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/126819
Speedway ( Co n tin ued fro m p ag e 17) Nicol gets his first at Ventura By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA, APR. 23 Lance King, back in the saddle after a scary get-off here last week, won the Scratch main Tuesday night at the Ventura Ra ceway. And Dou g Ni col 'm ade hi s First Division debut a successful one as he took H andicap hon ors fro m th e IO-yard lin e. Kin g , wh o took th e week off wearing a neck bra ce, was h is usu al self in th e Scrat ch portion of th e program. H e won hi s Scratch heat by a di stan ce, and was pull in g a n encore in his semi wh en 1978 Track Champion Alan Christian tri ed th e ou tside lin e, where th e acti on is. Christi an rocketed by a surprised King on th e back straight of the fin al lap to take th e win and a sta nding ova tion . In th e main, Steve Lucero got the gate, bu t went too wid e aro und turn two, King cu t underneath and was never threat en ed again. That marks two wins for King on Tuesday night; just 14 more and he ties hi s tra ck record for victories set back in '81. While it's o n ly th e second full week of five n ights of speedway per week, th e a ttri tio n ra te is a lrea dy beginning to show. Five First Divisio n scratches gave some new faces a cha nce. Las t week, it was David H ancock a nd J eff Springman , th is tim e, it was Nicol' s turn. Alread y winner of Second Division races everyw here, Nicol seemed a bit nervou s in h is h eat race. H e led hi s hea t from sta n to fini sh, but bo bbled repeatedl y aro und th e co rne rs: In the semi, N icol was ultra-sm ooth. H e had to be, three form er Bri tish Leagu e riders - Kin g, Rob Pfetzin g a nd Shaw n McConnell - plus Mike Faria a nd Andy Northrup, were in th e race, but no o ne cou ld ca tch Nicol. The ot her sem i was a "Showtim e" Bob all show. Starting-o n th e 50, all pi cked off a rid er a lap with so me real qu ick corners, nail in g H ancock on the last bend for a seco nd behind Springma n . In the main , N icol scoo ted away early with Springman o n hi s tail. Not far behind th em , King, McConnell a nd all di ced for nearl y a lap unt il all went down aro und turn th ree, th en just as quickly bounced back up a nd kept going. King took third behind Sprin gm an , wh o co uld not ca tch Nicol. "Storm in' Norman " Neumann got a Division Two rid e by virtue of th e same chain reaction that gave Nicol his Divison One ride. Neumann took the Divi sion Two honors from the zero-yard line. Ronnie Correy, in hi s Ventura debut, was second. Ro n Swenson, ~Ol a good gate, and won th e Third Division trophy. And finall y, welcome ba ck to "Slidin ' Sonny" Nutter , wh o took his first ride since Ben Hur was a boy, but fail ed to transfer. Nutter has strong ties to Tuesday n ight speedway - h e rod e for th e Ventura Ch argers back in '72 a nd cap tained th e Ventura Sharks in 1976. • Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1, Lance King; 2. Steve Lucero; 3. Alan Chr ist ian; 4 . Sam Ermolenko . HA NDICA P M AI N: 1. Doug Nicol; 2. Je ff Springman; 3. Lance King: 4. Shawn McC on nell ; 5. David Hancock ; 6. Bob Ott . SECOND OlV: 1. Norman Neumann; 2. Ronnie Correy; 3. Kent Bow ser; 4 .J immie O'Dell; 5. W ayne Leutz ; 6. Ch ris Mistr ett a. THIRD DIV; 1. Ron Swenson; 2. Kurt Markham; 3. J immy Ge ntil e; 4 . Steve Dono va n; 5 . W ayne Selman; 6. Ar chie Perez. MATC H RACE; 1. A ndy Non hrup del . Steve Lucer o. SLIP-ONS for Both the 900 & 600models $199.00 See your local dealer or call =IIEilIlEilS 1-800-423-5246 (Calif. 1-800-382-3689) 7900 Deering Ave., Clnoga Plrlt. CA 91304 19