Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) From Left to right: Scratch main winner Steve Lucero leads Mike Faria, Bobby Schwartz and Shawn McConnell at the Costa Mesa spe8way season opener. (Above) The team of Carmont and Tailing leads Lewis and Macey In the Sidecar main event. Carmont and Tailing went on to take the victory. Costa Mesa Speedway season opener Lucero, Oxley star on a new night By Elaine Jones Photos by Bob Jones COSTA MESA, CA, APR. 12 osta Mesa speedway and Friday nights have gone together for 26 years, but all things change, and the 1997 season opener took place on a new night at an earlier start time, though reigning U.S. ational Champion Steve Lucero and former U.S. National Champion Brad Oxley still picked up where they left off last season. Lucero continued his winning ways as he captured the win in the richest race of the night, the Scratch main, while Oxley topped the eight-man, eight-lap Handicap main. When they lined up for the scratch main, Bobby Schwartz drew the pole with Shawn McConnell in gate two and Lucero in three. Mike Faria drew the number-five spot riext to the crash wall, while the high desert's John Aden sat in gate four. The first start then saw almost a full lap go in the books before a red flag came out after Lucero had gone down in turn two and Faria and McConnell bumped heads in turn four. After Lucero made a mad dash to the pits for bike adjustments, they all lined up for another try. When the gate went up, Lucero timed it perfectly and got a drive down low in turn two that put him into the lead. Faria, used to the bigger European tracks with more dirt, was working the outside, trying to make something happen. He tangled with Lucero once, but Lucero held tough, and Faria was unable to move him off line. Schwartz ran in third, hoping that either of the lead RIDERS would make a mistake, but that didn't happen, and he settled for the show money. McConnell held off Aden for fourth place. Eight riders qualified for the Handicap main with Paul Colston lining up alone on the 10-yard line. Jerry Black was alone on the 20 and Eddie Castro was alone on the 30, but from there things got crowded as McConnell, Oxley and Pfetzing each claimed a piece C ..... I-< ~ 50 of real estate on the 40 while Faria and Lucero occupied the SO. One lap was completed before the red flag came out in this one when McConnell was clipped from behind on the back straight and went down hard. The ensuing single-file restart took forever as major disputes erupted over who belonged where, and why. When the gate finally went up again, Colston led the way for five laps, with Black hanging right in there before sliding out in tum four. This opened the door for Oxley, and that was all he needed as he drove hard out of turn four and got underneath Colston before the finish line. Oxley then made the pass and was going away by the time they hit the first turn again. With only two laps left, Oxley rode his own race while Colston kept McConnell at bay for second. If the Sidecar main was any indication of what the season is going to be like, then it will be a rough one. Off the line the teams of Duane Carmont/Richard Taling and Peter Lewis/Jamie Macy came off turn four low and got a slingshot drive that put them into the lead. Carmont and Ta1ing apparently figured they could make the same move and set it up beautifully, coming into three a bit high and then driving out of four very low and taking the win at the checkered. Steve Stanton and Robert Dent were third. (N Costa Me.. Speedway Costa Me.., Calnomla Resul\S: April 12, 1997 SCRATCH: 1. Steve Lucero Oaw); 2. Mike Faria Oaw); 3. Bobby Schwartz (Wes); 4. Shawn McConnell (GM); 5. John Aden Oaw~ HDCP: 1. Brad Oxley (Wes~ 2. Paul Colston (wes~ 3. Shawn McConnell (GM); 4. Rpb Pletting (Wes); 5. Mike Faria Oaw); 6. Steve Lu~ Oaw). SDCAR, 1. D. Carmont/R. Tallng (Hon); 2. P. Lewis/}. Macy (Yam); 3. S. Stanton/R. Dent (Yam~ 4. B. Brayton/P. Weaver (Yam). SUP: 1. Brian Burch O.w); 2. Randy Skinner Oaw~ 3. Robbie Hadanan (Wes~ 4. Bill Green (Wes~ 5. Paul Binquist (Wes~ ECEA Enduro Series, Round 2 Spence ~panks Curly Fern By Paul Clipper, Trail Rider Magazine ATSION, NJ, MAR. 23 he South Jersey Enduro Riders' annual romp through the western limits of the Wharton State Forest was greeted with plenty of suspicion and trepidation by all, especially the A- T class riders. Last year, SJER revealed a new swamp section on private land that basically surprised the pants off of everyone and houred out a few of the A-Only loop riders who had forgotten how to swim. This year the club kept quiet about what was planned, but rumors got out that once again the infamous Bertino's section was going to be in full use, and possibly expanded upon. Frankly, the rumors actually scared away a number