Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ 0 u; 5 -' « c ~ 0 u CIl C z ~ « z « Q") c w ~ 00 a: ........ u, :I: ~ U C(') I- C'J :E .... >- V III CIl 0 ..... I- ..0 0 0 :I: I>- U 0 (Above) National Speedway Champion Alan Christian and M ike Far ia in event 13. (Below) Faria and number three in the world Sam Ermolenko. 1985 Coors U.S. National Speedway Champ-ionshiD Christian wins Championship at last By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA , CA. OCT. 12 After yea rs of trying, Alan " Crazy" Christian finall y cl im bed to the top step of the victory rostrum after scoring 14 points to win the Coors Natio nal Speedwa y Cha mpionship at th e Orange County Fairgrounds Saturday night. The bad luck th a t h a s p lagued C hristia n througho u t the yea rs in th e event fi na ll y left him and preyed upon Mike Faria, w ho ha d a d riv e chai n brea k wh ile heading for a certa in Tu n-off wit h Chr istian for the C rO\\' Il. 18 Before th e night 's action started, th ere was a pre-ra ce co nt roversy invol vin g th e availabilit y of tires in the p its o f a co u p le rid ers . Si nce a ll o f the rid ers were un abl e to obtain th em , these tires were deem ed illeg a l and the meetin g began . In th e fir st race. one of th e pre-race fa vor ites - Bobb y Schwart z - took off a nd into th e lead just ah ead of Cal ifornia Sta te Champ io n St eve Lucero . Lucero hounded Schwartz u n til th e white -flag la p , wh en he dri fted wide ou t o f turn two and dropped to last. L ucero came back to third by th e time the race had en ded , bu t by th at tim e he h ad dropped two vita l po ints. In h is rush back into co ntention . h e got a p iece o f Rob P fetzin g, wh o was rid ing desp ite a com p ressed vertebra and broken bone in h is h and . P fetzing we nt down but w-asableio walka woayaftera few moments. Another favorite, Sam Ermo lenko, started hi s even ing off in event two, where h e ea sily won that by a h alf a straightawa y over Christi an, who suffered his onl y loss on th e nigh t. Faria appeared ' in even t th ree for the first ti me a nd was o u tga ted by p ol esi u er J o h n Sandona, but Fa ria pu t th e horsepower to th e ground and raced a ro u nd Sandon a as they ca rne off turn tw o . Sandona was p o ised to m ove back in front wh en Faria wheelied go in g dow n th e back ch ut e o n lap three, but Faria recov ered j ust in time a nd wa s a ble to record hi s init ia l win . T he first ro u nd ended wi th th e Alan "Crazy" Christian celebrates in the winner's circle. It was Christian's first National Championship in 15 years of trying. appeara nce o f two-t im e defen d in g champion Kell y Mo ran . Mo ra n was last out o f the gate, bu t managed to pass Ed Cas tro for th ird ; Bobby O tt won the race over Bra d Oxley. More im portant was the fact th at Mo ran h ad dro pped two p oints .a nd co u ld not afford to lose another on the ni gh t. Er mo len ko a nd Sch wartz met in even t five . Sc h wa rtz. o ut of two . was lead ing with Er molen ko in hot pursu it. In tu rn th ree, Er molen ko momentaril y parked, an d Oxley blew by o n th e inside, th en h eld him off a ll the wa y to th e checkered fla g to ta ke seco nd behind Schwartz. Event six took five a tte mpts to ge t goi ng a s riders ta ngl ed four times: One of th e ta ngles cos t O ttS I00 as his kill sw itch fa iled to work. Before it was over. O tt was kicked o u t of the event a nd Sa ndona too k the win over L ucero . Ch ris tia n , rid ing the STP / Val vo lin e/ Cha m pi on Spar k Pl ugs/ Bell /Ca l Fab/ Adva ntage Boat s/ Cirello/Hi -P oint/K&N/ Mi kuni/Pro Design / Pro Rider/ Sm ith G ogg les/ T erryC'l ble /Tsu ba ki Weslak e wa s second o u t of the ga te beh ind Lance Kin g in ra ce seven . but he passed King at th e en d o f lap o ne a nd o pe ne d it u p ti ll th e ch eckered . T he ball wa s ro ll ing as he now had five po ints. Pfetzin g , th e best ga ter in th e field, took the lead a t the start of event eig ht a nd h eld back Faria until th e back ch u te on la p two . Fa ria got th e lead , a nd managed to wi n by a lmost half a straighta way wh ile Pfetzing hun g on to seco