Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Southern California speedway riders gather around Kathy Berry (center) at the Ken Berry Memorial Speedway at Inland Motor Speedway. on the back side of th e track, wh ich ha d been shortened for tha t day's races . Wh en th ey charged back around 10 the fron t portion of th e track, Ada ms had wor ked hi s way up fro m filth posi tion to second. With in a few short lap s, Adams had ca ptu red first pos i tio n and was increasing hi s lead on H rach , with the rest of th e pac k falling way behind. The earli er co llision d idn 't seem to slow Adams determ inat ion o ne h ie Hrach settled C second or posi tio n with Tom Knapp bringing up third. Results VET EX: 1. Cra ig Adams (Hon ); 2. Tracy Hrecn (Hon t. 3. Tom Knapp (Hon) ; 4 . J .S. Hanson(Yam); 5. Wayne Man in (Kaw) . VET AM : 1. Brad Bielee (Hon ); 2. Dave Simon (Hon); 3. Mark Lynch (Yam ); 4 . Denny Vorndran (Hon ); 5 . Dean M ill er (y am). VET NOV: 1. Dan Van Dyke (Yam ); 2. Chuck Freeman (Hon l; 3. Norman Sch iel (Hon); 4 . Jim Calkins (Yam); 5. John Ritch ie (Yam). VETBEG: 1. Dan Egesda hllHon l;2. David Detwiler (KTM); 3. J im Pittman (Hon); 4. Rick Diekmann (Yam); 5. Guy Stoutenburg (Honl. 200 EX: 1. Cliff Oakes (Kaw). 200 AM : 1. Oavid Cincotta (Yam); 2. Br ian Htdts lKaw); 3. Ed V i1ell i (Suz). 200 NOV : t . Chris Corum (Yam); 2. Joseph Nevins (Kaw); 3 . Bobby Peters (Yam); 4. .Jeremy Pist illi (Kaw); 5. lance Ponoreno (Hon). 200 BEG: t . AUen layton (Kaw); 2. Thomas Cincotta (Yarn); 3 . J ust in 8Cl'1I (Yaml; 4. Jam .. Campbell fSUZ); 5. Ryen Cooley (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Gary Chapl in (Kaw); 2. Kurt Pfeiffer (Yam); 3. Johnny CaIY'lpbelI(Hoo); 4 . Randy Morales (Hoo); 5 . Craig Adams tHan) . OPEN AM: 1. T..J Jones (Hon ); 2. Blian Davy (Yam); 3 . . Tom Singleton CHon); 4 . Br8d Bielec (Yam); 5 . Patrick Markham (HoolOPEN NOV : 1. ErN:Kingston (Yam ); 2. Jo hn Taylor (Hon); 3 . Ron C1emenl (Hon ); 4. Mike Seeley (Hon). OPEN BEG: 1. Rodney Papp (Hon ); 2. Ed Both (Yam); 3. Norman Sch iel {Yaml; 4. Sieve Reeves (Hon); 5 . Earle Kellett (Han) . 80 AM : 1. E..J Wright (SOl). 80 NOV: 1. David Hickl (Kaw); 2. Eric J . Thoma. (SOl ); 3. Malcolm McCassey (Yam). 80 BEG: 1. Brandon Crouch (Suz); 2. Aaron Altamirano (SOl); 3. Dusty Hochreiler (!(aw); 4 . Chris Borges (Kaw); 5. Tommy Robert s (Yam). 250 EX: t . Johnny Campbell (Sud. 250 AM: 1. Mike Dougherty (Hon); 2. Paltidc. Marksm (Kaw); 3. Chris Cooley (Hon). 250 NOV: t . Cal "'eyers (Suz); 2. Chtis Rav (Hon); 3 . Mark Gervais (Kawl; 4 . Sert Schulteis(Yam); 5. Brian Ame (Yaml. 250 BEG: 1. Richard Worley (Hon ); 2 . ErN:Metzger (Honl; 3. Richard Ar ieuohn (Yam); 4. Cameron Monetldl (Hon); 5. Joe McMullon (Yaml . SR EX: 1. Ron Way (Hon); 2. Chatlie Conway (Hon); 3 . . William Saltzman (Hon ); 4. Russ Robinson (Hon); 6. Steve Buuel1(Yam). SR AM : 1. John Huegel (Yamt 2. W.J. Bradbury (Yamt 2. Frank Harlan (Yam); 3. Frank Harlan (Yam); 4. Oive Cheff ins (Hon ); 6. Dennis M iddlelon IHon) . SA NOV: t . Chuck Gilmote (Yam); 2. Steve Drew (l<8w); 3 . Frank 8enacka (Hon ); 4. Mike Niegsch (Hon); 5. Latry P_IHon~ SR BEG: 1. J im Salum (Hoo); 2. John AIlamirano (Yam); 3. Fred Boyd (Hon ); 4 . Robert Belanger (Yam t 5. Blade Nunez (Yaml . Canadians top Action Park Speedway By Larry McBride GREENE , NY, JU LY 8 Canadian Speedway riders inva ded Action Park East and succeeded in being victorious in winning bo th the Handicap a nd Scratch main events. Three-ti me Ca nadian National Champion Len Dill on , . makin g his firs t appearance at Action Park th is year, easi ly led a ll four laps pullin g in to me fourth ga te sta rt ing position for the mai n event, Dill o n caught the green perfectl y for a fir st lap lead wi th Len ny McBrid e a nd T o m Bu rge o nly feel behind. Exit ing the fou rth turn Bur~ sp un o u t of contention leav in g on ly McBnde to challe nge Dill on. T rail ing Dill on for th e en tire race, McBr ide employed every move in an attem pt to get pa st, but Dill on's 20-year experience proved too mu ch for th e youngster , and McBride's o nly opport unity was to sett le for second place. Rounding o ut th e Ca na dia n cha lle nge was John Keh oe wh o grabbed a seco nd-p lace in both the han d icap he- t and semi- fina l. Keh oe , d th e closest rider 10 th e gate on the 30, had Dale Wak efield o n the 40, Len Dill on o n the 50, and bar ely visible in hi s rear view mirror was Tom Bur ge, Lenny a nd T ufl McBride o n the 70. Keh oe had the track dia led in 10 hi s perfection and althou~h cha llenged by nearl y a ll the back-runners m eac h of the six laps , wo uld not move from h is per fect line a nd took back to Ca nada his first checkered flag of the seaso n. Results HOCP: t . John Kehoe IGdn); 2. len Dillon (Gdnl ; 3 . Tom Burg e IGdn ); 4. T.uff McBr ide (Gfnl; 5. Lenny McBride (Gdnl . D· 1: 1. l en Dillon IGdnl; 2. lenny McBride (Gdnl ; 3. Dale Wakefield (Wes); 4 . Tom Burge (Gdn). 0 ·2 : 1. Jim McCarthy (Jaw) ; 2. Guy Fafard (Jaw); 3 . Marco Mor ello (Jaw); 4 . Bud Davis IJaw); 5. Chuck Podany (Jawl. D·3 : 1. Tim Mathewson (Jaw); 2. Russ Cornell (Jaw) ; 3 . Eugen e W ilmarth IJaw); 4. Scott Titchner (J aw) . Lucero lands Fair Derby Speedway win By Scott Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA. JU LY i 4 Na tio na l Speedway Cha mpion Steve Lucero captured a no ther majo r tide wh en he wo n th e Fair Derby on Coors Western Night at th e Orange Co unty Fai r. The eveni ng began with 15 hea t races . After the 15 hea ts. the top 16 riders in points wou ld move into one of the four sem is. Lucero and England's Ph il Collins were the o nly riders to come up with perfect nin e-po int scores at the end of th e heats. The best of the heats was n umber five. Tony Bienert took on defendi ng Fai r Derb y Cham pion Shawn McCo nnel l and former British Leaguers Mi ke Faria and Brad Oxley. Su rpr ism g ly Bien ert found him self a t th e point a nd Faria at the rear as they ca me off turn . fo ur a nd head ed for the wh ite. By th e next bend things had changed A wild sh uffle took pl ace. Fana sho t pa st everyone for the lead. Bienen, wh o must have been scra tch ing h is head and as ki ng what happened, dropped to last . In th e semis . only th e winning rider would transfer o n to th e ma in . After a restart in th e fir st sem i, Bobb y Sch wartz, winner of th e 1978 Fair Derb y, led all the way 10 earn h is place in th