Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

--.=.SpeedlNay _ "Showtime" Bobby Ott styles at Carlsbad Speedway. Steve l ucero leads " Sudden Sam" Erm ol enk o at Ascot South Bay Stadium l ucero won t he Handicap race; Ermolenko was second in the Scratch m ain . (Below) David Faria won the Baylands and Auburn Scratch mains. quickl y found his wa y int o seco nd with Christi an, also co m ing from th e back, ge tting Swean ey for th ird before th e end o f th e first go-'rou nd. King also cha rged hi s way th rough a nd became engaged in a trem endous battle with Christian for third. Lucero clos ed th e gap on J ohnson and shot by o n th e back ch ute o n lap three. Johnson th en was forced o u tside and Christ ian a nd King a lso moved by. Lu cero had a ni ce lead a nd he held it a ll the wa y to th e chec kered flag o ver Christian a nd Kin g. Steve Furman (jaw a ) a fir st- year rider from Manhattan Beach turned in a beautiful ride to ca p tu re his £irst Ascot South Bay Stadium Second Divi sion main. For th e th ird consecutive week J oe Kreisberg fini shed in second spo t less than a len gth behind. Former auto racer Jimm y Genti le took third. Greg Nelson (Weslake) beat Gary Hicks in a photo finish in th e Third Divi sion main . Kent Bow ser too k home third spot. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. A lan Chri stian (GM); 2. Sam Ermole nko (Wes); 3. Lance King (Wes! ; 4 . Mike Far ia (Jaw). HANDICAP: 1. Steve Lucero (Wes! ; 2. A lan Chr isti an (GM) ; 3 . Lance King (Wes); 4 . Keith Chr isco (Wes); 5. Jeff J oh n son (Wes ); 6 . Rich Sweaney (We s). SECOND DIV: t , Steve Furman (Ja w); 2. J oe Kreisberg (Wes); 3. Ji m my Gent il e (Wes); 4 . Dav id Hancock (Wes); 5 . J ordan Duncan (Gdn); 6 . Norman Neuma n (Wes). Christian dominates Ascot South Bay By Scott Da loisio GA R DENA. CA, J ULY 18 Alan Christian made it look like ch ild's pl a y as he dominated th e ac tio n in th e Scratch main to sco re hi s second win o f th e 30 year o n th e DG a t Ascot So u th Bay Stadi um T h u rsday ni ght. T he field was a p rom ot er's d rea m co me true in th e main as it mat ch ed Ch rist ia n agai nst La nce Kin g, Sa m Ermo len ko a nd " Flyin ' " Mik e Faria wh o had tak en th e wins th e pr evious two weeks. Ermolen ko dr ew th e pole bu t it was Chr istia n (STP/ Va lvo line/ Cha mp ion / Bell / Cirello Racing/ H i!,oin t/ P BII K&N / F i berg lass Con cep ts/ Advantage Boat s GM ) wh o led int o th e first co rner. The first la p was a bso lu te ly fu ri ous as Ermol enko fought hi s wa y up to Christian' s side as they careened down th e back ch u te. Christia n moved into the po int position but Ermo len ko kep t the hea t u p. As they exi ted tu rn fou r Ermolen ko did a wi ld wheelie and tha t was all Christia n needed to open up a lead. Wh ile theywere goi ng at it at th e fro nt Kin g and Fa ria were havi ng a major dice fo r third. King too k that spot befor e the end of the first circu it a nd then he tried to muscle Errno1enko o ut of the wa y as they came off tur n two o n the second revo lution. Errno len ko wo uld have no ne o f it a nd held seco nd p lace. From there o n it was a ll Ch ristian and he took th e wi n with room to spare. Ermolen ko crossed the line seco nd wi th Kin g right o n hi s tail. Steve Lucero (Shoei /Los Pa tios Restaurant/Oakl ey/ ST P/ Ka l-Ga rd/ K&N/Oilzall/ Su per Spoke/ Z/ Hai r By Bev Weslak e) mad e the long ride from th e back yardage a nd took home the to p doll ars in the H and icap main. Rookie J eff J ohnson p ut hi s Weslak e into th e lead in th e start a head o f Ri ch Sweaney and Lucero. Lucero THIRD DIV; 