Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-----=-SpeedlNay _ a z .--------..--=------,.....,-~-"""""~----~---::--::--. '" 4: 9~ 4: ~ o a: ~ ~ 8 ~ '" ::E ....... >- >- '" '" a a ...... a :I: 0 :I: a. a. The week 's top w inner, M ike Far ia t o ok t hree Sc ratch w ins Ascot and Costa Mesa. Here he leads Gene Woods. at I M S, A la n " Cr azy" Christian won his second Ventura Scratch race in a row. (Bel ow) Tim McCasland and Gene Woods dice at IMS. Q Faria again at Ascot South Bay Stadium By Scott Daloisio GARD ENA, CA. J ULY 4 " Flyin '" Mike Faria of Colton celebrat ed Indep enden ce Da y in fin e style as he su p p lied th e firewo rks a t Ascot So u th Ba y Stadi um and he defea ted Ala n Christian for the seco nd even ing in a row in th e Scratch main even t. For Fari a (S hoe i/ To rco / T ra k Master T ires/Tsubaki/'AM'E/ SCOllY 'S Muffl er/ ST P / Oa k ley/ Wa cy Arm stro ng ) it was h is firs t Scra tch ma in win a t Sout h Ba y Sta di u m an d ca me wh en he was back a boa rd th e Weslake th at caried hi m to over 25 wi ns in 1984. Far ia 's best ride o f th e evenin g aboard the Weslake carne in h is Scratch semi . In th at race he o n ly too k seco nd spot bu t he had to come a ll th e wa y fro m th e back to claim it. Faria again ro cketed from the pole posi tion and into the lead at the start of th e lo u r la p main. Christ ia n wa s ou t second bu t Steve L ucero shot by on the ou tside fo r second on la p two . Christia n too k second back before th e end o f th e seco nd circu it and he tri ed to close th e ga p o n th e leader. As th ey carne o ff two o n th e fin al lap Faria gave a qui ck gl ance bac k o n h is cha llenger s and a t that tim e hereali zed victo ry was h is for the seco nd n ight in a ro w. Fari a took it by two len gths over C hr ist ia n , Lu cero a n d J im Law son. Mark Weaver (Sim pson / KaI-Gardl ACR /Hi-Po int G odden ) powered a form er Ala n Ch ri stian mach in e to h is first- ever Sou th Ba y Sta d ium Handicap main event triumph fro m the zero yard line. Weaver was lead ing th e main wh en a red flag ca me out on lap three due to a crash involvin g Sh awn McConnell an d Christian . On th e second try it was all Weaver. Ton y Briggs stayed with in striking d istance all th e wa y bu t he could never mount a serious cha llenge an d had to be hap p y with second a t the Mike Casey chec kered flag. Th ird spot went 10 Mike Cu roso . Norma n Neuman (Ca fe Beverl y Hills/ JPJ Weslak e) held bac k the famil y effo rt o f Joe a nd Lo u Kre i ~-. berg 10 wi n the Second Division ma in even t from the zero. Neuma n a lso took to p hono rs in h is hea t race a nd he was a ble to ho ld th e two bro thers from Engla nd in th e main. J oe Kreisberg. wh o was o n a bor rowed bik e. took seco nd j us t behind th e leader wh ile hi s you nger brother Lou wa s th ird. T hi rd Division acti on saw Ma rt v Van blargen (H ig h land Framers/W ild West Music/ Sco n Goggles/ Rainbow Fin Co. j awa ) survive a big onslaught to ta ke home th e g lory in th e mai n event. Garv H icks fin ish ed seco nd wi th Jimm y Ge nt ile th ird. '" (5 ...J 4: o ~ o u '"> '" a ... a :I: a. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. M ike Far ia (Wes) : 2 , Al a n Chr istian (GM); 3 . Ste ve Lucero (Wes); 4 . J im Lawso n (GM), HAN DICA P; 1. M ark W eav er (Gdn) ; 2. Tony Br iggs (GM ); 3 . Mike Curoso (Wes) ; 4 . Jim Lawson (GM); 5 . Al an Chri sti an (GM ); 6. Shawn McConnell (Wes). SECON D D IV : 1. Norman Neuman (W es); 2. J oe Kr eisberg (Wes ); 3 . Lou Kreisber g (Jaw); 4 . Ron W ill iams (Jaw); 5. Br yce Eikelber ger (Gdnl ; 6. David Hancock (Wes). THIRD DIV : 1. M arty Vanb large n (Jaw) ; 2. Gary Hicks (J aw); 3 . J immy Ge ntil e (We s); 4 . Steve Lyon s (J aw) ; 5 . Kirk Markgam (Ja w ); 6. Dua ne Bla ke (Jaw) . Faria yet again at Independence Cup By Scott Daloisio COS T A MESA, CA. J U LY 5 Mike Faria , back aboard hi s Weslake, over powered a stellar field to win th e Independen ce Cup a t th e Orange County Fairgrou nds Frida y n ight. It was Faria 's th ird- stra ight tr iu m ph in the past three n igh ts and a ll ca me a t th e expe nse o f Ala n " Crazy" Christia n wh o ha s 10 be ge lli ng a lilli e tir ed o f looking a t th e back of nu m ber nine. Fari a (Shoei /'Torco/Tra k Master T ires/Oakl eylTsubaki /STPl AM' E/ Scott y's Muffl er /W acy Armstrong Weslak e) didn 't get quite the sta rt th at he was lookin g for as he wa s defeated in hi s first round rid e by Mik e Mazzacane. Mazzacan e turned in a beau tifu l fou r laps a nd held Faria at ba y the en tire di stance. After th e event the a p p recia tive crowd gav e Faria a fin e ova tion . Faria's second rid e sa w him lead it a ll the wa y to win over Steve Lucero a n d Brad Oxlev, That left h im . tied on " " • .... -e' , ~ fiv e po in ts w ith Ma zza can e a n d L ucero after two ro unds. In ro und th ree Fa ria had 10 face th e gu y who gave hi m the most problems tw o ni ghts ea rl ie r a t IM S. Ma rk Dw yer. Dwyer. off the po le. jumped int o th e lead a nd held Fa ria back u nti l th e en d o f lap o ne . As th ey closed the la p Fa ria roc keted by a nd ran away for the wi n . Mazzacane and Lucero were mat ch ed up in event 14 agai ns t Ch ris tia n an d Keith Larsen . A win by either would ha ve kept them level with leader Faria. Mazza cane never even left th e ga te as he brok e th e tapes and was banish ed bac k to th e p its for h is deed . Lu cero was then di squal ified for ca us ing a red flag. Fro m the re o n they were o u t of conte ntion. Christian won the event and trai led Faria by o ne point after th ree ro u nds. Christian 's hopes o f top scoring th e qua lifying round end ed wit h h is ne x t ride w hen he fin ished third beh ind Ji m La wson and Gen e Woods, T he race fea tured severa l bump in g a n d bloc ki ng in ci d en ts bet ween Woods a nd Chris tia n. Faria won h is rou n d four ride when he passed Rob Pfetzin g in turn three and the n moved o u t from th e pa ck. C hristia n th en got some reven ge by tak ing a big win o ver Faria in thei r fina l p reli m inary ride. Robert Pfetzing defea ted Jim La wson in th eir fina l ride but bo th earne d eno ugh points 10 qualify for the main . In th e main , Faria had the most points a n d aga in op ted for the pol e. Pf etzin g su rpr ised everyone wi th a killer gate out o f three an d he roa red into the first bend a t th e head o f th e pack . As they ca me o ff turn two Fa ria. Christ ian a nd Lawso n were brea th in g down h is back . Christian went 10 th e outside as th ey entered tu rn th ree w h ile Fa ria took the low 27

• Cover