e rnam, After hi s second hea t of th e night, Faria noticed some sparkles in h is o il. Fearing that it was metal and the power pl ant may gr en ad e, he borrowed Charles Errn olenko's Weslak e. Aher geuing the gate, the only two-time winner (1986 & 1987) in Fair Derby histo ry, faded to las t. Alan Christian, th e 1979 winner of th e pr estigiou s race, took the win in th at semi. Since he ha d a perfect score heading into the four lap main , Lu cero had his choice of sta rti ng positions -e- he op ted for th e pole. When th e tapes went up, Schwartz carried a narrow lead Int o tum one over Lu cero. That edge qu ickl y evaporated as Lu cero drove by him o n the back ch u te for the lead. Fro m that point on , there was no beatin g th e bo isterou s rider. Ham ill , despite ha vin g 10 dean his sea t off after {'romoter H arry O xley placed a cow pie o n It, fi nished a very dose second. Ch ristia n took third wit h Schwaru last, Results FAIR DERBY; 1. Si eve Luce ro (Gdnl; 2. Billy Ham ill ewe s); 3. Bobby Sch wartz (W es); 4 . Alan Chr istian (J aw) . SDCAR: 1. Steve Hardwick!Ja ni ne Cummin gs (!(aw); 2. Scott Orm iston /Rob Sell (Kaw); 3 . Randy M cintyre/ Ken Mci ntyre (!(aw). COW MILKING: 1. Scotty Brown (Betsy!: 2. Shawn McConn ell (Gloria l; 3 . M ike Faria (Els iet 4 . Billy Ham ill (Bossie) . Ascot Speedway victory to Schwartz . By Scott Daloisio GARD EN A, CA, J ULY 13 After two fal se starts, Bobby Sch wa m came ofl th e lin e like a rock et and led the entire di stan ce to win the Scra tch main a t Ch ris Agaja n ian 's Ascot Sou th Bay Stadium o n Co rmier Che vro let 50's Ni g ht. T he fir st two tim es that th e main even t u ied to ge t off, referee Dave Sims th rew th e red flag. On o ne of the tries. he.po inted a wa rni ng fin ger at Schwam . Tha t did not upset th e multi· time World Pairs Cha m pion. On th e th ird try, he was even wi th Phil Co ll ins th rough the first bend. As th ey ca me off the fast corn er , Schwam dri fted to the dirt lin e an d found th e dr ive. Co lli ns remained close to th e po le ju st ahead of Bill y H am ill and Mike Faria. Steve Russell leads Mike .Faria in the Handicap main at Ascot South Bay Stadium Speedway; Russell defended his lead for the victory. Sch wam moved away from Co llins o n la p two. Li kewise, Co lli ns had pulled a way from Hamill and Faria . That d id not last long. After Ham ill di spos ed of Faria, he charged h is Weslak e u p to ta ke o n Co ll ins. Sch wam took h is Weslak e across th e lin e th ree len gthsahead of Co lli ns. Hamill, despite a strong fin ish in g effort, took third wit h Faria a disappoi ntig fou rth . Steve R u ssell s howed h is st re ngth by ho ldi ng back the competition all th e way 10 wi n th e Han d icap main . Off the short yardage, Ru ssell shot into the ear ly lead . Louis Kossu th took up the earl y chase. Charles Ermolenko follo wed in th ird. Alan C hristia n ca me u p to c ha lle nge Ermolen ko o n the second circuit. Ermolenko mo mentarily pa rked in tu rn four and Christian pa rked 10 avoid .a collision. They bo th stra igh tened o u t and were o n thei r way before anybody go t by. Russell had a bik e and a half lead o ver Kossuth. Kossuth . was no t gai ni