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Ermolenko was the man to beat in the
third heat. He cut the best gate and
found the quickest way around the
track. Larsen got underneath Schwartz
on the second lap and challenged
Ermolenko; but time ran out before he
could get the job done. Da.vid Taylor was
third, with Schwartz fourth and Tommy
Hedden fifth.
Steve Furman was probably the most
surprised rider in the house when he
topped Oxley and Manchester to win the
fourth heat. Ronnie Kemp was fourth,
with Northrup having a tough time with
turns one and two, taking the fifth. In the
fifth heat, Hamill got an awesome start,
as did Venegas. The only problem was
that Venegas didn't get through the tum
and Hamill did, taking the win. Randy
Di· Francisco was there to reap the benefit and the second-place points. Paul
Binquist with third, with Jones fourth.
ROUND 2
Faria led off the second round the
same way he started the first - going
(Above) Charlie "The
Edge" Venegas (43)
plans to bring back his
own brand of excitement
to the Cosia Mesa
fairgrounds this year, as
he will reportedly remain
in the United States for
the 1998 season.
(Left) The team of
Dwayne Carmo'llt and
Richard Tallng smoked
the competition in the
Sidecar main event.
(Right) Dukle Ermolenko
(partially hidden behind
Bobby Schwartz) is also
set to remain in America
for the '98 racing season,
which should only add to
the level of competition
at the weekly Costa Mesa
events.
wire to wire. Ermolenko tried every line
on the track but couldn't find the one
that would get him around Faria, and he
settled for second. Furman and
McConnell raced right to the wire, but
McConnell just couldn't get comfortable, and it was Furman taking the
checkered in third place. Binnquist
rounded out the field with fifth.
Hancock came from behind in the
second hea t and took the lead from
Larsen on the white-flag lap for the win.
Northrup was fired up, and he
redeemed himself from his first heat by
taking the second by a wheel's width
from Larsen. Baur was fourth and Di
Francisco fifth. Schwartz got on track in
his second race and went wire to wire,
with Oxley and Ackroyd following him
home. Pappalardo and Jones completed
the field.
Hamill was looking for a repeat of
his first heat win, and he got it as he cut
the best gate and showed Bobby Hedden, Taylor, Manchester and Pearce the
way home. Venegas made no ll)istakes '
in his second heat and put himself back
in the hunt as he ran away with the next
race.
*
With two rounds in the books, two
riders remained unbeaten: Faria and
Hamill were tied with eight points each,
One point back were Castro and
Ermolenko, with Oxley, Furman and
Larsen just two points away,
ROUND 3
Lead-off rider Faria capped his qualifying heats with another start-ta-finish
romp, as nobody got close enough to
challenge the National Champion, With
two laps in the books in heat 12, the red
flag came out as Pearce was hit with a
flying bike while coming off turn two,
On the restart, it was Hancock who
came out on top. In heat 13, Schwartz
cut the best gate, but Hamill had the
best line and got by Schwartz one lap
into the race. Castro also threw a
wrench in the works when he too
slipped under Schwartz to take over the
second.
Ermolenko put it all together in heat
14 for his final race of the night, and
Manches ter finally settled in as they
went 1-2. Venegas put together another
great ride to assure himself a .spot in the
semis, as he flew off the line for the win
in the final regular heat of the night.
SEMIS
When all the points were added up,
there had to be a runoff between
Schwartz, Ackroyd and Furman for the
remaining semi spot. Ackroyd drew the
pole, with Furman in the center of the
track and Schwartz on the outside, It
was no contest as Schwartz took it to
them, and it was practically over when
the gate came up. The final spofwent to
Schwartz.
The first semi had Faria on the pole,
with Castro in two. Oxley drew the
three slot, with Larsen in four and
Bobby Hedden in five. Faria again outgated the field and went wire to wire to
remain undefeated for the night. Joining
him with a direct transfer to the main
was Oxley, who got around Larsen on
the second lap to secure the position.
Larsen and Castro would have one
more shot in the LCQ.
The second semi had Hamill on the
pole, with Hancock in two. Ermolenko
was in three, with Ve.negas and
Schwartz in four and five. Venegas got
the gate and took the lead, with Hamill
and Schwartz in hot pursuit. Unfortunately for Schwartz, no one made a mistake, and it would be Venegas and
Hamill with the direct transfer.
Schwartz and Hancock would meet
again in the LCQ.
Hancock drew the pole in the lastchance qualifier, with Schwartz on the
outside. Larsen and Castro were in two
and three. Schwartz cut a great gate
and jumped into the lead, with Castro
second and Hancock and Ermolenko .
third .and fourth. On the second lap,
Hancock was trying to go around Castro out of two, Castro came out high
and only the incredible skill of Hancock saved him from what should have
been a ·very serious crash. It did cost
him any chance he might have had at
the main event, as he finished fourth.
Schwartz was not to be denied, and
with the most rides of the night under
his belt, he was the final rider in the
feature.
MAIN EVENT
The draw for the pole went to Oxley,
with Faria in two and Hamill in three.
Venegas was in four and, as had been
the case all night, Schwartz was on the
outside in five. When the gate came up,
Faria was two bike lengths ahead as
they hit the first corner. HamiIl was
running second, with Schwartz in third.
Oxley and Venegas were fighting over
fourth, with Oxley ahead for laps one
and two and Venegas taking over on lap
three. On the final lap, Schwartz and
Venegas got together in three and both
went down. The door was open for
Oxley, who came away with the third.
Faria, picking up where he left off at the
1997 U.S. National, had started the season in style. He was undefeated all
night, and he should be the man to
watch when the regular season opens in
April, Harnililooked very good with the
second and will head back to Europe
with Hancock in the hope of leading the
Americans to another World Championship.
In other racing action, the Sidecar
main went to Duane Carmont and
Richard Taling, as they survived a thirdlap crash that took out John Matherson
and Scott Cole, and Bob Brayton and
Parke Weaver.
Weaver was the most seriously
injured when all the body inventory was
complete and was more than happy to
ride off the track on his pushed bike.
Stuart Gless and Deion Stokes were second, with Alan Hall and Dirk Votaw
third.
l\'l
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Results: March 7, 1998
SPRING CLSSC, 1. Mike Faria (GM); 2. Billy
Hamill (GM); 3. B