Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SPEEDWAY Costa Mesa Speedway THEINAUGURAL JACK M ILNECUP (Left) Bob by " Boogaloo" Schw artz capp ed off a perfect night of racing by remaining undefeated and scoring the Inaugural.Jack Milne Cup victory at Costa Mesa Speedway. (Below) The sidecar team of Peter Lewi s and Jam ie Macy was unstoppable In the tune-up event for the upcoming Fair Derby . The duo took a convincing vict ory. By Elaine Jones Photos by Mike Basso COSTA MESA, JUNE 27 obby "Boogaloo" Schw artz was pictu re perfect Satu rday night at Cos ta Mesa Sp eedway, as he wo n t h e inau gura l Jac k Miln e Cup m em ori al r a ce . Miln e w as th e fi rs t Ame rican World Ch ampion in any form of mo tor racing, ca p tu ri ng th e World Speedway t itl e b a ck in 1937. H arry Oxl ey w e nt to w ork in Ja ck M ilne ' s m ot o rcy cl e s h o p , a n d i n 1969 th e y team ed up and opened the famo us bullrin g s peed w ay t ra ck a t the Ora n ge Cou nty Fair grou nds. The rest is history. Milne has left us, but his legacy lives on wit h the Jack Milne Cup. T h e ra ce forma t featur ed a n a llscratch pro gram, with three round s of ra cin g, tw o se mis a n d a m ain even t. Points we re earned by finish, 4-3-2-1-0, with the top 10 moving on to the semis. ROUND 1 36 John Ad en o pene d up th e n ight' s actio n by read ing the gate pe rfectly and leading from start to finish. "Fast" Ed die Castro we nt to wo rk on the outside bu t could do no bett er than seco nd . David Ta y lor h eld off re serv e ri de r Jo hn DeFries for th ird , while Robbie Sa u er fell victim to turn one and settled for the fifth. In the secon d heat, Johnny Walker cu t t he best gate, b ut Ch arli e "T h e Edge" Venegas ran him down and took the lead before one lap was in the books . Cha rlie Coo ley, wh o has been really riding hot lately, had enoug h for the second behind his frie n d, w it h Shaw n McConnell picki ng up the third. Randy DiFrancesco like Sauer fell victim to turn one, where he spu n out. The third hea t saw Jason Chism fall victim to the tapes, as he went into them, and if you touch the tapes, it is an au tomatic 00. On the restart, Kon Baur came from the pole, got the jump on the field a nd h el d eve ryone a t b a y until th e white-flag lap , when Rick Pearce go t the drive ou t of four and won the race to the chec ke red. "Rad" Brad Oxley, w ho is normall y the spoiler, ha d to settle for th ird , w ith Ga ry Ackroyd p ickin g u p fourth. The fina l heat of the first round had Schwartz, ou t of five, explode into the lead and never look back. Chris 'The Kid " Manch ester pu t on all kind s of pressure, but the veteran Schwartz neve r lost his cool and Manchester had to set tle for second. In his first time out this season, Josh Larsen gave a good account of himself by comi ng away with a third pl a ce fin is h . A n d y "T he Enfo rcer " Nort hru p was four th, with rider of the week Paul Binnqu ist fifth. ROUND 2 In heat five it was Larsen w ho go t the jump on the field from the fourth slot. It was short-lived, as Schwa rtz moved him ou t of the way wi th one lap in the books and took command of the race. Larsen had more than enough for seco nd , with A ckroyd, DiFra n cesco an d Taylo r rou nd ing out the field . In heat six, Cooley cut a great gate, which pu t him int o th e le ad . Unfo r tu nately, a r ed flag stoppe d the race, and on the res tart, it was Chism, fro m the ou tsid e, w ho go t the ju m p o n th e field and more tha n mad e up for his first heat by going wire to wi re for th e w in. Northrup locked in to second, with Cooley and DeFries th ird a nd fo u rt h. Sauer fell victim to turn one agai n. Cas tro p ut it a ll to g et h er in heat seven, brea kin g fro m the fou r th gate a nd beat ing th e field to the first turn. McConn ell, working down low, was second for one lap before Venegas, taking the long way around on the outs ide , got by wi th one lap d own. McConnell wo ul d end up third, w ith Wa lker a nd Baur making up the rest of the field . Manches ter w ent head s up agains t Oxley in th e final heat of th e second rou nd , and it was a barn burner. Manchester mad e the whole track wo rk, and Oxley was looking for any kind of opening to get by. Throw Pearce and Ad en int o the mi x, and it was a toss-up. N o one made any mistakes, and they w ould finish in that orde r. Binnquist