Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

in Ventura 's l O-week-old season talk about variety. After laying it down 10 avoid a fallen Russ Romero, Bart Onash got up off hi s wall et and ca me ba ck 10 win his heal over Ventura local Mik e Coni glio a nd o the rs. Randy Beddow won hi s heal on a restart after Jim Evans gO I bent out o f shape on turn four a ll by himself. and ahead 100. hitting hard enough to break his collarborne. Larry Will ey - ready for a D-I rid e - won his heat after getting by Randy Ros camp after trying for four laps. Onash won the uneventful main event by miles. And Lou Kreisberg. son of the jolly Ridgecrest prom ot er, did lik ewise in th e Third Divi sion main. Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Lance King ; 2. Mike Faria; 3 . Sam Ermolenko; 4. Tim McCasland. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Guy Waterson; 2. Buddy Robinson : 3. Sam Ermolenko; 4 . Tim McCasland; 5 . Rob ptetzing; 6. Gary Ford. SECOND DIV : 1. Bart Onash ; 2. Larry Willey; 3 . Kev in Krugh; 4 . Randy Beddow; 5 . Randy Roscamp; 6. Mike Coniglio. THIRD OIV: 1. Lou Kre isberg: 2. Donny McCusker; 3. John Aitken; 4. Kenny Hansen; 5. Rich Perkins; 6. Jimmy Bradley. MATCH RACE: King def. Shawn McConnell. Linn, Gray uncork wins at Napa By Jann Houston Photo by John Richlin NAPA, CA , JUNE II, 1983 Ken Gray leads Rocky Robinson in the Napa Handicap main event. H e went down on th e back straight aga inst the wall a nd two riders were unable to avoid him as on e glanced off him an d a no ther went over th e top. After leav ing the track on a backboard, th e report was that he is definitel y hurt , but will be OK . After a restart Robert Buono won th e event. Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Mike Bast; 2. Steve Lucero; 3 . Mike Curoso; 4. Lance King . HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Denny Seopelilte: 2. Keith Chrisco; 3 . Gene Woods; 4 . Dave Sims; 5. Robert ?fatring; 6 . John Sandons. SECOND DIV: 1. Shane MeDoneld: 2. GuyWaterson; 3 . Randy Blevins; 4 . Mike Mau8cane; 5. Greg Ayers; 6. Cary FaBs. _ THIRD DIV : 1. Robert Buono: 2. Bryaee Eikelburger; 3 . Russell 8aearells; 4 . Eddie Marshall; 5. Krugh; 6. Jim O·Oeli. MATCH RACE: Faria def . King. King, Waterson show old style at Ventura By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA. JUNE 14 Lance King had infinitely more fun Tuesday night at Ventura Raceway than he did the last time he visited the "Commo- 26. , ,l tion By The Ocean." Last year, he broke his collarbone in a turn-two crashfourdays before the American Speedway Final. ending his chances for the World Championship even before they had begun. This time, King won won the Scratch main. Also this time, King rode Ventura after the qualifier. It was flashback time. only more so, in Handicap racing. Guy Waterson, who rode here on opening night in June of '71, and is now back in the saddle after seven years and two kids, won his first Division One trophy since who knows when. A rapid Rob Pfetzing, riding with ruthless a bando n, passed Waterson on the last lap of their Handicap heat for a close win. But Waterson , orr the zero and with no one to pass, managed to keep his pursuers behind him thereafter. Waterson's semi victory was astartto-finish yawner. But behind him, it was chaos on wheel s as Pfetzing and Gary Ford passed all th e slo wer riders a fter a few laps , th en took turns passing each other - all of which kept local-favorite Shawn McConnell in fourth and out pf a tran sfer. Meanwhile, Tim McCasland, the "Yellow Peril," ran his Handi cap win streak to five straight after winning his sem i off the 20-yard line. " Sudden Sam" Ermolenko last-turned Scott Ormiston to secure the final transfer spot. Waterson was flawless in the main, but then again , he had to be. The fast company behind him, namely Errnolenko and Buddy Robinson, began breathing down his neck by the end of the third lap. With the Budman threatening on the inside and Errnolenko on the outside, it took all of Waterson's acquired skills to hold them in check, just like the good oJ' days. King, blown away in his Handicap heat, had an equally rude awakening in his Scratch heat. Young McCasland outgated the top scorer in the British Speedway League, and took a turn-two lead . Nothing lasts forever , however, and King was in the driver's seat by turn four. Still, the whole thing was quite a mindblower, and a great confidence-builder for McCasland. In the semi, King had to pass Ermolenko from behind to win, and so he did . McCasland outgated and -h eld off the Budman for four laps to transfer 10 the main behind a streaking Mike Faria. Flying Mike, the winningest rider at Ventura since King won 16 times in '81, took his crash of the year into the turn bales in his Handicap heat, but was unbeaten in his Scratch heats. Errnolenko, Faria and King flew out of the gate in the main and cranked around turns one and two wh eel to wheel; looking lik e one bike and two shadows. King jumped out ahead going into turn three, but Ermolenko and th en Faria kept the heat on until the end, coming up three lengths short. King was the fifth different rider to win the main After the sudden. unexpected rain which forced a cancellation at Auburn the night before, northern California riders