ng o r los in g ground to th e leader. At th e halfw ay poi nt, a su rprisi ng si tua tio n ca me up. Russell , Kossu th a nd Ermolenko had pulled away fro m th e back yarda ge riders. Christian , Faria , Co lli ns , Ed Cas tro and Steve Lucero were losing ground to th e lead tri o. Ermol enk o went after Kossuth o n lap five. He too k o ver seco nd a t th e end of that go aro und. Christian attacked Kossuth on lap seven and went to the in side line. As he 'was ta ki ng over th ird , Christian's motor qu it. Ermolenko was unable to reel in the lead erand had to settle for second. Third at the fin ish went to Kossuth with Faria fourth. Results SCRATCH: 1. Bobby Schwartl (Wes); 2 . Phil Collins (Wes); 3 . Billy Hamill (Wes); 4 . Mike Faria IGdn) . HDCP: 1. Steve Russell (Wes); 2. Charles Etmolenko IWe sl; 3. louis KossUlh CGM) 4. Mike Feria (Gdn) . ; D-2 : 1. Mike Buff (Wes); 2. JohnnyWalker (Wes); 3 . Randy Skinner (Wes); 4 . Mark Milum (Wesl . 0·3: 1. Chr is Castin (Wes ); 2. Mark Faul (Wes ); 3. Scan cameron (Jawl; 4 . Jerry Morehead (Wes). Ackroyd wins Ken Berry Memorial Spdwy at IMS By Scc:itt Daloisio , SAN BER NARDI NO, CA, J ULY 12 Gary Ackro yd took th e biggest wi n of h i~ young speedway career when he won th e In augu ral Ken Berry Memorial ma in event a t fn lan d Mot or Speedway. Berry' crashed a t IMS 52 weeks before Wednesday's show. He never regai ned co n sciousness and passed away a week later. Since his crash occurred in Division Two, Wed nesday's Division T wo mai n was th e showcase event of the n ig h t. Tony Go mez finished seco nd in h is heat race. O nce the main event go t underway, he set a sizzling pace. Rookie Mark Fa ul ini tia lly had seco nd , bu t veteran Mark Milazzo passed him as they came ofl turn two. J ohnny Walker and Ackroy d, bot h ofl th e 20, too k Mil azzo by the end of the first lap. Ackroy d pla nted him self firml y in seco nd on th e second revolution. He slo wly closed o n Gomez a nd in turn o ne o n lap four, he edged ahead. A second aft er taki ng th e lead away , Ackro yd went wide a nd Gomez emerged in th e vanguard pos itio n as the y head ed down th e back ch ute. Ackroyd ga the red ste-dm o nce again a nd went around Gomez in turn three. Wh en th ey took the white n ag Go mez was o n ly a bike len gth behind , but he sudde n ly cam e off the thro ttl e. So d id leader Ackroyd a nd th e remainder o r th e field. As a ll th e ride rs slowed do wn , th ey turned into th e infield and shut o rr thelr mo tors . A few seco nds lat er, the checkered nag ne w without a sing le rid er on the track. It was th e riders' way o f sa luti ng Ken Berry. Kell y Inman, Berry 's closest friend ' amo ng th e racers, ca me o n to the track wearin g Berry 's 283. The sta rte r ga ve him th e chec kered flag and he took Berry's victory lap for hi m . Afterw ards. th e riders co ntin ued to show th eir respec ts. As Berry 's widow Kath y was presenti ng the trophies to the win ners, she received a shoc k. She looked o ver her shoulder and saw dose to 50 riders wal kin g across the infield. They came out to pose wi th her a nd th e special plaq ue IMS presented to her. She was visibly tou ch ed by the riders show of a ffectio n. Ackroyd