Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.. ... ... . , ' " .. 10 -'--=.,SjJeedlNaY_ 'rl~ ----,-o Cii s .oJ « c 5 u Vl ~ O' I- o :I: 11. • Andy Northrup leads Steve Lucero at Ascot. Lucero's win in the Scratch main makes him the first rider to s~ore two wins at the new facility, , Moran magic at Carlsbad's California Speedway , , By Gordie Orr CAR LSBAD,CA,MAYI9 Defending National Champion " Kin g" Kelly Moran put it all together Sunday night to win both the Handicap and Scratch mains before the larger crowd of th e sea son a t Cal iforn ia Speedway in Carlsbad. ' ,. . - Moran (STP / Ara i/Oakl ey / ka lGard/Knotty Idea 's/Cirell o Racing Godden) had a tough task on th e Handicap side of the program as h e was forced to start a ll th e way back on the 60-yard line. He took a second to jeff jones i n his heat nice but came back to beat jones in the sem i. The m ain almost looked like a jones or David Hancock victory but in the end it was aga in the " Kell y Moran Thrill Show" , jones, who had cap tu red th e Second Division m ain the week before, started on the 10and took the lead at the start over H ancock a n d "Fast" Eddie Castro. jones held a comfortable lead over th e firs t two circuits but Hancoc k began to close in on th e third go-round. At the same tim e Moran • reli eved Cast ro of the third spot. Han cock began breathin g . down j ones'ineck o n lap fo ur but a ll eyes were o n Mo ran as h e quickl y closed th e gap . As th ey took the white flag an d h eaded i n to tu rn o ne fo r th e last time yo u co u ld have thrown a blanket o ver th e..three lead ers. Coming o ff turn two H ancock go t in side j ones and took th e lead. j o nes th en went wide in the 'n ex t corner a llowi ng Moran in to seco nd . Mor an tu rned the throttle o n a nd had a thrilli n g drag race with H anco ck th at en ded ', with a crowd- p lea sing photo fini sh that went to Moran by, inches.• • • • • The Scratch main wasn 't quite as ' th rill in g as Mo ran passed "Flyin'" Mike Faria o n th e' back ch u te o n lap . o ne a nd never looked back . Faria had th e .lead from ga te two but Moran sh o t by o n th e back ch u te. Once th e little dynamo got by - it was all hi s and the cro wd loved ever y minute of i t. In the en d it wa s Moran by 10 lengths o ver Faria, Steve Lucero a rid Mark Dwyer. ' Shane Hawley (Pau l j ones/Karl Sellenthin Wesl ake) swap ped the lead back and forth a few times with Victor Robledo o n the first lap befor e go in g on for th e lead and th e win in Second Di vision action. Marty Van Bl a rgen (Highl and Framers /W ild W est Mus icz'Don ' Butler/Sem i Goggles/Rainbow Fin Co. Weslake) won th e ' first main event of his ca reer in Third Di visi on action. Van Blargen led all th e way to win over a fast closing " Killer " Kelly Inman and Dana Dumond. Results THIRD DIV: 1. Many Van Blargan (Was) ; 2. Kelly Inma,; (Wes~; 3. Dana Dumond (Jaw); 4 . Valerie Robledo (Jaw); . SECOND DIV: 1. Shane Hawley (Wes); 2. Moose Kennedy (J aw ); 3. ViC10r Robledo (Wos); 4 . Doug Bowers (Jaw) . . MATCH RACE: I. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 2. Devid Hancock (Wes): 3. Ed Casl ro(Jaw);4. Bob Ott(Gdn); . 