Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.--=,SpeedlNay _ o in 9 i!i § u rn > '" ~ o :I: c, Sout hern California point leader Steve Lucero (1 8) goes inside Sam Ermolen ko at Cost a M esa. Brad Oxley is running t hird. Hicks doubles at Speedway USA By Scott Daloisio VICTO RV IL LE, CA, SE PT. 14 Gary Hicks became the first rider in the history of Speedway USA in Victorville to win two Scra tch main events. Hicks who wo n th e Scra tch mai n th e previous Saturday even ing a boa rd a two val ve Jawa came back a nd did it aga in Sat urday night in convincing style aboard a Wesla ke. Mi ke " Pops" Dwyer an d Ronn ie Correy were a t th e hea d o f th e pack when th e fray entered th e first ben d , but Dw yer loo ped it and Correy was for ced 10 ta ke evasive ac tion. T ha t a llowed Hicks (Milne Bros.) and Eddie Thurman 10 shoot by. O nce out front, Hi cks moved a wav for a small lead wh ile Correy went ;lfter T h urman for second. Correy seemi ngly had no cha nce o f mak ing up th e grou nd , but he turned it a ll o n a nd passed Thurm an o n th e la st lap for secon d but it was far too la te to make a cha rg e at H icks w ho wo n by severa l lengths. At th e fin ish it wa s 16-yea r-old Hi cks lead in g 18-yea r-old Correy h o m e. Thurman too k third whi le Dwyer go t credit for th e wrap- u p. Louis Kossuth go t up from th e deck ea rlier in th e eveni ng in a crash w he re he m ay have bro ken so me rib s a nd he wo n th e Handicap main with a beau tiful rid e from th e 50-yar d lin e. Kossuth (Lou's Service J awa ) had a stellar field to co nte nd wit h, incl ud in g Dw yer , Wah Farnum , Marty Vanblar gen, Lou Kreisberg a nd Mark Bro ok s. .Kossu th q u ick ly made h is way th rough so me o f th e tra ffic and fou nd himself in co ntent io n for th e lead wh en he passed Dwyer o n lap two for seco nd . Brook s ha d been at th e h ead of th e pack the ent ire way , but h e went wid e as he came o u t o f four o n th e thi rd go- tround and th at let Kossuth and Farnum bla st underneath fo r first a nd seco nd, Farnum a p p lied th e hea t to Kossuth, but th e . lea der was eq ua l to th e cha lle n ges a nd he stayed a head of Farnum a ll th e way to th e ch eckered flag. Fol lowing Farnum , who wa s a close seco nd , was Brooks and Kreisberg, Bern ice Tusco (Jawa ) may have earned a promotion to Second Divi -sia n by sco ri ng a convinc in g wln'in the T hird D iv isio n ma in. Duan e " Pinky" Blake powered a for mer Ala n Christi an Godden to seco nd with Mark H atel y thi rd. At inte rm ission , Mark Dw yer defeat ed h is father Mik e in a best o f three mat ch rac e, T he senior Dwyer took th e first o ne.on ly to ha ve Mark co me back an d win races two a n d three. I Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. Gar y Hick s (We s); 2. Ronn ie Correy (W es); 3 . Ed Thurman (Wes): 4 . Mik e Dwyer (Wes). HAN DICAP: 1. Lo uis Kossu t h (J aw l; 2. Walt Far num (Jaw); 3. Mark Brook s (Jaw); 4. Lou Krei sberg IJaw); 5. Mike Dwyer (W es); 6. Ma rty Vanblargen (Jaw) . SECOND DIV: 1. Bern ie Tusco (Jawl; 2. Duane Blake (Gdnl ; 3. M ark Hatel y (Wes) ; 4. Kent Bows er (Gdn); 5. M ike McC art hy (W es): 6 . Er ic Fert schneider (J aw). MATCH RACE; 1. M ark Dwyer (Jaw); 2. M ike Dwyer (We s). Christian awesome at Ascot South Bay Stadium By Scott Daloisio GA RDENA, CA, SEPT, 13 Ala n " Crazy" Christian too k th e lead a t the end of th e first lap an d raced home first for th e victory in th e accident-marred Scra tch ma in event a t Chris Agajan ian 's Ascot So u th Bay Stadi u m T hursday nigh t. T he race got as far as tu rn on e o n th e original start before a red flag halted th e proceedi ngs . Bo bby Ott wa s leading th e p ack wh en Rob Pfetzin g, Lance Kin g a nd Christia n ta ngled a nd beca m e involved in a spectacu la r cras h th a t saw bi kes an d rid ers tumbling end over