Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

SpeedlNay-,-, _-----:...-_-~------_..:..--_-----= Faria. McConnell again ~:vins at Ventura HA NDICA P: 1. Rob Pfetzing (Wes); 2. Rich Swea(Wes )' 3 . Sha wn M cConn ell (Wes); 4 , Randy (Gdn); 5. Rocky Robinson (J aw ); 6. Denny Scopellite (Wes). 2 M SECOND DIV: 1. Ronni e Correy (Gd n); . oc se Kennedy (J aw ); 3 . Bryce Eikelberger (G d n~; 4 . ~~~s Koss uth (Jaw ); 5 . St eve Do novan (W as), 6. I e ~~~~g'!O: 1 Tom Luera (We sl; 2 , Valerie Robledo J ). 3 Ro~ S'wenson (Was) ; 4 . Anthony .Sanchez l~:'i; 5'. Ken Bidn ey (Jawl: 6 . Georg e Suqi ta (Jawl. Pfetzing wins at Ascot South Bay By Scott Daloisio GARDENA, CA , J UNE 27 Robert " Five Flavors " P fetzin g turned in a splendid ride a~d fought off Steve Lucen? to Win his second Scratch mam event o f th e season before a pa cked h ouse a t Ascot South Bay Stadium. For Pf etzing (Va lvo line/ O' Nea l USA,iSTP/Sim p son /Oakl ey(Ka)G ard/ Alpin e St a r s /PRP /~ a l r By Bev/One Crand/Z Weslak e) It was his. seco nd main event win in 24 hours as he wo n th e H an d ica p mai n at IMS th e p revious eveni ng. H e a lso made bot h main events at Ascot as well as IMS. Pfetzing was by far th e fas test rider of the eveni ng as he won a ll three o f hi s Scratch rides. Pfetzing came from gate two on the sta rt a nd j um ped into the lea d over R ick Mill er, L ucero and. Brad Oxley. Lucero q u ickl y made .lll S way to th e cu sh io n an d shot by Miller for second as th ey ro ar ed dow n the ba ck chute. H e th en pulled a lo ngside Pfetzin g but did n 't have the ex tra JUice to ~et by. L ucero kept pu!li ng even w.Hh P fetzin g on the o u tsid e over th e first two revolutions but he co u ldn' t get by. On lap three h e dropped to th e pole to mak e an effo rt b~t tha t was.a m istake as th at let P fetz ing move It o ut a n d bu ild up a lead a ll th e way to th e chec ke red flag. . . Doug Nicol took th e wi n III th e H an d ica p mai n event .1lI spectacular fash ion . Nicol was thud o u t o n the stan beh ind Mark Weaver a ndT?ny Briggs. Coming frc,>m th e 20, Ni col blast ed by Tony Bri ggs for second a t th e en d o f la p o ne. H e th en s taye~ to th e o u tside a nd shot pa st Weav er III a wh eeli e for th e lead o n th e back ch u te. Ni col quickl y o pe ne,d it up wh ile th e rem ainder o f th e field was locked in a battle for th e minor pl acin gs. " Sho wtirne" Bobby Ott took th ird o n lap four wh en h e got by Briggs but h e went no fa ~th er. At t.h e chec kered flag it was NIcol by h\:e len gth s over Weave.r a !1~ Ott. Post - · tions two through SIXfin ish e under d a blanket. J eff Johnson t ur~ e<:! it on to ta.ke home yet anot h er Will Ill. Second DIVision in his initia l year III speedway . J ohnson came a ll the way frc,>m th e 20 10 score th e win o ver Ronnie Co~rey a nd Do n Butler. Ma rk Brooks (pal!'!tworks J awa) won h is firs t ever Thud Divi sion main evem. . J essee Finch took hom~ th e ~ ~n.ors in th e Junior Speedway FIrst DIVISIon main while Ami Alvarez (Alvarez Racing ) won th e Junior Secon d Division main. Results SCRATCH MA IN: 1. Robert Pfetzing (Wes); 2. Steve Lucero (Was) ; 3 . Rick Miller (W es); 4 . Brad Oxley (Wes ), HANDI CAP; 1. Doug Nico l (Wesl; 2. Ma rk Weave r (Gdn) : 3 . Bobby Ott (Gdn) : 4 . Ton y Br iggs (GM) ; 5 . Robert Pfetzi ng (Wesl : 6. TIm McC as land (Wesl. , SECOND DIV: 1. Jeff Jo hn son (Wes l; 2. Ronn, e Correy( Gd n); 3 . Don Butl er (W es); 4 . Joe K r~ l s.berg (Wes): 5 . Norman Neuman (Wes ); 6 . Ron W illiams (Jaw). , THIRD DIV: 1. Mark Brooks (Jawl; 2 , Gary H,c,ks (Jaw) ; 3 . Steve Donovan (Was ): 4 . J im my Gent il e (Wesl; 5 . Ron Swenson (Wes); 6 . M art y Vanblargen (Jawl. . JR DtV ONE: 