5. Jeff Jones (Wes); 6. Brad Oxley (Wes). SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 2. Mike Faria (Wes) ; 3. Stee Lucero (Wes) ; 4 . Mark Dwyer (Wes). · , ., Oxley tops Costa Mesa Scratch main . By Scott Daloisio , COST A MESA, CA, MAY 17 " Ga te one means nothing when you .ha ve Moran, Ermol enko and King in a ra ce. " Tha t's what Brad Oxley sai d while _ scoring a co nvinci ng win befo re o ver 6000 screa m ing fans. • •Oxley ca me i nto th e main winless on the night as he finished seco n d to " Sudden" Sa m Erm olenko in hi s h ea t a nd second to Kelly Moran in h is semi. It did seem as th ough he had saved th e best for lim as Oxley (Coors/ O aklev/STP/Hallman Weslake) led from th e ga te on th e first try . When the y go t to turn o ne Oxley an d Moran were jostl ing for th e led wh en Moran went down a nd Er m o len ko lav ed it down bringing out a red fla g an d a co m p lete restart. . On th e seco nd tr y Oxley aga in took th e ga te.with Mor an in cl ose pursuit. Ermolen ko ga ~s ed it o n the pole with a ni ce mo ve to reli eve Kin g of third o n th e firs t bend. H e then went after Moran a n d th ey became em broiled in a side-by-side war while Oxley was o pening u p a good-sized lead. Ermolenko we nt by Moran o n th e inside for second -in turn one o n th e third revolution . Moran then brought th e cro wd to th eir feet on th e ba ck chute as h e tr ied to jam hi s way back by o n th e inside only to have Ermolenko sh u t th e do or on hi s final cha llen ge . -W h ile a ll . the action ' was ' going o n behind him , Oxley .looked like he was o u t for a Sunday cruise and he took the win' with plenty of roo m to sp are. Greg Ayers (B&F Imports/M au. rice's Bikes/jones Goggles Wesl ake) rode an ex-jeremy Doncaster machine to three ea sy win s on the Handicap side o f th e program. In the m ain he sim p ly ran off a n d hid fromthe pack. T ha i left R andy Blevins to battle with Steve Lucero, Oxley, jim Law son a nd Kin g . They tr ied everything in the book to get past th e stubborn Blevins .but he was eq ua l to a ll of th eir challen ges a n d did a fantastic job for seco n d spo t: Ayer s took th e win by a half stra ig h ta wa y over Blevins an d Lucero. Ri ck Vanderham (R .R. Racing/ Golightly Maely ) wo n the Secon d Division main from the zero-yard line in a race th at was stopped by a ' spectacular ' crash. jordan Duncan took th e lead from the start and led until the fin al corner. There his footpeg cam e off and he hit the wall. Duncan flew over th e wall and into the steel p ipes in the box seats. H e was down for quite some time and the crowd was almost silent until he a mazi ng ly got up -and hopped over th e crashwall an d walked back to the pits under his own power. He then . received a standing ovation and a ' 'last-p lace finish for h is effort. Res ults . SCRATCH.MAIN: 1. Brad Oxley !Wes); 2. Sam Ermolenko (Wes); 3. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 4 . Lance King (Wes). HANDICAP: 1. Greg Ayers (Wes); 2 . Randy Blevins (Gdn~ 3. Steve Lucer o (Wes); 4. Brad Oxley (Wes); S. Jim Laws on (GM); 6. Lance King (Wes). SECOND DIV: 1. Rick Vanderham (Mae); 2. Bobby Tocco (Wes); 3. Steve Flanagan (W es); 4. Louis Kossuth (Mae); S. Jordan Dunca" (Gdn); 6. Jeff Johnson (Wos). THIRD DIV; 1. Kelly Inman (Wes); 2. Mark Hately (Wasl; 3. Mi ke Dwyer (Jaw) ; 4 . Greg Nelson (Wes); S. Randy Skin ner (Jaw) ; 6. Tad Bertrand (Gdn). MATCH RACE: 1. Sam Ermolenk o (Wes); 2. Kelly Moran IGdn). Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Steve Lucero (Wes); 2. Lance King (Wes) ; 3 . Mike Faria (Jaw); 4 . Brad Oxley (Wes l. . ' HANDICAP: 1. Jeff Springman (Wos); 2. Lance Ki ng (Was); 3. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 4 . Brad 'Oxley (Wes); 5, Denny Scopeliha (Wos); 6. Keit h Chrisco (Wes). _ SECOND DIV: 1. Don BUl ler (Wos); 2. David Hancock (Wos); 3. Ronnie Corr ey IGdn); 4. Jimmy O' Dell (Wes~; 5. Louis Kossuth (Mae); 6. Steve Furman . ~. THIRD DIV: 1. Jeff J ohnson (Was); 2. Richard Perkins (Jawl; 3. Don JacksOn (Jaw); 4. Kent Bowser (Gdn); 5. Tod Benrand (Gdnl: 6, Ken Bidney (Jaw). . Ermolenko jams to fifth IMS win By Scott Da lois io SAN BERNARDINO, CA, MAY 15 Lucero scores second Scratch win at Ascot In 1979 Mike Bast, seven -tim e U .S. National Speedway Champ ion, set the IMS tra ck record of By Scott Daloisio 10 Sc ra tch m ain wins in a season. T he 1985 season is just o ver a quarter of th e' way throu g h an d " Sudden Sam" Ermolenko a lrea dy ha s five triumph s on hi s side of th e ledger. Wednesday ni ght a t Inland Motorcycle Speed way, Ermol enko took number.five after a thrilling duel with number th ree in th e world L an ce GA R DE NA, CA. MAY 16 Steve Lucero of Riverside became th e 'first rider .ro capture two scratch main event wins ' at the new Ascot South waiting to be bum ped o ff fro m th e number o ne spot in th e Scratch main a t the Orange County Fai rgrounds Bay Stadium when he held off Lance Friday night. Four laps la ter h e crossKing for four gruel ing laps Thursday ed -the Jine.with.his fist in the air after .• • .nighL. J e'f.S ~.ingmali .made .it .l WA wins in a row on th e H andicap side of th e program . As was th e case o n o pe ni n g night, it was clear tha t Lucero (Shoei/ Ka lG ard{Oakl ey/ STP /K&N /Oilzall / Super Spoke /V Ha ir By Bev/Los Patios Weslake) wa s th e fast est rider in th e facility a ll even in g long. After winning hi s h eat a n d sem i, Lucero drew a n d led from gate three a t th e sta rt of th e m ain . " Flyin' " Mike Faria and Lance Kin g gave im me dia te chase w it h Faria tr ying to ge t by o n the inside o ver th e fir st circ u i t while King tested th e, o uts ide line. Faria fad ed o n lap tw o but King kept th e heat o n : A s was th e case th e previous even i ng a t IMS , King sta lked Lucero using th e cus h ion the ent ire distance. Also as th e case, th e nigh t befor e, ih e cus h io n co ul d n ' t get King pa st the leader a n d he h ad to settle for seco nd spot some three lengths back . Faria ma intained th ird with Brad Oxley gett ing th e wrap-up. Springman (Bill 's P ipes/Troy Lee Design /S cott Goggles/M a lO Pro Lubricants Weslake) was kn ocked down by King a s they exited turn four o n th e.last lap but th e race was red -flagged due to a Keith Chrisco crash a nd was reverted to th e last co mpleted lap giving th e win to Sprin gman. Springman started on th e 10 a n d took th e led on the sta rt o ver Denny Scopeli tte a nd Chrisco. T he real sho w was co m ing from King who wa s making a mad dash through the pack from th e 40. H e dov e inside Chrisco for third in .turn o ne o n lap two. King stayed low and then took seco nd from Scopel itte as th ey exi ted turn four. King immediately put th e 'hea t on Springman but the ro o kie First ' Division rider refused to fold under th e pressure'. Finall y co m ing off tu rn two on th e la st lap King ga ve Springman a tap, sen ding him down. At the sa me time Chrisco bla sted th e ' fir st turn wall and skidded so me 50 feet bringing out the red . The win went to Springman; King got credit for second with Kelly Moran. j eff johnson (Fontana Radiator/ Butch' s Grind ers /Simpson /jolly Farms/Gary 's AUlO Suppl y/BFD Weslake) passed Richard Perkins in the last bend to win his 10 main of the season on the circuit .in Third Div ision action Perkins remained in second with Don jackson third. • King. . ~ .\ I' J , ~ ol: ., II 1= j' "

• Cover