Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Josh I.ar1Ien took the United Speedway Association points lead with a win at Speedway USA. ning seco nd and Chico Motorsports a solid third. Suddenly, Mark Cozzens, riding the Team Roberts bike, crashed heavily, bringing out the red nag and stopp ing the race. As the med ical personnel tended to Cozzens, his team quickly began repairs. At th e restar t, a te rrific ba tt le ens ued be tween Dou gla s of Team Calamar i and [o rgensen on the Chico Motorsports bike. Dou glas would use h is horsep ow er ad vantage to put abo ut five bike lenths on jorgenson a t the end of the lon g straig ht, o nly to lose it th ro ugh the tighter sections of the track. And lap after lap , Jorgenson wo uld close to wi thin a few inches of Douglas ' rea r wheel, only to lose ground on the straight. At about one and a ha lf hours in to the race, Wilke, who had taken ove r rid ing chores from Douglas, was charging hard when sud denly the mo tor seized on the m ighty 80, end ing their day. This pu t the jorgenson/ Nikki Harris d uo into the lead followed by Sheppa rd on the team's AR 50, some four laps down; with the Grant racin g team in third. With less than 20 minu tes remaining, jo rgenson was pushing his bike back to the pits, another victim of an ap paren t engine se izu re. But when he got back to the pits, the bike fired back up and Harris jumped in the saddle to resume battle. The team remained in the lead , but had lost three laps wh ile in the p its. Meanwhile, working their way back th rough the field after th eir early crash, Team Roberts had charged th rough the field to third overall With 10 minutes left, Harris came in for one last rider change, and jorgenson took ov er for the sprint to the fin ish. But as soon as he had gotten back up to speed, his engine seized again. This w as a ll Sheppard/ Adorno needed, and they found themselves in the lead with three laps remaining. jorgenson got his bike back to the pits, and Harris rejoined the race in fourth. As th e cl oc k ran out, it wa s Sh eppard/ Adorno winning with 105 laps completed , follo we d b y Te a m Roberts, w ith th e teams Gra nt/Ratcliff/and Lovatt, Chico Motorsports, a nd Lovatt /Cason round ing out the top five overall. Results Sprint> STX:t . Maurlcr OafOJ' (Yam); 2. Bob Vlzarra (Y.a 3. Jt'rr7 m); }ohnMx1. (Yam) ; 4..JimCurrra (Yam). S/STX: 1. Curtis Roberts (Yam) ; 2. Logan Willr.r (Yam); 3John Sulllvan (yam); 4. Jon Ed wards (y.m); S. JnTY CouCL 'S • (Yam). S/B ~ t. Lopn Wtlke(Y..m); 2. M.lur1cr Daroy (Y. m); 3. Bob Vizcarra (Yam); 4.}ftTy Johnson (y am ); S. Curtis Roberts (Yam). 80 G.P: 1. Logan W~ (yam); 2. Miu Wiggins (Suz ); 3. Bob Vizarra (Ya m); 4. Mark Woodw ard (Hon): S. Jerry Do uglas (Yam). B/W: 1. )ftI SIwppard (Kaw); 2. Jdf Witmrr (Mon ); 3. M.rk CoZZft1a(tIofl). NOV STK:t. Toby JorgrnlIon(Yam); 2. o.~Ownw (Yam); 3. 8M CMon (Yam);.