Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SPEEDWAY . Fifth annual CIvIl war of Speedway Gold Country Fairgrounds already had an incredible climb ahead if it wanted to get back in the event, but things got even worse for the home team in heat five when Nicol and Oxley went 5-1 over Linn and Houston. Hamill and Lucero then closed the round by strapping yet another 5-1 victory on Sisemore and Kossuth after a tense moment in the first tum. The four riders came off the gate in sync with Hamill gaining the advantage and Sisemore banging into Hamill while running in second place. It looked as though Hamill might go over the high side, but both riders recovered, and Hamill fled the scene as Lucero got caught and passed Sisemore for another (Left) Billy "The Bullet" Hamill ceme home from the British League end Grand Prix wars long enough to captain the Southern California team to another victory In the Civil War of Speedway. (Below) Bobby Haddan (right) held off Charlie V~ (right) In an actionpacked heat 10. Hedden topped the Northern score chart with 11 points. Venegas rang up eight for the South. (Bottom) Tommy Hedden (left) upheld the pride of Northern California speedway fans, scoring five pointe for the North with a mixture of good gates and come-frombehind rides and finishing second to Ham"1 (right) In the SCratch main. By Scott Rousseau Photos by Gen Moore AUBURN, CA, JULY 14 t could be argued that the past few runnings of the Ovil War of Speedway at the Gold Country ilairgrounds have appeared to be as much a card game as a motorcycle race, and each year· the South has unquestionably held the high cards to remain undefeated at the end of the night. Last year, after heavy gambling by the North resulted in its defeat by only 10 points, 44-34, the Northern California-based troops held high hopes for this year's event, and they were chomping at the bit to ante up in '95. But despite fielding a potent team and witnessing the true emergence of one of its newest stars in Tommy Hedden, the North once again folded against a Southern squad which just happened to have an ace up its sleeve and scored a fifth straight victory over the home team before 3500 fans, 46-32. Coming into the 1995. feud, the North had great expectations of victory. The side had assembled several riders who had been in last year's conflict, planning to bring back the likes of team captain Bart Bast, Bobby and Tommy Hedden, Jim Sisemore along with new riders in the shape of formerly Southern Californiabased rider Louis Kossuth and a returning John Houston Jr. Furthermore, the news that Southern team captain Bobby •Schwartz had been injured while competing in the Coors Light Fair Derby at the Orange County Fairgrounds - and thus would not be attending the event - bode even better for the North. But the North was not immune to a little disaster of its own, as team strong man Bob Hicks went down while racing at Vallejo Speedway on Thursday night and would also be unable to ride. Veteran racer Pat Linn replaced Hicks while the South more than filled the skipper's position on the team with a real ace in Billy "The Bullet" Hamill, currently ranked fourth in the World Individual Championship Speedway Series. Former U.s. National Champions Steve Lucero and Brad Oxley, Charlie Venegas, Don Odom and Gary Ackroyd rounded out the Southern side. I As usual, the South established its lead from the first heat when Hamill and Lucero leaped out of the gate on the Fast Fridays-promoted track to score a 5-1 ride over Bobby Hedden and Bast. Odom and Nicol then took to the track for the South in heat two, defeating Tommy Hedden and Houston 4-2. A determined Hedden was able to split the winning pair to pick up the Northern points. Sisemore and Kossuth fared the same against Venegas and Ackroyd in heat three, with Sisemore finishing behind Venegas and Houston trailing Ackroyd for another 4-2 heat in favor of the South. 'With three heats gone, the North 1-2 finish by the South. With the South • now leading the North 23-7, Hamill said that he was pleased with the way the event was going for his side. "They (the North) are putting up a fight," Hamill said. "Shit, I thought I was going to get T-boned. I hope it doesn't get to be much more of a fight than that." Meanwhile, Bast was able to pin down the basis of the North's struggle. 'We gotta get some gates, man," Bast said. 'We're slow off the start - the whole team. I don't know why. You know those (Southern) guys are going to be good at the start because if you don't make the gate down on that ~mall track (Costa Mesa), it's over. Here we have a little time to make it up." As round two started, the North. appeared to get its bearings, and Bobby Hedden and Bast dropped Oxley and Odom to score the North's first 5-1 win, cutting the overall score to 24-12 in favor of the South. But the South quickly rebounded to post another 4-2 win in heat seven. The North lost a sure tie in heat eight after Tommy Hedden looped out while holding third place over Nicol as brother Bobby tried in vain to track down Lucero. "There was a bit of dirt built up in turn four," Tommy Hedden said. "I didn't really see' until I hit it. I knew there was traction there. It just spit me off." There were fireworks between Kossuth and Odom after the two teams rOde to a draw in heat nine. The embattled riders were scrapping over the last point while Sisemore led Oxley to the flag. Kossuth was on the outside going into turn one on the last lap, and he tried to bear down on Odom. The two riders bumped, and Kossuth went down. After the race, the two appeared to argue all the way back into the pits, stirring up the Auburn crowd. But in truth, it was all a bit of the- ' ater. 'We're brothers-in-law," Kossuth said with a smile. "We were just out there having fun, putting on a show. But you know what? I'm going to get that little bastard back someday." "Earlier in the week, he (Kossuth) called me and told me that he was going to blow me away," adorn said. "I told him that he was going to have to catch me first. When I looked over in that race and saw that it was him, [ tried to take his line away. We locked bars, and he went down. He caught up to me and said, Tm gonna get you back.' So I said, 'Let's make a joke out of this.' I told him he can get me back at the National." • Nonetheless, the South now enjoyed its biggest lead of the night, 35-19. Despite posting a popular victory, the North was mathematically' out of the hunt by heat 10 as the team needed to post 5-1 rides for the remaining four heats just to earn a tie in the event. Bobby Hedden and Bast stepped up for the North, with Hedden getting a rocket gate and then gaining the distinction of being the first rider to defeat a flying Venegas all night. Venegas was furious in his efforts to pass Hedden and the Southern California points leader drifted further and further wide in an effort to get by, but Hedden held the low line for victory. Unfortunately for the North, Bast was unable to sneak under Venegas, and the South had this Ovil War in the bag. Although the race was essentially over, the fireworks didn't begin until the last three heats. Hamill and Lucero took to the track with Tommy Hedden and Linn. Hedden appeared to be sick of seeing the two riders nm over hi; compatriots, and he was determined do something about it. Hedden gated behind Hamill but right with Lucero and then took to the high line, setting a frantic pace that matched Venegas' passing attempts of one heat earlier. But unlike Venegas, the younger of the Hedden brothers was able to pull off a stunning, last-lap pass on Lucero to the roar of the partisan crowd. "I got a good drive," Hedden said. '''There was no catching Billy, though. It's real easy to see why he's number four in the world. The Southern guys are fast, but he's in a whole different league." Bast and Sisemore then further boosted the crowd in heat 12 with a 4-2 win over Oxley and Doug Nicol, who replaced Venegas after the referee !lad

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