Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.~ Speedwav ~ _ In Seco nd Division racing, the tourists stuck it to the regu lars in a most unusual showi ng. Former fla t tra cker, Chris Paulso n wo n his heat a nd th e mai n fro m the zero. Derek Dorresteyn , was second. So few Third Division riders showed up th at those on hand go t a chanc e to go Scra tch raci ng. Bern ie Tusko enjoyed his Ventura debut by tak ing home th e trophy. ..- ..- Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Steve Lucero; 2. Kelly Mora n; 3. Bob Ott ; 4 . A lan Christi an . HAN DICA P MAIN : 1. M ike Mazzacane; 2. J immy Ge ntile; 3. Bob Ott; 4. Steve Lucero: 5. J oe Kreis - (L to r) Ronnie Correy, Jim O'Dell and Jim Blan race in close quarters at Speedway USA. Correy won the First Division Handicap race at Ascot . daytime on Wednesday and the rid ers kept it just as hot with an 28 exci ting progra m of spee dway mot or cycle raci ng a t J ohn LaD ouceu r 's In land Motorcycle Speedway la ter tha t nigh t. The ho ttes t of the hot proved to be Shaw n McConnell who too k the vic tory in the Scra tch main while Je ffJ ohnson cap tured the glory in th e H andicap race . McCo nne ll (Brown's Au to mo tive Sales/Oakl ey/ Bell / Ca r Tunes/Tearn Swolle n / Petroc hem Weslake) was o n a ro ll all n ight long a nd he led a ll the way in the Scra tch ma in . Steve Lucero was seco nd to McConnell o ut of th e gate, but he was passed by Faria in turn fou r fo r seco nd. Just like their me mora ble b..u tle Sunday at Carlsbad in the mai n, Lucero went back into second ahead o f Faria. L ucero was a ll over McCo nnell tryin g to fin d a way by, but McConn ell wa s equa l to the cha llenge and edged ou t Lucero for th e win . McCo n ne ll took the wi n wi th a cle nc hed fist a nd th en sal u ted th e cro wd with a spectacu lar wheelie down th e back chu te after the even t. J ohn son ( Fo nt a n a R ad ia to r / Butch 's G r ind er s/ Simpson /J oll y Farms /G a ry' s Aut o Su p p ly/Sco tt Goggl es Weslak e) fina lly got hi s first IMS Division One wi n in the Han di cap ma in . J ohnson was o ff th e zero and led a t th e o utse t over Ronn ie Correy a nd Ri ch Swean ey, who had gone do wn to the initial try after a ta ngle wit h Wayn e Leu tz. Sweaney moved int o seco nd befo re the end of the firs t revol uri o n but he went wid e in turn one on lap two lettin g Correy back into seco nd. Faria then made a spectacu lar mov e and swep t past both Lucero and Swean ey to tak e over th ird o n lap two. but that was as far as he was go ing as Correy went down in turn one on lap three. Faria a nd Leutz were for ced to la y it down to a vo id th e fall en Correv a nd that brought o u t the red , and si'nce the race was over ha lfway com p lete, it was ca lled. J ohnson took th e win wi th Fari a and Leu tz gelling cred it for seco nd a nd th ird. After the ni g ht 's action Johnson clutched a t the plaque he wo n and sa id , " I tho ught th e race wou ld never end. I wanted th is so bad. " J ordan Dun ca n (ST P/ACR/Mushroom Grip s/Gu mb y & Pok ey/ Fi berglass Concepts/Bell Godden ) came back o ff th e in jury list with a vengea nce and eas ily ra n awav fro m the pack to score the win in the Seco nd Division main from th e zero . Ga rv H icks took seco nd wi th Walt Farnum co mi ng fro m the 30 to th ird. Tom Settlemire (Mastercraft Signs/ Griu ly J awa ) won h is seco nd main event o f the week when he topped th e Third Division warriors. Mark Brooks pu t the Pai n tworks Jawa into second a t the fini sh with J im Peery third. Only three r iders fin ished th e redflag -p la gue d eve n t d ue to seve ral crashes in cludin g one tha t saw Will ie Murrav rem oved via stretcher wi th a shoulder inj ury. Results SCRATCH M AIN : 1. Shaw n McConnell (Wesl; 2. Steve Lucer o (Wes); 3. John Sandon a (Wes); 4. M ike Far ia (Jaw ). HAN DICAP: 1. Jeff Jo hnson (Wes); 2. M ike Faria (Jaw); 3. Wayne Leutz (Wes); 4 . Stave Lucero (Wes); 5. Rich Swe aney (Wes); 6. Ronnie Correy (Gdn). SECOND DIY: 1. Jordan Duncan (Gdn); 2. Gary Hicks (Mai); 3. Walt