1. Jessee Finch . JR DIV TWO : 1. Am i A lvar ez. By B ill Locey VEN T U RA, CA, J UNE 25 The 13th week of Tuesda y nigh t speedway ~t Ve~tur~ s a w "Flyin" MIke Fana Win th e Scratch main for th e second strai ght week ;Sha wn McConnell ~on th e H andicap m ain o ff th e 40 - Just lik e he did th e week before. McConnell will certa in ly retrea t 10 th e 50-ya rd line for the next Vent ura m eeting . In fact , McConn ell .was ~n beaten until Faria snap ped hISstri ng in th e last ra ce o f th e night. T he largo est crowd o f th e year was th ere to see it a ll , including th e seco nd a n n ua l Ta n Li nes Contest. In H andi ca p ra cin g, three o f th e fi ve back -yarda g riders a dv~ nced fro m th e 50, in cl uding a typicallv thrill in g Lance Kin g race in wh ich he was ahead a t th e en d o f th e seco nd lap. McCon nell passed Ed Cas tro i.n th e last turn for a wm a nd Ro n n ie C orrev a n d David H an co ck a lso advanced. Sam Errn ol enko , rid ing hi s Long Beach Bike, whizzed by.F,!ria o n th e last lap for a third-pl a ce finish . Wa yne Leutz held off Brad .O xley for a w in in th e first serru, a nd McCo n nell bea t King and Ermolenko in th e other. In rh e main , Kin g cam e ou t o f tu rn four on la p one, started to lose it and unl oaded big tim e rig h t n ext I~ Ermolen ko wh o was ridi ng a ga in st the wa ll. So mehow " Sudden S~m " missed Kin g , bu t King 's bike n earl y bo unded ov er th e. ta pes ~I the sta rr/ F n ish lin e a n d Just mi ssed i Ermo len ko wh o la id it down a nd destro yed his own m ot o rcycle. Kin g 's bike was a lso tot al ed, but th e Ventu ra points leader managed 10 ex it u nder its o wn power. , . The restart was con siderably ta mer. McConnell passed Leutz on th.e seco nd la p a nd cr uised I? a n eas~ wm. In Scrat ch rac ing. Faria was OUIgat ed a n d beaten by Bob O tt in th e h eal ; th en , h e a lmost didn 't esca pe his sem i. McConnell got th e ga te a nd was gone a nd Faria l~ad to pass Ox~ ey for th e transfer. Faria cre w th e thi rd spo t for th e main , bu t "''.Is fi rst to turn o ne as McConnell tried everyth in g bUI co u ld n 't ge t by: Faria ha s scored 33 wins a t Vent u ra III Ju st fo u r seasons o f racing . In Second Di vision raci ng, J immy G enti le flew o ff th e 20 10 win hi s hea l a n d th e m a in for hi s first Tuesday trophy ever. . Ar chie Perez, weanng Vent u ra Sh arks leathers tha t have someh ow survived since 1976, won hi s h eat and main by p lenty in Divi sion Three. Results SCRATCH M AIN : 1. Mike Faria; 2. Shawn Mc· Connell; 3 . Sam Ermolenko; 4 . Lance Kin g -. HAN DICAP : 1. Shaw n McConnell; 2. DaVid Han cock; 3 . Brad Oxle y; 4 . Wayne Leu tz; 5 . Sam Ermolenka; 6. Lance King. SECOND DIV; 1. J immy Gentile; 2 . Jeff J oh nso n: 3 . Mark Hateley; 4 . Norman Neumann; 5 . John Dunn; 6. Doug Bowers. . . THIRD DIV ; 1. Arch ie Pere z; 2. Wl lhe M urray; 3. Gr eg Wood; 4 . Kurt Markham; 5 . Chr is Land ; 6 . Joe Bishop . MATCH RACE: 1. Brad Oxley ,de !. Bob on. TAN UNES CONTEST; 1. Robm Newton. Woods, Johnson jam at Carlsbad By Gordie Orr CA RLSBAD, CA , J U NE 23 A wily vetera n a nd a smoot. . h riding yo u ngster emer~ed v~c· torio us fro m th e two .Flrst DIV- Gene Woods. p ictured here at Costa Mesa. ~on the ~cratch m.ain at San Bernardino over M ike Faria. m uch t o the de light of hiS fe llow riders . ision main events at Ca rl sbad Ra ceway's California Speedway ~ un day n igh t. Gene WO?d.s tu rn~ in a fine job of defellS!ve ndl!'