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Bobby Schwartz (left) passes Charles Ermolenko to win the Firecracker
Derby main at Glen Helen's Inland Motor Speedway.
Gary Hicks (ri ght) stuffs Kevin Jordan, while Steve Lucero goes wide
at Ascot Speedway. Bobby Schwartz won the Scratch main.
seco nd when Dunlee left the track with a flat
tire. Shay held a four-seco nd lead on Sem ics
with five laps rem aining . Sem ics co n tin ued
to hammer his Yamaha a nd with two a nd a
half laps to the chec kered £lag, Sem ics moved
in a nd ca p tu red th e lead. Sha y fin ish ed with in
seco nds 01 Sem ics. Chris Grasso a nd Chuck
Nich ol son fini shed a di stant th ird and lourth .
Semics loo k the wire-to-wire win in moto
two . G rasso, Dunfee and Shay ch ased th e
lea der lo r two laps when G rasso 's KTM lelt
h im trac kside. Dunlee held seco nd. seven
seco nds behind Semics at th e checkered flag.
Shay h eld third a head 01 N ich ol son.
J ohn Bell sco red match in g I-I mota linish es
lor th e 250cc B class win. D.]. H eberl ein
hol esh ot mot o one with Bell , Chuck Ianni
a n d Steve Wilm in gton in pursuit, H eberlein
h eld h is lea d lor two la ps . while H onda mou nted J oel Eckstine moved lrom lifth to
seco nd. As H eberlein crash ed o u t 01 co nten tion, Greg H ansel lollowed Ecksti ne arou nd
Wilmin gt on, as did Shan e Smith a ha lf 01
a lap lat er. Bell h eld th e lead lor th e remainder
01 the live-la p race with Eckst ine chas ing.
Hansel a nd Sm ith held th eir po siti ons with
Ianni mot oring back around Wilmingt on o n
th e linal la p .
H eb erl ein aga i n routed h is bo rr owed
H onda th rough tum o ne a hea d 01 Iann i, Bell ,
H ansel a nd Smith. Within th e lirst h alf lap,
Smith ro u ted past Hansel and Ianni dropped
to lilth. H eberlein held the lead lor lour la p s
as Bell pressured lrom beh ind a n d passed lor
th e lead. Sm ith h eld third lrom H ansel with
Wilmi n gton in lifth on the lin al la p.
Results
50 : 1. Larry Rust (Yam); 2. J esse Finley (Yam); 3 . Matt
M cCan (Yam); 4 . Ja mes Sosin ski (Suz); 5 . M ickey Marshall
(Yam) .
60 : 1. Burty S iever (Kaw) .
80 (12 · 131: 1. Mike Salamon (Kawl; 2. Randy Salamon
(Kawl ; 3 . David Borr is (Hon); 4. Travis Carlisle (Kaw); 6 .
Mike Somers (Vam)
80 (14·15): t . Jason Myers (Kawt. 2 . Eric Nepod el (Kaw);
3 . Chr is ·Baker (Hon).
SCHBY: 12. Jason Balas (Hon ); 2. Brad Quear (Han ); 3.
J im RezniklHon); 4 . Chuck Neff (Yam); 5. Joe Lawson (Kaw).
EX: 1. Gary Sem ics (Yam); 2. J ohn Shay (Yam); 3 . Chuck
Nichol son (Hon ); 4 . Ron Dunfee (KTM) ; 5 . Chri S Gras so
IKTMI.
125 B: 1. Ja osn Bala s (Hon); 2. Shane Smith (Suzl; 3.
Bill Koleno (Yaml; 4 . J oe Mezat esta (Han); 5. Chris Bodo
IHonI.
125 G·1 : 1;. 1 Gr eg Hoover (Hon); 2. T.C. Carl isl e (Kaw);
3 . Dave Oolish (Kaw); 4 . Ja son M yers (Kawl; 5. Dave Bodo
(Hon).
125 G·2: 1. Tom Ash ton (Hon); 2. J eff Esber shal e (Honl;
3 . Ste we M esar (Suz); 4 . Kevi n zambacX (Kawl; 5 . Ch uck
Nett (Yam).
