Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a ~ .. iii a ...J « c 1= a ~ u en > CD en a a ..... ~ 00 Ol :I: D- ~ C(") ..c u ro ~ ~ Bobby Schwartz passes Sam Ermolenko on the inside on his way to t he Scratch main win at San Bernardino; Ermolenko was fourth . Schwartz boogies at IMS By Scott Da lo isio SAN BER N ARDIN O , CA, MA R . 3 "San Bern a rdino is my favorite track. You can really race on it." Those were the words o f Bo bb y Sch wartzafter he thrilled a huge crowd with a dazz ling display of speedway moves to win th e Scratch mai n at th e 7UP/ L ike Spring C lassi c a t j ohn La Do uceu r 's Inland Mo to rcycle Speedway Su n day a fternoon. Actuall y, Sc hwa rtz (Silko lene /Bell/ O ak Iey I C i re 110 R a ci n g/ Si ni sal o l H ancock Design Wes) gave the su ndren ched crowd a show th e ent ire afternoon as h e swept th e Scra tch porti on o f th e fest ivities. Aft er fini shing fourth in th e Scrat ch m ains th e two previous ni ghts, Sc h wa rtz was bound a nd determ in ed to win Sunday a fternoo n . H e drew the pole for the main and immediately assu m ed _ th e lead o ver Mike Faria, Brad Ox ley and Sam Ermo lenk o. Faria tried to sn eak by on th e inside on the ba ck ch u te on th e fir st revolution but Schwartz was a ble to fend-off th e effort. That wa s th e only ser io us cha llen ge th e " American Intern ational " faced in th e four la p per. Even though Schwartz went th e remainder of the way unchallenged, th ere was still a wild ra ce - between Faria and Oxley - for seco nd . Oxley tried to use th e outside to h is advantage but co u ld not find th e n ecessary tra ction to get the job done. Schwartz took th e win by a co m fo rta ble margin with Faria edging Oxley for seco n d . Tim McCa sl and (S hoe ilFra me Shop/GeneThurman Racing Wes)swept th e H andi ca p side o f th e p rogram Frida y a t Costa Mesa a nd just to prove it was no fluk e he did it agai n Sunda y a t IM S. Pl ain a nd sim p le, h e put a severe h urting o n th e field. At th e o u tse t h e o u rga red Mike Mazzaca ne fro m th e 20 a nd never look ed back . Defend ing National Champion Kell y Moran go t a fantasti c sta rt from th e 40 and was a close th ird by th e time th e field rea ch ed turn one. It ran w ith McCasland slo wly but surely o pe ni ng up hi s lead over Maz zacane a nd Moran unt il th e fin al la p wh en Moran 's bik e died a llowin g ser ies point leader Faria into third. McCasland h appil y t ook hi s sec o n d checkered in 48 hours ove r Mazzaca ne and Faria . It was " Show time" Bob Ott (Cy cle Tech Gdn ) turn ing in a sp len d id ~r- • . • I.' ~ forma n ce to takea pop u lar win in th e Support class mai n . R a nd y Beddow a nd Wayne Leu tz wer e having a fierce battle for th e lead on the fourth go'round when 011 ca me out of nowhere a nd strea ked o ff 10 th e checkered flag. After two rounds Faria leads th e Spring Classic series which wraps-up March 9 a t Long Bea ch Veterans st a di um . Apri I 3. IMS opens its gat es for th e II th co n sec u tive season o f speedwa y action. Res ults SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Bobby Schwanz IGdn): 2. M ike Far ia (Jaw); 3 . Brad Oxley {W es); 4 . Sam Ermolen ko ewes). HA NDICA P: 1. Tim M cCasl and (Wes); 2. M ike M auaca ne (J aw); 3. M ike Faria (J aw); 4 . Alan Christian (GM): 5. Brad Oxley(WeS): 6. Kell