Farn um (Jaw ); 4. Ken Bidney IJ aw): 5. Dave Wendlandt (Jaw); 6. Mark M illazo (Wes). THIRD DIY: 1. Tom Sen lemire (Jaw); 2. Mark Brooks (Jaw ); 3. J im Peery (J aw); 4 .J im Blan Wawl: 5. W ill ie Mu rra y (J aw); 6. Ste.. Lyon s (Jaw). Lucero, Mazzacane star in Ventura By Bill Locey VENTU RA, CA, AUG. 27 Vent ura 's 1981 T rack Champion Steve Lucero took home the big bucks at ro u nd 21 of spe edway at the Ventura Racewa y while another Riverside rider Mik e Mazzacame, too k th e H and icap ho nor s. With just four 50-ya rd -line rider s on hand , it ended u p that th ey all made it to the Scrat ch ma in. After th e borin g heat rac es, th e th rill o f the night came in a sem i when Alan Ch ristian and Kell y Moran had th e cro wd ho lleri ng as they took turns passing eac h o ther fo r four la ps arou nd the fifth -m ile ova l. Mor an won it bv inch es. L ucero, meanwhil e, got two grea t ga tes to mak e it to the mai n u nbea ten . T he main certa inlv had a Tuesdav night flavo r featuring three trdck cha m p ions: Christian (1978), Moran (1984), Lu cero and current poi nts lead er , " Sho wtim e" Bo bbv Ott. It was over quickl y as L ucero got a gr ea t start o ff th e pol e and too k the lead arou nd (urn one, and no o ne go t a n y closer than fou r bikeleng th s, That's th ree win s for Lucero here incl ud in g a pair of Scra tch mains. In Fir st Division Joe Kreisberg and J immy Gentile surv ived to th e H an di cap ma in . Three o f the 50-yard -line boys mad e it as well incl ud ing Ott wh o encored h is best tri ck wh en he fell down and th en bounced back u p and tran sferr ed in h is hea t race. In th e main , Mazzaca ne o u t distanced the stars behi nd him , bu t th e stu bbo rn Gent ile held o n to the pole u nt il the fo urth revol uti on when Mau aca ne fina lly mu scled by on th e insi de for hi s first Tuesday ni ght wi n of th e year. berg: 6. Alan Chr istian. SECOND DIY: 1. Chris Paulson; 2. Derek Dorres tey n; 3. Nor ma n Neumann; 4 . Steve Furman; 5. Rich Perk in s; 6. Craig Furman. THIRD DIV: 1. Bern ie Tusko ; 2. M an y Van Blar · gen; 3. Eric Fenschneide r; 4 . Ray Garc ia. MATCH RACE: 1. Wah Farnum del . Doug Bow ers. th e crowd o n th eir feet with a sensa tional mo ve tha t put him past both Fa ria a nd Oxley a nd into th e lead. Fa ria came back and th ey beca me engaged in a wa r o n th e th ird la p . It was a side-by-side ba ttl e until Lucero asse rte d himself in the fina l bend as th ey headed for the whi te flag. Lu cero held th e lead the entire fina l circuit and ra ced un der the flag first. Faria took second with Oxley th ird a nd Ch ristia n fourth. Results MAIN: 1. Steve Lucero (We s); 2. M ike Faria (J aw) ; 3. Brad Oxley (Wes); 4. Alan Christ ian (GM ). CONSOL: 1. Kelly Moran (Gdn); 2. Rob Pletzing (Wes); 3. Keith Chri sco (Wes); 4. John Sandona (Wesl. US NATIONAL POINTS aUALIFIER: 1. (TIE) Steve Lucero/ Bra d Oxley/ M ike Faria (1 9); 4 . Al an Chr is· tian (1B): 5. Kell y Mo ran 11 6): 6. RobPl etzing (151 7. ; Keith Chrisco (131 B. J ohn Sandona (10); 9. M ike ; Curoso 181 10. (TIE) Rich Sw eaney/Ronnie Carrey : (7). Lucero track champ at California Speedway By Gordie Orr CARLSBAD, CA, AUG . 25 Steve Lucero put an end to the week that is com monly known in southern Californ ia speedway circles as " Hell Week " by taking the main event a nd tying with Brad Oxley and Mik e Faria with 19 points at Carlsbad 's fin al round of the U.S. Na tional Qualifiers. L ucero (Shoei/ Oa kley/ Los Pa tios Restauran LiSTP/Gen e Woods Ra cing P ro d ucts/ Kal-G ard / K&N /Oilzall / Su pe r Spoke/ ZlHair By Bev Weslak e), wh o was crowned tra ck cha mpion at interm ission, got o ff to a slo w sta rt by scoring two points in his first ride, bu t th e ride was any thi ng but boring. Ronn ie Co rrey ma ki ng his first ever ap peara nce in a Nationa l Qual ifier - zipped aro u nd th e o u tside o f Lucero and held him off for th e durat ion. The crowd roa red th eir appro val a t th e stu n ni ng upset. It was nothin g agains t L ucero, th ey were j ust salu ti ng Correy for his fin e