Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

------=SpeedlNay _ Mike Faria leads Keith at Ascot South Bay Stadium. Faria won there on points, but fin ished second in the main behind Sam Ermolenko. A lan Christian (2) and Kelly Moran at Costa Mesa. Christian rode a perfect meet, scoring 2 1 points; Moran was eighth for t he night. Ermolenko wins at Ascot South Bay Stadium . By Scott Daloisio GA RDE NA. CA, AUG . 22 Sam Ermolen ko co n ti nued to tu ne-up for th is Saturday afternoo n 's World Speedway Cham-. pions hip with a n impressive 34 perform an ce to win th e Snatch m ain even t a t C h r is Agaja n ians Asco t So u th Ba y Stad iu m a t U .S. Na tio nal Qual ifier ni gh t. T hi ngs did no t start o u t o n th e bright side fo r th e pop u lar Errnolenko (Pick Your Pan Auto Sal vage! Pacific Coa st Laminating / Arail jones Goggles/Am erican Mik uni /S TP/ RK Racin g Ch ain /AI Reed 's Po lishi ng / Fram e Sho p /Car T u nes / Kal-Ga rd Wesla ke). In h is first , race h e was waltzin g off for a n ap parent easy victory wh en h e was forced to cent er green o n lap th ree with mechanical ill s, T ha t was h is last problem of the even ing as he th en turned in y"ur winning efforts: Defe ndi n g Na tion al Speedwa y Ch ampi on Kell y Moran was rhe o n lv rid er wh o was perfect af ter th e three qualifyin g ro unds and he ente red th e semi s with nine points. La nce Kin g , Mike Faria. Steve Lu cero and j ohn Sa ndona all ent ered the semi ro u nd s wi th eigh t point s. T h e first sem i rook a dramatic tu rn in turn one when Alan Christian went down a nd o u t o f co ntent io n. T hat left Lu cero. Sa ndona and Curos o to go fo r it . bu t Sa nd o na 'wa s flyi ng a n d ea rne d h is ticket 10 th e main . Fa ria took the second semi over Kei th C hrisco a nd Mik e Mazzacane. Ro b Pfetzi ng ha d a cha in let go a t th e ga te a nd was for ced to be an o bser ver. " Sho wtime" Bobhv Ott , th e cro wd favorite. easily wo n ' th e third semi over Ed Ca stro wh o d id a mast erful jo b of holding off King who got a poor start. T he fin al semiwas tak en by Ermo lvn ko a t the expe ns e o f Moran. T he co nso la tio n had to be red fla gged o n th e first a ttem p t as Lu cero parked a nd was d rill ed by C h rism in turn fo ur. On th e seco nd go it was Moran bu rs ting from th e ga te a nd into th e lead ahead of shock mercha nt Castro, C hrisco a nd Lucero. It became apparent ea rly o n th a t barring mechan ical ills th e victory wo u ld go 10 Moran - but th ere was a thrilling war fo r seco n d . Chrisco tried everyth ing in h is repertoire 10 ge t past Cas tro. who foug h t him off a ll the ' way 10 th e checkered 10 ea rn second p lace. Fa ria got th e ga te in the mai n o ver Sa ndo na , Er rno len ko an d O tl. Errnolenk o immediately went on the char ge a nd breezed into seco nd o n lap o ne. H i, th en began to sta lk Far ia a nd as th ev en tered turn o ne on th e seco nd c i r~ u i t he got in sid e Faria . Errn olenko th en ski llfu ll y too k Faria wid e in turn I WQ a nd ra ced by for the lead. At th e sam e tim e O tt wa s m ovi ng pas t Sa ndo na . Faria staye d clos e to the fleeti n g Errno lcn ko until th ey came off two for the fin al tim e wh en th e lead er p ut some breat hi ng room betw een him self and secon d p