!g 10 w m the Scratch m ain while rooki e J eff J oh nso n ran a wa y from th e pack 10 ta ke home th e first -place cash in t h~ ~ an. dica p main . Unfortuna tely an IlIJ~ ry 10 defending National Champi o n Kell y Moran p u t a da mper on th e eveni ng . On th e initia l try 10 ge t th e Handi cap maingoing, J oh~son was lead ing as th e p ack ro ar ed mto tu rn o ne on lap two . Ri ch Swea ney go t o ut of sh ape a nd was .c1ippe<:! by Randy Blevins. Blevins blast ed mto the tu rn two cra sh wall while Sweaney went down. That left Moran with no whe~e to go and piled on top of Sweaney s fallen bike.. The red ca me OUI and a fter a co u p le o f m inu tes Blevins gOI up. Moran wa s down for th e better p an o f 15 m inutes. A neck brace was ap p lied and a stretch er was sum.moned but h e declined the stretcher n .de and walked off th e tra ck u nder hl.s own power. Moran not only jeceived a rousing ov ation from th e s t a ~ ds b~t a lso from h is fellow co m pe n tors m th e p its, H is inj ury .was ~ p rea d -.01:' t ca rtilage of th e floating ~ I b and 11 IS a ntici pa ted th at he's go m g to be a spectator for a co u p le o f week~ . J ohn son ( Fo n ta n a R adiator,! Bu tch 's Grinders/Jolly Farms/Gary s Auto Suppl y/ Simpson /RBD /Sco tt Goggles Weslak e) .led Blevin s o n th e res tart of th e H andica p race a n d Blevin s stayed close for one lap before Joh nson. turn ed u p th e boo st. H e the n pl ain and SIm p ly ran a way f~om the p ack . Mi ke ~ar ia m ov~d Into second on the third revol ution but the re was n o way he co u ld ma ~e ~ p all lhe grou nd o n Joh nson.Fana h ~ ished a distant second wllh DaVI d H ancock third . Faria fi nished a close secon d in the Scr.Hch ma in . Mak e that close a n.d frustrating..With Mora ri.ou t a ft.crhis cra sh , it was a three ride r go . 'Yoods (7-U p/ l n -N-O u t ~urge~s/Sh?Cl/Set;r Goggl es / Pennzotl /Mlku m /Vera s Leathers J awa ) drew three and gOI th e ga te o ver Fa ria ou t o f two a nd Tom Burba who was starting in four. Woods immediately cu t down in front of Fa ria an d gave a look a t the wa y It was going to be in .tu rn three when ~ e threw an aggressive block o n Faria who was try ing to get by on th e inside. Faria wa s a ll over Woods, rubbing his tire on Wc,>ods ' left leg as th e wil y veter an co n tin ued 10 block his efforts. Then . in turn one on th e last lap, Woods parked o~ purp?se, for cing Faria to take. ev~s lve aCI~on. H e aga in blocked him III th e filial bend and crossed th e line 10 th e roar of the crowd. Wh en Woods came 10 a sto p o n th e front ch ute aft er th e ride, a number of people - led by rider Sam Ermolenko - scoo ped him off hi s bike and threw him into th e air three times to co ngra tu la te him. At the same time Faria was seething as h e returned 10 hi s p it . After th e ra!=e Woods was asked what made th e difference in his winning performance. H e la u gh ed and nodded " It must be m y new mechanic." His new mechanic, Robert M endoz~ quit th e Faria ca m p two weeks pnor. Doug Bowers (Pico J awa ) took th e ' Second Divi sion m ain for th e second co n secu tive week while yo u ng G a ry Hi cks (T orco Oi l/Mi ln e Br~s . J a":a ) won hi s fir st Ca rlsbad Third DIV _ ision m ain. Results ' SCRATCH MAI N: 1. Gene Woods (Jawl; 2. Mike Faria (Jawl: 3 . Tom Burba (Jaw); 4 . Kelly M oran (GdnIDNS. 2 M 'k F ' HAN DICAP; 1. Jeff Johnson (Wes): . ' e aroa (J aw ); 3 . David Hancock (Wes); 4. Randy Blev,ns . (GM); 5 . Kelly Moran (Gdn); 6. R,ch Swea ney (Wes). SECOND DIV: 1. Doug Bowe rs (Jaw); 2. M, ke Dwyer (J aw ); 3 . Dand Dumo nd (Jaw) ; 4 . Randy Bennett (Gd n l; 5. Jordan Dunca n (Gdnl ; 6. Mike Busc hman (J awl . THIRD DIV; 1. Gary Hick s (Jaw) ; 2. Mark Brooks (Jaw ); 3 . Chr is Land (We s); 4. Ron Swenson (Wes ); 5 . Duane Blake (Jaw); 6 , Derek Jo hnson (J awl. . MATCH RACE: 1. Mar1< Dwyer (J aw); 2 . MIke Dwyer (Jaw ). • J . 1 1. J 33

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