Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

----=,SpeedMlay _ (Above) Sam Ermolenko leads M ike Mazzacane at Ascot . (Below) Ermolenko. Steve Lucero and Kelly Moran at Inland Motorcycle Speedway. o Cii 9 ~ 5 • u en > al o Io :J: D. Ermolenko styles to Ascot Scratch win By Scott Daloisio GA R DE NA . CA . JU N E 13 " S ud den Sam " Ermol enko came out of ga te two to score a convincing win in the Scratch main before a large enth us ias- .. 32 - tic crowd in "Th ursday Ni ght Live " acti on a t Ascot So u th Bay Stadiu m Thursday even ing . Ermolen ko (Pick Your Part Au to Salv age/Pacif ic Coast Laminating/ j ones G oggl es/ Arai /Q&E/RK Racin g C hai n /Am eri can Miku n i / A I Reed 's Pol ish in g /Frame Shop /Car T u nes /STP/ Ka l-Gard Wesla ke) was im pe ccabl e o n the Scratch side of th e p ro g ram as h e went undefeat ed . In the m a in event he led fro m th e gate o ver Keith Ch risco , Steve L ucero and Mike Mazzaca ne. Ch risco gave Errnolenko a good ba ttle in the firs t bend and did a small wh eel ie as he a ttem pted to tak e th e lead co m ing o ff tw o. Ch risco quick ly got th e front tire back do wn a n d immed iatel y mad e a nother cha lle nge. As th ey ca me into tum three. Chri sco m ad e cOn tac t with Errnolenko 's . rear tire. Errnolenko bobbl ed but regained co n tro l before a ny damage to h is lead co u ld be done. Chrisco drifted to th e wall a n d sa w Lucero slip into second. Ermol enko went th e rest o f th e wa y unchall en ged for hi s second Ascot triumph of the sea so n . Lucero h eld Chrisco ba ck for seco nd with Mazzacane getting th e wrap-up. Ri ch Sw eaney (Zee' s Racing/joel Guth Const.lScott Goggles Weslak e) is start i ng to show that he is one o f th e bri ghtest stars in Am eri can speed wa y. Sweaney, who won th e H an di cap main th e previ ous week at South Ba y Stadium , came ri ght ba ck to do it aga in Thursday nigh t. H e sta rted on th e zero an d led th e ent ire di st ance. " Sh o w time" Bobby Ott l • • • • •••• __ ... . • . .... ~ • •~ passed Wayne Le u tz in th e first bend a nd th en took u p th e task o f chasing a nd pass i ng lea der Sweaney. H e accom p lished th e chas ing part. but never got th e chance a t passi ng th e ta lented Swea ney a nd was fo rced to se tt le for second so me tw o length s back a t th e Mike Casey ch eckered flag . Mazzance p a ssed Greg Ayers o n th e final circu it for third. j oe Krei sberg (Sta r Speedwa y P ro m otions/Ka l-Gard/Scott G oggl es/ Maurice's Used Bikes Weslak e). native of England, scored a co n vinci ng w in in th e Second Divi sion main even t. Krei sberg ca me into th e even ing as a rese rve , but took fu ll adva ntage o f h is opport u n i ty to win bo th hi s h eat a nd h is first main event at So u th Ba v Stadi u m. BobbyT occo finished in seco nd with Mike " Go-Go" Golightly third. Kent Bo wser (Bowser Eq uipment Co. Godde n ) ma de the long tre k from Bak ersfield a successfu l o ne by wi nn ing his seco n d South Bay Stadiu m T hi rd Di vision ma in . jimmy G entile gra bbe d seco nd with Ant hony Sa nchez th ird. Results SCRATCH: 1. Sam Ermo lanko (Wesl: 2. Sieve Lucero (Wes); 3. Keith Chrisco (Wesl; 4. M ike Mazzacane Waw ). HANDICAP: 1. Rich Sweaney (Wesl; 2. Bob On (Gdn); 3. M ika Mazzacana (J aw l; 4 . Greg Ayers (Wes); 5. Ed Castro (Jaw); 6. Wayne Lew (Wasl . SECOND DIV; 1. Joe Kreisberg (Wasl; 2. Bobby Tocco (Wesl ; 3 . Mike Golightly (Wesl; 4 . Jeff Johnson (Wesl; 5 . Shane Hawley (Was~ 6. Warran Reid Waw). THIRD DIV:·I .Kenl Bowse r IGdn l; 2. JimmyGentile (Wes); 3. Anthon y Sanchez (Wesl ; 4 . Sieve Donoyan (Wes); 5. John King (Jawt; 6 . Craig Purman (Jaw) . Ott, Sweaney deliver at Costa Mesa . By SCOtt Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA , J UN E 14 It was a night for th e newco- mers to come a live. flex th eir muscles and leave th eir mark on th e rest of the competition a t th e Orange County Fa ir grounds ~~id: ."j~~ ~· ;'§l9~tj.