(. Justin Hcnne,ky (Yam); s. M.rk O\adwick • (Yam). NOV MOD: 1. MilueLowr (Y.Am); 2. Chris R.lteliff (Yam); 3JmUr Hughs (Yam); 4. Da~ Owms (Y..m); .5. John CrftnIy (Yam). VET: I. Mouk Cou.ens (lion); 2. John Sullivan (Yam); 3. Jdf Whi tmrr (Boa). End ."",,, OPEN : 1. Joh n Grant/Chris Ratdiff/MiU Lovatt (ya m ); 2. NIkki H.trrisfToby Jorgrnson (yam); 3. Mike Lovatt /8m Cason (Yom~ 4. Losan W.... DousLd(y.m). .50: t . Jeff She rp.ard / To m Adorno ( I( ...~); 2. C urtis ~ /Miu Wigpnl /M.ark Co zuns/Erk Gratu. m (Yam); 3. Jo hn Wh it ~ / M a rk C ha d wick (Va rn); 4. Roger Dowd /D.ave Owrns / J....on R~ts (ya m); S. Sirve Roybal/Dennis Murry (Yom). ,,"'l' Lar sen, who swept to wins in both ma in ev en ts earlier in the week at Glen Helen and Lake Perris , brought the sell-out crowd of more than 4000 to its feet when he dove inside john Aden to win the Scratch feature. Bobby Schwartz, who started from the third lane, wa s the first off the line as referee Danny Hull tr iggered the starting tapes. john Aden began the main on the far outside and used the heavy dirt that accumulates against the crash wall to propel himself past Schwartz when the two leaders negotiated turns three and four on the fir st lap . Schwa rtz a p peared st u nned as Aden pulled d own to th e faste r insid e line, clearly ass umi ng the lead . As Schwar tz pondered w ha t to do ne xt, Larsen drove hard inside on lap two a nd too k over second p lac e, push in g Sch wartz back another spo t. Lar sen , ab oard his Russell Raeing/Troy Lee Des ign /Oa kl e y / Bell/ KG/ Ans wer /Silkolene-backed Wesla ke, managed to hold Schwartz off and take advantage of Aden's wide drift il'\ the last tum of the final lap to claim one of the finest Scratch main wins ever seen in the high desert. . The Handicap ma in field was spread wide across the Victorville facility's front straight, with Ange la Hale alone on the zero yard line. Behind the fanner junior standou t, on the 10. were Robb ie Hackman, Kevin Nicldas and New Zealand's Darrin Wilson. The next yard marker that held rid ers wa s the SO, with Greg Ayers and Gary Ackroy d lined up. Way back on the 70 sat the two Scratch Main transfers: Aden and Larsen . At the sta rt, Hale jumped out to a quick lead, just a. she did in her Ha nd icap heat and Sem i ear lier tha t nigh t. Hackman held on to the second position for four of the six laps before being relieved by Larsen, and then was pu shed back to fourth by Aden half a lap later. . Hale, on h er Wh it e Br os '/ VP Racing Fuel /Jerry King / PL Hawn Filt ra tion / Gene Woods/PMT Designs-sponsored Weslake, was protected by the field jus t long enough. Larsen came charging afte r the lead, bu t ran out of laps before he could deal he r the sa me fat e as the other five riders who had started in front of him. Aden was thi rd, Hackm an held on to fourth , and fifth weni to Ackroyd . Results Photo by Jim Thorn VIcroRVIll.E,CA, MAY28 Former British League regular josh Larsen won his third Scratch main of the week, taking the United Speedway Associati on /Inland Emp ire Pontiac Dealers Series points lead a way from Mike Far ia in the process, while fema le racer Angela Hale won her fi rst~v er Division One Handicap main at Speedway USA. (Yom~ EX: t. Strve kivan (Yam); 2. Qu;s c.plinges' (ATIC);3. Greg Swdyk< (HBCJ. rNT : 1. Mike SUhlm.tn (Y.am); 2. J~ff Sduwid~r (KTM ); 3. Robb~ IWrd (Hus );" Dave Wilfong (Yarn); S.