Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE TAPES BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU ey , A merica n s peedway fa ns, kn ow what tim e it is? It 's U .S. Natio nal Speedway Championship time, one of my favori te events of the year, and I've got a feeling that this is goi ng to be o ne of th e best U'S. Nationals in history, from a spectator's perspectiv e. Su re, you cou ld argu e tha t the recent tire-usage arg umen ts and the sanction withdrawal by the AMA have affected th e prestigiou s event at th e O ra nge County Fairgro unds in Costa Mesa, Ca l, iforrua, But that's all ov er - for now any way - and it is time to focus on the race itself not on all th e politics th a t inevitably seem to cloud it. Becau se you can't beat the ma gic that is felt o n Nationa l night. I know. I' ve been there. I had the privilege of covering the eve nt for Cycle News in 1993 and 1994, when Sam Erm olenko came back home to California with the World title under one arm and then took it back to Engla nd with th e U.S. N a tio na l title under the other. Erm olenko returned in 1994 and did the same thing before abd icati ng the American crown in ' 95, only to wa tch as Greg Ha ncock d ucked in to Cos ta Mesa and sco r ed a no the r coup fOT the ov e rseas-based riders. After a three-year absence, the title fell to a statesid e rider when 1988 U.S. National Champion Steve Lucero added the '96 National cup to his trophy case. Now Ha ncock is co m ing ho m e, as World Champion, and he wants the title back, b ut ju st because he is cu rre ntly recognized as th e best speedway rider in the world, d o n't th in k th a t he is a shoo-in for this championship. W hy? Becau se wi nni ng th e U .S. Na tio na l Speed way Cha m p ion ship is probably one of the m ost difficult championsh ips to w in in all of m o to rcy cle racing. The-old-style, one- nig ht, winnertake-all forma t forces a rid er to rely on pre par ation and a dose of good luck if he wa nts to join t an elite U'S. Na tiona l hon or roll. A ll yo u ha v e to d o is loo k a t the record book, which showcases a hierar- H chy of truly elite speedway tal ent . Don' t think so? Look at it thi s w ay : O nly one rider in the history of the eve nt has won the title mo re than twice, a nd that gu y, the legend ary Mike Bas t, w on it seven times - including an unfathomable five times in a row (] 971, '73, '75-79). Four other rid ers have wo n it twice in succes sive yea rs - Bruce Penh all (J 98081). Kelly Moran (1983-84), Mike Far ia (] 99 0-9 1) an d Sam Ermolenko (1993-94 ). They a re followed by a ha ndful of twotim ers, including St e v e Bas t (]969, '74), Rick Wood s (1970 , '72), Bobby Schwartz (1986, '89) and Steve Luce ro (] 988, ' 96 ). Blame it on the form at o r the co m p e tit io n or whate ver, but ev en a t th e top of their ga me, Still the king : Mike Bast is the on ly rider in history ever none o the r than Mi ke Bast has to have won the U.S. National Speedway Champions hip been able to win th e titl e three more t han twice. Bast has seven titles to his credit. times. It is a fea t that wo uld certhis country are you goi ng to be able to tainly eleva te the status of o ne of th e see th e number- one and number-two th ree rid ers in the 1997 U.s. Na tiona l riders in th e w orld o n the same tra ck field - Faria , Sc hwart z a nd Lu cero toge ther ? It co u ld co nce ivably nev er capable of achievi ng it. Lucero can heap happen a gai n un les s we get a World extra praise on himself by going back to Speed way GP. back as well. That's