y Mora n (Gdn). SUPPORT: 1. Bob Ott (Gdn); 2. Wa yne Leu' . (We s): 3. Rand y Beddow (Wes ); 4 . Don Faulkn er (We sl; 5. W arr en Reid (Ja w) ; 6. Ma rk W eaver (Gdn) . Moran marches to Classic victory By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA, MAR. 2 National Speedway an d U.S. Pairs Champion Kell y Moran took th e Scratch main victory in th e third of four rounds of S p r i ng Cl a ssi c raci ng a t Ventura R a ceway. Lance King wa s th e victor o n th e Scra tch Handicap si de of th e I p ro gram . It was not exactly Speedwa y 'Til Dawn , but th e fans got th eir m oney's worth in th e 24-ri der, 24-race' p rogram. Fast g-uys Bobby Schwartz, Mike Fa ri a , Moran a n d King each had eigh t rid es on th e ni ght. T he racing wa s relat ively sa fe a nd sa ne, wit h th e excep tion o f a n Andy Nort hrup crash th at gave Sch wa rtz q uite a scare. O th erwise, Northrup was g-reat - as a 50-yard-line rider sho uld be - h e d usted off Fa ria and Mo ran in h is firs t ride. T he 12 scratch h ea ts succeeded in p utting- the eight hottest guys in to the tw o semis. In th e first one, " Su dden Sam" Er molenko fell right in fro nt o f th e C hamp in a wild and crowde d turn- two tu ssle, bUI Moran m ana ged to la y it down a nd save unsight ly tiremarks on Er rnol en ko 's body. On th e res ta rt, Ventura points lead er Faria go t th e ga te and won th e race over Moran a n d Ed Cas tro. In the o the r semi, '82 T ra ck Cha m p R ick Miller go t a kill er ga le but round tra cti on arou nd turn o ne a n d u nl oaded into th e haybales a bo u t 20 feet from hi s billboard. On th e re.s, '!H ~ ~<;ll~a~t!N?~tf~,~U,t,~~lj~q?f John Sandona styled on his way to the Scratch ma in w in at the first Spring Classic race at Orange County Fairgrounds. Kin g , who ma naged to ho ld off Northrup on a borrowed (a nd slower ) bike. Th e Scra tch main was a pro moter's drea m f eaturing track record holder for most wi ns ( 16) in a season, Kin g . plus three former tra ck cha m p s - Schwartz (1980), Faria (1983) and Moran (1984 ). Moran g-ot th e g-ate a nd was gon e. King p assed Faria for second and was ga in in g- on Moran. but ran o u t of laps . Handicap raci ng was also pretty d reamy. Five of th eeighI 50-yard-line rid ers transferred in four heals. King and Moran won more fans during their winning heat ra ces. 1978 Track Champ Ala n Christian won his heat wi th h is best Vent ura ride in vears, a n d T im McCa sla nd ran away to wi n h i shrot orf~ e W. . In a m ost p leasa nt surp rise , yo u ng Ven tura local Walt Farn u m got on t h e pr o g- ram b e cau se so m eo ne scra tche d, bu t made th e most o f h is o pport u n ity a nd made th e main . In th e m ain , Farnum went a bit too w ide a ro u nd turn two as th e hordes of hot g uys made like a frei ght train a nd w h izzed by. C hristi an , leading th e Ipack, took R andy Blevins a la p lat er - moments before King got by o n rhe o u tside for th e win. The 15th seaso n o pe ner a t th e C ommotion by th e O cean will be Tuesday night, April 2. T h ere will be a speedw ay on ly practi ce on Saturda y, March 16 a t n oon. Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Kelly Moran ; 2. Lance King ; 3. M ike Faria; 4 . Bobby Schwanz. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Lance King : 2. Alan Chr is tia n; 3. Kelly M oran; 4 . Paul Orlandi; 5. Wah Far num; 6. Randy Blevins. Sandona sizzles at Spring Classic By Scott Da lo isio COSTA MESA , CA, MAR . I A packed house seated in severa l new grandsta nds enth usi as tica lly wat ch ed J ohn Sandona , o f Rech e Canyon, Californ ia r ide h is Wesla ke to victory in th e Scratc h main in th e Coors Sprin g C lassic a t th e O rang-e Coun ty Fa irgrou nds Friday even ing. Sa ndo na ( M iddle Earth Videol Samm y T an ner Di stributing."Arai l Malcolm Sm it h/ STP I Circle Ind u stri es), who had hi s best yea r to dat e in 1984, ca me o u t o f th e gal e behind Ri ck Miller a n d Bobby Schwartz in l l~ ll qjl!<;.!l !T1.a•i(l . M iller i'ssu m,~ t~ e point posi tion co mi ng of f tu rn two o n the openi ng circui t wi th Sa ndona adva nci ng to second on th e back ch ute. Sa ndona mov ed u p to Mi ller's rear tire a nd ' a ttem p ted to go by on the inside as th ey exiled tu rn two o n la p two. Mi ller foug-ht him off th ere but Sandona got inside him as they exited turn four a nd took the lead at the halfway point. Once out front the third-place finisher in th e 1984 Na tio nal turned on the power and ran away from the pack. Sandona took th e check ered lar ahead of Miller with Mi ke Faria, aboard a new jawa. th ird and Sc hwartz getting the wrap up. Tim McCa s la n d (S h oe i/ Fra m e Shop/jones Goggles/Gen e T h u rman R a cing Wes) wo n a ll th ree o f hi s races, including the H a ndi cap main , fro m the 20- yard line. Mc Casla nd a u ld iced Craig Schaefer and Denn is Briggs in th e first ben d a nd turned in a fine perfo rmance th e rest o f th e wa y to go uncha llenged . Briggs went down before th e en d o r th e fir st revolution a nd took himself o u t o f th e hunt. That a llowed Keith Chrisco int o third . McC asl and took th e checkered with ro om 10spare ove r th e shar p- looking Sch aefer , Chrisco and Fa ria , who was th e on ly rider to m ake i t to bo th of the wild main events. Second -yea r ride r Ri ch Sweaney ca me from the 10 to score a n impressive victory in th e fir st Division T wo o ut ing o f th e yea r at Costa Mesa. Dave H ancock ga ve Sweaney a strong cha llenge early in the five lapper, but as th e race wore o n , S wea ney was a ble to len gthen it o u t a ll th e way to j erry Kin g 's checker ed flag . T o give a n early indica tion of how tough th e co mpetition is going to be in 1985, thi n k about the follow in g. Stars suc h as Alan Chris tian, Steve Lucero a nd cu rrent num ber fo u r in the worl d , La nce Kin g , fa iled 10 transfer. Others suc h as defen ding Nati onal Cha mpio n Kell y Mo ran, Sa m Ermolen ko , Brad Oxley and Gene Woods fa iled to tra n sfer into the mai ns . All the wild regul ar-sea so n act io n begins March 29 at Oran ge Cou nty Fai rgrou nds. • Results SCRATCH MA IN: 1. John Sandona IWes): 2. Rick Miller (We sl; 3 . M ik e Faria (Jaw); 4 . Bobby Sch w artz (Wes). HA NDICAP: 1. Tim M cCasland (Wes); 2. Craig Sc ha ef e r (Jawl; 3 . Ke ith Chrisco (Wes) ; 4 . Mike Faria (Jaw); 5. Mark Dwyer (We s); 6. Dennis Bri ggs IGM). S EC orv: 1. Rich Sweaney (Jaw); 2. Dave Han - cock (We.); 3. Mike Golightly(Mael; 4. Don Faulkne r (Wes); 5. Walt Farnum (Jawl; 6. Vietor Robledo (Wes). M ATCH RACE: 1. Kelly Moran (Gdnl; 2. Bobby Schwanz (Wes). l . I ' 4 ...... 1 J I I -:. • • ... . I I . J ~ ~ . 1 1 l .. ) 1 35 • .

• Cover