250 B: t . John 8 ell (Honl; 12. Shane Sm ith (Suz); 3. Gregg
HansellHon); 4 . O.J . Heber le in (Hon); 5 . Steve W ilm ingto n
(Kaw ).
Hamill handles
Speedway USA
By M . Sober
18
VICTO R VIL LE, CA , JU L Y-I
Ni net een -year-old Bill y " Bulli r" H a mill wo n
his seco n d Scratch main event in as ma ny
n ights with a h ard-Ioughiwire-to-wire vic tory
over 1988 Victorville Track Ch a m p ion Ga ry
H ick s.
H icks. who started from th e po le. was first
int o turn o ne and qu ickl y esta blished himsell
as th e man 10 bea t o n th e well-worn dirt ova l.
H ami ll gated immediately behind H icks, but
th e kid from Monrov ia kn ew that if h e was
going to seriously co n tend for this main even t
he had to go to th e ou tside d irt. On th is
particu lar eveni ng th e track's o utside dirt
co n d itio n wa s described by o ne First Div ision
veteran as, " ma rb les and £1u££" .
It wa sn 't an optomistic o men to hang your
ho pes o n but Hamill mad e it work. H amill
a nd H icks were a vertua l pai r o r sha do ws for
nea rly three laps. J ust as th e whi te flag was
pr ep aring to go to work, Hamill found th a t
lillIe ex tra o uts ide drive th at he had worked
so h ard lor, surgin!; a bike len gth a hea d 01
th e soon -to-be Briush Lea gue rookie G a ry
Hi cks. Hamill rode o u t th e remain in g yardage
aboard h is STP/ Mo n ro via Diesel / Bielfe USA·
backed Weslake in flawless lashion. Hamill's
Scratch main victory was h is third at th e San
Bernardino County Fairgrounds in 1989. Alt er
13 week s 01 racing Hami ll find s himself tied
with National Champion Steve Lucero and
1986 National Champion Bobb y Schwanz
with three wins apiece.
It took 13 weeks lor Jimmy Sisemore to
register his fourth H an d icap main win o n the
high desert tra ck. Sisemore got aw a y with a
real -helplul undetected roll er o il the 50-ya rd
li ne. Combine that with a good line going
into turn o ne a n d Sisemo re found himself in
lront 01 all the back yardage rid er s in third
pl ace with o n ly Ra n dy Dance and Tony
Bein ert between him a nd th e chec kered flag .
Followed closel y by H am ill , wh o fini sh ed
seco nd, these two picked o il the low-yardage
ri ders in a very workmanl ik e manner a n d
l in ished the eigh t circui ts just as they start ed.
Results
seRATCH:
t . Bilty Hamill ewes); 2. Gary Hick. (.J.aw
l;
3. M ike Faria (Gd n): 4. Tony Beinen (Wes l.
HDCP: 1. J im Sisemore (Wes); 2. Bill y Ham ill (Wes); 3.
Scotty Brown IJ aw); 4 . Tony Beine" (Wes)
0·2: 1. Jeff HoY1 (Jaw); 2. Rich Perkin s (W es ); 3. Kevin
McGee (Wes); 4 , Dan Fra ley (W a).
0 ·3 : 1. Salsbury (Wes); 2. Chuck Lybarger (Jaw ); 3. Chr is
Harr ington (Jaw).
• JR 0 ·1 : 1. Kevin Nicklas; 2. Brent Wer ner; 3. Dann y
W~i~hg.~.: crri~:~~~mmonds;
2. Aaron Maneson; 3 .
Danny Bandf ield; 4 . Ryan Maneson .
Schwartz edges Collins
at Ascot Speedway
By Scott Daloisio
GARDENA, CA , J UNE 29
At Chris Agajanian 's Ascot So u t h Ba y
Stadium, Bobby Sch wa rtz edged Phil Coll in s
to win th e main for the secon d ni ght in a
row . T h e previous eveni ng, Schwartz held orr
Co ll in s to win th e Firecra cker Derby a t IMS.
