Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Costa Mesa Speedway Faria and Venegas on fire By Elaine Jones Pho tos by Mike Basso COSTA MESA, CA, SEPT. 6 t w as a full p late of ra cing at Cos ta Mesa Speedway Saturday nig ht as Charli e Venegas wo n the Scratch main and Mike Faria won the Handicap mai n . There was a very special appearance by the "Legends of Speedway," the riders from the past who helped shape the face of speedw ay in the United States. There was also a solemn moment in defe rence to the British riders. The Union Jack flew alongside the Ameri can flag , and both were at half-staff in trib ute to Princess Diana. A mo ment of silence and a beautifu l rendition of the Nationa l Anthem sung by Hea ther Newby got the racin g underway. The lineup fo r the Handicap main had Johnny Walker a nd Kon Baur on the 10-yard line; Ackro yd had the 30 all to himself, and Ve neg as and And y N orthrup w e re o n the 40 . Veterans ' Bobby Schwartz, Gary Hicks and Faria had the SO and the longes t wa y to go. At the first attempt at a start, Northrup and Walke r tangled in turn one wi th two laps in the book. Since they could no t assign blame, all were allowed to restart - bu t the sta rt was a staggered one. On the second try, it was Baur again ou t in front, w ith Ackroyd second and Ven egas a very dangerous third . Faria was working the dirt ou tside the groove and taking the long way around . It worked an d, in a p hoto finis h at the checkered flag, Faria won the main by ao eyelash. Ackroyd was second , wi th Hicks steal ing third, gell ing under Venegas on the last lap. The Scratch side of the pro gram had Bart Bast and Faria going one-two in the first hea t. Bra d Ox ley a nd Schwa rtz moved int o the semi in the seco nd hea t, topp ing Lance King a nd Rick Pea rce. King was doing do uble du ty, as he was also rid ing on the Legends side of the program. Ed Castro and Steve Fu rma n eli m ina te d the m s elv es in h eat th ree when they both got into the tapes and were disq ualified. Reignin g Na tional Cha mp Steve Lucero went wire to wire . to tra nsfer up, wit h Shawn McCo nne ll getting the other spot. The fina l hea t had Hicks and Venegas in total d omination, earning spo ts in the semi. Venegas cut a grea t gate in the first of the Scra tch semis, and that w as all he needed to h old off Bast, w ho was working the ou ts ide of th e track fo r everyth in g i t was wort h . McCon nell was down low , tryi ng to ge t en ough of a drive to get the direct tran sfer, bu t it was Bas t at th e checkered flag, and . McConnell wou ld get one more shot in the last-chance qua lifier, along with Oxley. In a night of photo finishes, the la s t s e m i wen t d o wn to t h e w ire between Schwartz, who had led fro m the ge t-go, and Faria. Th e nod. wen t to Faria by th e closest o f ma rgins. Both would h a ve another' chance at each other in the Scratch main. There was one more spot to be filled and this last-cha nce qualifier co uld've (Right) Charlie Venegas (front) came ba ck down t o Costa M a Speedway In es Southern California and won the Scratch main after w inn ing th e California state championship the night before in Auburn. (Below) Mi ke Faria (middle) won the Hand ica p main at Costa Mesa Speedway. I been a main e ve n t an y w h ere. Oxley drew the pole, w ith Lucero in t w o ; McConnell had three, with Hicks on the outside in four . McConnell took a gamble and lost as he tried to get an edge and anticipate the gate . He got into the tapes and was out. The second try had Lucero read the gate perfec tly, and that was all he need ed to get out first and fill the fina l slot. Lucero wa s on a mission , as he had lost the state cha m pionships the night before in Aubu rn to Venegas when he had bike problems. Schwartz d re w th e p ol e for the Scratch main, with Bast in two. Faria was in the mid dle of the track in thr ee and Venegas and Lucero were in fou r and . five. Venegas literally lau nched himself off the line and the "Mas ter of the Ca te," Schwartz, was right beh ind hi m . Bast w as th ird a nd Faria was wo rki ng the ou tside. Unfortunately, nothing changed and the win wen t to Venegas, who had really put together a dyna mite weekend, winning on both ends of the state. Brian Thom pson was glad he mad e the trip do wn from Bakersfield: He won the Support main, topping Charlie Cooley and Tim Tucke r. Mike McCarthy won the crash-filled Support B main, and the only othe r two to finish w ere Don Upton a nd Pet er Curtis. The Legend s bro ught their own special brand of racing to Costa Mesa. The first match-up had Lance King and Rick Miller on vin tage JA Ps . Th ey ba ttled ba ck and fo r th, bo th havmg a lot o f