Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSPEEDWAY e o Coors light U.S. National Championship~ ---:-- ~ G<'J lo-< C1) ..0 o .... u o Mike Faria and crew celebrate Fari a's second consecutive U.S. National Spee d wa y Championship title at Costa Mesa. Faria repeats! .By Scott D alo isi o P h o tos by Bob Jones COSTA M ESA, CA OCT 12 , . n 1990, " F1yin ' .. Mik e Faria won the U nited States National Speedway Ch ampionship after 12 years o f trying. The veteran rider enjoyed life at th e top and on Sa turday , he won th e Coors Light U.S. National Speedwa y C~a m pi o nsh i p for th e seco nd season In a row . Faria, who a t 34, became the o ldest National Champio n in hi story (brea king his o wn record ), was th e ha nds down favor ite heading into th e race. His biggest challengers were expec ted to be former cham p s Bobb y Schwartz and Steve Luce ro. Lu cero was th ere a t th e end as he fini sh ed seco nd , o ne po int shy o f Faria. Schwa rtz had two thi rd pl ace fin ish es a nd sl u mped to fifth in th e fin al sta ndi ngs . Lucero was th e first o f the major co ntenders to take to th e trac k. T hat wa s in event one and things did no t I 6 sta rt well for Lucero. As th e pack slid into turn one, he leaned o n young Brent Werner. Lu cero went down and his han d got suck ed into Wern er's rea r wheel. " It didn't hu rt too bad. I j ust ruined my gl ove." said th e two-tim e Stat e Champi on . A red £lag ca me o u t immed ia tely a nd referee Ji m "The An imal" Fish back called for a restart. . Lucero bar ely bea t th e two minute clock fo r th e resta rt . Wh en the race began , he had to figh t every in ch o f th e wa y. The veteran had a on e lengt h lead over Worl d Indoor Ice Racin g Champion Charlie Venegas at th e halfwa y po int. However, in turn th ree o n the th ird lap , he parked. Venegas dropped 10 th e in side a nd took the lead away. Lucero qu ickl y recovered a nd went on th e hun t. Co mi ng off turn two on the last circui t, he cha rged insi de Venegas a nd retook first pl ace. The fans roa red th eir approval and Lucero had his fir st three points o n th e ni ght. Wit h th e crowd still buzzing from Lucero 's performance , Far ia ga ve th em more to cheer about in event two. The defending champ was last at th e sta rt , but he sp li t J osh Larsen a nd No rt hern California Cha mpio n Bart Bast o n lap one. That pu t him in seco nd . Rick Miller had a good size lead , but Fa ria was not abo ut 10 give up. H e pulled hi s R ussell Raci ng / Shoe i/ O il za ll / MJ B/ Bill's P ipes/ Scot t/ G o ld Coast Assoc.lFMF Weslak e to Mi ller 's rea r tire. In turn fo ur, Miller drifted wide . Faria got inside o f him and by th e tim e th ey left turn two th e final time, he had sto len the lead. With the crowd . ch ee r ing h im home, Fari a j oined Lucero in th e win co lu m n. Event three brough t Rob ert P fetzing on the track for th e fir st tim e si nce breaking h is ankle at Lake Perris Speed way four months earlier. Pfetzing was on th e program as first reserve. When Ch ris Ma nchester broke h is collarbone less tha n a week ea rlier playing football, Pfetzing took his sp ot. Nobody ga ve th e veteran star much o f a cha nce after th e lo ng layoff. H e sho wed th em in even t three that he was a co n tender. He led every in ch of th e way to defea t Ph il Co llins a nd 1985 Cham pio n Alan "Crazy " Christian. _ The fir st round ended th e way everyone th ought it would. Schwartz led event fou r wire 10 wire for the victory . It was not as easy as everyo ne p redi cted. H e had Brad Oxley a nd hard rid ing SCOII Brant pr essurin g him all th e way 10 the Jerry Kin g chec kered. Bast fell in tu rn o ne in event five a nd Fishb ack ca lled for a nothe r restart. Pfeuing was on th e o u tside a nd he execu ted a perfect ga te to tak e th e advan tage over Brant, J essee Fin ch and Bast. Li ke he d id in his first ro u nd rid e, Brant put relentless pr essu re on Pfetzin g th e first two laps. Fin all y o n the third revolution, Pfetzin g opened up a two len gth cush io n which he carried to th e end, Sch wartz sta rted to see his night fall a part in event six. Coming from th e pol e, he was firs t off th e lin e. One o f hi s p ro teges, La rsen , go t a trem endous drive off th e seco nd tu rn. He motored a hea d of the 35-year-old a nd fended him off th e last th ree and a half laps. It was a big win for La rsen an d ·a ser ious loss for Sch wa rtz. Event seven featured th e fir st runa way win of the n ight. Miller , a veteran o f nine seaso ns in th e Brit ish League, wo n by a lmost a half straig h t over Christian, Oxley a nd Wern er. Miller' s victory set the stage for o ne o f th e most importa nt races of the ' eveni ng. Race eig ht ma tched Lucero a nd Faria a long wit h Co llins a nd Gary Hi cks. Man y insiders were p redict ing th at the wi nner o f heat eigh t wou ld eventua lly by Na tio na l Champion. T hey were correc t. Off gate two , Faria edged pol e-sitter Lucero into the first ben d. Godden ridi ng L ucero stayed with Fari a until the second lap when Faria left him. The lon gtime vetera n built u p a n adva ntage a nd Lucero was never a ble 10 reel him in. Faria a nd Pfetzin g were pe rfect with six points each with two ro u nds in the book s. Schwartz, Lucero and Miller were lurk in g jus t behind wi th five points each. Larsen score d a nother impressive win in event nin e over Fin ch , Christian and Hi cks. T hat ga ve him two wins in a row. Hi s last pl ace finish in round one now look ed very costly. Form er World Finalist Co llins finally got in th e win co lu mn in event 10 when he narrowly defeated Bast , Mou nt ed on a Westlake, Collins rode th e dirt line a nd ga ve Bast a ll the room he wanted o n th e in sid e. The Northern Ca lifornia racer did not have enough spee d to wrestl e the lead a way from the En gli sh na tive. It was Bast 's best, an d on ly, seco nd' pl ace fini sh of th e meeting. The sho wdow n between Faria and Pfetzin g ca me in event 11. Pfeuing is a beuer gater th an Fari a, but o n this occasion the cha m p beat him o ff th e lin e. Tucked in righ t behind th em was Schwa rtz a nd he was lookin g 10 sco re a n upset. Pfeuing hounded orange a nd black leathered Faria th rou gh th e fir st th ree la ps. O n th e fin al circ ui t, he mad e h is move. H e went to the cus hio n on th e ba ck chute the last time a nd duc ked to the pole as th ey ca me o ff the final co rner. H e had a decent drive, bu t it was not good eno ugh to catch Faria. H e took hi s th ird stra ig h t wi n.. Lu cero ended the third ro u nd hea t with a win over brother-in-law Brant. T hat left him tied for seco nd wi th Pfeuing. T hey each had eig h t points co m pa red to Fari a 's nine. The meet in g was tight. Mill er 's up a nd down n ig h t went back u p in event 13. After finishing last in event 12, he led all the way in 13. Th irteen a lso sa w Schwartz's hopes of winning hi s third titl e vanish with a third pl ace finish . He only had seven points.

• Cover