Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GEVENTS e o .... N ;.... Q) ,.0 o ~ u o Greg Schnell (24) beat Don Upton (53) to the first tum in the 125cc Pro class at the Adelanto Trans-Cal MX. Schnell won the class. Chris Manchester (right) won the California State Championship at Glen Helen. California Stale SpeedwayChampionship Manchester tops Glen H elenSpdwy ByM. Sober Photo by Jim Thorn SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 25 u r r en t United States National Speedway Champion Chris "The Kid" Manchester showed why his victory in last year's National was .no fluke, as he scored a maximum of 15 points in five rides to take the California State Speedway crown. Last year 's winner, Mike Faria, scored 14 'points to finish in second place, while Charl ie' "The Edge" Venegas put in a career best 13 po ints to claim third. The bitter irony of the outcome was not lost on Faria, who won last year's championship wi th a perfect score, and like Manchester, was wearing the number one on his back when he did it. "I just didn't seem to have the horses to run with Ch ris ton ight," Faria sa id. "But I'm still gonna get back my number one at the National next week." , Manchester was more guarded about his thoughts on the National. "I think Charlie (Venegas) is going to be tough just as he was tonight in the State Championship," Manchester said. "It's wide open really". Newly crowned Auburn Track Champion Bobby Hedden used the outside dirt to grab the lead away from fellow northern California veteran Bart Bast and win the opening heat. The second heat pitted pre-race favorites Manchester and Faria against each other, with Faria taking the start and the lead in to the first turns only to have C 30 Manchester sweep a round him as they raced down the back straight for the first time. Faria ' could not find the moves to reel in the flawless National Champ ion. Charlie Venegas took an easy ga te-te-flag win over John Aden and Mike Mazzacane in the third heat. Steve Lucero was the first rider to make the outside starting position payoff, surviving a restart that e li m in a ted former two-time California State Champion Bobby Schwartz, who fell in the first turn trying to negotiate the deep outside dirt. Faria opened the second round with a convincing win over pole-sitter Lucero, and Odom surprised the field in the next heat as he quickly jumped out in front of the pack and pulled steadily away to the checkered flag. Manchester matched his success of the opening round, this time dispatching Venegas as well as Schwartz, who again failed to get a point. Venegas kept the pressure on the fron t runners in the first third round heat, starting out in front and immediately running the extreme outside dirt to outdistance the second place Odom. Faria was up in the next heat and followed Venegas' lead , relegating Aden to second place . Pat Litt was also a bit of a surprise in the third heat, taking a solid win over Bast. Manchester continued to be the lone rider with a perfect score as he finished off the third round with an easy win over Mike Mazzacane. Lucero saw his hopes of winning his third State Championship disappear as he laid his bike down trying to catch Manchester in the opening lap. After three full rounds, Manchester's ninepoint total gave him a on e-point lead over Faria and Venegas, who were tied at eight apiece. In round four, Manchester showed the slow-staging Ad en th e quick line around the track, out-distancing him by a dozen bike lengths. Venegas deftly tip- toed around the fast gating Lucero in the deep outside cushion. Ju st as . Manchester and Venegas did before h im, Faria m ade short work of his fou r t h-ro u n d heat. The r eal Bobb y "Boogaloo" Schwartz fin all y scored a win in the final heat of the fourth round. Schwartz ope ne d the fina l round of hea ts the sa me as he finish ed the fourth, taking the lead at the start and carrying it all fou r laps. The second event of th e final rou nd was the last chance the field had of upsetting Manchest er's perfect night. Ho we ver, "The Kid's" competition in the heat was not up to the task a nd fin ished well beh ind hi m. Odom continued to imp ress as he claimed his second win of the meeting. The last race of the night rolled to the starting tap es with only one last remaining duel to be decided. Faria and Venegas were tied with 11 points each, both dropping the one lone point to Manchester earlier in the night. If they finished in the two top spots they would join Manchester on the podium. The starting tapes were triggered and Faria took to the front and never looked back. Venegas pulled out his special bag of teetering angles and impossible postures but could not make up much ground, finishing