~(:.~~~~ ~,tt held off Alan Christi an to w in his fir st -ever Costa Mesa Scra tch ma in while R ich Sw eaney held back Ott fo r th e second n ig h t in a row and the resu lt wa s hi s first -ever Cos ta Mesa First Div ision wi n in th e Handicap Iivc-la p per. Ott (Cycle Tech/ jones Goggl es/ Arai Godden ) d rew the pole an d did a mas terfu l job of holding off th e vetera n Ch ristian a ll the way t o th e checkered flag . As Ch ris tia n, Keith C hrisco a nd St eve Lucero were waiting a t th e gate, Ott was in turn o ne a nd p u m pi ng ai r into hi s rear ti re. O tt go t th e ga te a n d had th e lead o ver C h risco who mad e hi s seco nd Scratch m ain ap pe ara nce in tw o outings on th e Gen e Thurman Weslake since Mark Dwy er gave up th e ride a fte r th e Am eri can Final. Christian quickly worked hi s wa y past Chrisco a nd put th e heat on Ott. On lap three, with Christian tryi ng everyth in g in the book to pass Ott on th e inside, th ey . a lmos t made co ntac t, but th e co lliished o ff a phenomenal week. He turn three. Christian kept th e pressure on, but co u ld n ' t ge t th e job done a nd fini shed a half-len gth back. Aft er th c win , Ott threw hi s h ead back into th e ai r a nd th en d ropped it to th e ba rs and shook it in d isbeli ef a fter w in nin.g his fir st Costa Mesa Scra tch rnam, Swea ney (lee's Racing /j oel Guth Const .lScott Goggles Weslak e) finsian was a voided a nd Ott bla sted i n to won the H andicap main Sunday ni ght a t Carlsbad, th e Su pport Cl a ss m ain (a Division One H andica p race) a t IM S Wed n esda y a nd th e H andicap main ~ t Ascot T h u rsday. Sweaney ca me from th e 20 to ca ptu re a ll three of h is H and icap sta rts. In th e m a in, h e wa s chased o u t by Denn y Scopellite and Ott a t th e o utset. Ott quickly we n t by Scope lli te a nd se t hi s sig h ts on Sw eaney for th e seco nd ni ght in a ro w . Like th e previ ous even i ng, he closed in ver y littl e on Sw eaney a nd a t th e che cke red flag, fell two len g th s short. It was reall y a good night for Swea n ey, After th e ra ces, so meone went into hi s p its , sto le hi s pants with hi s wa llet co n ta in ing $300 a nd h is credi t ca rds: he lat er found th e pa nts with wallet co ntai n ing th e cash a nd cards . For th e second week in a row , Ronni e Correy (T icket Mania /Roland La marc he, In c.lWright Farmin g /G rin P roducts/Mom & Dad ) jockeyed a form er Sh awn Moran G odden to th e Second Division win while Anthony Sanch ez (Big j ohn Crane Serv ice Weslake) took th e g lory in th e ever wild Third Divi sion ma in. Results SCRATCH: 1. Bobby 0" IGdn); 2. Alan Christ ian IGMI: 3. Sieve Lucero (Wesl: 4 . Keith Chrisco (Wesl. HANDICAP: 1. Rich Sw eanay (Wes l; 2. Bob 0" IGdn); 3. Denny Scopell ita (Wes); 4 . Ed Castro IJaw); 5. Sam Ermolenko (Wesl; 6. GrOg Ayers (Wesl . SECOND DIV: 1. Ronnie Correy IGdn ); 2. Jimmy O'Deli (Wes ); 3. Warren Reid (J aw); 4 . Jorden Dun can (Gdn); 5. Rick Vanderham (Jaw); 6. Doug Bow ers (Jawl. . THIRD DIV; 1. Anthony Sanchez (Wesl ; 2. Mark Hate ly(Wasl; 3 .JohnnyWalker !Jaw); 4. J im Peery (Jaw ); 5. Tom Settlemire (Jaw) ; 6 . Mark KariY8 (Jawl. M ATCH RACE: 1. Sam Ermolenko !We sl; 2. John Cook (Wes). .ControversiallMS win to "Crazy" Christian By Scott Daloisio SAN BERNARDINO, CA, JUNE 12 It wa s a night that will not soo n be forgotten