Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

_ ~SpeedlNay_------:....- Bill Gray fa lls whi le Bobby Ott lays it d o w n to avoid him at Ascot Sout h Bay Stadium. Gray won a match race with Mark Dwyer at Carlsbad . Mike Fa ria leads Mark Dwyer at IMS. Faria was the w in ningest rider in ,so uthe rn Californ ia this we~k. w ith wi ns at Ventura. Co.sta Mesa and Ascot. Faria double winner at Costa Mesa By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA, AUG. 2 Before the racing action began at Costa Mesa on Friday night. " Flyin " ' Mi ke Faria had one question of this writer. " Did 26 yo u put my quote in Cycle N ews from last night? You know the one where I said 'I'm going to win it tonight?" When told yes, Faria flexed his arms and said, ''I'm healthy and cock y too." After his great week . Faria ca n afford to be cocky and he had reason Friday night as he not only won th e Scratch main again but he also came from th e 50-yard line to win th e Handicap main: Faria was on a role as he won four of hi s six rides of th e eveni ng. H is only setbacks came in hi s Handicap heat and semi but in the mains he was de va stating. The Handi cap main sta rted out with young Bart Bast from northern California impressing everyone by taking th e early lead aft er winning his preliminaries. Greg Ayers ' quickly got past Bast and took the lead, but it was Faria (Shoei/ Oakleyl Trak Master TireslTorco /STP T subakiiScotty's Muffler/Kal-G ardl Wacy Armstrong Weslake) who was being noticed by the fans. He raced by Bob Ott for third, then swept Bast in spectacular fashion on lap two . On lap three, Faria attacked and pa ssed Ayers for the lead. Rob Pfetzing moved. into second but was far behind Faria when the red came out on lap four when Ayers ate it on the home stretch . The win was Faria's over Pfe tzin g .a nd the impressive young Mr. Bast. The Scratch main was all Faria. He gated out of two and took th e lead over Schwartz. Schwartz put up a battle using the outside - that lasted until tum two when Faria rode off. Mike Curoso put th e heat on Schwartz for a couple of laps but was fought off in the end and had to be happy with third. Faria took the win by seven lengths over the " Booga loo Kid." Kevin Krugh (W. Hauck Trucking ) cam e from the zero to score a very convincing win in the Second Division main event. Louis Kossu th took second chased by Pa t H awley and the " Flying Foo l" Dave Wendlandt. J im Peery of Ventura put his J awa into the led in the Third Division main and happily took home the trophy. Gary Hicks finished a distant second with John Dunn taking third. Tri non Cirello (Hawaiian P unch I Bobby SchwartzlCirello Racin gl Oakley/Bell Weslake) did what he had to do to win the Junior Speedway main even t. All he had to do was sta y up as the other three rid ers went . down and a red flag came out bringing on a premature end to the proceed ings. Tim Gewecke got credit for second with J essee Finch thi rd and Billy Hammi l fourth. Results SCRATCH MAIN: I. Mike Feria (Wes); 2. Bobby Schw.nz (Wes); 3. M ike Curoso (Wes); 4 . Tony Br iggs l GM I. HANDICAP: 1. Mike F.ria (Wesl ; 2. Rob P1etting (Wes) ; 3. Bart Bas, (Wes t; 4. Bob On IGdn); 5. Tom Burba (Jaw); 6 . Greg Ayers (Wes). SECOND DIV: 1. Kevin Krugh (Jew !; 2.LDuis Kos- suth(J.w); 3. Pat H.wleyIGdnl; 4 . 0 ...... Wendlandt IJ. w ); 5. Doug Bowers (Jaw); 6. Bryce Eikelberger IGdn l. THIRD DIV; 1. J im Peery (J. w l: 2. G.ry Hicks (Mae); 3. J ohn Dun n (Was); 4 . Mike Owyer(Wes); 5. D. na Dumond (J.w); 6. George Sugita (Gdn). JR: 1. Trinon Cirello; 2. Tim Gewecke; 3. Jessee Finch; 4 . Billy Hammil. Faria three-for-four at Ascot By Scott Daloisio GARDENA, CA, AUG. I " I' m going to win it tonight. " Those were the words of a very determined " Flyin ' " Mike Faria before he threw his leg over his Weslak e and took co nt ro l to cap ture the Scratch main event at Ascot South Bay Stadium Thursday before th e , largest cro wd of th e year. Faria (Shoei/ Oa kleylTra k Master Tires/Torco/STP ITsu ba ki/ Sco tt v' s Muffl er/Kal-Gard/Wacy Arm strong ) was hot all week long a nd he was getting hotter as the main event neared on Thursday evening. One th ing he clearly wanted to do was a venge hi s defeat a t the hands of Bobby Schwartz 24 hours earlier. Fa ria had no problem off th e gate as he led th e way int o the fir st bend while Schwartz a nd Steve Lucero, who were teammates at Eastbourne in th e British League, were locked in a terrific battle for second. They went a t it until the second circuit wh en Lucero to ok control as they blazed down th e back stretch. Lucero was abl e to clos e Faria' s advantage a bit, but not . enough to mount a serious challenge. ' Whi le L ucero was tryi ng to close in on Faria, southern Ca lifornia point leader Alan Christian began to a ttack Schwartz for third. Christian got the job done on lap three but that is as far as he could get before the time ran out. At the finish it was Faria taking his third South Bay Stadium Scra tch main in the last four outings. Lucero took hom e the second place cash