end. C hristian a nd Kin g were a ble to wa lk away from th e scene while Pfetzin g had to be taken to th e ho sp ital with ches t injuri es. On th e resta rt , Ott again bo lted into the lead from th e pole a hea d of King a nd Chri stian . Kin g went 10 th e ou tside a nd sped by O tt fo r th e lead on th e back ch u te with O tt reclai ming th e top spot in turn three, Ott held th e lead until turn four when Kin ggot back by, but Ch ristian (ST P/ Valvoline/Cirello Racing / Ch amp ion Spark Plugs /PB IIK&N / BeIIl H iP o in t/ Fibergla ss Concepts/ Advan tage Boa ts GM) blasted by both of them on the in side and went into the lead a t the en d of th e lap. Once out .. h-Onl , ', hris tiim o/ek {)l'tand Kin g in-a , one on the seco nd revolution. Once out front , he was poised to run away from th e field , but Mike ·Fa ria wa s cha rg ing, Faria moved through th e backrnarkers a nd h e passed Northrup as th ey ro cket ed down th e backchute o n lap four. Faria closed in on Christian on th e la st lap an d actuall y pulled up to h is rear tir e as th ey came o ff turn four th e fin al time. Christian momentarily slowed - tha t held Faria up enou gh to giv e Christian an unco ntested fin al h alf straightawa y. Northrup fin ished third. Jordan Duncan (ST P/ ACRIMush room Grips/Fibergl a ss Concepts Godden) emulat ed hi s mentor Christian 's win in th e H andicap main by sco ring th e victo ry in th e Second Divisio n main . Duncan p assed "Pops" Dw yer o n lap two for the lead and event ua l win . Dwyer sta yed in seco nd until lap four wh en h e bit th e dust. Ga ry Hi cks took second with Doug Nico l th ird . G reg Nelson (Wes la ke). won his h eat race a nd th en ca me back to score a co n vinc ing victory in th e Th ird Division main from th e zero. Mark Brooks was a distant seco nd with Rich ard Perkins third , J essee Fin ch (Speed way Magazine/ Jones Goggles/ Arai /House of Suzuki Triumph/Sam Ermolenko/Mom & Dad) continued h is domi nation of Junior Speedway with a win in First Di vision over Greg Hancock, Tim Gewecke and Billy Hammil. Brent Werner won the Junior Seco nd Division go over G en e Topping, John Ni ckl es and Kevin Nickles. spiri ted battle for second. Christian took the win with Ott fin ally edgin g Kin g for seco nd . Rich Swea ney (Zee's Racing/Joel G u th Co ns t./ Sco tt Goggl es Weslak e) turned in three ou tsta nd ing rid es fro m the 10-yard line a n d h e swep t th e Han dica p side o f th e program , Swea ney was flying in th e m ain, but so was Mik e Curoso, wh o starte d back on th e 30. Curo so took Andy Northrup and Mik e Mazzacan e on the first ci rcuit. On lap two, he picked o ff Ed Cas tro a nd started to work hi s way up on Swea ney but go t so me u nex pected tracti on as he exited turn fo ur, did a wh eeli e an d dropped back to fif th. From th at point o n. it was a ll Sweaney a n d he took th e win by half o f a st raightaway over North rup a nd Brad Oxley. Popu lar Mik e " Po ps" Dwyer (Pop & Fas t Racing/Parts Plus/Hair By Bev Wesla ke) scored a ha rd -earned victory in the Seco nd Division main fro m th e zero . Lou Kreisberg worked - o n Dw yer a ll the way , but th e Riverside firema n beat Krei sberg home by half a len gth at th e Ro y Kettin g ch eckered . Bern it T usco (j awa j wo n th e Third Divisio n main from th e IO-yard line · over Mark Hatel y, an d Robert Fairch ild , Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Alan Chr istian (GM); 2. Bob Ott (Gdn); 3 . Lance Ki ng (Wes); 4. Rob Pletzing (W esl. HAN DICAP: 1. Rich Swe a ney (Wes); 2. A ndy Nor thrup (Wes ); 3. Brad Oxl ey (Wes); 4. M ike Curoso (Wes); 5 . Mike Mazzacane (Jaw); 6 . Ed Cast ro (Wes) . SECOND DIV: 1. Mike Dwy er (Wes); 2. Ma rk Hately (Wesl; 3. Gary Hicks (Wes) ; 4. Ma rk Brooks (Ja w); 5 . J ordan Duncan (Gdn); 6. Jeff Springman (Wes). THIRD ON ; 1. Bern ie Tusco (Jaw); 2. Mark