at J o h n LaDouceur's Inland Motorcyc1eSpeedway. It was the seco nd a n n ua l Speedway Magazine Cup a n d it was an event tha t . was definitel y p lagued by controversy. j ohn Cook scored I4 of a possi ble 15 poin ts, m or e than a n y oth er rider but he didn 't wi n. Kellv Mo ra n defea ted Alan Christian iiI a runoff for th e crown . Mo ra n posed for the photos wit h Speedway pu b lis her R obert Fit zpatrick a nd th e huge trophy, but in th e en d, he d id n' t wi n. The victo ry, fo r the second yea r in a ro w, wnt to Christ ian (ST P / Va lvo line/Cirello RacinglClJampionlPBlIK&NlBelllHiPo int/Fiberglass Concepts GM ). All th e co ntro versy sta rte d before .a n y riders had even set tire on the track. It was discovered that Cook an d R ick Miller, both visiting from Engl and, had 3.75- 14 Dunlop tires on their bikes - a tire that 's illegal in southern California. Both riders were told they cou ldn 't run the rubber; Mi ller switched, but Cook didn' t. T he swi tch obviously did not affect Mi ller in his first ride as he smoked the field on th e n ew tire and he was riding a j a wa instead of his usual Weslakes. Christian won event two narrowl y over th e determined bids of " Sudde n Sam" Errnolenko. "Flyin ' '', Mike Faria topped event three while . Kell y Moran o u tba u led Cook on lap o ne a nd went o n to sco re the victory in event four to cl ose o u t th e first round. Event five mat ch ed Miller , Faria and Christian - a ll fi rst round winners - agai ns t Cook. Cook fought o ff Miller o n lap o ne for th e lead and the n h eld o ff Christian th e remainder o f th e wa y for what shou ld have been an important win. Faria took third with Miller ge tti ng th e wrap-up. Event n ine saw Ermolenko win an open ing-bend battle with Mo ran a nd th en run off an d hide for th e win. Mo ran ca me ri ght back in event 12 a nd defeat ed a stu bbo rn Christian whi le Faria saw his titl e hopes blown a wa y in event 13 wh en h e finished a close seco nd to Robert Pfetzing. Cook en ded th e third round with a win ov er Ermol enko that left him tied for th e lead with Moran. Ermol enko survived two restarts to easi ly take event 16 wh ile Cook ou tdi ced Mike Curoso early to win event 17.That is when th e g rumbling a bo u t the tire began to ca tch fire. Christian p ick ed up hi s secon d win when he shot pa st Tom Burba a t the end of the seco nd circui t in event 18. Moran th en d ropped th e point th at cost him the titl e in event 19. Faria took th e win but Mo ran h ounded him a ll th e way a nd lost by inc hes . Moran then barreled into th e first-turn wall but fortunat el y h e wa s a ble to remount and ride off. Moran ca me ri g h t back and beat Miller to open th e final round. Ermolenko took event 21 over Faria and th en th e controversy ca m e to a head. Referee Irwin Moon received a protest from another rider about Cook's tire. Moon walked into th e pits, saw that the tire wa s on the bike and immediately disqualified Cook. Moon then explained th e situation to announcer Bruce Flanders who relayed the m essage to the huge crowd. They booed and chanted what they th o ug h t of the ca ll. Cook went out for event 22, still on th e illegal tire, a nd wo n the event. As he rode o ff the tra ck, he received a standing ovation . C hristian had a war with Gene Woods in his final . rider and won by o ne length. Christi an 's final win put him in a runoff for th e cro wn with Moran, just like la st yea r. This year it was different as Moran took the runoff by a couple bikelengths, H e then happil y posed with th e trophy girls and . ... ..

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