Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-----=,SpeedlNay Earli er in th e even in g King took a victorv over Errnolenk o in th eir heat race. Ermol enko drew th e pol e in th e ma in wi th Kin g comi ng o u t o f th ree. Ermole n ko (Pick Yo ur Part AUIO Sa lvage/ Pacific Coast Lam in a tin gl Ar a i z j o n es G o ggl es /Am e r ican M ikuni /STP /Q& E/R.K. R a c i ng Cha in / Al Reed 's Polishing /Fram e Sho p / Ca r Tunes/Ka l-Gard Weslak e) was first OUIo f the ga te chased by Sieve L ucero , Kin g a nd Alan Christi an . Kin g went to th e cus h ion and raced pas t Lu cero o n th e back chu te for seco nd. At th a t point th ere were Iwo races on th e track. Erm ol enk o a nd Kin g locked up in a fierce battle for first wi th Lucero and Christian do in g likew ise for thi rd, Kin g hammered th e cus hion and p UI mor e bod y English in to h is effort every lap wh ile Errn ol enk o blasted arou nd o n th e po le. Th e ent ire crowd stood and roared as lap aft er lap they went a t each o ther for th e lead . Finall y in turn three on lap three King rod e it in very hard a nd bobbled , a llow ing Errn ol enko 10 open up a four-l en gth lead at the checkered . The crowd gave all four riders a standing ovation for their efforts. The Handicap main proved to be just as thrilling a s the Scratch affair with "Showtime" Bobby Ott (Cycle T ech/jones Gogglesl Arai Godden ) taking his first IMS win of the regular season. au started the evening on the 10 but after two sparkling performances early in the evening, he was moved back to the 20. au's arch rival Wayne Leutz was th e initial leader with Showtirne trying to go by on the inside as th ey ca me off two on lap o ne. There he was met by a n elbow that blocked his path. Robert Pfetzing then took th e lead a t th e en d of th e first circu it. au kept th e pressu re o n LeUlZ and he went by att he start of lap three wh en he and Ermolenk o sa ndwiched Leutz in tu rn one. They qui ckly ca ug h t up 10 Pferzing a nd just aft er th e Sid Suuon wh ile £lag , au ra ced by on th e inside in turn o ne . It then became a three-rider battle 10 th e chec kered as Pfetzin g a nd Erm ol enk o kept th e heal o n a ll th e way 10 th e chec kered. Al th e fin ish it was Sho wtime au over Pfetzin g a nd Ermol enk o and a ll three co u ld hav e been under th e sa me umbrella. Ri ch Sweaney (Zee's Weslak e) dazzled th e crowd with a spectac u lar ride from long yardage. Swea ney bo bbed a nd wea ved h is wa y thro ug h traffic a nd th en with a miracul ous move sp li t a four a breas t pa ck fro m th e back a t the end o f lap lWOfor th e lead. Dav id Hancock gave chase but Sweaney was unbeat abl e o n th e ni gh t. H ancock gra bbed seco nd with Lo ui s KOSSUlh thi rd, Jimm y G entile (3 P Racing j aw a ) took a three rider go in Third Division aft er a horrifying cra sh elim inated half the pack. On th e original try Wayne Harris was secon d wh en he was lapped from behind. Harris blasted into and over th e wall but his feet were sucked into the rear tire of the bike he borrowed for the race. That quick ly pulled him back over the wall in violent fashion . It took some 10 minutes to cut him fromthe to talled bike. Among other things he suffe red a very serious compound frac ture 10 one of his legs. Wednesday night May 22 is the first annual Bruce P en hall Classic for the First Division stars and the Ma lcolm Smith Cup for the top Junior riders. Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Sa m Ermol an ko IWes); 2. _ o Vi 9 C§ I: o u en >- CD ~ o :x: e, Kelly Moran (1) and Doug Nicol at Carlsbad, Moran won both D ivision One mains there Sunday. Lance King (Wes ); 3. Steve Lucero (Wes ); 4. Alan Christ ian IGM ) HANDICAP: 1. Bob 011 fGdnl; 2. Rob PlelZing (Wes); 3. Sam Ermolenko (Wes); 4 . Alan Christian fGdn ); 5. Lance King (Wes ); 6. Wayna Leutz (Wes l. SECOND DIY: 1. Rich Sweaney (Wes); 2. Dave Hancock (Wes l 3. Louis Kossuth IMae); 4 . Jeff Johnson (Wes ); 5. Guy Waterson (Wes); 6. Marl< Milazzo twes). THIRD OIV: 1. J immy Gentile (Jawl; 2. Lou Kre isberg (Jaw); 3. Karl Sellenthin (Jaw); 4 . Wayne Har ris fGdn l; 5. Kevin Krugh (Jaw); 6. Anthony Sanchez (Wes). JR: 1. Jessee Finch; 2. Tim Gew ecke; 3. Billy Felts ; 4 . Marshall Topp i ng . Ermolenko vanquishes Ventura By Bill Locey VENTURA, CA, MAY 14 On a night foggy enough to mak e pea sou p wi th, "S udde n Sam " Erm ol enk o wo n th e Scratch main o n the track wh ere he go t h is AMA license bac k in 1981. In 1985, Erm ol en ko is th e winningest rider in sout hern Califoria: now, he's won a t every track. Da vid H ancock, readv to ride Fi rst Division , won th e H an d icap ma in for th