nd a t the expe nse o f Moran , who' had no w d ro p ped four points a nd wa s o u t of th e hunt. T he re wou ld be a new cham p io n . Schwartz and hi s Weslak e stayed p erf ect a fter a o ne - lengt h win ove r King in event nine. Fa ria had n oticed so me thi ng wrong with hi s cl u tch after event eigh t, but d idn 't ha ve time to wo rk o n it before hea t 10, wh ere he met Er molen ko . T he cl u tch prob lem didn 't see m to bot her him as he led wi re to wi re whi le Ermolen ko wa s bu sy fig h ti ng off Ed Cas tro, wh o had j us t brok en h is left hand Thursda y ni ght a t Ascot. Ermolen ko fini shed a close seco nd, but he h ad dropped three points o n th e n ight a nd h is h opes were gone . Fa ria's prob lem turned o ut to be a bad bearin g, bu t th ey ch ose to sta y with tha t bike for th e remai nder of th e eveni ng, even though the cl u tch was ill. T he last ra ce before interm ission was event 12, a nd a fter a red fla g , Christ ia n fo u nd h imself badl y o utga ted a nd chasi ng the pack. Pfetzin g was a t th e fron t, bu t Oxl ey got by h im a t th e end of lap o ne. Ch ristian took ad vant age of Pfetzing , who seeme d to be feeling th e pain from his inj u ries a nd dropped to th e ba ck . Bu t Ox ley wou ldn 't be th a t easy; Christian fina l- Iy went aroun d h im for th e lead on th e back ch u te on la p th ree. Christian 's wi n put him closer to th e crown, a nd th e crowd was beginning to warm up to what wa s h ap pen i ng . During in ter missio n. Moran sa t o n th e crash wa ll a nd look ed at losing h is crown ph ilosphica ll y. " I ca n't cry over sp illed mi lk. T he re 's a lways ne xt , year a nd then th e year a fter th a t. " T he pi vota l race of the mee ting was event 13, whi ch mat ched Schwartz an d Faria - wh o were tied for th e lead - w ith Ch ris tia n , who wa s one p oint back. Fa ria got th e ga te, but Ch ris tia n d ucked inside a nd took ove r firs t as th ey ca me o ff o f tu rn two . Sc hwartz was righ t on bo th o f th em and he tri ed to ta ke Faria for seco nd in th e fi rst bend on lap two. but he ca me in too hard and m omentaril y parked , wh ich d ropped him to last. Christian co nt in ued to lead with Faria just a breath beh ind a nd th at 's how th ey fin ish ed . Schwa rtz ended up last an d h is title ho pes were sha ttere d . Christian a nd Fa ria were tied for first and one o f th em wo uld be the new cha mp. Moran m ad e hi s fan s happy with a w in in race 15, wh ile-Ermo len ko took thi rd beh ind Sa n do na a nd, in effect, kn ock ed h imself o u t o f a ros tr u m p lace. Schwartz sea led hi s pl ace on th e victory ro stru m by taking event 17 over Joh n Cook in a race where Sch wa rtz to yed with th e field. The stage was set. Ch ristia n ca me o nto th e track with Lucero , Moran an d M ike Delacy for event 18. A win would p u t him a t lea st in a run -off fo r th e crown . Christia n was sta rti ng in slo t th ree, with .L ucero in two . Lucero th en made a grea t sporting gesture as th ey sa t a t th e ga te before staging. Lucero look ed o ver to Ch ristian 's petcock s a nd poi nted to th em so Ch ri st ian wou ld chec k to mak e su re hi s fuel wa s o n . It was on and so was Ch ristia n a s he blasted fro m th e ga te and into the lead. Co m in g o ff two, Chri sti an ga ve the pack a little wave a nd he we nt on to score th e win . No w a ll he had to do was wa i t fo r the o u tco me o f Fa ria 's race. Fa ria was u p in th e next race, an d o n paper it was hi s eas iest of th e n igh t. Everyone in the pl ace expe cted him to wi n. a nd a ru n -off would th en be held betwee n Faria a nd Christia n . Fa ria a nd Mi ke Curoso were first o ut o f the gat e and they were jostling in th e first ben d . Su dden lv, a bro ken cha in co u ld be heard slappi ng a bike a nd every one held thci r brea th , wa it ing to see w h ich rider slowed. It was Faria, with a broken drive cha in . He coa sted dejectedl y to the infield and stood by his machi n e whi le the race co nt in ued o n . H is ch a nces were go ne a nd wh ile he ago n ized on th e in field ,

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