Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS EDITED BY KEITH BUSH " (Left) Robert Pfetzing (middle) inherited the lead on the restart of the Handicap main at the Orange County Fairgrounds and held on to grab the victory. (Below) Bobby Schwartz (third from right) emerged from this close-knit pack to win the !?cratch main at the Orange County Fairgrounds on April 19. By Elaine Jones Photo by Bob Jones COSTA MESA, CA, APR. 25 ike Faria and Rob Pfetzing, the two guys who like to play out in the marbles, came away with the Scratch and Handicap main-event wins at the Orange County Fairgrounds as another week of Saturday night racing . , went in the books, A direct transfer to the richest race of the night, the Scratch main, went to Faria, who drew gate number two, Next . to him in three was reigning U.S, National and California State Champion Steve Lucero, John Aden, from the high desert, drew the fourth slot, and on the far ou tside was the master of the gate Bobby Schwartz, Drawing the pole after corning from the last chance qualifier was Rob Pfetzing, On the first try at a start, Pfetzing got into the tapes and was thrown out. The second try saw Lucero and Faria have a drag race to the first turn, Faria, who likes to work the outside of the track, proved he was just as deadly down low as he moved Lucero over and came out of turn two with the lead. It was all but over after that as Faria kept himself apart from the rest of the field and Lucero was pretty much left alone in the second .slot. Aden and Schwartz battled for third for one lap, but Aden came out on top in that one and held Schwartz at bay the rest of the way. In the Handicap main, Brian Pappalardo was alone on the 10-yard line. Gary Ackroyd had the 20 to himself with Pfetzing, Shawn McConnell, Brad Oxley and Aden bunched up on the 40. Faria and Lucero were on the 50. The riders were a little anxious and tried to get things started before the starter was ready. McConnell, who was celebrating his birthday, got a gift from the referee when he tried rolling early and en.ded up on the 80 after getting caught twice. Oxley also ran afoul of the ref and M ended up on the 60. After three tries they finally got an even start and Pappalardo was out in front going away when he lost a front sprocket and had to pull into the infield. Ackroyd took over the lead and held it for three laps before parking it while coming out of two and causing a chainreactipn pileup. Pfetzing got through the fray, but McConnell, Faria, Oxley, Lucero and Aden weren't as lucky. Oxley was out with what looked like a possible broken hand; it turned out to be a badly sprained finger, Ackroyd was deemed the cause of the red and sent to the back of the field. On the single-file restart Pfetzing was the leader, and all he had to do was hold off a hard-charging Faria, who was looking for a double win. Pfetzing and Faria rode basically the same line, and Pfetzing was not denied. Lucero lurked in the wings, hoping for the mistake that never came, and settled for the third. The Coors Challenge returned to Costa Mesa, with the promoters electing to run two rounds. Round one featured a photo finish between Oxley and Lucero with both thinking they had won it. The nod went to Oxley. The second round wasn't as close. Faria topped McConnell easily. Bob Brayton and Parke Weaver turned out to be the Sidecar team to beat as they won their second main in as many weeks. They got the jump off the line ahead of the Peter Lewis and Jamey Macy team and they were gone. Lewis and Macy lost the second spot on Jap two as Duane Carmont and Richard Taling set them up corning out of four and took over the position. The two teams battled all the way to the checkered, but nothing changed. . Mike Reed thought that he had the Support main in the bag, but he didn't figure on Richard Jones, who slipped underneath him out of four on the white-flag lap and went on to take the CN win. Randy Skinner finished third. Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, California Results: April 25, 1997 SCRATCH: 1, Mike Faria (GM); 2. Steve Lucero Oaw); 3. John Aden Oaw); 4. Bobby Schwartz (GM); 5. Rob Pfetzing (GM). HOCP: 1. Rob Pfetzing (GM); Mike'Faria (GM); 3. Steve Lucero (Jaw); 4. John Aden (Jaw); 5. Shawn McConnell (Gdn). SDCAR: 1. B. Brayton/P. Weaver (Hon); 2. O. Cannont/R. Tiling (Han); 3. P. Lewis/). Macy (Yam); 4. J. Petrgalovic (Kaw). SUP: 1. Richard Jones (GM); 2. Mike Reed (Wes); 3. Randy Skinner Oaw); 4. David lynch (Jaw); 5. Brian Burch (Gdn). Costa Mesa Speedway Schwartz scores in Scratch By Elaine Jones Photo by Bob Jones COSTA MESA, CA, APR. 19 his week at the speedway the winners were veteran Bobby Schwartz young John Aden, wllO won the Scratch and Handicap main events, respectively. Direct transfers to the Scratch main went to reigning U.s, National and California State Champion Steve Lucero, who also had the good fortune to draw the pole. Aden moved into gate three T while Rob Pfetzing Loaded into four. On the far outside was Mike Faria. Schwartz, who sat in gate two, got to the main the hard way. He was going away in the semi and appeared to have a lock on the first when his spark-plug wire came off as he came out of four on his way to -the checkered flag. He had to watch as the whole field went by, In the LCQ he left no doubt in anyone's mind that he belonged in the main as he went wire to wire in convincing style. When the gate came up it was an even start, but it came down to everyone trying to get through the tum at the same time. Lucero got caught in the jam and wound up going the opposite direction as the rest of the field, He opted to watch from the infield. Schwartz came out of two on top and ran his patented outside inside line, which makes getting around him very hard, Aden locked in behind him but had to contend with Faria and Pfetzing, who were in battle out in dirt working the high line. Faria made a last-ditch effort to get around Aden as they came out of four and headed for the checkered. Aden didn't budge and Faria had nowhere to go, which wasn't the case for Pfetzing, who came away with third. Brian Pappalardo had thE!' 10-yard line to himself in the Handicap main. Jerry Black had the 20-yard line aU to himself, with Jesse Finch sole owner of the 30. Aden, Pfetzing and Schwartz rubbed elbows on the 40, with Lucero and Faria being the long-yardage riders on the SO, Pappalardo got a good gate and with the yardage advantage was able to get a good jump on the field. It took Black four ..,j

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