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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126986
Correy took event 18 and 19 while
Lucero closed the regular program
winning event 20 over Schwartz.
That gave Lucero third spot overall.
The fans got ready for the runoff
and the two riders, who were now
biuer rivals, walked to. the starting
line. Ott was the crowd favorite and
he drew cheers when he won the coin
toss for starting positions. He chose
gate two. That forced Oxley to start
in gate four.
The entire grandstand stood for
the start and they roared as the gate
went up. Ou raced into the lead with
Oxley close behind, but as fast as Ott
had been, going, it would be hard for
Oxley to catch him. Ott led down
the back chute and into turn three.
Then, amazingly, he fell all by
himself in turn four. Oxley laid it
down and out came the red. There
is no haH the field rule in a tworider race and referee Moon ruled
accordingly. Ott was excluded and
Oxley was the new champion. Ou's
fans howled their disapproval while
Oxley's fans stood ·and cheered the
new champion.
At the same time that Oxley was
celebrating, Ott took off his helmet
and Slarted the long walk back to the
pits. The man they call "Showtime"
was anything but happy and when'
he was asked for a response he smiled
and said, "I have nothing to say. No
commenlo Maybe later."
The always happy Lucero made
his first trip to the National rostrum.
"I blew my inside gates and I won
on the outside. That is kind of rare
but I will just have to lake them as
I get them. Next year I will just have
to improve by two spots."
When asked about his tangle with
Ou, Lucero said, '1 had a little tangle
with Bobby Ott and I bent it up a
little bit (his bike). After that I kept
it bent because it was going real
good. I didn't care if it was bent or
not because I was ju t letting the
clutch go and trying to win every race
I was in."
Back in the pits Schwartz was in
a gracious mood even though he had
to give up the National Champion·
ship. "It i one of those things. Both
myself and Mike (Faria) had a lot
of bad luck tonight. We did the best
we could. I am happy that I raced
in America and did what I did this
year. I would have liked to ~ave won
it tonight and made it back to back,
but there is next year. I really enjoyed
myself this year and tonight. I will
be around for a lot of years."
Oxley was besieged by well wishers
for over an hour. He finally had time
to do an interview. "I really can't
believe ilo Me, National Cham·
pion?," he asked. "The Coors/KLOS
FM/STPIQuaker State/Cirellol
Brant/Frame Shop Weslake ran
great." Oxley then went on about the
runoff with Otlo "He was riding
really hard and he just broke concentration and let it get away from
him. He t.h!ew it away all by himself.
He wasn't at the victory celebration
(Trophy presentation to the top
three) and I think he was throwing
a "Wah" but he had a reason to be
upset. He had the championship in
his grasp on the first lap. When he
went down I thought I should have
been awarded the win but I didn't
know if Irwin Moon was going to
call it that way. It is tough to make
a decision like that so quick. That
decision doesn't come up every day
when there is a runoff and one rider
goes down."
•
Results
1. Brad Olcley IWn) 14; 2. Bobby Ott (GdnlWes)
14; 3. Ste.. Lucero (Wn) 13; 4. Ronnie Correy
(Wn) 10; 5. (TIE) Alan Christian (Wes)/Mike Faria
(Jew) 9; 7. Oubb Ferrell (Wnl B; B. (TIE) Bobby
Sch_rtz (Wn)/Ban II88t (W-I 7; 10. (TIE) Gary
Hidca (W_I/Rob Pletzing (Wnl 6; 12. Billy Hamill
(W_15; 13. Lance King