in cen tive eno u gh But they will both ha ve to beat two for all of them to be on the gas a t this oth er Euro-type fast guys in Chris Manyear's event. ches ter and Cha rlie Venegas, and Brad And w hat about Hanco ck? He has a Oxley, one tou gh forme r U.S. Na tional great cha nce to put himself in some pretCh ampion w ho alwa ys seems to sp oil ty cool company , too. If he wins in '97 he th e w orks fo r so meo ne . Manches ter will, of course, become a two-timer , but beca me th e you nge s t U .S. National he can boost past that whole crowd by Ch ampion in history when he won the becoming only the third American ever title as a 19-year-old back in 1992. Veneto win the Wor ld Championship and the gas was third a t th e U.S. Nationa l in U.S. National Cha mpionship in the sa me 1993 , an d he has been ba ck a t Costa yea r. Hancock' s m entor Bru ce Penhall Mesa for half the season this year, makdid it in 1981. Ermo lenk o put both titles ing preparatio ns for another assault on together in 1993. Then agai n, Hancock the podium. Oxley laid claim to the U.S. could become the first American to fail at title in 1987, an d no body knows Costa the very sa me task, as longtime frie nd Mesa like he does. Billy Ha mill did not come hom e to conThen there are the Northern Cali fortest the National after he won his World nia-based riders, w ho had tradi tionally crown last year and thus dod ged a "bu ln o t been considered a serious th rea t let." u ntil Louis Kossuth ra n th irda t last Hamill will be in the field this yea r, year's Ll.S. National. Bar t Bast, a longhow ever . Im agin e th a t. Where else in tim e cam paigner with a lot of Nor Ca l 30 YEARS AGO... O TOBER19,1 C 967 2 0YEARSAGO... OCTOBER1 2,1977 igh t sidecar ou tfits from the Sidecar Associa tio n pu t on an exh ibi tion at the Ascot TT rac es in Cali fo r ni a . Driver Ji m LeBl an c a nd p a ssenger John Burn s p ilot their BSA G U.S. NATIONAL SPEEDWAYCHAMPIONS ......:';' , r-, 0\ 0\ ,..... u5 ... ..0 o .... u o 96 (J) ::? "lIlI!!iII.-J 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 Rider Steve Lucero Greg 1Ian coc k Sam Ermolenku Sam Ermolenko Chris Ma nc hester Mike Faria M ike Faria Bobby Schwartz Steve Lu cero BradOxley Bo Schwartz bby Bra nd jawa GM GM GM j awa w eslake W €'5la ke we slake Godden Weslake We-slake Alan C hristian Kell y Moran Kelly Moran Shawn Moran Bruce Penhall We-slake Bruce Penhall Weslake Mik e Bast Mike Bast Mike Bast Mike Bast MikeBast SteveBast Mike Best Rick Woods Mike Bast Rick WOl>dS Steve Bast Weslake Godden Godden Godden lawn [awa Weslake weslake Jawa Iowa [awe [awa ja wa Iawa jawa he 1987 ISDE foo tage was on the co ver of Cycle News and the East Germa n tea m won the Trophy T and j unio r Wo rld Trophy in Poland, led by Simso n rider Klad tke Reinhard. The U.S. Trophy Team of Mark Hyde, Larry Roe s el er, Dave Ber tram, Kevi n Hines, Drew Smith and Jeff Frede tte finished seventh overall, w h il e th e U.S. Junior Wo rld Trophy Team of Fr ed H oess, Aaron H ough, K u rt Hou gh and Ra nd y Hawkins finished third overa ll. Bert ram wa s the top -finis h ing America n with a ninth in t he SOOee class o n a 430cc Automatic Husqvarna. Team Harl ey-David son 's ~SCOtl Pa rker w on the ' 87 season finale at the Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds in California, taking a controversial victory over Team Ho nda's Bubba Shobert in th e 25th running of the Sacramento Mile. Th e two we re so close wh en they crossed the line that t he outco me co uld n o t e ven be d ecided by th e Cycle News 'Fin ish Lin e Ca mera . After re vi ewin g th e tape inconclusively, official observers aw ard ed the wi n to Parker ... Bra d Oxley won the Coo rs Na tional Speed: w ay Cha m pionship in Cos ta Mesa, California, that came down to a runoff against Bobby O tt . Australi an Rothmans Ho nda rid er Wa yn e G a rd ne r sealed up his first World Championship wit h a win at the Brazilian 500cc Gra nd Prix. 