picked up a SZOO bon u s fo r winni ng th e Division Two mai n. So did the win ners of the Divisio n Three, Scra tch and Han dicap ma ins. The money came fro m a n a no nymo us do nor in the mem ory or Ken Berry. . In Scratch racing Bobby Schwartz too k th e victory once again. He led the event allthe way to win over P hi l Col lins and Steve Lucero. Referee J im "The Ani mal " Fish bac k kicked o ut Bill y Hamill befor e the sta rt, H e had brok en the starting tapes. Results KEN BERRY MEMORIAL: 1. Gary Ackroyd (W es ); 2. Tony Gom el (Jaw) ; 3. Johnny W alker (W es); 4 . Mark M ilszm ewes) . SCRATCH: 1. Bobby Schwaru (GM l; 2. Phil Collins (Gdn); 3 . Sieve Lucero (GM); 4 . BihV Hamill (Was) . HOCP: 1. Billy Hamill CGdn 2. Steve Aussell (Wes); 3. ); Alan Chtistian (Jaw); 4 . Jim Sisemore (Wei). D·3: 1. Dave Reep ewes); 2. John Kelly (Jaw); 3 . Robert Salsbury (Wes); 4 . Mark DeVay (Wes). NEW TRACK RECORD: 1. Billy HamilllGdn) 12 :476. JR 0·1: 1. Fred Timerteke; 2. Chri s Werner; 3 . Chr is Menchesler; 4 . Brent Werner . JR D·2: 1. Ryan Maneson; 2. Randy Eyans; 3 . Aaron Mannon; 4. Mark Nicklas. WiHiams claims Ascot MX win By Donn Maeda GARDENA, CA , JULY 7 V.I.P. Kawasaki sponsored Tim Will iams used consistent 1· 2 sco res to co llect th e overa ll Vet Jr. win a t CMC Ascot Friday n ight MX. Yamaha-mounted Rusty Spencer was the fastest out of the ga te in the first mot o, but right o n his tail were Chris Modic, Don Cl in e, Lo uis Springer. a nd Williams. William s went 10 work quickly and blasted through the whoops, passing Springer a nd Cl ine for third p lace. As th e pa ck rounded th e co urse, race leader Spencer lost hi s front end in the slic k fin ish lin e tum. This Ielt Mod ic in the lead, follo wed by Williams, Cl ine, Springer a nd Spence r. As Williams applied pressu re to Modic. Spencer h us tled hIS way in to thi rd by passing Cline and Springer on th e fro nt straightaway . On lap three. the same tu m tha t ha d claimed Spe ncer's fro nt wh eel . Modi c went do wn . Willia ms was ab le to dodge Mod ic's downed Yamaha a nd ass u me th e lead. Spe ncer began to challe nge Williams for th e lead and th e duo proceeded to pull away from the rest of th e field . Will iams held his lines and too k th e wi n ahead o f Spe ncer , Cl in e, and Sten tz. MOIO two saw Cli ne stea l th e holesh o t with Springer, Spencer, Modi c a nd Sten tz close behind. On lap two Spe ncer o nce aga in fell victim to th e fini sh lin e turn, takin g Modi c and Stentz with him. This left Williams a di stant third beh ind Kline and Springer. Seein g his opportunity, Williams o pe ned up h is Kawas aki an d qu ickly reeled in the lead ers. On the la st lap Will iam s ou t-d ista nce d Springer over th e fro n t j ump a nd took over second pl ace. A the ch eckered flag it was Cline, Williams , Springer a nd Sten tz. Will iam 's second in mo w two earn ed h im first o vera ll , followed by Cl in e with a 3-1, and Sprin ger in th ird with a 5-3. J un ior 125 ac ti o n saw J immy Butler hol esho t th e first mot o a hea d of Gary Ybarra , Sha wn Anderson and Steve Gaeblein. Ybarra began to pressure Butl er and th e lead pa ir 21

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