Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS EDfTEDBY KBTHBUSH 25-Iap Speedway Classic (Above) Brad Oxley (lett) earned his third 25lap Speedway Classic victory in as many years at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, california. (Left) Kon Baur (left) topped the 1D-man, 12lap Support main event at the Classic. By Elaine .aorPhotos by Bob .aor- COSTA MESA, CA, MAY 3 " Rad" Brad Oxley pulled off a hat trick as he won the 25-lap . Speedway Classic at the Orange County Fairgrounds for the' third time in as many years. As he put it, his key to success is to "go for it for five laps, cruise for 15 and gas it up again for the last five. H The format to get to the 25-lapper W;iS a simple one. There were three rounds of Scratch racing with points earned on a 4-3-2-1 finish order. The top 12 riders earned the right to start the marathon race. The top qualifier was Bobby Schwartz as he had three perfect rounds earning 12 points. He lined up on the 60. One point back were Oxley, Steve Lucero and Shawn McConnell. Oxley and Lucero joined Schwartz on the 60 while McConnell lined up on the 50. Mike Faria picked up 10 points on his 0 way to the main, and he too started on the 60. John Aden and Andy Northrup both had eight points and were on the 50- and 4O-yard markers, respectively. Ed Castro was on the 40 with six points, and Bobby Hedden and Jesse Froch, also with six each, lined up on the 30. Brian Pappalardo got the 2o-yard line for his six earned points. There was a runoff for the final spot between Gary Ackroyd and Rick Pearce with the nod going to Ackroyd. The 40 was to be his starting place. When the flag came up it was Pappalardo who broke on top and led the way for three laps before Finch was able to move him off the groove and take over the lead. Finch was in total control for the next 17 laps, and then it was Oxley who got on the gas and took over on the 21st lap. Right with him' were McConnell and Schwartz. Finch was still in the fight, holding on to the second, but fatigue set in and one lap later McConnell and Schwartz both got by. The final pass came in the race for the checkered when Schwartz got by McConnell by the width of a tire for the second spot. Finch hung on for fourth with Ed Castro in fifth and John Aden sixth. Faria went out on about the 15th 'lap after his arms pumped up and he couldn't hang on anYmore. Lucero also had problems and was out early. Perhaps McConnell said it best in the pits after the races when he told Oxley the race ought to be renamed the "Oxley Oassic. u The Sidecars had their own hat trick team as Bob Brayton and Parke Weaver won the main for the third week in a row. The HDynamic Duo H gets better every week and have mastered the gate, getting the drop on the field from the get-go. This time they broke away while the team of Peter Lewis and Jamie Macy got off second. This was short-lived when John Matherson and Scott Cole got the drive out of four and got underneath them to take second. Lewis and Macy came right back and returned the favor the next lap. On the final lap it o was three abreast when Dirk Gardner and Doug Lynch joined the fray. All three teams came out of four even-up and full throttle. It was a photo finish, with Brayton and Weaver taking the win, followed by Gardner and Lynch in second, Lewis and Macy in third and Matherson and Cole in fourth. The 10-man 12-lap Support main was . the longest of the seasOn. Qualifying on the to-yard line were Kon Baur and Bill Green. Jason Steiner and John DeFries lined up on the 20 with Ken Hansen, John O'Neil and Brian Burch sharing the 30. Paul Binnquist had the 40 to himself, and Greg Ayers and Richard Jones were on the 50. When the gate came up Baur was away on top and never looked back. Jones was on the move from the' 50, and when the red flag came out on the seventh lap, he had moved up to second. On the restart Baur was again out on top, and no amount of pressure was going to move him off his line as he took the checkered with Jones second and John Defries third. Paul Binnquist was fourth. (N

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