(Abo ve) Winner Ph il Libhart (12) lead s Ken
Yo der (5) and Todd Kendig In the 600cc
Pro fi nal at Pat h Valley, In Willow Hili,
Pen ns y lvania,
(Left) Richard Po llock (59) lead s even tual
w inner Don Frauenberge r (76) In t he 400cc
Spo rtsman class at Temecula Speedway
In Cali fo rn ia.
Oxley, Castro share wins at
Costa Mesa Speedway
By Elain e J ones
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46
COSTAMESA, CA. AUG. I
After a tw o-w eek layoff due to the sched ule of
the Orange County Fair, Speedway returned to
Co sta Mesa Saturday night with the Auto Trader Summer Season Opener. when all w as sa id
and done, it wa s " Rad" Brad Oxley and "Fast"
Ed Cas tro wh o stood on the podium as the w inners of the Scratch a nd Handicap main ev ents.
In the first heat, it was john Ad en w ho read
the gate and jumped out on top. He would lead
the quick four-tapper from start to fin ish . Second -pl aced Castro faced a seri ous challenge
from Rick Pea rce, and they ba ttled all the way to
the flag, with Cas tro taki ng it by the slimmest of
ma rgi ns . Cha rlie Cooley finis hed fou rt h. Aden
a nd Cas tro w oul d move u p the ladder .
In th e se
cond hea t, it was Gary H icks w ho
put toget her a SUpt"T ride and came away wit h
the wi n. Rand y Difra ncesco and Shawn "Ma d
Do g" McConnell ba ttl ed fo r th e second , w ith
McConnell ge tting th e nod. Robb ie Sauer was
fourt h.
In th e third hea t, it w a s C hris "The Kid "
Manch ester w ho flat took it to the rest of the
field, as he broke out on top and was go ne. [ohnny Wa lker and O xley had a bat tle ro yal u nt il
Oxle y wa s fina lly able to get through. By then it
wa s to o la te to ca tc h M an ch e ster, bu t both
would move o n to the se mis . ja son Ch ism was
fou rth .
After a cou p le of red flags, it was Bobby
"Boogaloo" Schwa rtz w ho go t the jump on the
field in the final heat an d we nt on to w in the
quick fou r-lapper. Mo vi ng up the ladd er with
him was Andy 'The Enforcer " Northrup. Da vid
Ta ylor, Richard jones and Bryan Th ompso n
rounded o ut the field .
The firs t Scratch semi had Oxley on the pole,
wi th Hicks in two a nd N orthrup in three . Aden
drew th e fa r-o uts ide gate five. When the gate
came up, it was Ox ley - from the po le - w ho got
to the co mer first , and he was go ne . orthru p
was away second and had his han ds full hol d ing
o ff Hicks, but he didn 't back down a nd was
rewarded with seco nd and the direct transfer to
the main. Hicks and Aden would have one more
shot in the last'"Chance qualifier.
In the second semi, it was Schwartz· from
gate tw o - who read the flag the best and, like
Oxley, ran away from the field. Manchester and
Castro battled for second, a nd it was a good one,
as both riders lik e to rid e the o u tside groove.
When a ll the dust had settled, it was Cast ro o n
his way to the m~, in . Manches ter and McConnell
mov ed on to the LCQ .
H ick s d re w th e pole for t h e LCQ, with
M cCo nn ell in tw o a nd M a n ch es ter in three .
Aden aga in dre w the outside five ga te. Hicks
read the gate pe rfl'Ctly and wa s o n the gas. The
p ro b lems th a t have plag ued him a ll season
d id n't a ppe; 5. j ohn Apr k
(H ·OI .
SI'TS Ml'\ 250: 1. Don Frauenbergt'f (V. m ); 2. 8ri oln 8urkh.dlt.f
'
(Y..m ); 3 . Byr on Kuk lA (Yam); " . M.1fC'US Ph a rt."ll (H Oi'll; 5. [e eon
Bohler (Y .... m l.
BM8 R: 1. Rob bie No li n (Ya ml; 2. ~t.1 rk Angon (Ho n ); 3.
Chris Os wa lJ:( Tri ); " . Stl-...-e Kukl. 1(Y,l m ); 5. Jim Gard ner (Yolm).
.