'C\ -:a-:7'i1T":]r;:r__ 'lJd !i Yea r 1996 10 Y EARSAGO... OCTOBER 13, 198 7 ary Sc ott a nd Ja y Sp rings teen were on the cover of Cycle News and were locked in a heated battle for the Na tional Champ ions hip that would be decided a t the final ro und at Ascot in Gard ena , Ca lifornia ... Team Yama ha 's Ken ny Ro b er ts was also on the cover after wi nning his record-breaking fifth AMA /Came l Pro Serie s road race win of '77 around the course on the cover at Riversid e Rac ew ay in Ca li forn ia. Dave Al da n a of Cycle News . Triu m ph (Yam) and Steve McLa ughlin (Yam) finished secon d mounted Skip Va n Leeuwen a n d third, r espectivel y . Dav id Emde and Ran d y won the Expe rt fin al over M a mola ba ttled it ou t for the 250cc Na tio na l Dusty Co p page and Ed di e Cha mp ions liip a t Riverside, with Ernde co m ing Mu l de r , a lso riding T ri umphs... BSA rider Dan Haaby won the 15-lap II l o ut on top... M ike Hannon, aboa rd a Yamaha , IT400, wo n the Ca lifornia State Na tio na l Expert Half-Mile final a t Ascot the da y before . Me l Lac he r (H - D) and Shorty Il Jj~ . 'J. -l Endu ro, which was also billed as the ; .-j Sea b ou rn e (BSA) fini s h ed second a n d ~ _~ . •. ...J..l.J. Ca lifo r n i a Stat e C ha m p io ns hi p . third , respectively. Phi l Tod d w o n th e . ~..:.'i.J ..::.c.., .. End uro, in Lucern e Valley, Califor~ ~C· nia ... Yamaha u nveil ed th e fas tes t Amateur final on a BSA and Rick Du rkee ~ ~/~~ p rod ucti on motorcycle on the marwon the Novice fina l aga in on hi s ultra~.r ket for 1978, the XSll00... Cycle News fast Suzuki... C recvcs-rnou ntcd Gary Con got to i ns p e c t and r id e Marty rad won the Checker s Hare and Hound in Smith 's ch a m p ions h i p-wi n ni ng Red Rock, California, over Lon Peter son on a Metisse and Steve H urd on a Mat chI londa RC400 lI B a nd ca me away u nd ers ta ndi ng why Smith a lways less . Ho wa rd Jackson's H usa berg was the first 250cc bike aeross the line in 10th rod e th e bi ke s itting o n th e ga s o ve r a ll. .. Desert racer Di ck W ri ght tank. .. Hodaka released the details wro te 'a n arti cle detailing the hop-up of its 1978 lineup th at incl uded th e 80cc Dirt Squirt, the 175 SL and the procedure on a 90cc Hodaka fo r the desert that inclu ded taller hand lebars, a 250 SL. The 1977 Road Toad 100102 and Wombat 125/03 were also sti ll availa ble. bigger air filter and longer wheel travel. E titles to his credit, appears to be the ma n who could cause the most trou ble fro m 'the No rth this year. And it will all come down to four laps, as the program has bee n modified to include a winner-take-a ll main eve n t for th e top four points sc o re rs of th e ni ght. After five rounds of scratch racing , it will all come down to a fou r-lap sh oo to u t fo r num ber o ne - an in st ant runoff. The title is up for grabs at that point. So who is goi ng to w in the U .S . N a ti o na l Ch amp ionship? Why d on ' t you stop in at the Orange Cou nty Fairg ro u n ds in Costa M esa o n Saturda y, October 4? It's go ing to be one hell of a motorcycl e r ace . I know . And I' ll be th ere. fX

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