second in the showdown and third in the meeting. In the decade of the 1980s there was but a single repea t winner, that being Lucero in 1985and 1989. So far in the '90s the only repeat is Faria; that same lanky rider who remains the only rider to win the national and state titles in the same season since Bruce Penhall in 1981.Just a few short days from now at Costa Mesa, Manchester will get to see if he's indeed ready to join such rare company. (;N Results MAIN: 1. Chris Manchester (15); 2. Mike Faria (14); 3. Cha rlie Venegas (13); 4, Donnie Odom (11); 5, (TIE) John Aden / Steve Lucero (9); 7. Pat Litt (8); 8, (TIE) Bart Bast / Bobby Hedden (7); 10, Bobby Schwartz (6), CMC T rans-CalMX S eries:Final R ound Schnell snatches title at Adelanto MX By Sco tt Hoffman ADELANTO, CA, OCT. 2-3 he title came down to the wire, but in the end it was Greg Schnell aboard his Pro Circuit I AXObacked Suzuki who topped the 125cc Pro class during the final round of the CMC BieHel Asics Trans-Cal Nationals held at Sunrise Valley Raceway. Hordes of racers from across Califomia and neighboring states came out to do ba ttle during the two day event. The track conditions were excellent as the T competitors attacked the high desert sand track. The course was watered each day to ensure good competition. The title chase in the 125cc Pro class wasn't decided until the final moto of the weekend . Saturday's race was almost a disaster for the points leaders, Spud Walters and Greg Schnell, as they posted fifth and eigh th place finishes, respectively. Butch Smith topped th e field. Walters was on top going into Sunday's race. At the start of the first mota, Schnell took the early lead followed closely by Mike Brandes, Donald Up ton and Walters. The field quickly split up as Schnell and Brandes pulled some di stance to start a tooth-and-na il battle. Brandes was on Schnell's tail turn after turn; trying to make the pass. On the third lap, Brandes faltered and went down in a turn, but he remounted to hold on to the second spot in front of Upton . Back in the pack, JT-backed Jason McCormick was on the gas, work- . 'ing his way up from a poor start. The series points leader, Walters, was having problems as he started to fall back. "I knew wh at I had to do, I was just tr ying too hard," said the frustrated Walte rs. McCormick pa ssed Walters on the sixth lap, dropping him back to sixth place. Back up front, Brandes had caught up to Schnell and started to apply pressure to the leader. Brandes' action was in vain as he threw his bike away in the whoops, and Brandes fell back to fourth . Upton took ov er th e secondspo t, but bike problems forced him to pull off. "I thought I had a flat tire at first and th en realized my rear axle had come loose," said Upton. Schnell now had a commanding lead as McCormick was in second followed by Terry Parsons and Brandes. At the finish, it was Schnell with the win and maximum points. Walters' fifth place finish pu t him two poin ts behind Schnell going into the final moto . When the gate dropped on the final deciding race, Wal ters took the early lead as McCormick and Schnell gave chase. Schnell quickly moved past McCormick to challenge Walters . Brandes was also on the charge as he dropped McCormick to third on the second lap . The top three riders railed the track like a freight train as the race for the lead progressed. Walters started to feel the heat, as Schnell was on his tail. Schnell squeezed past Walters for the lead on the third lap, and on the next lap Walters lost one 'more spot to Brandes. Brandes kept up his fast pace and quickly moved in for the kill. Brandes took over the lead on the next lap and was left unchallenged. With Brandes out front, the series points race was still undecided . If Schnell could hold off Walters, he would take the title. Walters started to close on Schnell, but couldn't put things toge ther . Walter's title hopes went down the tubes as the final laps were near: Brandes to ok the moto win as Schnell finished second to take the title. "I started to reel him (Schnell) in and jus t started to make mistakes, " said Walters. Walters came back in the 250cc class to win the title. In the 80cc (14-16) class it was Josh Tarantino who took his NCY I Tim Morgan-prepped Yamaha to the winners circle after winning both motos . In the first mota Doug Parsons led the pack of screaming minis to the first turn with Lanny Turner and Jimmy Varis following. Tarantino found himself in last as th e .gate dropped . Varis passed Turner before the end of the first lap to take over second place. On the second lap, Turner kicked in the afterburners and leap-frogged into the lead, putting

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