250 PRQ..SPT: 1. Richard Pollock ( K.1w) ; 2. Ron Gilrc iQ (Yam);
3. Frank A raKaki (H Ull); 4, Carso n Gilley (Ya m); 5. Ch nd Morse
(Ho l'I).
SR 50+: 1. Ron Go u loJ (aSAl; 2. Marshall Jt"n ningll (Yam); 3.
Bill Silvertho rn (Yam ); 4. Sa m Gr e y (H Oi'll; S. Ron Mo re no (Tri ).
VET 35+: I. Brian Burdi (Rtx); 2. Rkk Reed (W-R); 3. Elliot t
Iversen (W- R); 4. Rlch.lrd Polluck (Y. m ); 5. Sh.lnt' Sco tt (Rho).
1
SPTSM~ 400: L Don Frauen~er (Y .am); 2. Richa rd Pol loclr.
(Yol ); 3. Kt."\'U1 Krou~ ltIusl.
m
C LSSC 500: r. V~ Gr.avn (Bull ; 2. CLtrk Edsi n",ton (Tri ); 3 .
J(>hIt Lefevre (HUl't) 4. Mol t CampbeD (Tri ).
;
t
SrTSMS 600: 1. EIOOttIverson (W · R); 2. Shane Scott (Rtx); 3.
Jim Gardnt'f (Yam); 4. Robnt Rct-d(w-RJ; 5. R. ndy RaooJ (W.R).
MDR.'J VINT 750: I . Don Fn uen bt-rgtr (Ya m ); 2. JOt" rapr
(H· D); 3. O yd (' Dt'T\neT (."lor).
PRO bOO; 1. Robbi e Nolin (Y am ); 2. Brian Burch (Rb); 3. Pnry
Proiettr (W·Rl ; 4. Keith BrillJford (Y 1Im); S. Jim ~ (W.R).
o ne else 's. For more than 10 laps, the tw o How
ell 's Harley-D a vid so n-sponsorcd rid er s rae
side by side , wit h Yoder tucked in close behind
On the 12th lap, Libhart fina lly go t in fro nt, witl
~
Yode r also ge tting by Kendig.
In the 750cc race, Libhart ga ted third behin c
Nic k Taylor and Geo rgie Price . Libha rt took sec
ond pl ace comi ng off the second tu rn on la
two, and he fina lly got by Tay lor o n the sixth !§I
for the win.
ru
For Sweeten. the ha r dest w in w a s in til
250cc A ma in, as he grabbed the lead from jak
johnson, Price a nd Rich Mettinger. The fi rs
three pulled awa y somewha t in a close, ha rd
fough t battle for the lead. Pri ce tried severa
times to get under johnson, even rubbing his tir
a ga inst Jo hnson's leg, but the top three stay
the same, finishing jus t a few feet apart.
Th e 600c c A wi n W ~l S made ea s ie r whet
johnson bro ke o n the o peni ng lap, while Dalla .
Baer an d Ed Hyd e batt led for seco nd ea rly
befo re Baer too k control a fter tw o laps.
Th e 500cc A Tw o- Va lve final wa s ano the
th ree- rid er breakaway. This time, Dav e Smit
an d Nic k Tavlor battied for the lead, wi th ji
C hapman - \~'ho was making his firs t start a fte
being in ju red earlier in th e yea r - aver)' d
third. After being side by ide for the first fe"
laps, Smith finall y took co ntro l aft er the thir
lap, w ith Ch apman taking o ve r second on la
four. Two laps later, Ta ylo r retook second an
tried to slice und er Sm ith for the lead, but h
touched Chapman, and both riders went dow n .
Cha pman did not make the restart, but Tay
lo r di d, a nd he wa s up to thi rd be hi nd Smi t
and john Winsett Sr. Tay lor took second as the}
were takin g the white flag.
op
Results
50 (4--6): 1. EVA n Beer (Act); 2. ' ohn long ( Um); 3. Andrew
Smi th (Act) ; 4. Bryan IAoMuro fAct ); 5. ~ Pu jl;hfl .nn).
50 (7-81: I. JOt')' Pa rk, C m ); 2. }df H.dd efThln (Leml .
Le
50 OIL-Il\l: 1. Evan IMt'f (Yam) ; 2. Bobby Weir (YAm); 3. Brl."t
Pugh (Yam ); 4. Mit ch H.lrv dl (Yam ).
