ed wh at appeared to be impossible, and it was, as he follo wed the yello w a nd white leathers of Bast across th e lin e by some five lengths. Results MAIN EVENT; 1. Mike Bas" 2. Mike Feria ; 3. Shllwn MorIn; 4 . Sam Ermolenko. QUALIFYING ROUNDS : 1. Mike Ba., (Wes) 15; 2. Mike Feria (Wes) /Shewn M oran (Godd) 13; 4 . Sam Erm olenko(Jaw) 12: 5. Ale n Chr istian (Godd) 11 ; 6. John Sandona (Jew&Wesl 10; 7. Gene Woods (Wesl/Mlke Curoso (Wes) /Dubb Ferrell (Jaw) 7; 10. Jim Lawson (Jew) /Buddy Robinson (Jew) /Steve Lucero (Wesl/Oave Sims (Jew) 5; 14 . Keith Chr isco (Godd) 4 ; 15 . Kelly Moren (Godd ) 1; 16 . Dave DeTemple (Jaw) O. Bast's right on his night in Auburn By J ann Ho uston AUBURN, CA, JUNE 3 From the very beginning of the 1983northern California speedway season, tonight was the night everyone had been anxiou sly looking forward to - Mik e Bast Night at Auburn. Th e wait was wo rt h it. The Auburn cro wd loves Mik e Bast , a nd he rep ayed th eir affection with a performance of speedway "Poetry in Motion, Bast Style." In the Handicap ma in event , Rocky Robinson , Ken Gray, Marc Prince, Robert Curry , a nd Mike's cous in, H arlan Bast J r., held him to th e back of th e field for the first two laps. On th e third lap Bast mo ved into th ird positi on as o n ly Rob inson a nd Gr a y man aged to hold th eir lead position s. Gray went wide in turn three o n th e fourth lap , allo wi ng Bast to move int o seco nd as Robinson rod e hard , a llo wi ng no roo m for error. In turn fou r on th e fifth lap Bast made a lastm inute move wh ich still has a lot of fan s scra tching th eir heads in di sbeli ef. Going into th e turn wid e and o n th e o u tside of Rob in son , Bast sho t to the fin ish a t a very-ha rd-to-describe angle, ge tti ng hi s tir e across the lin e ahead of Robinson by a sp lit seco nd. !twas th.e wildest finish imagi nable In a rnam even t, and o ne fan was overhea rd saying, " It was a k iller!" Robinson , in sh ock, was second, Ken Gray third. In the Scra tch Main th ere was never much question who would take th e checkered flag as Bast, comin g ocr posit ion three, was ou t the ga te qui ckly, a nd alrea dy had an impressive lead by th e first turn . The real "race" was between Pau l Orl and i, current ly number two in Nor -Cal points , and number o ne Paul Orl andi. For th e first two laps it was Dave Faria a n d Yarrow in side- by-side act ion, but as th e compe tition contin ued, Orlando sa w hi s cha nce and moved from fourth to second pos ition on lap four , and man aged to hold ocr Yarrow. As Bast gra bbed the chec kered flag for hi s victory lap , it was Orlandi, Yarrow a nd Far ia in that order of finish. Result s SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Mike Best; 2. Paul Orlendi; 3. Duane Yarrow; 4. David Faria Jr. HANDICAP M AIN : 1. Mike Bast 2. Rocky Robin son ; 3. Ken Gray; 4 . Robert Cur ry; 5. Marc Prince; 6. Harlan Bast Jr. SECOND DIV: 1. Ron Porteous; 2. J im Brenner; 3. Harlan Best; 4 . Steve Hill ; 5. Rick Stephens; 6. Charlie Haines. THIRD DIV; 1. Mike Dyer; 2. Rory Rundle; 3 .John Proto; 4 . Mark Bergqu ist ; 5. Don Purdy ; 6. leonard M iller. JR MAIN : 1. Scott Brant; 2. Greg Hancock; 3. Bobby Hedden; 4 . Coors Wright; 5. Tommy Heddan. Hansen, Pfetzing pfast in Visalia By Bill Locey VISALI A, CA, MAY 28 All of the moisture wasn't in the warm , humid night air Saturday in Visalia for round four of speedway motorcycle madness. Unfortunatel y, th ere was moisture on the track. A lot of it. A six-i nch water main burst on the preceeding Wednesday, caus ing all sorts of traumas, none of whi ch were terminal. The show went on as planned and several sections of 20' pipe were added at both ends of the track to avoid the muck, making the eighthmile oval approach the fifth-mile Ventura Raceway in length. None of this logistical stuff mattered much to Rob Pfetzing - he maxim ized his pleasure by winning the Scratch 'main in his '83 Central Valley debut. Kenny Hansen had fun, too , as he won the Handicap honors. In the Scratch main , local rider Donny Butler had the crowd on its feet as he seemed ready to pull the upset of the year by leading the race - for awhile. Butler cra shed all by himself coming out of turn four and was history for the night. That made Pfetzing the star of the night as he a nd his brand new trophy had an enjoyable drive back to Buena Park. And Bill Meister, back in th e saddle for the first time since 1976, rode well

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