ran fifth. After tw o ro und s, Schwartz was the on ly u nd efea ted rid er. Ven egas a n d Manchester were one point behind with one mor e round to go. ROUND 3 A red flag hall mar ked the first heat in the final rou nd . Ackro yd was d eemed to be the cause and he wa tched the race . fro m th e pits. On th e rest art , Venegas came from the ou tside and too k it to the rest of the field . Pear ce went af ter the lea d e r , bu t Aden was k n o ckin g o n Pea rce's do or , and Pea rce was con ten t with seco nd . Aden was next, with Binnquist rounding out the field. The red flag also came out in hea t 10, when DiFrancesco touch ed the tapes. H e a rg ued his case, saying it was hi s visor, bu t the ref wasn' t having any, and DiFrancesco's nigh t was over. On the resta rt, Larsen go t the call and we nt ou t on top from the se<:0nd gate. Castro and Nort hru p w en t at it for second . No rthrup took fu ll a dva ntage w hen Cas tro s p u n o ut in turn one , and Northru p ran second . Taylo r ended up fifth, as he was un able to get his bike started an d didn't make the call. The intensity level was rising in heat 11. Chism go t overanxious, tou ched the ta pes a nd was DQ'd. They li ned up again, and this time it was a clean start. Schwa rtz aga in came up wit h the start th at pu t him into the lead . McCo nnell was on' the ball as he slid into second, with Co o ley in th ird a n d Sa ue r in fourth. They would finis h in that order, giving Schwartz his nat trick. In the fina l hea t rac e of the n ight , .Manchester looked like a con tend er as he came from the mid d le of the track an d took the le a d . O xley a gain w as playin g the role of spoiler in second , but Ma nch est er ga ve him no openi ngs he co ul d u se a n d he wo u ld h a ve to be happy wi th secon d . Walker and DeFries were thi rd and fourth, wit h Baur falling victim to turn four on the first lap. The poi n ts we re so close th at there was a fou r-w ay tie fo r th e fin al three s po ts in th e se mis, n e ce ss it a t in g a run o ff . C o ol e y drew the p o le, w ith Northrup in tw o a n d McConnell in three. On th e fa r outsi de was Aden. When the ga te came up, Aden broke to th e fr ont, with No rt h ru p in seco nd. McConnell we nt to work down low and soon had third. Coo ley spun ou t in one and pretty mu ch sealed his fat e, leavi ng the top three to advance. SEMIS The first semi had Manchester on the pole, with Venegas in two and Oxley in three . Pe a rce d r e w fo u r , with McConnell in five. Thev all came ou t of the ga te pretty eve nly, -bu t it was Venegas who turned it u p a notch and took th e lead, with Man ch est er in second. McConnell took a major risk by going h igh and th en try in g to d ive u n d er eve ryo ne. It ga ve hi m the th ir d , w ith Pea rc e in four th an d O xley in fif th . Oxley we n t to wo rk, picking off Pea rce by the second la p and then ge tt ing by McConnell as th ey hit the white flag . Unfo rtunately time ran ou t on Oxley, as onlv the first two ad vanced to the main, and that mean t Venega s and Manchester. Oxley a nd McConnell would ha ve one more chance in the LCQ. Schwartz d rew the pole in the seco nd semi, with Larsen in two and Castro in three. Ad en was in fou r, with Northrup in five. One lap int o the race, there was a h o rrend o u s cras h d o wn th e fr on t str aigh t. No one wa s qu ite s ure w hat happened , bu t Aden went hea d over . app leca rt, wit h his bike endi ng up at the wall and Ade n in the infield . Schwa rtz's bike d id a major loo p goi ng high into the air an d Schwartz let it go w hile he slid d own the straightaway on his backside. Castro got a p iece of it, w ith the w heel and front forks on his bi ke p ushed back int o th e mo to r. Miraculou sly, no one was se riously hurt, and the only one un able to restart was Aden, because his bike was too d amaged . On the res ta rt, it was Schwartz who flat took it to them, letting everyone know he w as go ing to be the man to bea t. La rse n tran sf erred to th e m a in wi th Schwart z, w hile Northr u p and Castro got one more shot. LAST-CHANCE QUA LIFIER Oxley finally go t a p ole sta rt, with Ca s t ro in two a n d N o rthrup a n d McConn ell in three a nd four. When the gate came up, it was Oxley wh o go t the bes t sta rt. McConnell was ou t se cond,

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