Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

hi s life when h e led all th e wa y in th e H andi cap m ain. Alan Christian hounded Ca stro from lap two on, exerting extreme pressure on the ~n ta Ana -based rider. but Castro co n u n ua lly h eld o ff th e Ame rican supersta r a nd he took the win by less than a len gth. much 10 th e del ight of th e crowd . Third spot went 10 Kell y Moran. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Sam Ermolenko (Wes l: 2. Joh n Sandona (Wesl; 3. M ike Faria (Wesl ; 4 . Lance King (Wes). . HANDICAP; 1. Ed Castro (Wes); 2. A lan Christian (Wes); 3. Kelly Moran (Gdn t 4 . lance King (Wesl; 5. Keith Chr isco (Wes); 6. Rich Sweaney (Wesl. OT SCRATCH: 1. Ron Preston ; 2. Dubb Ferrell (J aw); 3. Steve Nuller (Jaw); 4. Jeff Toml in (Wesl. OT MATCH RACE 1; 1. Sonny Nutter. 2. Bill Cody. OT MATCH RACE 2: 1. Danny Becker; 2. Rick Woods. OT MATCH RACE 3: 1. Ron Preston; 2. Mark Cherry . OT MATCH RACE 4: 1. Bruce Penh all; 2. Mika Bast. $-0 Q.) ..0 o .... u o (Above) Jim Fishback. Jan Ballard and Bobby Hardison were part of the old t imer reunion at Costa Mesa . (Below) Ron Preston rode a 1930 JAP t~ the t hird match race win over Mark Cherry. Correy steals Speedway USA By Scott Daloisio VICTO RVILLE. CA, O CT. 5 Ronn ie "The Kid" Correy turned in five perfect rid es to sc?re 15 points a nd tak e th e first an n ual Speedw ay USA T rack Ermolenko, Castro win at Costa Mesa reunion night By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA . O CT. 4 One o f th e largest crowds o f th e season fill ed th e grandstands a t the Orange Co unty Fairgrounds Friday night and they watched .... 36 as Sam Ermolenko a nd Ed Castro rook th e fin al Fi rst Division mains o f the season. Th ey won th e big money . bu t th e major reason for th e bi g crowd was a speedway reunion. To be exa ct it was a speed way re u n io n of th e sta rs of yesteryear and it was for th e benefi t of" the ch ildre n a t the C H OC H osp ital in Orange Co u nty. After th e first four Handi cap heats the firs t pair o f rid ers in th e o ld time rs actio n ca me o n to th e track 10 th e roar o f the fans wh o were no dou bt enjoying fond memories o f yesteryear. Announcer J ohn Sm ith first a n no u n ced " Sli d i n ' So n ny" N u tter. H e th en turned to th e crowd a nd just lik e th e o ld days th ey a ll joined in in ann ouncing " Wild Bill " Cody. Cody led th e first two la ps o f th e event, but Nutter got by o n the th ird lap and took th e w in . Th e seco nd Ieature ma tch race featured Dann y " Berzerkoo" Becker and former th ree-tim e Nationa l C ha m pion R ick Woods, who had not ridden a sp eed way bik e since 1978. These two, without pra ct ice, put o n a specta cu lar show that left th e crowd buzzin g with Becker tak in g th e win. Former European Junior Champ ion Ron Prest on defeated Mark Ch err y 10 win a match race th at featured th e two riders mounted o n 1930era JAPs. T he bigg est mat ch race of th em a ll fea tured seven -time Na tio nal Champion Mike Bast versu s two-time World Cha m p ion Bruce Penhal l. It was a two-out-o f-three affair, ru n th rougho u t th e eveni ng. Penh all won th e firs t go wi th Bas t taking the secon d . Penhall then ca me back 10 edge Ba st in th e decider. P reston who retired two years ago, won the Old T im ers Scra tch mai n over recent ly re ti re d " Da ngerous Dubb" Ferrell , Ste ve N u tter a nd J eff T omlin . In th e