Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dubb Ferrell leads main event winner Bobby Schwartz (outside) and Scotty Brown into turn one at Speedway USA in Victorville. David Durelle piloted his Wood-Rotax to the victory in the Expert class at the Elkhorn Half Mile in Wisconsin. Schwartz stomps Speedway USA By Scott Daloisio 24 VICTORVILLE, CA, JULY 18 Defending National Speedway Champion Bobby Schwartz won round three of the 1987 National Championship Series at Speedway USA and took a commanding lead in the series point lead. Schwartz's triumph came on the heels of his win at Long .Beach 24 hOUTS earlier. The showdown between Schwartz, the big winner at Speedway USA in 1987, and Mike Faria never materialized. Faria had to sit out for the second evening in a row due to a shoulder injury he sustained at Ascot on Thursday. After the 18 qualifying heats, Schwartz and his Weslake were on top of the points heap with nine. Former track champion Ronnie Correy and Dubb Ferrell were next in line with eight points each. Gary Hicks, who led the series after one race and looked $ood at Long Beach, failed to make tt to the semis after scoring only three points. Other surprising eliminations were Eddie Ingels and Billy Hamill. Both had made the Long Beach consolation but things didn't work out as well at Speedway USA. Hamill, in fact, was involved in two spectacular crashes. One saw his bike clear the crash wall while the second saw' him removed to the hospital but was released just after the races had come to an end. The first semi was easily captured by Brad Oxley over Steve Lucero and Northern California Champion Bart Bast. Ferrell, an infrequent Speedway USA competitor, led the second semi from the tapes to the checkered. Bobby Ott was second on the start but he went wide in the first bend allowing Keith Larsen and Scotty Brown by. Ott never recovered and after an early challenge from Brown, Larsen rode away to take his spot in the consolation. Correy won the main event the very first night that Speedway USA operated and the diminutive rider is the darling of the.desert fans. Needless to say, when he paced Alan Christian, the 1985 National Cham· pion, in the third semi, the fans gave him a rousing ovation. Schwartz chose the pole to start the final semi and he made it look easy over RObert Pfetzing, Phil Collins and Tuff McBride. Schwartz. had now won all four of his starts and could make it a clean 'sweep if he captured the four lap main. Lucero had the pole for the con· solation with Larsen out of two, Pfetzing in three and Christian on the outside. Lucero gated over Pfetzing but it was Christian who supplied the first bend thrills. He caught a good piece of the wall and bounced off it in spectacular style. Christian managed to keep it up on both wheels and continue in the race. Pfetzing's bike quickly went sour and he had to cruise around the final three laps so he could collect a point. Lucero took the win and the extra four points over Larsen and Christian. Schwartz again opted for the pole in the main and after the tapes £lew up, he had a bike length lead over Correy, Ferrell and Oxley. Ferrell hooked up and hit the front chute wall at the end of the opening circui t and that advanced Oxley up to the third position. It looked like it was going to be an easy win for Schwartz but on the final lap, Correy closed in. Schwartz, with all the fans' standing, knew what it took and he won by a length. Results MAIN: 1. Bobby SchWartz (Wea); 2. Ronnie Correy (Weal; 3. Brad Oxley (Wes~ 4. Dubb Ferrell (Weal.' JR: 1. Tim Gewecke; 2. Brent Werner; 3. Josh Larsen. Schwartz 'aSsos Long Beach Speedway By Scott Daloisio LONG BEACH, CA, JULY 17 Round two of the $40,000 1987 National Championship Series shifted to the quarter-mile track at Long Beach Veteran's Stadium. Bobby Schwartz, who won the 1984 American Final on the same track, guided his GM to four wins in five outings and took first place in the thrilt-packed meeting. Schwartz had his Budweiser/Sil· kolene/C. T. I. Brace/Malcolm Smith/Oakley machine performing to perfection but he did have one blemish on his side of the ledger. It was heat nine and the man to do damage was Eddie Castro. Castro powered his Weslake around the outside of Schwartz early in the event for the second place spot. The diminutive rider then put the crowd on its feet as he churned through the outside dirt to pass Shawn McCon· nell for the lead. Schwartz also got· by McConnell but he had no chance of catching the streaking Castro. Castro received a standing ovation for his fine effort but in his next outing there were no rewards as