Hately (W es); 3 . Robe rt Feir ch ild (Jap); 4 . Dana Dumond (Jaw); 5. Ken Berry (Jaw); 6. Ste ve Lyons (Jaw ). REi'sults Ermolenko sails to Costa Mesa win By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA, SEPT, 13 It was Friday the l Sth , bu t that d idn' t phase Sam Ermolenko as he used a ll of his skill to bew it ch hi s opponents and swep t the Scra tch SlI of th e pro gram fe a t the Ora nge Co unty Fai rgrounds, Erm o len ko (P ick Yo ur Part Au to Sa lvage/Paci fic Coa st La m ina ting/ Jones Goggles/ Arai / Q&E/ R K Racin g Cha in /A mer ica n Mikuni / AI Reed 's P ol ishi ng/Frame Sh op/Car T unL STP/ Kal-G ard Weslake) is fast 'S/ becomin g o ne of th e favorites for th e 1985 National Championship a nd h e showed everyo ne why Fr iday night. Alan Christ ian wa s first out o f th e ga te in th e Scra tch main , and h e had J ohn Sandona a lo n gs ide as th ey en tered the first bend, Ermo lenko th en sp lit the pair with a classic move and took over th e lead . Un fort una tely, hi s grea t m ove got a li tt le pi ece o f C h ris tian a nd he wa s left on th e sea t o f h is leath ers, Steve Lucero moved p ast Sa ndona before th e end o f th e initial circu it and he went a bo u t chasi n g Er molen ko. Lucero sta yed close, bu t was unable to mount a h ea vy cha lle n ge to Ermol enko, who took th e che ckered flag in a wh eelie. T he Handicap ma in wa s an Alan Christ ian m a sterpiece. Christi an (ST P / Va lvo l ine / C ire llo R a ci n g / PBI/Champion Spark P lugs/K&N / Bell H elmets/H i-Point/Fiberglass Concepts/Advantage Boasts GM) was co m ing all the way from the 40; he got a gr ea t start and found h imself behind Andy Northrup a n d Tim MeCasland as they entered the first bend. Christian made fast work of McCasland th en sho t pas t Northrup in turn . SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Sam Ermolenko (Wes); 2. Steve Lucero (Wesl; 3. John Sandona (Wes); 4 . A lan Chr istian (GM). HAND ICAP; 1. Al an Chr ist ian (GM); 2. M ike Faria (Jawl; 3 . And y North rup (Wesl; 4. Steve Lucero (Wes); 5. Bob Ott (Gdn); 6. Tim Mc Casland (Wes). SECOND DIV; 1. Jo rdan Du ncan (Gdn); 2. Gary Hicks (Wes); 3. Doug Nico l (Wes); 4. Ji mmy Gentil e (We s); 5. M ike Dwyer (Wes); 6. Randy Skinn er (J aw) . THIRD DIV : 1. Gr eg Nel son (Wes); 2. M ark Brooks (Jaw); 3. Richard Per kin s (Jaw); 4 . Craig Fu rm an (Jaw): 5. Duane Blake (Jaw); 6. J im Peery (Jaw). JR DIV 1; 1. Jessee Finc h; 2. Greg Hanc ock; 3 . Tim Gewecke; 4. Bil ly Hammil. J R DIV 2; 1. Brent W erner; 2. Ge ne Toppi ng; 3 . Jo hn Nickles; 4. Kevin Nickles. "Sudden Sam" returns to IMS and wins By Scott Daloisio SAN BERNARDINO, CA. SEPT, I I Sam Ermolenko made a triumphant return to Joh n LaDouceur's Inland Motorc-ycle Speedway by winning his sev- I enth Cycle Rider , In c. Scratch main event o f the 1985 season. Erm ol enko was m akin g hi s first sta teside a p pearance sin ce taking third in the recent World Final , and he received a rousing ova tio n eac h time he ca me ou t to race. ' Ermolen ko (Pick Your Part Auto Salvage/Pacific Co ast Laminating/ Ara ilJ ones Goggl es/American Mikun iiSTP/ Q&E/ RK Raci ng Chain/At Reed 's Polishing/Frame Shop/KalG ard/Car Tunes Weslake) had th e go ld en touch all night long an d he drew th e pole position for a ll th ree of h is Scra tch rides. H e drove from th e p ol e a t the start of th e main a nd wa s the leader into th e first corner over John Sandona, Mi ke Faria and Lance Kin g . Faria and Kin g quickly ma de their way past Sandona and were hot on the trail of Errnolenko. Faria , who defea ted Ermolen ko ea rlier in th e evening in th eir semi, closed the gap o n th e leader o n the seco nd circuit. Fa ria made u p some dis tan ce, bu t in th e end cou ld n o t mount a heavy . ch a llen ge and, was forced to- finish

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