Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

e~~~fi~~~~_._~~F_~_l ~~ e Ri ck Miller gets th e victory bumps from his fellow competitors after he clin ched the American Fin al with a perfect score. Miller stands atop the podium with fellow qualifiers (l-r) Ronnie Correy, Kelly Moran , Bill y Hamill and Sam Ermolenko, Miller sensational in Veterans Stadium By Sco tt Daloisio 26 "I LONGBEACH, CA, MAR. 2 have been so nerv ou s today, I co u ldn' t wait un ti l the ni ght was over an d her e we are; right wh ere I hoped I'd be ," sa id Rick Mill er as he stood in Long Beach Veterans Stadium's victo ry circle. The 30-year-old Miller had just scored a sensational IS-point maxim u m to win the Nissan American _ Speedway Final and ended nine years of frustra tion a t this particular event. It was a lso Mill er 's firs t step toward th e 1991 World Championship chase as th e top five. earned spo ts for the next ro u n d, "h e Overseas Final in t England, on the ro ad to th e World Cham pi on ships i n Gothenburg, Sweden , in September . Sam Errnolenko , Ronnie Co rrey , Kelly Moran and Bill y H amill as well as Miller h ope to ad va n ce a ll the way to Sweden . Veter ans Stadium has hosted th e Ame rican Final since '82, plus two World Team Cup Championships. H owever, this year's Final was the last speedway ra ce at th e facil ity SInce a $1.5 million running track is bei n g bu ilt in th e stadium . All riders wa n ted to win Long Beach's final go . Three days before the event the region rec eived some long-overdue rain, and lots of it. The tra ditional p it s were under wa ter and h ad to be moved , but although th e tra ck was pounded, it was in ex cellent shape. Onl y th e extreme inside was sloppy. Miller, wh o drew the number one race jacket before the meeting, gav e a sign of th e wa y things wer e going to be in he a t one. Ermolenko, Gary Hicks and Louis Kossuth co u ld onl y watch the number on Miller 's back gr.ow smaller as he rode aw ay to the wm. Two-tiine Cal ifornia State ch am p Steve Lu cero led Ron n ie Correy at th e start of heat two, but Correy p assed Lucero when they hit turn one and rode on to victory. Defen d i n g National Champio n . Mike Faria had h is carburetor fall off i n heat three as Mora n a nd Bobby O tt bat tl ed througho ut the fo ur-lap ra ce. De spite several ch all en ges, Moran held off O tt 's last -tu rn attack to claim the wi n : T he fourth heat wa s even better. Two-time American Final champ Bobby Schwartz set the pace off the line, and at the beginning of th e second circuit Greg Hancock tried to get by o n the ou tside . Bill y H amill tr ied to go betw een th e two but wa s pinched off. H ancock la ter got by Sch wa rtz wi th H amill foll owing an d nearly taking th e lea d in the same move. H amill t hen s ta l ke d Hanco ck unti l the final bend where he ro de th e fen ce and rac ed to the finish li ne a hea d of Hancock. When the second round of heats began , H an co ck and Faria were battling for seco nd whe n Hancock slammed th e fence. H e was quick to his feet, but the referee kicked h im " out fo r causing the red. '. O n th e restart, reserve rider J osh Larsen muscled Miller wide in tu rn one. H is lead di dn 't last lo n g as Mill er shot by on the o utside and ro de on to win. Schwartz led the start of hea t five but was passed by Ott and H ick s before th e end of lap one. O tt fought o ff a ch allenge by H ic ks before roosti ng to a co mm and ing vic tory. Correy tied Mi ller for first i n points when he bea t Ham ill by eigh t bike len gth s in heat seven. Erm olenko led into turn one in hea t eight. Moran tri ed to pass on the inside in the second corner, but there was no way he co u ld stay with Er molenko , who pull ed out a massi ve lead to th e checkered flag. Miller got the th ird ro u nd roiling as he eas ily pocketed his third wi n in th e ni n th heat. King o u t-duele d Brad O xley to finish a distan t seco nd. After trailin g Moran and Hick s ea rl y in th e l Oth heat, H a m i ll recreated h is earlier ou tside swoop

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