were more a n xio us than usual to get to th e ra cing action in Napa. More an xious th an most was Pat Linn, who had just pi cked up a new Welake from Mik e Bast and was ready to see what he could do with it. Linn placed second in his first two Scratch events, transferring 10 the m ain event where h e dr ew the much sought-after pole position. As the gate went up David Faria Jr. took the lead with Duane Yarrow second and Paul Orlandi third. Linn did not have a good sta rt . On the second lap, Yarrow did a' very unusual 1800 turn. moving Orlandi into second and Linn into third. In the fourth turn of lap two Faria went wide. forcing Yarrow and Orlandi out wide with him. Linn drove hard and smooth to the inside, passing the rest of the field and gaining a lead that was never threatened. Orlandi was second. Yarrow third, and Faria fourth. It was Linn's first Scratch main at Napa in 1983. The Handicap main event was a battle from beginning io end between Ken Gray and Robert Curry.Gray took the lead, as Curry made him work to keep it , and never let either one of them forget how close he was, ready to capitalize on any mistake either of them might make. On the forth lap Steve Elstins added a little extra excitement of his own as he went wide, crashed into the wall and ended his night in some soft plywoodl The side show did not cause Gray to lose his concentration, or the . lead, as he won another Handicap main. Curry, still driving hard was a clos e second and Faria, who never got his chance, was third ! The Division Two main was one of those pleasant surprises - a real race. David Chaidez held the lead for the first two laps. Sixteen-year-old Mike Parsons, just out of the Junior Division at the end of the 1982 season, took him in turn two of the third lap and went on for his second D-2 win at Napa this season. Chaidez held on 10 make it close, a llowing Pa rson s the win by less th an a tir ewidth . Scott Briard was third. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Pat Linn ; 2. Paul Orlandi; 3. Quane Yarras; 4 . David Faria Jr. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Ken Gray; 2. Robert Curry : 3 . David Faria Jr .; 4. Dennis Davis ; 5. SteveElstins; 6 . Marc Prince. OIV TWO : 1. Mike Parsons ; 2. David Chaidez; 3. Scott Briard; 4 . Charl ie Haines: 5. Bill Calicura; 6. Ban Bast . DIV THREE: 1. Mark lindsay; 2. Keith Kava naugh; 3 . Tom Castagnola. JR : 1. Scott Brant: 2. Bobby Hedden: 3 . Coors Wr ight; 4 . Tommy Hedden ; 5. Darrell Anderson. Bast, Oxley tops at Costa Mesa ByJim Brown COSTA MESA, CA, J UNE 10 Costa Mesa Scratch racing belonged to Mike Bast Friday night as h e swept the Scratch program. Bast, riding for Justice Bros. and Pre-Fab Erectors, was so far ahead in each race it wa s almost an overkill. Bast had to face only on e Scratch heat winner in th e main, Jim Lawson. Mike Faria and Shawn Moran won their Scratch heats, but in semifinal racing, Faria parked it and bit th e dust, and Moran broke the tapes and wa s disqualified. Moran went on to win the consolation with Faria in a strong second. Sam Errnolenko had been a sur prise lately with some excellent riding Mechanical problems hav e been his biggest probl em . In th e Scrat ch main, a breakdown relegated him to sp ecta to r status. H e filled the progr am on both sid es with second places and a win in hi s Handi cap heats from the 40-yard line. Steve Columbo won th e Handicap heat and semi, but fell down in th e main. Tom Burba and Gary Ford won th eir Handicap heats, but everybody, including semi-final winner John Sandona, got to watch as " Bad " Brad Oxley found his throttle a nd took the main event out of their hands. At intermission, after the Junior main event was won by Ryan Evans, the crowd demanded to see a match race between Mike Bast and Shawn Moran. Moran took the checkered for the one-lap race . Second Division racing had its share of crashes and Russell Romero did a couple of £lips in turn four to thrill the crowd. Gary Faas, Randy Blevins and Mark Weaver won the heat races, but all three riders took the last three places in the main as Denny Scopellite, sponsored by Hibie and radio station KROQ took the win. Third Division had it's usual compliment of crashes, one of which was sad for Ray Stafford, who had the second heat won , but fell down on his way to the finish line, allowing Randy Roscamp to take the win. David Hancock was undefeated as he won both his heat and the main event. Hancock's win came after a restart from a crash involving himseI£ and Walt Farnum, who took a blow 10 the head and a trip in the ambulance. • Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Mike Bast ; 2. Mike Curoso : 3. Jim Lawson; 4. Sam Ermolenko. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Brad Oxley; 2. John Sandona ; 3. Robert Pfetzing: 4 . Gery Ford; 5. Steve Columbo; 6. Dand DeTemple. SECOND DlV ; 1. Denny Seopellite; 2. Ron Blan ton; 3 . Dennis Briggs; 4. Mark Weaver; 5. Randy Blevins; 6. Gery Faas. THIRD OIV: 1. David Hancock; 2. George Fish· beck; 3. Randy Roscamp; 4. Frank Steiner; 5. Mike Buschman; 6. Walt Farnum. JR : 1. Ryan Evans; 2. Greg Hancock; 3 . Jessie ; Finch ; 4. Jordan Duncan; 5. David BUSby 6. Trinon CiraUo . MATCH RACE: 1. Shawn Moran; 2. Mike Bast.

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