of A riders who feared embarrassment W bike abuse, and when the smoke and steam cleared the riders found they really hadn't had that much to worry about after aU. They still lost plenty of points, though .. In the end it was Mark Spence taking the overall win, on his new-for -'97 Team Green Kxi50 ride. Last year's ECEA Grand Champion continued his 1996 battle with past multi-time champion Jack Lafferty Jr., overcoming Lafferty's early lead and taking command in the"A-only" sections to finish up one point better, with a 34 total to Lafferty's 35 card. The first loop of the event was uneventful, consisting of plow lines and sand road east of Route 206. Six checks in the section saw most of the A and AA riders staying on zero, except for a tricky emergency check-out at check number four that may have grabbed a point from some of the A riders. An arrowing problem before the final section of the loop forced the club to change check-out check number six into an observation check only. Lafferty and Spence stayed even through the first loop, with Lafferty having the advantage of a 0:0 score, while Spence had dropped 23 emergency seconds. They had plenty of company, since a number of A riders also zeroed the loop. Considering the pre-race rumors, 23 seconds shouldn't have caused Spence too much anguish, and they'd see in the second half what sort of points would really be dropped. They all got their chance shortly after the start of the loop, as check seven checked everyone into a typical south Jersey stick farm, with the trail covering old cranberry bog dikes and liberally laced with briars for the careless riders. Multiple logs and rail-road crossings kept everyone hopping, and all dropped points at the check-out. Spence had the advantage over Lafferty, with a 1:61 compared to Lafferty's 1:79, but Spence didn't card the best score. He was beaten through the section by Richard Lafferty, 1:50, and Kevin Bennett with a 1:47. The fun was only just starting, though. A fast run on connector trails to the next check-in, check number nine, put the riders into SJER's Burnt Mill piece, a fast 5-mile section run mostly in open deciduous forest that begins with a debilitating mile ride down a whoopedout sand road. Several wet sections played havoc, sticking many riders, and a secret check-out, check number 10, took points from all. Spence made his first real mistake of the day going into this section, when he burned the checkin by a few seconds, adding two points to his card. Jack Lafferty Jr. zeroed, as did most of the other AA riders, and both dropped three at the check-out, as did Bennett. From this point, the run looped down towards the famous Atco Dragway, where the course split and the B and C riders headed back toward the gun club, while the A riders faced the demon of the course. The Bertino's section was divided by three checks - number 11 check-in, midpoint emergency check number 12, and check-out at lucky 13. Lafferty Jr. and Spence separated themselves from the rest of the pack in here, dropping 12 and 13, respectively, at the midpoint check, while Bennett went 16, and the third best AA score was turned in by Craig Shenigo of B&B, who dropped a 15. Without a doubt the best A-class score was posted by ISDE and enduro veteran Drew Smith, who proved that old age and experience can triumph once again; Smith matched Spence's 13 score through the first half of the section. Although Bertino's was timed impossibly tight and took plenty of points, most riders agreed that it had its muddy spots, but wasn't nearly as bad riding as it was last year. Section captains John Smith and Chris Salin had spent plenty of time in the swamp, cleaning out and opening up the trail, and Mother Nature kept the water level low enough that parts of the section could even be considered dry. Basically it wasn't all that tough, but it still took loads of points. At the check-ou t to the section, Spence led the way with a 14-point loss, but right behind him was Drew Smith, who flew through with a 15. Burns at two checks earlier in the day would assure that Smi th wouldn't finish better thah second in the 125cc A class, behind Eric Pirie. Open A flash Dave Groemm also had a 14 in that last section, and Lafferty finished it up with 17 points. This set up whatever last points-taking section that remained as a battle between Spence and Groemm. However, they had to get there first, and the organization became a little sloppy after the check 13 check-out when riders weren't given a reset to make up their late time. This had riders speeding down Jackson Road to get to the reset at Atco Dragway, which wasn't very cool. Fortunately, no one was stopped or ticketed. Eyewitnesses at the Atco reset reported that the prevail-

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