lace. Wh en th e Roy Kett in g ch eckered flag fell it was Erm o lenko bv a co mforta ble margin ove r Fa ria, O tt a n d Sa ndo na . One o f the best a nd m os t co m pe titive ra ces o f th e season a t So u th Bav Stad iu m was a run off between Ne~' York 's Bru ce Nelso n a nd T im MeCas land for th e last.sp o t in the sem is, T h ey ra ced side by side for three. hair-rai sing la ps unti l McC asla nd a sserted h im self o n lap three a nd moved o u t fo r th e vi ctory . Bot h received a h ug h ova tion from th e fans for th eir effort . Results MAIN: 1. Sam Er molenko (We sl; 2. M Ike Far ia (J aw l; 3. Bob Ott IGdnl; 4 . Joh n Sa ndo na (Wesl. CONSOL: 1. Kelly M oran (Gdnl. 2. Ed Castr o (W es); 3 .. Keith Chrisc o (W es); 4 . Stev e lucero (Wesl. POINTS (ASCOT ): 1. M ike Faria (19 1 2 . Sam ; Ermolenko 11 BI; 3 . John San dona (1 71; 4 . Kelly Mora n (16) ; 5 . Bob Ott (I 51 6. ITIE) Ed Castro / Stev e ; Lucero (1 2) 8 . (TIEl Lanc e King /Ke it h Chr isco ( 10); 10. (TIE) M ik e Maz zacan e/Brad Oxley/ Rob Ptetzin g/ Dua ne Yarro w (8 ). Christian 'sails at Costa Mesa qualifier By Scot t Daloisio COST A ~ IESA . CA, AUG . 23 Alan "Crazy" Chris tia n overwh el m ed a star studded field o f star ~ i ders to sco re a perfect 21 points and wi n th e Costa Mesa ro und of th e U.S. National Q ual ifiers before a la rge crowd a t tlie O ra nge County Fairgrou nd s Friday ni ght. T h e p rev io us Sa tu rday at Au burn. C h ris tia n (ST P/ Va lvo li n e/ Cirello Ra cin g /Cham pi on /PBI /K&N /BeI II H i- P o i n t / Fi b er g la s s Co nce p ts / Advantage Boa ts GM )scored 20 points bu t he th en slu m ped to scores o f nine. 12 an d six in th e nex t three ro un ds , O n Frid a y he m ade up for a ll o f those with h is perfect even ing. After th e th ree ro u nds of hea t races Ch ris tia n , Mike Fari a. Steve Lucero and series poin t lead er Sa m Ermolen ko were a ll level a t nine p oints. Before th e sem is cou ld get un derwa y th ere had to be so me runo ffs. Eigh t r iders were tied at five points a nd th ere were seven spot s ope n to them in th e sem is. Sa ndo na took th e first semi wit h a big wi n o ver Shaw n :\ilcCon n ell, Bart Ba st a nd Mar k Dwyer. The seco nd o ne wa s tak en by La n ce Kin g over Andy North rup. Mi ke Ma zzaca n e an d Ed Cas tro , Cas tro th en defeat ed Dw yer in a head -to head d uel for th e fi na l spo t in th e semis . . . . P fetzin g o usted Lu cero from th e mai n even t by tak in g th e first semi . In the seco n d sem i C h ristia n took Kin g to th e wa ll o n th e back ch u te a nd moved int o th e lead , Kellv Moran go t inside d ue to Christ ia n\ move an d p roceeded to ho ld King back a ll th e wa y to th e chec kered just beh in d C h ristian. Th e th ird sem i was fantasti c. Mi ke Cu roso was cha sing Faria o n lap two o n the fi rst try to run th e race; whe n Curoso gave Fa ria a tap, Fa ria went down a nd th e red came o ut. Cu roso was deem ed the ca use and sent pa ck-. ing. On the resta rt Fa ria got th e ga te o ver Sandona. Sa ndona th en tu rn ed in o ne o f th e p rettiest rid es o f th e year at Costa Mesa . He went to th e o u tsid e a nd h o u nded Far ia for three laps until he go t by. O nce bv, Sa nd o na ca me down to th e pole to g uard hi s lead in a p ictu re-per fect