}df l...Ippr (KTM) . 250 B: t . Tom Sununns (Yam); 2. Ken Vount (Yarn); 3..J-on Counts (J:aw); 4. Imy McCuIand (Y.m); 5. o.rid Gt-rbt's(Yam). 200: t . John H.-Jock (Yam); 2. D.1vid Dillingh.Jm (lU.w); 3. Jim Willi.ams(K.tw); 4. Fred kitzbo (K.aw); S. Mike~. t25: 1. ~ Zinchuck (yam ); 2. UrI Dobaon (Suz); 3. Stne Bough (Han); 4. ~ Cavirww (Y.. m); S. Ssm ('".05l'w1l (ya m). 2SO C: t . S~e Ha~r (](aw); 2. Bob DeHnen (Yam ); J . Chuck V~I (Hoa); 4. Erik Hopkins (Suz); S. William Strawn (Suz~ OPEN: 1. Mike Kruger (ICTM); 2. Bob Caplin&" (Ane); ~ o.vid Haworth (KTM); 4..Tom Prntgu (Hus ): 5. TUV'ICfEngt.nd (Hcn~ . 4-STRK: t . Mike Windmann (Hus); 2. Ouis Sloan (Hbg); 3. Ed ~ (lU.w); 4..Caryf'1Llnt (Hon); S. Rusty 1C.Iise'r (HU$~ JR,: t . Brock BusmtJ.rk (Y..m); 2. Dustin WllI«Up (y ..m); 3. (JC.lw) . SDCA R: 1. Jo hn Ma therson / Da le Leed er (Vam); 2. Di rk Gardnn/Ooug lynch (lGIw); 3. CnTie Ed wards /Dave Brown (BMW); 4. }ohn Simmons/Steve Hogmcamp (k.aw). JR: t. Steptwn Downing (Wes ); 2. Ryan FiaIwI' (Wes). (All<). N.lthin Gbdlwck (Kaw ); 4. Ryan &rron (Kaw); S. Jesse Faulstid\ SR: t. AI HejJtok (K.aw); 2. Evn"dt ShiNI ult (Hoa);J. Br.d Barnett (Yam); 4. M.idwd Shnidan (KTM);5. JUruny Jont'!I (K.aw). S/SR: 1. Cary Emig (Yam); 2. GPr.1d Frmcks (Y..m); 3. Rick w be lcve (KTM); 4. Fra nk Leivan (Yam ); S. Ho mrr Gilliland VINT: t . Anton CJeuc k (H..(» . TRAIL RDR: t . Kurt MinhiJl g (Hon) ; 2. Brandon ~ry; 3. 0... " " ' - 4. St.q Collino; 5. Dorin Dillinglwn (Hon~ Larsen lands two at Gelen Helen Speedway By Arlene Hejlek By M.Sober 0 1A: t . T~rry Glml.a nd (KTM); 2. Steve Leivan (Yam ); 3. Chris Cap lingn- (ATK); 4. MiU St&hlm.m(Yam); 5. Tom Surnmm. SCRATOi: 1. Josh l...I"", (W"); 2. John Adm (Jaw ); 3. Brmt Werner Oaw); 4. BobbySchwartz (Wes) . HDCP: I. A"se1il H.. I~ (W~); 2. JO!Ih Larwn (Wes); J. John Aden O..w ); 4. Robbie Hacluna n (Jaw); S. Gary Ackroyd O..w). SUr: 1. Dustin EvaN (Wes); 2. Mlu Rftd (We); 3. M.lrk He- (J.1w 4. Mike Boy~ (Wes); S. o.~ Taya (W"). ); Gilliland gallivants to Collins Hare Scrambles win Larsen takes points lead at Speedway USA mounted -Chris Thiele followed Steve Leivan for five miles on the first lap, until Leivan blew a tum. The battle between Gilliland and Thiele continued un til Thiele got hung up coming out of a creek and up a nasty hill Gilliland tried to p ull away, but Thiele was soon on his tail again and their tuss le continued, un til Thiele's clutch went out at th e end of the fi rst lap. Then Gillila nd was alone out front, as Leivan had taken what he thought was a line to the righ t on a nasty hill and ended up off the course. By the time Leivan back-tracked and foun d the course again, he was at the end of the pack. Going into the final lap, Leivan's pit crew notified him that Gilliland had a 9

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