Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

During event nine, the overall fourth-place finisher, Mike Faria, takes his Godden right underneath Ronnie Correy, who finished seventh. Nissan American Speedway Final . .Ermolenko perfect at Long Beach By Scott Daloisio LONG BEACH, CA, JUNE I I Sam Ermolenko won all five of his ,races at the Nissan American Speedway Final at Long Beach Veterans Memorial Stadium" earning a .perfect score and a spot in next month 's Overseas Final. Also Rob Pfetzing q ualifying were ik . . . d ' RIck MIller, Mi e Faria an Bobb y Schwartz. Eig htee n of the top America n riders and two fro m Canada sho wed up in Long Beach for the first event in the 1988 World Ch ampionship class. Only th e top five fin ishers co ul d move o n to the nex t round in Coventry, England, on July 10, to fac e riders advancin g fro m the Commonwealth Speedway Final. The biggest winner on the night m ay ~ a ve been th e m ech a n ical gremlin. It. took o ut three to p con tenders wh ile anoth er cras hed out of the hunt in th e drama-fill ed meeting. Pfetzing, a surprise q ua lifier at last year's Ameri can Final, ope ned the program wi th a co nvinci ng win in even t one. On lap th ree, Kell y Moran at tacked Ronnie Co rrey in tu m two and roared by for second. H owever, he had too much mom entum and wh en they came off turn two Moran slid off th e groove and gave seco nd back to th e popular Correy. . . Lance King easily won event two to have problems.Ermolenko rolled on. He came from gate five in event nine and was never headed. Correy and Faria traded elbows in the first bend and Correy, on the outside, asserted himself and won the race down the back chute. Correy then charged Ermolenko as th ey hit turn three. The next lap, Ermolenko wheelied in turn two and drifted out to the fence. That allowed Correy to pull up again but Ermolenko drove away and never looked ba ck. H e was three-for-three. Pfetzing, on a GM, dominated event 10. Only four riders started and he scored a walkaway win. Kell y Moran, ab oard a Weslake, sho t down Mill er' s perfect score in event II. The diminutive superstar used th e ou tside dirt to catap ult into th e lead on the start and he paced Mill er all the way. The firs t of the maj or con tenders to bite th e dust was King, taken o u t of contention in event 12. Schwartz gated Shawn Moran and King. King then turned in the move of the night. On lap one, he pass ed Moran on the back chu te and then, inches from the fen ce, he roared by Schwartz as they came off tu rn four. over cro wd favorite Faria. H owever, On the second la p , King may have luck was with Faria when he tangled made contact with the turn four with ex-Ca me l P ro rider Randy ki ckboard as h is p rim ary chain Green in turn one. Green went down derailed in tu rn two whil e battling whil e Fari a kept on in fourth pl ace. with Schwartz. H e slowed and, as the It took Faria unti l lap four to get . field raced by, he threw his hands pas t Can ada 's Shawn Vana bles. That . in the air in dis gus t. H e faile d to put h im in third and as they came fin ish and scored zero po ints. off th e last turn, Gary H icks bobbl ed Back on the trac k, Schwartz was and handed Fari a second. hooked up. He was holding Moran Far ia was doing well o n the trac k, at bay. On the fina l circuit, Moran bu t not off of it. Most of the riders momentarily p ulle d even but he had two or three bi kes in the pits. went for a tear-off j ust before they Far ia had a dispute with a sponsor hit turn three and he dro pped back. and th e sponsor did no t arrive with That gave Schwartz the win whi le his other bik e. If Faria's Godden had Moran dropped a vital point. developed motor problems , he would In the pits, King was disgusted. have been in tro ub le. His World Champi o ns hip aspira- . Ermolenko opened with his easies t tions were all bu t go ne. H e needed race of th e n ight in event three as a miracle in event 13. Sad ly, bike he waltzed away to win by a half problems knocked h im out aga in. straigh t. The ' for mer number three in the The open ing ro und closed when world was officia lly out of the 1988 Miller turned in a sparkli ng effort World Championsh ip hun t. to beat Shawn Moran. Moran tried Mill er look ed good aga in . In event th e ins ide over the firs t three circu its 13, he bagged his thi rd win of the and when that didn 't work, he went night over Correy. to the di rt o n th e ou tside. That al so Even t 14 saw the cro wd go th rough fai led to get him go ing and he settled two emotio na l sta tes. T hey roared as for second. . Ermolen ko, Pf etzing a nd Shawn Moran came rig ht back in event Mo ran went at it for th e lead. Moran five and ga ted th e pack from th e went past Pfetzing in turn four on o utside. H e im me d iately m oved the first revolution but on the next away for h is first wi n of th e meeting, lap , in the same spo t, he fell. Correy too k second and with SIX The cro wd wa s sh oc ked i n to points, was looking good after two sile nce as th e form er World Long ra ces. Track Champion pi cked up his bik e Ro u nd-one winners Miller and and walk ed to the infield. Pfetzing came together in event six While Ermo lenko took th e checkbut they were o ut-ga ted by Faria. ered; Moran was making th e long Mill er q uic kly attacked and went wa lk ba ck to th e pits as hi s cha nces insi de the leader on th e back ch u te of mak ing it to th e Overseas Final and pinched him off as th ey entered stood somewhere between slim and th e th ird turn. T hat gave him th e none. lead . Fa ria tri ed high and low over More bad lu ck hit th e Moran boys the last th ree laps but Mill er fail ed in event 15. Kelly had his easiest race to bu dge. of th e night and as he came off tum The intens ity picked up for Ermo.four the first tim e, he had a comlenko in his second outin g. Two of manding lead. He also had a probhis com petitors were Kell y Moran lem. Like King, hi s primary chain and King. Once again Ermolenko derailed and he ended up on the go t an immaculate gate and set a infi eld watching little-known blistering pa ce into th e first bend. Shawn Van abl es get the win. Kin g tried the o u tside early but "It is reall y tough when you drop Moran, the 1983 and 1984 National points in four-rider heats," Moran Champ ion, fought . him off a n d sai d. " Bu t o n nights like tonight, maintained second all th e wa y. wh en there are five riders in a heat, it ca n kill you." Bobb y Schwartz , with h is bikes working better, edged Green at th e The fourth rou nd ended when start of even t eigh t and never relinNational Champion Brad Oxley quished the point. powered hi s Weslake to an upset win T he face of th e meeting began to over Faria a nd Schwartz. The cruelcha nge at the end of round two. Alan . est blow came a t the start of th e final Christian pulled out with an injured round. Correy, co nt esting his first sh o u lder. Gary Hick s, who wa s American Final, led event 17 from riding despite a hairline fracture of . th e start and was going to be one his foot also called it a night, of th e five qualifiers. Trouble set in Wh ile other riders were beginning wh en he hit turn four on his final

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