regular Scratch m a in Errnolenko (P ick Yo ur Part Auto Sa lvage/ Pacific Coast La m inating/ Jones Gogg les/ Ara ilQ,&E/S1.'P / ~ K R a cin~ Ch a in / Am eri can Mikurri/' AI Reed s Polishing/Frame Shop / Car T u nes / Kal-Gard Weslake) was sim p ly domin ating. H e got a roc ket sta rt from three a nd led over Mike Fa ria a nd J ohn Sa ndona. Sa ndona got Faria for seco nd before th e end o f th e first ci rcui t a nd th en cont in ua lly sh u t th e door o n him th e rem a inder o fthe wa y as Faria tr ied to get by o n th e ins ide . T h ewi n was captu red by Ermolenko some two a nd a half lengths a head o f Sa ndona wi th Faria and Lance Kin g ta ki ng the m in or p lacings . Castro (P ro Ri d erlTh e Ch u m 's KN AC Wesla ke) tu rn ed in the ride o f C ha m pions hi p Sa turday o n a warm desert ni ght. . . . C o rrey (T'icke t Man ia vFisb i ng Boa ts U n lim ited/ Rola nd La Marche, In c./Wright Fra me rs/Gri n Prod ucts/ . Mom & Dad Wesla ke) easily won his first race in event th ree when he led tapes 10 chec ke red ~ n d defea ted .o ne of his major co rnpeu rors J eff Spri ngman . Correy agai n th ra sh ed th e field in even t seve n whe n he fini sh ed lig ht years ahead o f J im T urn er and o ne of th e pre-rac e favo ri tes, Walt Farnum. Farn um act ually fell a nd didn 't fin ish th e race , but he sti ll got cred it for th ird when Doug Bowers p ut bo.th wheels o n th e infield a nd was d isqua lified . T hat p rov ed to be Fa rnum 's last hurrah o n th e n ight as th e fall aggrava ted a kn ee inj ury he sus tai ned T h urs day at Asco t. Race nine saw Correy's th ird appearance of th e even ing a nd h e was to be cha lle n ged by Jeff Johnson, wh o was m ak ing a co me bac k a fter su fferinga broken co lla rbo ne in Septem ber. J ohnson got th e ga te, but Correy p assed h im o n the back ch u te for th e lead o n lap one a nd ran away to score an o th er impressive win. At th e same time th at Correy was dominating hi s opponents, so was Don Butler. Enterin g th e fourth round Butler and Correy were tied for first w ith n in e points each . They m et in event 14 an d th e tie wa s broken. Ga ry H icks and Butler burst from th e ga tes fir st. bu t by th e end of th e open in g la p it was th e sa me o ld story as Correy had taken th e lead a nd ra n away fro m the p ack. C orrey th en put the fini sh in g touch es o n h is masterpiece when h e easi ly won th e last ra ce o f th e n ight ove r Ed T h urm an and Mark Brooks. Chris Paul son (R P M/ Ja ke the Wonder Dog Godden) made the long drive down from H a yward 10 race a t Ascot Thursda y n ight a nd h e stay ed over to compete in th e Support Cl ass a t Speedway USA Sunda y. The m ove proved smart as Paulson wo n o ver Kent Bowser and S teve Lyons. Results POINTS: 1. Ron nie Correy (Was) 15; 2. J eff Spri ngman (WesI13; 3. Jeff Jo hn son (WesI 12; 4. Don But ler (Wes) 11; 5. (TIE) Gary Hicks (Wesl / Ed Thu rman (Wes) 9; 7. Loui s Kossuth IJaw) 8; 8 . (TIE) Tad Bert rand (Gdn)/Lou Kreisberg (Wes).6; 10 . (TIEl Bill y Gray (GM)/ J im Turner (Wes)/Mlke Dwyer (Wes)/ Doug Bowers (Jaw) 5; 14. (TIE)Mark Brooks (Jow)/Norman Neuman (Wes) 4; 16 . (TIE) Dana Dumond (Jaw) lWalt Farnum (Jaw) 1. SUPPORTMAIN: 1. Chris Paul son (Gdn); 2. Kent Bow ser (Gdn); 3. Steve Lyons (Jawl; 4. Bentley Barrell (Wes); 5. Karl Sellenthin (Jaw ); 6. Bud Wam baugh (Jow) . Ott, Hicks shine at Ascot By Scott Da loisio GARDEN A, CA, O CT. 3 A brief g lim