speedway performan ce. He received a rousi ng o va tio n for h is effor t. Th e final sem i was a nothe r g rea t . performa nce. T h is o ne wa s by Brad Ox ley who held hack th e pers istent a ttem p ts o f Errno len ko in th e upset o f th e nigh t. Co m ing int o th e meet in g, Ermolen ko had ta ken three o f th e p revio us four ma in s and loo ked to be the favo ri te at Cost a Mesa but O xley p u t an end to th a t with a g rea t·. ride . T h e co nso la tiou was red-fl agged in th e first corn er a fter Errno lcn ko tapped Mo ran trigg ering a sp ert acular crash. Both Ermolenko and Mora n wen t flyi ng wh ile Lu cero and Far ia laid down th eir bi kes. Mo ran tumbled inr o' th« wall w h ile hi s bike cam e down o n Far ia. Far ia was u p qu ickly but Moran was sha ken an d down for qu ite so me time, Fortunat ely he go t u p an d made th e resta rt but it was Errno lenko a ll the wa y an th e seco nd try to win over Lucero . Fa ria and Moran. The ma in was a ll Christian. He took the lead o n the sta rt with Sa ndo na in close pursuit. Sa ndo na had hopes o f pull in g o ff a nother o uts ide ride a nd h e stayed close for a co u p le o f laps trying the cus hion. T he crowd. anticipat ing a no ther San do na show was o n its feel. but it became appa ren t . tha t C hristia n was the top rider in th e race and h e opened up a co m forta ble margi n tha t he ca rr ied to the j erry Kin g ch eckered flag . Third spot was tak en by Oxley wi th P fetzing gelli ng th e wrap- u p . . Results MAIN : 1. A lan Christ ia n (GM) ; 2. Joh n Sandona (Wes); 3. Br ad Oxley (Wes); 4. Rob Pfetz ing (Wes). CONSOL: 1. Sam Ermolenk o (Wes); 2. Steve Lu cero (We s); 3 . M ik e Faria (Ja w) ; 4 . Kelly M or a n {Gdn l. POINTS (COSTA MESA): 1. Al an Chr isti an(2 1I; 2. Rob Pfet zing (171; 3 . (TIE) Brad Oxley/Sam Ermo · lenko / John Sa ndo na (16); 6. (TIE) M ike Far ia / St eve Lucero (14); 8 . Kell y M oran (1 1); 9 . M ike Curo so (8 1 10 . (TIE) Lanc e King /Ed Castro / Mike ; M azzaca ne / A ndy Northrup / Rich Sweaney (7 1 . Correy, Dwyer star at Speedway USA By Scott Da loisio vicron VILLE. CA, AUG. 24 Former a uto racer J ohn Arnold saw a drea m corne true Sa turJ da y even in g wi th the o pe ni ng of hi s Speedwa y USA a t the San Bernar din o Co u n ty Fairgrounds in . Vic torvi l le . So uth ern Ca l ifor n ia Speedway riders the n had a drea m come tr ue as over 5000 fans jammed th e 'stanth for th e Gra nd Opening even t. T he offi cia ls of Speedway USA opened th eir track wi th style as th ey had all th e pomp and cere mo ny before the even t that yo u usu all y o n ly find a t a Worl d Cha mpions h ip . Incl uded 'in th e spe ct ac u la r o pe n ing ni gh t ac tio n was specia l guest an n o uncer Larry "S u perrno u rh " Huffman a nd th e " Wh eel ie King" Do ug Dom o kos . T he start o f th e n igb r's ac tio n had to he de la yed due to the lon g lines at .' th e ticket booths in fro nt of th e bea uti fu l new facil ity but o n I' everyo ne was in they were treared to som e th rilli n ~ spee d wav ac tion , Forme r juni or Nati o nal Cha mp ion Ron n ie Correv (T icket Ma nia /Ro land La ma rch e, In c: /Wrigh t Fra m ersl Gri n Produ cts/M o m &Da d Weslake) d rew firs t blood in the Scrat ch action a t Speed wa y USA by winning the

• Cover