Like IMS th e ni ght before, Co llins beat
Schwa rtz in their prelimin a ry meeti ng . Also
lik e th e n ight before, Sch waru aven ged th a t
loss wh en th e money was o n the lin e. He raced
away Irom ga te tw o a nd took a b ike len gth
lead in to tum o ne. After do ing a wh eel ie o n
th e sta rt, Bill y H am ill emerged with seco n d.
He was th en sa ndwiched orr tu rn two by
Collin s a nd Steve Lucero . Wh en they cleared
the yo u n g sta r. they were in second a nd third.
Lucero looked to the o u tside 01 Schwa rtz
while Collins sna p ped a t h im lrom the in sid e.
Schwaru bl ock ed Lucero a nd that ga ve t he
in side lin e to Co lli ns. Schwartz pu lled a sma ll
wh eeli e o n h is Westake o n la p two . H e p u lled
it back do wn before Lu cero o r Co llins cou ld
ge t by.
At th e ha lfwa y poi nt, Collins was still o n
Schwartz ' rear tire. Lucero was starti n~ to ra il
o rr th e pack on lap th ree. Tha t made It a tw o
ri de r ligh t to the chec kered . Co lli ns had a big
o p port u n ity whe n Schwartz wh eelied aga in
o n th e linal lap. As he dri fted towa rds the
wa ll wit h a whee l in the air, Co lli ns tried
lO go u nder ne a th. II di d n ot wo rk a nd
Sch wa rtz blocked Collins out 01th e linal turn.
Hard ridin g Craig Dempser a n d Peter Lew is
added another chec kered to th eir co llec tio n
by winning th e Sid ecar main . Am eri cans Steve
Stan to n a n d T o m Tufts took seco nd to the
New Zea land duo with Ra n d y a nd Ken
Mcintyre third. J ell Lerch a nd Ken Ohrt,
jo ckey s 01 th e cr o wd -Fa vo r ir e Har tev Davidson. had to scra tch from th e main with
motorcycle problem s.
Results
SCRATCH: , . Bobby Schwanz IWes); 2. Phi l Colli ns (Wes);
3 . Billy Ham ill (Wes); 4. Steve Lucero (GM).
HOCP; 1. Ed Castro (Jaw); 2. Josh lIirsen (Wes ); 3 . Billy
Ham ill (Wes); 4. Gary Hicks ewes).
0 ·2 : 1. Jerry Black (Wes ); 2. Anthony Sanche z (West
3. Jason ChiSrrl (Jaw); 4. Chril McGee (Wes).
0 ·3 : 1. Danny Perez (Wes); 2. Bobby Campbell (Wes);
3 . Doug Greyson (Jaw); 4 . Chucll. Lybarger (Jawl.
SOCAR: 1. Cra ig Dempster/Peter Lew IS (Kawl: 2. Steve
StantonlTom Tum (Kaw ); 3 . Randy Mclntyre/Ken Mcintyre
IKaw),; 4 . Steve Hardwick/Cli ff Tolley (Kaw)
Oxley wheelies to Costa
Mesa Speedway win
By Scott Daloisio
COSTA MESA , CA , J UN E 30
Brad Oxley, the "Wheelie Kin g 01 Pacific
Coast Highw ay ," came back Irom an early
race la llto win the Ha ndicap main on KL O S
Fox Ni ght a t th e O range County Fairgrou nd s.
Close to 7000 fan s wat ched as Oxley and
five o ther rid ers went down in a wild cra sh
o n th e seco nd lap. Ox ley. Billy H amill a nd
Walt Farnum took the brunt 01 the tanllie and
a ll three wer e slow gelling to th en feet.
Fortunately they a ll restarted.
Befo re th e race sta rt ed for th e seco nd time,
H am ill a n d Farnum, who tangled a week
ea rlier as well , exchanged heated words on
the line. New Zealander Craig Wilkie beat
Farnum 011 the line on the seco nd sta rt,
Hamill started to lean on Farnum o n lap th ree
while Wilkie began to move away.
Hamill went inside Farnum o n th e back
ch u te o n lap four. Farnum ended up on th e
gro u nd a nd Phil Collins had to lay it down
lor him. Another red £lag brought th e
proceedings to a halt.
