Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ . -----=,SpeedlNay_...:......-- _ ~ z « ~ o w ir lL :r :: ~ > III o ..... o :r ... David Hancock on his way to a First Division win at Ventura. Christian cops Costa Mesa By Scott Daloisio CO ST A MESA, CA, MAY 3 Alan " Crazy" Christian crossed the fin ish line in first place at th e end of an incredible first lap and rode the rest of th e way (Above) Alan Christian (left) and Rob "Five Flavors" Pfetzing at Carlsad; Christian won the Scratch main. (Below) Lance King trails "Sudden Sam" Ermolenko at Ascot's South Bay Stadium. Christian two-for-two at Carlsbad By Scott Daloisio CARLS BAD, CA, MAY 5 G M-mounted Alan " C razy" Ch ristian co ntin ue d h is domination of th e southern Ca lifornia speedway scene by taking 26. his fourth Scra tch main event in the pas t 10da ys a t the Carl sbad Raceway Sunday n ight. The show also h ighlighted the talents of 1985's two best roo kies as Dou g Nicol took top hon ors in th e H andicap main and J eff J ohnson emerged the victor in Seco nd Division ac tion. Ni co l (Pedco Eng./Coast Grain Co ./FMF /Ca r lis le Ti res / Ascot T h ursday Nigh Speedway/ Bel-Ray / Cha mpion / lm med iato &Associates/ Bat es/ T a yl o r Co ncre te Pumpin g Weslake), a Lance King prot ege, suffered last-l ap defeats in hi s hea t and mi .. but .in. 1he. main. ~"'OIi Ji~ . tri ed to duck under Christian in turn two but he was T -boned by Ferrell and dropped back. Tha t was all Christian need ed as he th en had a sizea ble lead a nd put it in cruise co nt ro l. Moran was running th ird after he recovered from th e first-bend inci dent but he lit erall y rocketed his way next to King a t th e white flag. H e th en shot past Kin g as th ey travelled down the back straight-away th e fin al time for second. Christi an took th e win by a very healthy margin over Moran, King and Ferrell. John son (Fo u nta i n Radi ator/ Bu tch ' s Gr inder s/Simpsoni Joll y Farms/Gary's Au to Supply /BFD Weslake) mad e it look like child's pl ay in Second Divi sion as he easil y wo n h is heat a nd th e main. Bryce Eikelberger, J immy O 'Dell and Sh an e H awl ey trailed a t the Iin ish of the Scratch four-I apper. Rookie Andy Johnson (T o m Topping /Parts Exchan ge/Mom ) won h is first-ever main event on a borrowed Godden in Th ird Divis ion actio n. Kevin Kru gh fin ished second with Dan a Dumond th ird in th e wild affair. Tonigh t's ac tion packed races were run off quickl y a nd smooth ly a nd th e checkered flag at the end of th e Scra tch ma in fell a t 9:43 p .m., sending th e fans on th eir way home early. len gths a hea d of the screami ng pack. Da vid H an cock bea t N ico l off the 10yard line a t the o utset of the five-lap grind. H ancock opened up a slim lead but Nicol qu ickly chopped it down o n lap three a nd raced pas t o n th e o uts ide as th ey entered turn three. Once Nicol was out front he ra n away for his firs t-ever Handicap main win a t Carl sbad . Han cock took th e pl ace spo t whi le Denn is Bran sford took the' show position. . Christian (ST P/Va lvoline/Cha mpion /Cirello Racin g/Hi-Point/PBII K&N/Bell Fiberg lass Concep ts GM ) has beensimp ly devasta tin g ~s of lat e Results a nd Sunday ni ght was no differen t, SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Alan Christian (GM); 2. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 3 , Lance King (Wes); 4, Dubb Ferrell He finis hed seco nd in hi s Scra tch (Jaw) . hea t bu t he came back a nd blew them HANDICAP: 1. Doug Nicol (Wes); 2. David Hen cock (Was); 3. Denn is Bransford (Wes); 4. O.ubb away in his sem i. For th e main he Ferrell (J aw ); 5. Lance King (We s); 6 . Jeff Spring drew ga le two wi th defen ding Nat ionman (Wes). a l Ch am p ion Kell y Moran in o ne, . SECOND DIV: 1. Je ff Johnson (Wes); 2. Bryce Eikelberger(Gdn); 3.J immy O'Dell (Wes); 4. Shane " Da ngerous" Dubb Ferrell in three Hawley (Was). a nd La nce Kin g o n the ex treme o utTHIRD ON: 1. Andy Johnson (Jaw); 2 . Kev in Krugh (J aw); 3. Dana Dumond (Jawl; 4 . Greg Nelside . T hey were fairly even out of the son (Wes). ga te with Christian winn in g the turn MATCH RACE; 1. Steve Lucero (Wes); 2. Kelly Monon (Gdnl. • s:w;,Ns~~ to take tJ1..e. lsfd. Mora !]•• ••••••• sa •• &. • •• •• • I~t tt " to victory in th e Scra tch main event at th e O ran ge County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa Fr ida y night. Christian (ST P/Valvoline/ Cha mpion/Cirello Racing/Hi-Poin tlPBII K&N /Bell /F ibergl as s Concepts) seemed to be mired in a slump over th e first few weeks of th e season, but he wa s just taking some time to figure o u t the gea ri ng on h is new GM. It ap pears th at he has figured it out, and he has been blazing over the past week taking three wins a nd a second pl ace fini sh in Scratch action. Fr ida y Christ ian won all three of hi s Scratch rides in co nvinci ng style. In th e main he ca me from gate two, a nd he and John Sandona battled . handlebar-to-handlebar for th e lead into tum one. But they went wide in the turn a nd Ermolenko swept underneath into th e lead. Christian shed Sandona on th e back chu te for second and bla sted by Errnolenko, using the cush ion a t the end of the first circuit. Christian cu t to th e in side on lap two and repelled all of Errnolenko's cha llenges all the way to the checkered. Errnolenko did get his front tire alongside Christian's rear as they came off turn 'two on th e final revolution, but he .did a sma ll wh eelie a nd had to settle for a close seco nd. Sandona finished th ird in the wild affair with Kell y Moran taking fourth. Tom Burba (Cod y Racing/Oakley/ Bell/Hallman/STP/ Bel-Ray/Warren Reid Racing/Pro Design Jawa) got on the program for th e first time this season at Costa Mesa, and he smoked the co m pet ition three ti mes and captured th e H andicap main . Burba started on th e20- yard-line and put on a devastating di spl ay as he ran awa y a nd h id from th e pack in the main. Mike Mazzacan e fin ished a distant second, wit h Steve Lucero gen!ng past a stubborn Greg Ayers for thud. Everyon e has been talking .ab0!-1t . Dou g Ni col as th e new sensa tion III speed way, but th ey shou ld also look at J eff J ohnson who ente red Friday night as a rese.rve a nd wen ~ ~?m e wi th th e win III Second DIVISion. J ohnson (Fonta na Radiator/Butch 's Grinder s/Simp son /] oil y Farms / Ga ry's Auto Supply/BFD Weslake) . (Continued to page 30) .. _... _. . . ., . ......- . . ~

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