&5 1. John Lewis (K.aw ): 2. J.-ff H a lul'lllan (lion).
:
SO 1. Shaw n Bae r (YAm); 2. Jo hn Lewis (YAm).
:
.rf
125 SCBBY: 1. Robbie Rt'fnuIJ !4 (Hun ).
125 B: 1. Chris Klinef e lter C
Hun); 2. Rob bie Rt"yn uld s (Hon ); 3.
Shdwl'l Beer (Y olm) .
250 A : 1. Bob Sweeten (H on); 2. Jall! Jo h nso n CHon ); 3
Ceo egte Pri ce (H o n ); 4. Rich Me llin j1;t'f (Y.1m) ; 5. Raun Wood
(Yam) .
int"fll"ltt.'f (H un ); 3
250 B: 1. JOt")' T)'I--ryar (Ya m ); 2. Chris K1
Ray lied (Yolm ); 4. Bill Stillwdl (Suz); 5. Bru er MiIIC'r'
Joe Stefan and Bruce Reyno ld s took off
a head of the Vintage 2S0cc ra ce, lead ing C harles
RichMdso n and a sidc'Ways Chuck Claydon. Stefan's YamJ ha ha d mo re steam tha n Reyn old s'
Bultaco as the two fell in line . Claydon spent the
ne x t fe w lap s sea rchin g for a lin e around
Richa rdso n's CZ, getting by in turn fou r o n the
last lap to put a St'Con Bulta co on the podium.
d
The lone Ha rley Sprint of john Apple followed
Stefan, Reyno lds , Cla ydon a nd Richard son
acros s the line.
Fra uen bcrger's first win ca me in ra ce tw o
aft er he took the lead in the 2..
e;occ Sportsm an
race and never looked back . Byron Kukla , Brian
Burkhal ter and Marcus Phares St..~tlt.od in beh ind
the leader's Yamaha.
750 A: I. Ph il libh.. rt (Tri); 2. Nick T.aylnr (Yam) ; 3. ~rg1e
Libhart takes Path Valley ST
Priao (Ya m) .
By Len and Ben Breech
Keat'll:' (J(aw) .
WILLOW Hlll .. PA JULY1
,
8
Phi l libhart began what was probably the best
weekend of his racing career with t:hree wins at
the \Vin sett Hower s /Tw o-Wheel Pr omoti onspromoted short trac k at Path Valley Speed way;
the n he ca pped it a ll off wi th his first win in the
~ 40cc class at the A MA Na t io na l H illcli m b
Cha m pionship in !iteel Ci ty, Pennsylvania .
Libhart had an eas v w in over Raun Wood in
th e Spo rtsman final but had a ra ce-long ba ttle
with Todd Kendig and Ken Yoder for the 600cc
Pro victory . He then finished off the evening
with the 750cc A·cl ass win. Also ta kin g th ree
wins were Bob Swt."eten in the 250cc A, 600cc A
Clnd Over 40 events. Othcr A wins wen t to Nick
Ta ylor in the Ov er 30 class and Dave Smi th in
the '50OcTw o-Va lve class .
Eva n Bae r once again topped the 50cc (4-6)
and SOccOil -In jc'Clc'l.! d ivisions, whi le joey Tyer yar had an easy time winning the 600cc B divi·
sion but had to fight off Chris Klinefelter for the
250cc B win . Klinefelter, however, eas ily won
the 125cc Brace.
A fter an ea sy win in the Sportsman fin al,
Libhart and the other tv.·o rid ers in the 600ec Pro
class ca me to the line. Kendig led Ubha rt, "'1th
Yode r riding his us ual line - higher than every-
Sf'TSM. l : 1. f'hi llib har l (Rtx ); 2. Raun W ood (Ya m ).
'
30-+-: 1. :"lick T a y lor (Ya m); 2. Bill 8 ro m l.. y (Rt x); 3.
~l"
,,0+ : 1. Bob SWft"tl-'n (Rtx ); 2. Bru ce Mill t"r (H o n); 3. ~I jkl"
Kral'lt" ( K.i w); 04. Dave Hi~ ( l'.I w ); 5 . Bob H ildebt-and