. The race restarted again. This time there
were lo u r laps remaininll' Wilkie and Hamill
were 01 the ten . Predictably, Hamill beat
1
Wilkie 011the line and set up a big lead. Oxley,
Ga ry Hi cks and Steve Lucero freight-tra ined
Wilkie a t the end 01 lap live. That put Oxley
in seco nd, but he received a g ilt wh en H amill
br ok e on lap six.
Oxley led th e remainder 01 the wa y lor hi s
seco nd Cos ta Mesa win o f th e yea r. Lucero
sta ved in seco nd with Hicks right behind in
third.
Rand y and Ken Mcintyre look their Kawa sa ki In a wire-to-wire victory in the Sid eca r
main. New Zealand's Cr ai g Dempster and
Peter Lew is, a lso on a Kawasaki finished
seco nd . Third position went to th e team o f
Steve Stanton a nd T om Tufts . Like the Iir st a nd seco nd -p lace du o s, Stanton a nd Tulrs
were o n Kawasak is.
Results
SCRATCH: t . Billy Hamill (Wes); 2. Alan Chr ist ian (Jaw);
3. Bobby Schwanz (We .); 4 . M ike Faria (Gdn)
HOCP: 1. Bred Oxley IWe s); 2. Steve Lucero IGdn); 3
Gary Hicks (J aw ); 4 . Josh larsen (Wei).
0 ·2 : 1. Ryan Evan s (We. ); 2. Dan Fraley CWes); 3. J im
Turner (Wes ); 4 . M ike Stefan (Wesl.
0 ·3 : 1. Ma rk. Faul (West 2. Mike PInedo (Jaw); 3. Roh n
Zeller ewes); 4. Scott Cameron (Jaw).
SOCR: 1. Randy M cintyre/Ken Mcintyre l.c.w); 2. Craig
Dempster/Peler Lew is (K.8wl: 3. Steve StamonlTom Tuft s
IKaw); 4. Sieve Hardwick/John Gri ff in s (Kawl; 5 . Kent
Benander / Carry Pollard (Kaw)
Schwartz smokes to
IMS Speedway win
By Scott Daloisio
SAN BER N ARDI NO, CA, J U N E 28
Bo bby Sch wartz added a no ther jew el to his
illustr ious crown whe n he won th e annual
Firecracker Derb y a t Inland Mot or Speedway.
Fo r Schwartz , it was h is [irst win in th e even t
wh ich started in 1973.
T hrough th e heat races, Sch wa rtz ta llied 14
o u t o r a possib le 15 poin ts o n hi s Pr omotion
Products/ STP/M aJcolm Sm it h /G.T .I . Brace/
Astr od eck- backed GM . H e drop ~ a point
in h is open ing rid e whe n Bntish er Phil
Co llins so u nd ly beat him.
In Schw a n z' seco nd heat race o r th e night,
he turned in a n incredible rid e. The tapes got
caug h t u nder th e visor o n his hel me t as they
went up. As the o ther th ree rid er s left th e lin e.
Schwartz sa t mo ti onless . Finally. as the
co m pe titio n sped through th e lim bend,
Schwartz took o rr. By rhe time he ex ited turn
two , they had a lready en tered tu rn thr ee.
Mired in last. no o ne ga ve Scllw artz a cha nce
to ca tch th e field in th e rour lap, o ne minute
race. Sudde n ly, he bega n to clo se in o n th e
o ther three rid ers . Fir st he p icked o il Lou is
Ko ssuth. He th en set hi s sig h ts on Steve
RU ~\ell . Once aKain. no o ne ga ve Sch wa rtz
a cha nce to ca tch Russell . but on lap three
h e d id it.
Risin g to the occasio n, the crowd was on
its reet as Schwartz took th e white flag a nd
closed on Charles Ermolenko. T hey let o ut
a thu nd erous roar as Schwar tz p ulled a lo ngside Ennolenko o n the ba ck straight o n th e
linal lap. Coming oil turn lour and heading
lor th e chec kered , Schwam ea sed by Ermolenko and look th e win. Alo ng with it came
a sra ndi n~ ovation that lasted some 45 seco nds.