with Christian getting third. Veteran star Gene Woods (7 U p l In -N -O u t Burgers/Shoei /Seer Gog gles/PennzoillMikun ilVera 's Lea thers Jawa) raced to a very co m-incing win on th e Handicap side of th e program. J eff Johnson took the lead at th e start from th e 10-yard line but Woods, who was off th e 20, was even in th e first bend. Johnson hung in with Wood until th e end of the first go-'round when th e wily veteran, using th e ou tsid e line, streaked past and into th e first spot. Once at th e point position Woods ran off and hid. Johnson fought off Doug Nicol on lap two and th en held off a charging Mark ' Dwyer to . claim seco nd som e five len gths beh ind Woods. Jimmy G entile (Wes) led the Division Two main all the way until the final co rner wh ere he was tagged by second-place rid er Gary Hi cks. That triggered a nasty-looking crash that brought out the red flag. The verdi ct was in th e hands of referee Phil Moon who declared Gentil e th e winner, by virt ue of hi s leading th e last complete lap, and Hi cks th e cause of th e alt ercation. George Arm as fini shed second with Bobby T occo third. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. M ike Faria (Wesl; 2. St eve Lucero (Wes): 3. A lan Chr ist i.n (GMI; 4 . Bobby Schw art z (Wes! . HA NDICAP: 1. Gene Woods (Jaw); 2. Jeff Jon n son (West ; 3. M. rk Dwyer IJ.w) ; 4 . Doug Nico l (Wesl; 5. Andy Northrup (Wes); 6. Ste ve Lucero (Wes). SECOND DIV; I .JimmyGentile(Wes); 2. George A rm . s (J.wl; 3 . Bobby Tocco (Wesl ; 4. R.ndy Skinner (Wes). . THIRD DIV: 1 . vererte Robledo (J. w ); 2. Anthony Sanchez (Wes); 3 . Tod Bert r. nd (Gdn ); 4 . Rich. rd Perk ins (Jaw); 5 . Kellylnman(Gdn); 6 . Bernie Tuseo (J. w) . Faria beats bug to win at Ventura field. Larsen stayed in second, and McConnell held off Lucero for third by a wh eel. Walt Farnum (Jawa) led the Handica p main for a lap wh en Bill y Gray (G M) went in to turn one on th e seco nd lap a bit harder to push Farnum wide. Faria , meanwhile, wasted no time at all moving through th e pa ck co ming o ff th e 50-yard line. H e passed Greg Ayers (Wes) on lap one down th e back straight and th en on lap two passed Farnum in turn three on th e outsid e and tried to do the same to Gray .....ith no luck . Gray and Faria drag-raced out of [urn four to turn one and Faria tried to do it again. Faria finall y got by wh en th e pair exited tum two . Ayers passed Farnum undern eath and then passed Gray th e same wa y. McConnell tried everything to get by Gray but couldn't; Lucero finished right behind Gray and McConnell. The Second Division main had nothing but trouble. On th e first start Willie Murra y fell in turn three to make everyo ne lay it down to miss him. On th e restart Craig Furman had th e hol eshot but was dropped to seco nd by R ick Hicks with Gary Hi cks third, but Mick Obradovich hit someone and got into a bad tank slapper, end ing up in the wall to bring out the red flag for the second time. Obradovich .....as shaken up with a cut on his lip. Ri ck Hi cks had the jump on everyone on the restart wi th Furman and G ar y Hi cks right on top of him . Meanwhile, coming from the 20-yard line, Ri ck Vanderham pas sed everyone down the back straight lik e they were standing still to take the win with Gary Hi cks passing both Furman and Rick H icks fo r second. Resu lts VENTURA, CA, J ULY 30 SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Mike F.ria (Wesl; 2. Keith Larsen (West; 3. Sh.wn McConnell (Wes~ 4. Steve Lucero (Wesl. HANDICAP ; 1. Mike F.ri. (Wes t; 2. Greg Ayers (Wes); 3 . Billy Gray (GMI; 4 . Shawn Mc Connell (Wes); 5. Steve Lucero (Wes); 6 . Walt Farnum Mike Faria cra wled from a sick bed to come back and win at Ventura Raceway, winning both th e Scratch and Handicap SECOND DIV: 1. Rick V.nDerh.m (Was); 2. G.ry Hicks (Wes); 3 . Rick Hicks (Wes l; 4 . Cr.ig Furman (Jawa); 5. M ickObradovich (Wes); 6. Willie Murrav (J . w . !. THIRD DIV: 1. Joe Bishop (J . w a); 2. Greg Wood W.w.); 3. Ken Barry (J.w.). By Mitch Friedman mains to make it four main -event wins here thi s year. Fari a 's win in the Scratch main was hi s seco nd in two weeks and hi s third thi s year, while th e H andicap main win was his first a t Ventura . Fari a (Shoei /Jawa/Oakley/Oilzalll Bill's Pipesl AME/STP /Ka I-Gard l Torco/Wes) got the hol esho t out of the gate, but it was Shawn McConnell who was the first rider to turn o ne in a Scratch main filled ent irely by Weslake ma chines. Faria passed McConnell coming out of turn two by going wid e, with Keith Larsen also passing McConnell, down the back straight. Steve Lucero was fourth. Faria pulled away from the rest ofthe • .. ~. I (J aw. I. Schwartz unstoppable at IMS By Scott Daloisio SAN BERNARDINO , CA, JULY 31 T he " Boogaloo Kid" Bobby Schwartz made a race appearance at John LaDouceur's Inland Motorcycle Speedway Wednesday night and he scored the victory in th e thri lling four-lap Scratch main over a very determined " Flyin'" Mike Faria. Schwartz not (Contin ued to page 30

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