e seco nd lime in three weeks. Billy G ra y, who first won a First Division trophy here in '73, mad e it to the Handicap main but his bike wou ld not start. Tonight also marked th e return of " Flyin' Mike" Faria, wh o ended a two-week exile with his best Tuesday ride of the yea r by pulling speedway's . most exciting trick with a win off the 50 line. Faria, second a ll-time Ventura winner with 32 Main events, hadn't made a sin g le main all year. Faria's Handicap ride set th e to ne for a tr u ly amazing set of h eat races. Seven of the eight 50-yard-line riders transferred 10 the semis. Andy Northrup was the only back-yardage man who didn't make it, and he just missed a transfer spot behind Gray. Event 10offered quite a crowd back on the 50: three track champs, Steve Lucero , Kelly Moran. Faria and Ermolenko. Larsen , on the 30, mana ged 10 sta y ahead o f everyone, a n d Moran, after a typically brilliant performan ce, worked h is way through tr affi c into second on lv to have hi s en g ine seize on th e lasr turn of th e last lap. The H andicap main was a nt icl imactic a fter th e wild h eat s, an d Hancoc k sim p ly gOI th e ga le a n d led from star t-to- Fi nis h . S ha w n McC onnell. wh o won hi s first IWO rid es, wait ed for th e mi stak e that never ca me. Ermolenko , who sho u ld' ve won la st lime, didn 't mak e a ny mi stak es t h is week . H e won h is heat bv miles, th en passed Boh au aga ins t rhe cras h wa ll where th ere was no room, 10 win the semi . In th e main, Faria gOI th e gate an d led for a lap , but Errno len ko kep t cha rg ing on th e o u tside, an d with power to spa re, drove aro u nd Faria o n th e second lap and won comfortably. G reg Nelson, enjoyed h is Seco n d Divisio n debut by win ni ng th e ma in off the zero. SIeve Fu rm an won h is first-ever Ventura trophy by tak in g T hird Division honor s. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Sam Ermo lenko; 2. M ;ke Faria; 3. Steve Lucero; 4. Bob On . HAND ICAP: 1. David Hancod<; 2. Shawn Mc Con nell; 3 . M ike Faria; 4 . Ke ith Larsen; 5 . Sieve lucero; 6. BillyGray. SECOND DIY: 1. Greg Nelson ; 2. A ntho ny Sanchez; 3. Jeff Johnson; 4. Chr is Mistretta; 5. Richard Perkins; 6. Ronnie Correy . THIRD DIY: 1. Steve Furman; 2. Steve Donovan; 3. Wayne Harris: 4 . M ike Dwyer; 5. Tom Settlemire; 6. J immy Gentile. M ATCH RACE: 1. 011del . Ed Castro . Ingels, .Martin take Baylands By W .H. Spencer FREMONT, CA, MAY 9 Ro und two of C lass A Speedway racing under the lig h ts at Baylands R aceway Park saw Steve Martin ride to a tremendous Handicap main victory, while Eddi e Ingels cap tu red th e Scratch ma in in wh at many fan s considered th e best sho w in th e two year history of th e sport here. A co ld nighi greeted racers and fans with pl enty o f ac tio n and loads o f reserves in an ever-expa nd in g field. Ri ck H ocking won hi s secon d Third Divi sion main in a hard-fought conlest with Jeff Sa n tos a nd Van ce Fel icio. H ockin g to ok th e chec kered over Feli cia a nd Gl enn J ennings. Stu McDaniels gOI out o f th e reserve lin e up to win hi s heal , and then later took co nt ro l o f th e Third Divisi on main o ver hard-charging Rod Arlt a nd Rick J-I icks. An added feature 10 th e ni gh i was a Seco nd Divi sion conso la tio n ro u nd in betw een the Handi cap main a nd Scra tch co nsola tion, Mik e Remine rook th e honor s o ver T erry G rah am a nd J im Gra van ce. In th e featured mat ch race Duan e Yarrow sq ua red -off agai ns t P al Linn, with Linn d ra wi ng th e in side line first a n d wi n ni ng by inc hes. In the seco nd ro u n d, Linn look o ff with a good ga te but a lmost im media tely slowed du e 10 ign it ion p robl em s, and Yarrow had evene d th e sco re. With so me short d iscu ssions a bou t wiring' L inn got th e hol esh ot, a n d down the back stra ig h t it looked like a thriller. But th e bu gaboo returned a nd Yarrow preva iled for th e second stra igh t week. . Darrell Busby led off the Handi cap main, along with Greg Martz and joe LeDuc, but it was Steve Martin (MPE/ Oilzall/Motion P ro ) that a ll were watching. Off the 30 he worked up 10 the rear wheels of Busby and went right by in a £lash for the win. Martz took second overIngels a nd Yarrow just 10 show that the field was a good one. L in in g up the Scra tch main had the fans wild with anriciparion as the finest four had made the field . Roi ling OU I were Ingels, Linn, Dave Faria an Mik e Delacy. It was Faria from the outside going around turn one in the lead, with Ingels on the pole and Delacy and Linn looking for room in the middle. Faria held the

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