troub le making these ill-mannered bikes turn. King led for three laps but, unfortuna tely, the race was four laps, and on the final tu rn King went too high and Miller got undern eath for the win. Dubb Ferrell and Sonny Nutter were . the friend ly rivals in the second match, . and they we re rid ing newer equipm ent. Ferrell d id h a ve to borr o w s ome leathers, as so mewhere d own th e lin e his ha d gotten a little too sn ug . These two swapped the lead every lap , but it was Ferrell who got the checke red . Don Odom retired last yea r at th e Nationa l wi th a bitter taste in his mouth. His final night of racing was cut sh ort wh en he crashed into the first-tum wall. He was matched ag ains t Schwartz. It didn't seem fair but, after a shaky start, Odom showed the style tha t made him one of the best - and he came away wi th the w in. The final ma tch-up was Pa t Holley and Steve Colombo, and in this one it '" was Holley all the way. Costa Mesa Speedway Costa Mesa, Californ ia Results : September 6. 1997 SCR: 1. Charlie Vene gas (e M ); 2 Bobby Schwart z (eM); 3. Bart Bast (e M); 4. Mike Faria Oaw}; 5. Steve Lucero (Gdn). HOCP: 1. Mike Faria Oaw); 2. Gary Ackroy d (Wes); 3. Cary Hicks (Wes); 4. Johnny Walltor (Wc.'S); 5. Bobby Schwartz (GM). SU P: 1. Brian Th ompson Oa w); 2. Charlie Coo ley (Wt.'!l); 3. Tim Tu cker Od W); 4. Richard Jont"S (GM); 5. Bobby Campbell (Wpo;). S UP B: 1. Mik e McCarth y Uaw); 2. Don Up to n (Jaw) ; 3, Peter Cu rtis (Wes). Midwest Y Motocross Championship outh Hurricane Gilmore • rips Midwest By Matt Draper TRUESDALE, lA, AUG. 24 he second an nual Midwest You th Motocross Championship tu rn ed into a hometown romp for loca l hotshot Cod y .Gilmore, who w on four titles at the Chrome Horse of Spencersponsored even t. More than 225 en tries w er e ta ll ied fro m four s tates for the "kids only " race held a t J&K Raceway. Had it not b e e n for a mechanically induced DNF in the 60cc Open class, the PJ1/MSR-backed Gilmore would have taken horne a fifth title. T The Midwest C h a m p io n sh ip, the brainchild of Tator and Melodie Gilmore, was organized as a forum for the bes t from the Midwest and beyond to showcase their talent and compete for enormous Na tional Championship-caliber trophies. In addition to Gilmore's aforementioned four wins, ther e were three double-class winners, as w ell. Teddy Maier , Justin Brayton and D.J. Kunkel ea ch took horne a pair of 6-foot-tall championship trophies. Gilmore cruised to victory in the 50cc (7-8), SOcc Open and 60cc (0-11) classes, but his most impressive ride came in a moto he did not even win. In the 60cc (69) action, Gilm ore ga ted fourth, following Ronnie Mor gan , Brad en Parks and Nick N elson. After th e fir st turn, Gilmore blasted throu gh the whoo ps to move pa st Ne lson and Pa rks and into second place. Gilmor e fell over in the next tum whil e looking ahe ad to Mor gan, dropping back to 11th. By the end of the next lap, Gilmore had worked his way u p to fifth but went down ha rd while charging through the same set of whoops . After remounting and clearing the cobwebs from the nasty get-off, Gilmore set out on a Ryan Hughes-like cha rge to the front. With a bent bike, Gilmore passed all the way up to second place and was gaining on the fron t-ru nning Morgan when the checkered flag came down. Th e hig hly-anticipa te d showd ow n in moto two between Mo rga n and Gilmore, unfortunately, never took p lace, since an injury to Morgan prevented him from starting the second moto. While Gil mo re hol eshot the second moto and was never headed, a good battle for second developed between Parks and Nelson . A bobb le b y Nelson allowed Parks to open the gap to abou t six seconds but , by the end of the race, the deficit had shrunk to four seconds. A slow-starting John H einlein pu shed his way into fourth after a mistake-free rid e, but ran out of laps while ru nning down Parks and Nelson . Gilmore took the overall with a 2-1 score. Parks, Nelson, Kyle Sandage and Heinlein round.ed out the top five. In 50cc (4-6) acti on, Team Cobra's Jake Erickson and NC Y/ KTM-backed Ricky Draper reaffirmed that they are the ones to beat in the Midwest. Erickson gra bb ed the holeshot in the first mot o, w ith Draper and Kyle Ohl and in tow. Draper rode Erickson 's rear fender for a lap and the pair ope ned up a threesecond lead ov er Ohland. Entering the wh oops, Dra per moved left in an effort to g e t aroun d Er ickson, but cra s hed while cha ngi n g lines a nd did not rem ount until Ohland had zoo med by. Erickson was now long gone, and Drape r would have to hurry to ca tch the speedy Ohland for second place. Draper 37

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