ride. Lucero then won hi s next ride o ver Mi ke Curoso a nd Du ane Yarrow, but th e cro wd anx io us ly a wa ited th e retu rn o f Correy a nd whe n he ca me back he did not disappoint them. O xley led , but wa tched as Correy worked the o u tside a nd went by for th e lead. O xley tried the inside of Correy u nti l ' th e last lap when he went to th e cush ion on the back ch ute a nd reclaimed the lead a nd the win . Lucero finished second in his last ride wh ile Correy, much to th e d isa p point ment of th e crowd, finished last in hi s fin al race behind Curoso , Rich Sweaney a nd Tim McCa sla nd. Oxley, L ucero , Mi ke Faria a nd Alan Christian a ll ca p tu red their sem is to move into th e main event but befor e th a t was to be sett led th ey had to ru n th e conso la tio n. Rob Pfetzin g moved into th e lead a t th e start o f the co nso la tion a hea d of Keith Chrisco. Kell y Moran and John Sa ndo na . Moran th en flew by both Ch ri sco and Pfetzin g o n th e back ch ut e wi th a n exciting pass tha t not o n ly propelled h im to the lead , but also to th e eventua l win. Th e ma in was a spectac u lar event to sa y the least. Ox ley got the ga te fro m the po le a nd led into th e first bend over Lucero , Faria and Christia n. Faria hooked up on th e back ch u te and raced pas t Lu cero for second , but L ucero qu ickl y moved back into seco nd o n the ins ide. Faria was back, and past for the runner-u p spot wi th a n ou tside pass at the end o f the exci ting first lap. Lucero then put Houston, Butler bomb Baylands By W.H. Spencer FREMONT . CA, AUG. 22 With Baylands' top gunners gone to so u the rn Ca lifornia for the U.S. National qualifiers, th e regular runners cleaned up at round 17of speedway racing under th e lights o f Baylands Raceway Park. John Houston J r. too k his first Scra tch wi n while Don Butler topped the Handicap race. Bu tler found him self on the 10yard line in Division One H andicap raci ng a nd p roceeded to devastat e the troops wit h a hea t win over Steve Cra wford. Then he down ed Sco tt Brant an d Cra wford in the sem i. In th e main , Butler had a tangle with Mark Day ex iting turn two 01 th e seco nd lap a nd drove for th e in field wh ile Brant la id it down to avoid a coll ision, brin ging ou t the red. In the res ta rt Day and hi s LBC Lea thers/ Den t Mart-backed bik e led fo r a lap until Butler too k th e H i/?hland Framers/Dick's Carage mach me to th e front. Bu tler was cha lle nged by Mike Parsons a ll th e way with Rocky Ro binso n worki ng th rough traffi c to fin ish th ird in fro nt of Brant wh o was o ff the pa ce af ter hi s get -o ff. P arsons drew th e o u tside for th e sta rt o f the Scra tch mai n wi th H ousto n o n the pole. When the ga te flew, so did H ou ston (Classic & Fashion ). H e rod e a flaw less race. holdin g Bu tler and Cra wford a t ba y. Pa rsons. a ttempted so me hea vy li nes, bu t to no ava il. At th e flag it was H ou ston lead ing Bu tler , C rawfo rd (o n Curry's machine) and Parso ns. Curry took hom e his eigh th strai gh t .Ma tch race win . J eff Kniss wo n hi s first Division Three ma in here a t Bavlands two weeks ago , and to n igh t h'e styled hi s wa y to the Seco nd Division victory a head o f Vance Felicio, Derek Dorrestyn a nd Bill H errnant. Also new a t a Ba ylands trophy p resentati on was Gordon Rudy, who topped the Division T hree mai n in o n ly his third week of speedw ay rac ing. Dan Neilso n closed th e gap a t the chec kers bu t no t enough; Tom Casta nola received a no the r th irdp lace fin ish . • Results SCRATCH MA IN: 1. J ohn Houst on Jr.; 2. Don Butl er; 3. St eve Crawford; 4 . M ike Par son s. HANDICAP: 1. Don Butler; 2. M ike Parson s; 3 . Rocky Rob inson ; 4 . Scan Brant ; 5 . M ark Day; 6. St eve Crawford . DIV TW O: 1. Jeff Kn iss; 2. Cha d Felic ia; 3 . Derek Oor restyn; 4 . Bill Hermant; 5. Troy Gra ham ; 6. M arty Va n Bl8rgen. DIV THREE: 1. Gordon Rudy; 2. Dan Neilson; 3. Tom Castagnola Sr .; 4 . Les Kar s; 5. J im Harri s: 6. Joe Leo na rd .

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