he seized his motor. Event 16 saw crowd favorite Bobby Ott kicked out for dangerous riding after he took Alan· Christian down. The fans were outraged and quickly broke into a pasture cheer but it was to no avail, Ott was out. Even though Ott was ruled out of the heat, he did get a reprieve. He was tied with three points with Lou is Kossuth, Andy Northrup and Castro. They were tied for the last spot in the semis and the fans roared their approval when Ott outpaced his three competitors and moved up in the program. The first place finisher in each semi moved into the main while second place showed up in the consolation. The ideal place to start was on the outside in the deep dirt. That became evident in the first semi when Ronnie Cone.y streaked around Dubb Ferrell for the lead jn turn two on the opening lap. Correy slowly but surely lengthened his lead and earned a trip to the main. Gate four proved the gem again, as Oxley outpaced hard riding Eddie Ingels in the second semi. Schwartz kept the streak alive as he won the fourth semi out of gate (OUT, but he did have an early challenger. Billy Hamill, competing at Long Beach for the very first time, tried to shoot by Schwartz on the inside on lap two but the wiley veteran fought him back. Gary Hicks came into the semis as the leader in the series. He started on the outside but he had to contend with Robert Pfetzing. Pfetzing tried high and low but Hicks, a recent high school graduate, continually fended 0(£ the challenges. Finally, on the back chute on lap three, Pfetzing got. by and earned his trip to the maIn. Correy was 0(£ the pole for the main with Pfetzing out of two, Oxley in three and Schwartz in the coveted outside position. Correy wheelied on the start and by the time he recovered, he was looking at the backs of Schwartz and Oxley. Correy turned up the heat on Oxley but it took him until lap three to take over the second place spot. His next chore was to catch Schwartz and it looked like 'he was doing it on the final lap but Schwartz was' 'making sure he would finish. He relaxed and won over Correy, Oxley and Pfetzing. Results MAIN: 1, Bobby Schwanz (GM~ 2. Ronnie Correy (GMI: 3. Brad Oxley (Wes); 4. Rob Pfetzing (GMI. Durelle tops Elkhorn HaHMi'e By Dave Hoenig ELKHORN, WI,JULY 12 Dave Durelle continued his dominance of Midwest half miles, winning the CBS-promoted races at the Walworth County Fairgrounds. Durelle moved his Wood·Rotax past Greg Wagenknecht at ihe halfway point and cruised to the victory. The threat of rain caused a reversal of the running order with the experts running first all day. The first Expert heat saw crowd favorite Jay Spnngsteen drop out on the second lap when his Harley went on one "cylinder. Durelle got around Billy Hofmeister and pulled away for an easy win. Hofmeister held on for second with George Istvanek and Mark Gruber following. Wagenknecht easily won heat two with Jon Champlin winning a close battle for second from Marty Bushman. The first Junior heat had the large crowd on the edge of their seats as Tim Farrell led five of the six laps only to see Dave Camlin come from fourth on the first lap to win on the I,ast lap. Danny Powell and Ji,m Hauptman were third and fourth. The second heat was equally exciting as Mark Hutson' and Jim Sumner battled over the lead. Sumner came out on top. Hutson held on for second with Matt Yoho and Bob Brooks running third and fourth. John Sommer ran away with the first Pro-Am heat. Bob Ybema and Dan Crawford were second and third. Audie HuH was riding his first Professional event and easily toolt heat two ahead of Tim Peterson and Frartk Kaiser. Greg Wagenknecht jumped into the lead of the Expert final but Dave Durelle was soon closing in with Billy Hofmeister, Mark Dolacin, Jon Champlin and Marty Bushman close behind. At the crossed £lags it was Wagenknecht, Durelle, Champlin, Bushman, Hofmeister and Mark Gruber holding the top six positions. One lap later Durelle was in the lead and pulling away. The rest of the positions stayed the same. The Junior final was all Tim Farrell's as he pushed his HarleyDavidson to a big lead over Dave Camlin, Camlin couldn't pull another last lap charge off and settled for second. Jim Sumner led Mark Hutson and Jim Hauptman home in third. . Results PRO-AM: 1. Audie Huff (H-D); 2, Tim Peterson 3, Try Hepfner (H·D); 4. Frank Kaiser (Yam); 5, Bob Ybema (H· D), • JR: 1, Tim Farrell (H-D); 2. Dave cam lin (W-R); 3. Jim Sumner (H-D~ 4. Mark HutIOI1 (C-A); 5. Jim Hauptman (Hon). EX: 1, Da. . Durelle(W·R); 2. Greg W _ _ (H·D~ 3, Jon Champlin (H-D~ 4. Marty Bushmen (H·D~ 5. BHIy _ _ (H-D). (W·R~

• Cover