Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

;S E D A Coors Light U Natio~al Speedway Championship · P E Wy·: .S. By Scotl Rousseau Photos by Christopher Thomas COSTA MESA, CA, OCT. 1 fter having a stellar 1993, "Sudden" Sam Ermolenko suffered through a hell of year in 1994. Only weeks aft er wi nning the 1993 Coors Dry U.S. National Speed wa y, the 32-year-old Ermo lenko had gone d own in a horrific crash while racing for his British League Wolverha mpton Wolves club and suffe red a broken femur. He recovered, as he always has throughout h is career, but the hits kept coming. Er m olen ko lost the World Championship in his very first defense at Vojens, Denmark, and even his heroic efforts at the World Team Cup at Brokstedt, Germany, weren 't enoug h to boost Team USA to a thir d consecutive title. So when he return ed to Costa Mesa, Californi a, for the 26th Coors Light U.S. National Sp eed wa y Ch ampionsh ip, it was th e last championship he co uld defend. But befor e the 8600 fan s th at ja m med the Orange County Fa irgrounds, Ermolenko d id just that, dropping ju st on e of 15 po ss ibl e points to become the second rider in the '90s to win back-ta-back U.S. National Championships, "It's so ' good to do this again," Ermolenko said after his victory. "I put together the races that coun ted. I've had such an up-and-down year, and I've reall y had no other consolation besides this one." Ermolenko would face a National field that was jus t as tough as the one he had faced a year ago, as several riders could be considered a threat to take the crown. Fellow overseas riders Chris Manchester and Greg Hancock wer e on hand . Two-time National Champions Mike Faria and Bobby Schwartz were also after a third title. And insiders were also keeping and eye on Josh Larsen and Charlie Venegas as legitimate heirs to Ermolenko's throne. But as the night progressed, Ermolenko needed only to keep his cool and let his competitors beat themselves, clearing the way for his second championship. Northern California's Jim Sisemore posted the win in heat one, defeating arch-rival Bart Bast, as well as Brad Oxley and Andy Northrup. . "I've got a good draw tonight, so the pressure's on me," Sisemore said. "I'm up aga inst Hancock and Bobby Schwartz in this next one." Larsen p osted his first win in heat two, beating Schwartz, Robert Pfetzing and Bobby Hedden. "I've got that first one under my belt, so now I can settle down," Larsen said. "I thought th er e would be a bit more d irt on th e track. I'd rather have it to where if I did m iss the start, I could work my way around the outside. But tha t will be hard to do here." Ermo lenko got off to a bad sta rt by immed iately dropping a point when he faced Faria in heat three. After several restarts that saw every rider in the heat on the ground at least once, Faria bolted from his outside startin g position to beat Errnolenko, Gary Hicks and Don Odom in to the first tum, then running away with the race . Ermolenko sta yed ca lm and finished th e heat ahead of Hicks and Odom. It was the only point he would drop all night "It's not over until the end," Ermolenko said . "We'll just keep plugging away, and hopefully I won't drop any more points." Hancock also got a terrific start from Play it again, Sam! (Left) "Sudden" Sam Ermolenko came home from England to successfully defend his U.S. National Speedway Championship at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Ermolenko scored 14 points to become only the fifth speedway rider .in history to win backto-bBck championships. (Below) J os h Larsen (middle) rode hard to finish second overall with 13 points. Larsen finished ninth in the world at the 1994 World Final.Veterans Robert Pfetzlng (left)and Bobby Schwartz (right) have had better days at the National. A ~ 0\ 0\ ..... ~ ..... 5j :9 u o 18 th e outside and put a wa y Vene ga s; Manchester and Shawn McCo nn ell in heat four. "I feel really good right now ," Hancock said. "I just hope I can put together four more of those ." After all of the jock eying tha t had taken place in round one, the first battle of unbeatens came in heat fiv e w he n Hancock faced Sisemore. However, the race was halted be fore it go t s ta rted when Schwartz touched the tapes in gate three and wa s excl u ded . H e returned to the pits , leaving behind any chance for a third title. When the tapes did go up, Hancock got another rocket g ate, this time off the pole, and he topped Gary Hicks, Sisemore and Reserve rider Dustin Schroeder. After a dismal first ride, Robert Pfetzing stayed in the hunt with a victory in heat six, dropping Manchester one more po int after two rides. Manchester, the 1992 champ, was clearly having problems with his GM, bu t he stilI managed to smile. "I came to have fun, but I wanted to have more fun than this," Manchester said. "I'm having a hard time turning because my bike isn't driving as hard as I want." Manchester's run for the championship ended in round three when he finished third to Hicks and Oxley during heat 11. Ermolenko came back and scored his first win in a dogfight with Venegas and Larsen in heat seven. Venegas had been rattled a little after finishing second to Hancock in hi s opening ride, and the defending ICE World Champion was beginning to feel the pressure to catch up in the points. Venegas got an excelle n t jump from his gate-two starting po sition , but Ermolenko matched him from the pole and tried to push him wi d e down the back s tr etch. Venegas may have pulled a slight lead out as the' two rid ers cam e ba ck do wn the front chute, but it all went away whe n he and Ermolenko bumped in turn one and Venegas went down. The race wasn't stopped, and Ermolenko had his first win. "We were side by side for a whole lap, and I was using every inch of the race track that I had available to me ," Ermolenko said. "The way the pole was pointed, it only gave you one choice for going into the tum, and I think we just ran out of room. I feel bad that it happened, but that's racing. I know Charlie really wants to win this thing, and he deserves to win it." Venegas didn't affi x bla me for the crash, nor did he take it. But the scrappy 27-year-old d id realize what was happening to him. "I guess e very champ ion has a National disaster," Venegas said. "Basically, this must be mine. We'll just get through it and come back next year." It would get worse for Venegas, as he suffered a tape exclusion in round three and another crash in round four before finall y winning in his last ride and finishing the night with five points. With Venegas and Manchester falling out of the picture, the run for the title focused squarely on Faria and Hancock, with Lar sen and Ermolenko still one p oint down . But round three would open thing s up a bit. Ermolenko did his job with a win in heat nine to stay close, Faria d ropped Schwartz - both literally and figu ratively - in heat 10, and Hicks posted a win in heat 11. The race of the round , however, came when Hancock met Larsen in heat 12 Larsen timed the gate to perfection to lead Hancock, who came off the.pole, Northrup and Odom. Hancock tried hard to catch the fleeing Larsen, but the slick Costa Mesa track put traction at a premium and Hancock could not make up the ground. Larsen took the win to pull Hancock off the lead pace and force a three-way tie for second place among Ermolenko, Hancock and himself. But they were all chasing Faria, and the 1990-91 National Champion remained cautiously optimistic. "I've stilI got two rides to go," Faria said. "My last two will be my hardest. I've got Josh on the pole, and I'm in gate two next. Then I'm in two and I've got Hancock in three ." Faria's words almost seemed prophetic, as he suddenly went from the driver's seat to the back seat .in heat 13. Larsen raced off the pole and sped into the lead with Faria, Sisemore and Reserve rider Doug Nicol giving chase. Larsen was making his motorcycle as wide as possible in an effort to keep Faria behind him , and Faria drifted to the faint dirt line in an effort to sneak past Larsen on the outside. It was his undoing, as Faria hit a berm left in the track by the drag truck and bobbled, allowing Larsen to get away and Sisemore to duck underneath and steal seeond place. With his third-place finish, Faria not only lost his one-point advantage, but an additional point, which put him in second place and handed the lead to Larsen, Hancock and Ermolenko. Larsen was just trying to stay calm.

• Cover