Afte r h is win over ErmoJenko , Sch wa rtz was
th e dear cu t favor ite in the main. H e al so
had a chance at reven ge o n Collins. Carrying
a perlect score, the Brit ish rider ca me 01 th e
1
pole. Nat ional Cha m p io n Steve Lucero was
o u t o f ga te two with Schwartz in three a nd
Sco tt Brant in ga te four.
Before the even t got sta rted. th e anxious
riders pushed a t th e tapes. Lucero and
Sch wartz went over th em and th ey broke.
Normally one 01 them would be excl uded, but
relereeJ im " The Animal" Fishback could not
tell wh o wa s a t Iault, Offi cials repaired th e
ta pes and Lucero a nd Sch wa rtz wer e back o n
th e lin e.
On th e seco nd tr y th e tapes h eld li n e.
Collins and Sch wa rtz were dead even into th e
first bend . Rid in g the o utside dirt. Schwanz'
GM got a bener dri ve oil 01 tum tw o and
he co m mandeered th e lead . Collins tried to
co me a ro u nd Sch war tz a t the end o f th e first
ci rcui t but the co y veteran blocked hi s path.
Brant, running fourth , sp u n o u t in turn o ne
o n lap tw o. That ended hi s even in g . Rea li zin g
th at Sch wa rtz was not a bo u t to cui him any
slac k o n th e o u tside. Co llins switched to th e
lo w lin e. H e wa s ab le to pun to Schwartz '
rear tire. He co u ld n ot get a n y farther.
Sc h wa nz took the win by a len gth over Collins
and Lu cero.
Results
FIRECRACKER DERBY: 1. BobbV Schwa nz (GMj; 2 . Phil
Collins (Wes ): 3 . Steve Luce ro IGMI: 4 . Scon Brant (Ja w ). .
SUP: t . Dave Sherwood (Wes); 2. Don Odom IGM): 3.
Kevin Jordan (Wes): 4 . Jerry Black (Ja w) .
JR : 1. Fred Timberlake; 2. Chris Werner; 3. Brent W ern er:
4 . Kevin Nick las.
Watson wins Pepsi
Challenge Short Track
By Larry McBride
GRE ENE, NY, J ULY 1
The Pepsi Classic Cha lle nge was co m p leted
in classic fo rm a t Act ion Park East as four
o f th e ni ght's top riders wen t to th e l in e in
a fou r-race final.
T he all Scra tch meet pined 16 rider s in a
2().ra ce program. At th e co m p letion o r thos e
20 races the to p poi n t riders wer e Tom Burge,
Stev e 'Vatson , Geo rge Lazor a nd Dann y
Fallon. Ridin g five heal ' each o n ly B u ~e
emerged with a perfect scor e 01 15 poin ts ttl
winning a ll his races.
In th e lirst fin al Watson o u r-ga ted Bu rg e,
Lazor and Fallon (o r the lead o u t oC turn tw o.
Wa tson was co nsta n tly cha llen ged by Burge
but held the lead lor a ll 01 th e lo ur laps.
In fin al number two Lazor took th e ea rly
lead a nd was a lso cha lle nged by Burge who
agai n had to sett le for a not he r seco nd-p lace
finish as Lazor took the chec kered fla g.
From th e pol po sit ion in fin al number
three, Watson gra bbed a big lead wh en Burge
'a nd Lazor ta ng led in tu rn two giving Wat son
hi s eas iest win or th e meet.
Watson needed o n ly a seco nd- p lace linish
in fina l number four to ca p tu re th e cha mpionship. however. enterin ~ turn o ne his
Iootpeg ca ug h t Lazor's machine causing h im
to h ighside which broug ht o UI the red Ilag.
Into la p n u m ber two or th e restart Wa lson
appea red to have th e championship in tow
only to have the red flag again waved a s Fall on
a n d Lazor came IOgether In turn rour ca us ing
a no the r stoppage. On the seco n d restart Bu rge
wen( a ll out in an erro rt 10 get th e needed
points to keep in contention by tak ing th e
win in the last fin al. La lor, however, made
things even more d irricuh by taking seco nd
place a h ead 01 Watson and Fallon.
With that o rde r 01 linish Fall on wa s
eli m ina ted while Watson, Burge and Lazor