pse o f th e future of Am erican speed way shined through Thursda y night at Chris Agaj ani an 's Ascot South Ba y Stadium as " Sho w time" Bobby On def eated Doug Nicol to wi n th e Scra tch mai n event whi le Ga ry Hi cks h eld o ff fell ow h igh school student Ronn ie Correy to tak e th e H andicap m a in event . O tt was o n a ru n the ent ire ni ght on th e Cycle T ech / Jones G oggl es/ Arai/STP Godden as h e won a ll th ree o f h is rides incl udi ng th e sem i from behind Alan " Crazy" Christ ian. In th e ma in , On found himself in secon d o n th e sta rt beh in d N ico l but h e cu t under N ico l for th e lead in turn one. Once o u t front On was never h eaded. T he field was down to three a t th e en d o f th e fir st lap as Edd ie Castro bit the dust an d re ti red to th e in field . T ha t left Ni col a nd Christian wi th th e chore of chasing down On. T h ey staye d close, but in th e en d , N~ col co u ld get n o closer tha n two bik elen gths behind th e jubi la nt On a t the Roy Kett in g chec kered flag. T he H andica p main wa s a p rom ot er 's dream. a nd wh en it was a ll o ver. 16-year-ol d H icks had defeat ed 18-yea r-old Co rrey by a half length. H icks (Milne Bros.lMom &Dad Wesla ke) ac tu a lly started the even in g on th e Second Divisio n side of th e p ro gram on the 30-ya rd li ne, but he was mo ved u p whe n severa l riders were forced 10 scra tch . H e responded by winning his h eat a nd th en edging th e new California Stat e Cha mpion Steve L ucero for the last transfer in thei r sem i. Hicks took the lead at th e begi nning of the H andicap main w h ile Nicol, Castro a nd Correy were ha vin g a war fo r secon d . T hat la sted until th e back ch u te o n lap two when Corey decided that he had eno ugh a nd with o ne incredible move he took bo th Castro a nd Nicol a nd set hi s sights o n H icks. Slo w ly but sure ly Correy hacked away at th e lead a nd h e moved up to ch a llen ge on th e fina l la p. As th ey ca me o ff th e fin a l co rn er, Correy gave it a ll he h ad but he fell short by a length as both riders crossed th e lin e in wh eeli es. Third spo t was ta ken by Doug Ni col. Randy Skinner (Wa rren Reid Ra ein g/Hallman USA Weslak e) led it ~ II th e way to fin ish on top of th e h eap In the Secon d Di vi si on ma in event. Jimm y G enti le to ok seco n d with Warren Reid third. Karl Sellenthm . wheeli ed hi s two-valve Jawa to th e win over Crai g Furman in the Third Di vision main a nd ave nged Furman a wi n in a n ea rlier hea t ra ce. Third spot was ta ken by Steve Bauer. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Bob 011 (Gdn); 2. Doug Nicol (Wesl; 3. Alan Christ ian (GM); 4. Ed Castro (Wes). HANDICAP: 1. Gary Hicks (Wes); 2. Ronme cerrey (Wes); 3. Doug Nico l (Wes); 4: Ed Castro (Wesl; 5. Lance King (Wes); 6. Alan Chrlst ,an (GM).. SECOND DIV: 1. Randy Skinner (Wes); 2. Jimmy Genlile (Wes); 3. Warren Reid (Jaw ); 4 . Jordan Duncan (Gdn); 5. Don Butler (Wes); 6. Mark Hately (Wes). 2 C . THIRD DIV: 1. Karl Sellenthin (J awl; . ralg Furman (Ja w ); 3 . Steve Bauer (Jaw); 4. Robert Fair ch ild (Jaw) ; 5. Ber nie Tusko (Jaw) ; 6. Kent Bow ser (Gdn). Rogers roosts Enid motocross By Dane Hillery ENID, OK. SEPT. 15 Truitt Rogers posted a 2-1 score to wi n th e 250cc Novice class a t th e Enid Motocross Track toda y. Ri ch ard Catlett quickly took th e lead a t th e drop of th e ga te in

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