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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127149
Team USA. led by Sam Ermolenko. beat the World Team 174 to 114 in USA v!I' the World at Ascot Park . The racers used jackshafts on the Ascot Half-Mile. as opposed to the two-speed gearboxes used in Europa. Budweiser American Cup Speedway.Challenge U.S. tops.World tealD at Ascot Park By J immie O 'Dell Photos by Dennis Greene GARDENA, CA , AUG. 19-20 World class speedway riders from around the globe battled it out on the tracks of Ascot Park du ring the 3rd Annual USA vs, the .W orld Budweiser American Cup Speedway C h a ll en ge. T he American squad was led in scoring both nights by team captain Sam . . Ermolenko. Fnday .the action 14 took place on the small eighth-mile South Bay Stadiu m oval, and Saturday on the legendary Ascot half mile oval. At the end of the two n igh ts of racing the U.S. team defeated the World tea m , p4 to 114. . T~e Am en ca n team w~s favor~d to wm at South Bay Stadium while the World team figured to dominate the half mile. The winners were decided by the highest cumulative score over the two nights of racing, The event got underway with World team captain Phil Collins of England jumpmg out into the lead from the pole a nd winning race one, with American Randy Green second and teammate Shawn Moran, with a spectacular outside ride, bringing horne - third and the injured Kai Niemi of Finland fourth. The team score was tied at three apiece, Race two saw the World team take the points lead as Australian National Champion Phil Crump got the start with Preben Eriksen of Denmark and American Mike Curoso close behind. Curoso drove in hard into tum one to challenge the leader only to bobble exiting tum two, opening a hole for Crump to sneak inside to take over the lead with American Kell y Moran following in second. Crump worked the inside as Moran went to the outside to pull wi thin a bike len g th of winner Crump a t the finish . Eriksen moved past Curoso to ta ke third, giving the World tea m a points lead of 7-5. Ra ce three p ro vid ed the most physical racing of the night when World Cham p io nsh ip hopeful Sam Ermolenko took the lead into turn one with Italian National Champion Armando Castagna diving inside, putting a shoulder and a wheel into Ermolenko which pushed them both wide in turn two. The move opened a huge gap for England's Jeremy Doncaster to pass through for the lead with Ronnie Correy of the U.s. team tucking into second. Meanwhile, Ermolenko who had been bumped from first to last in one comer showed the determination that took him to the World Finals for the past four consecutive years with an outstanding come-frombehind outside ride, finishing third for one point. The Americans trailed the World team by two , 10-8. Round two began with the World team co nti n u i n g their winning streak when Collins ran away with race five. Kelly Moran followed in second, Curoso was third and Niemi fourth . The World team kept the points advantage, 13-11. Ermolenko gave the U.S. team their first win of the evening in event number six as he led unchallenged from start to finish: Second place finisher Correy earned every point as he moved by Crump on the first la p to take over second and then fought off the inside challenge by third place finisher Eriksen. The U .S. teampicked up five points and had a 1614 lead, a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Event seven saw Shawn Moran jump into an early lead with Italy's Castagna running second, and Green closing fast on the inside. Green dove in underneath the Italian Champion' to take second on lap two. Castagna would have none of that and fought back on the o u tside on lap three, and then went low underneath Green in turn one on th e final lap to tak e over second. Green wound up third and Doncaster fourth. The U.S . led 2016. With a daring outside ride through turns one and two Sam Ermolenko led heat nine. Collins was close behind in second followed by Correy, and Niemi, but Errnolenko ran away from th e field a nd th e remainder of the rac e went unchanged. The World team fell six points behind, 24-18. In ra ce 10, Shawn Moran and Green came out of th e gate 1-2 with Green dropping to th e pole to hold off challenges by C rump and Eriksen. On the second lap Eriksen ran in under Green in turn three and Crump went high, leaving ' Green pointless. The race finished with Moran on top, followed by Crump, Eriksen, and Green. Points were split three apiece and the U.S. led 27 to 21. . English Champion D o n ca s ter moved the World team within four points of the U.S. with his runaway win in heat II. Kelly Moran came home second after an inside pass underneath Castagna at the end of the first lap. Castagna protected his single point position for third when Curoso tried unsuccessfully to move underneath the International rider. Sh awn Moran posted a wire-towire victory in event 12. Kai Niemi applied team tactics by moving Green over to allow Collins throug h for a shot at the leader Moran. Green charged back past Niemi to take third, behind Collins. In event 13, the World team came back with a win, as Crump posted a wire-to-wire victory. Crump left h is teammate Eriksen to fen d for himself in the first corner as Curoso and Kell y Moran both traded elb~ws w{th the Danish rider and rele~ted h im to fo u rth. Curoso continued for second with Moran close behind in third. The crowd came to their feet 'during race 14 when Ermolenko