1. Greg Nelson (Wes); 2. Gary Hicks (Wes); 3. Ken t Bowser IGdn); 4. Anthon y Sanchez (Wes); 5. M ike Stefan (J aw); 6. Mark Brooks (J aw). Christian takes eighth straight at Carlsbad By Gordie Orr CARLS BAD, CA, J ULY 14 Ala n " Cra zy" Christian ran his strea k to eigh t straight wins in Scra tch racing at California Speedway a t the Carlsbad Raceway Sunday even ing and in th e process picked up hi s fifth California Speedwa y Scratch main win of th e seaso n. On th e Handicap side o f th e ledger it was Jeff Jones making th e long trek down from Agoura to hold back th e boys a nd win th e main even t. J ones (U p time / Lazer H elmet s/ PJI /Regina Ch ains Weslak e) came into th e program as a reserve and by th e en d o f the n ight had gua ra nteed himself a reg ular spot for the next week . Jones took th e lead from the front yardage on th e start over Doug Bo wers and Ton y Briggs. Br igg s qui ckly eleva ted himself to second and set his sig h ts on th e high flying Jones. While a ll o f this was going on at th e front of th e pa ck , " Flyin'" Mike Faria was racing through the field lik e a hot knife through butter. He had started on th e 60 but found himself in third early in the event. H e then hounded Briggs for a little over a lap until he shot into second a t the white flag . He quickly ate up the remainder of th e real estate between himself a nd J ones a nd th e two had a drag race to th e che ckered flag out of th e fin al corner. The crowd went ins an e as they cros sed th e line side by side with the win going to Jones in the photo fini sh . Third spo t went to Briggs with Bowers fourth . After scoring a cool 15 points the previous week in th e Freedom Cup. Christian (ST P / Va lvo line/Cha m pion/Bell/Cirell o Raci ng/ H i-Po in t! PB IIK &N / F iber g la ss Concepts/ Advantage Boots GM ) aga in dominated th e action in Scratch racing. After winning heat an d semi, Christian bolted into th e lead from gate two in th e main even t. Steve Lucero was second out with Ro b Pfetzing third and "Fast" Eddie Castro fourth . Lucero tried every th ing he kn ew to ge t clos e to th e red leathered Christian but nothing worked and in th e end he had to sett le for second. Castro to ok th e ' th ird spo t a fter passing Pfetzing. Randy Ski n ner (Hall ma n Weslake) styled hi s wa y to an easy win in the Seco nd Division main event. Rick Vanderham pl aced second with Pat H awley, wh o mad e it to th e ma in th e hard way from th e 80, tak in g th ird . Sammy Laporte rode Keith La rsen 's Weslake to hi s first ever win in th e Third Divi sion main a head o f Andy J ohnson and Mark Brooks. Trin on Cirell o (Hawa iia n Punch / Bobby Schwar tz/Oakl ey)ou tdista nced J essee Fin ch to win th e Jun ior Speedwa y First Division main with Danny Wright (H ig h land Fram ers) taking th e honors in Divi sion Two. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. A lan Chr istian (GM); 2. Steve Lucero (Wes); 3. Ed Castro (Wes); 4 . Rob Pletzi ng (Wes). ' HAND ICAP: 1. JeH Jones (W es); 2. Mike Far ia (We s!; 3 . Tony Br iggs (GM); 4 . Doug Bowers (Jaw) ; 5. Brad Oxley (Wesl; 6. Tim M cCasland (Wes). SECOND DIV; r. Randy Skin ne r (Jaw); 2. Rick Vanderham (Mae! ; 3. Pat Hawley (Gdn!; 4. Kelly Inman IGdn); 5. Norma n Neuman (Wes); 6. Dave Wendlandt (Jaw) . THIRD DIV; 1. Sammy Laporte (Wes); 2. Andy Jo hnson tJa w); 3. Mark Brooks (Jaw) ; 4. Joh n Grif fits (H-D); 5.Wayne M anchester (Jaw) ; 6. Dale Jordan IJaw) . J R ON 1: 1. Trinon Cirello; 2. Jessee Finch ; 3. Billy Felts; 4. Kelcey Gordon . ,J R DIV 2; 1. Danny Wr ight 2. A mi Alva re~. _

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