Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SPEEDWAY Ocean Spray/Penhall Cup bounced back from his bad first heat and picked up second, with Difrancesco third and Brian Burch fourth. Hicks was on track in his second round and dueled with Manchester from the start to come away with his second win of the night in heat six. Manchester was second, with Venegas, hoping for the mistake that never came, third. The final point went to Chism. It took a couple of tries to get the next heat off, but when all was said and done, it was Castro who put his first heat win in the books as he topped Baur, Walker and Colston. McConnell's problems continued as his wreck in the first heat had apparently damaged his rear wheel; his bike refused to tUTn left. Oxley continued on his winning ways, as he got the jump on the field and easi- . Iy won the final round. Ermolenko was second, with Pappalardo and Skinner third and fourth. Two rounds were in the books and three riders were sitting with perfect scores. Hicks, Oxley and Schwartz were tied with eight points each. One point back was Ermolenko, and there was one more round left before the semis. ROUND THREE By Elaine Jones Photos by Mike Basso COSTAMESA, CA, MAY 2 ad" Brad Oxley has been on a tear of late in the regular speedway motorcycleracing action at Costa Mesa Speedway, but when the marquis events on the 1998 SRA speedway schedule came around, insiders might have done well to guess that he would take a back seat to some of Costa Mesa Speedway's younger, speedier or more prestigious racing personalities. But after the feature race of the 1998 Ocean Spray /PenhalJ Cup was over, Oxley's message to those c.ritics was loud and clear: Guess again. The 38-year-old former U.S. National Speedway Champion showed that he had plenty of fight left in him on the big nights as well when he came from behind and passed none other than twotime U.S. National and World Best Pairs Champion Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz to grab the victory in the four-lap, fiverider main event. The event is more or less a celebration of America's most prolific speedway champion,Bruce Penhall, who brought the sport into America's homes back in the early '80s when he tearned with Schwartz to win the 1981 World Best Pairs title in Katowice, Poland. This was just the beginning for the young tnan from Southern California with the "R surfer look, as he went on to fulfill the promise to his parents that he would be World Champion. Before 90,000 fans at London's Wembley Stadium, Penhall became the first American in 44 years to earn the individual title in what was called "one of the most electrifying performances in the sport's history." He also went on to captain Team USA to its first World Team Cup Championship at Vojens, Denmark. On August 28, 1982, Penhall became the first American to win the World Individual Championship two times, accomplishing the feat before his horne fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He retired from speedway while on the podium that night, but has since returned to the motorsports spotlight as the driver of the Ocean Spray offshore racing powerboat, where he and longtime friend Dennis Sigalos have gone on to even more Wodd Championship victories. The format for the Ocean Spray/Penhall Cup was an all-scratch format. Three rounds of scratch racing, five riders, four laps. Points were awarded 4-32-1-0. The top 10 riders on points would advance to semis, with the top two from each semi going directly to the main. The rest have one more shot in the lastchance qualit'ier. ROUND ONE In the first heat, Charlie "The Edge" Venegas cut the best gate and got to the corner first. Gary Hicks came out of two and was right on Venegas' rear wheel, and he was able to get underneath Venegas on the second lap and take over the lead and come away with the win. Venegas was still good for second, with Brian Pappalardo third. The last point went to "Fast" Ed Castro. "Dukie" Ermolenko exploded off the pole in heat two and went wire to wire. Charlie Cooley was second, with Randy DiFrancesco and J9hnny Walker rounding out the field. Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell ran into trouble' early and ended up in the turn-two wall. He would have a lot of ground to make up. Oxley came out on top from gate three in heat three, and the field was no match for his Russell-prepared laydown GM. Jason Chism picked up second place, with Kon Baur third. Richard Jones got by Gary Ackroyd at the flag for fourth when Ackroyd lost his kill switch out of turn four. The final hea t of the round belonged to Schwartz, who came ou t of the fourth gate and used "round" riding style, which makes him almost impossible to pass. Following him home were Chris Manchester, Paul Colston and Paul Binnquist. ROUND TWO Schwartz started the second round of heats with another convincing wire-towire romp. This time he came from the far outside and effortlessly put himself in the lead from the get-go. Ackroyd (Above) Brad OXley (right) made a critical pass for the lead in the closing stages of the Ocean SpraylPenhall Cup final to rob Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz (left) of the win at Costa Mesa Speedway. Oxley has won two of three Scratch main events since the season opener. (Left) Sidecar studs: Parke Weaver and Bob Brayton grabbed an epic holeshot and never looked back en route to victory in the Mission Yamaha Sidecar' main event. (Right) Allon McBee continued to improve his speedway skills, as he marched to the win in the all-handicap Support main event. McBee is an AMA Grand National Championship dirt track license holder. This was the final round, and with 10 spots open for the semis, this is where the riders had to make it happen. Manchester, getting stronger with every heat, put a beautiful ride together, going the distance from the outside gate to win over Ackroyd, Skinner and Pappalardo in heat nine. Castro was totally fired up as he cu t a grea t ga te in his final ride and outran Ermolenko, Burch and Difrancesco in heat 10. Schwartz was unable to pull off a clean sweep when he touched the tapes on hi final go in heat 11 and was penalized 20 yards. Venegas wasn't too disappointed, as he had a great ride, with his biggest challenge coming from McConnell, who brought out another bike and made a race of it. McConnell picked up the second spot, but it was too little too late, and he failed to qualify on points. Chism, having a great night, finished up third, with Schwartz picking up the last point. Walker then rained on both Oxley's and Hicks' chances of a perfect score, as he went wire to wire in the final heat. Both Oxley and Hicks got stuck in traffic early, and that was all Walker needed. Hicks got through on the white-flag lap to take second, with Oxley staying ahead of Colston for third. SEMIS/Lea The first semi had Hicks on the pole, with Schwartz in two and Ackroyd in three. On the outside it was Walker in four and Ermolenko in five. Schwartz

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