Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

int o second , and Hedden and No rthru p took turns in th e third spot. Hedd en , th ou gh , w ent d o wn on th e fin al lap, allow ing No rthrup to claim the sp ot. Ermolen ko showe d he had recovered from his br oken leg in race th ree as he outgated the field and led from start to fi n ish. Ox ley w a s off in secon d, but Hedd en found the passing lane and go t by with tw o to go . Castro was still try -' ing to ge t on track and had to settle for fourth. The fourth heat was the Manchester sh ow all the way, as he was nev er seri ou sly challe nged. He wa s 'also two for tw o alon g with Larsen, his former teamm ate ' in t h e Eng lis h leagu es . DiFrancesco picked up valua ble second pl a ce p o ints , wit h' Ackroyd thi r d . Aden' s night continu ed on the bad side as he slid out in turn three. Hi cks outgated Schwartz in the next .ra ce , bu t th ey were running cl o s e enough to shake hands and they took it all the way to th e che cke red flag , with Hicks taking the win. McConnell, w ho was still tryi ng to get someth ing going, picked up third , and Nico laides played tag with the wa ll. ROUND THREE The first race in the third ro und was a showdown, as Larsen and Man chest er were the only rid ers who were undefeat ed. The gate came up and both we re away with grea t sta rts , but it was Man ches ter w ho came ou t on top. All Lars en could do wa s peck away at him all the way to the checkered, but it did n' t make a ny diffe ren ce. Man ch ester was n ow three for three a n d fa st becomin g the man to beat. Sise more and Ermolen ko were third and fou rth, res pect ively. Bast felt he had some thing to prove in race tw o and it didn't tak e lon g for him to do so . He di d n' t o u tg a te Sch wartz, but he d id move him out of the way to take the lead . Oxle y also go t by Schwa rtz, wit h DiFrancesco rounding out the field in fourt h place. Hedden cut the best ga te in the next one, but Venegas put on the best show by taking the ou tside line all the way to th e wall. He u sed the line to come up with the lead out of turn four on the first lap. Sanity took over for the next three laps and the win was his. He d den was second, keeping Faria at bay. Nicolaides was fourt h. Aden go t a li ttle too anxious in th e following race, going into the tape an d ge tti ng DQ ed . Aden argue d th e po in t an d, when he lo st, came a ro u n d and broke the tapes aga in. This time the ref ca me d own h a rd a nd h is ni g h t was over. Reserv e rider Cha rlie "The Tu na" Cooley replaced him on the line. Hicks took the field to school as he went ou t front from the ge t-go. Hedden was second, with Castro (wh o was still having trouble) third and Cooley fourth. The nex t race wa s over for Ackroyd be fore it sta rte d wh en he go t into the tapes. Baur came in as his rep lacem ent , and on the second tr y it was Northrup who put o ne together as he led" from sta rt to finish. McConnell finall y go t on track and ran at Northrup ha rd , but he had to settle for seco nd . Baur topped Tayl or for third . i ,)' ROUND FOUR Manchester was the only rid er with thr ee wins on th e night as round four approach ed . On e po int b a ck were larsen and Venegas, with Faria a n d Bast two po ints behind. Larsen aga in cut a great ga te in the first heat, and this time Castro came off th e li ne s win gin g . H e w a s going to make a race of it, getting by DiFrancesco on the first lap and looking for Larsen. Larsen was not to be de nied , and he put toge ther another grea t ride and came away with the w in. Castro was second an d DiFrancesco and Nicolaides were third and fourth: respectively . The firs t try at race tw o was called back when the referee determined tha t Hedden had anticipa ted the start. The y lined up again an d th is time it was Manchester and Bast w ho we re off together, with Hedden trying to thread the needle as they w ent int o on e. Thi s sen t Man cheste r to the outside a nd Bast down low. Hedd en got off the groove in thr ee and ro de out into Man chester, putting h im int o t h e w all hard . Man ch ester cou ldn' t get up and was carrie d off the tr ack with torn kn ee li g am ents . Hi s night was' over, and a possible. National Champ ionship h ad b e en lo s t in an ins tan t. Hedden wa s d eem ed to be the cause and was DQed , with Baur co ming in to rep lace Manchester a n d Co oley taking over for Hedden Th is tim e the race went clean , with Bast go ing wir e to wi re. McCon nell turned in another good ride, but it was too little too late , as he would n't have enough points to mov e up the ladder. Coo ley topped Baur for third. Faria was u p to form in the next race as he n ot only got th e gate but went wi re to wire for the wi n. Hicks held off Oxley for second, an d Ackroyd watched from the infield wh en he went dow n in one on the second lap. Sc hwa rtz , as h e does so often, reached way dow n and pu t one toge ther in the following heat , cu tting th e best ga te a nd leadin g from s ta rt to fi nish. North rup foug ht his way to seco nd and Ermolenko took full advantage of Venegas's p robl em w he n Charlie' s m o tor went sou th. Th e fina l race sa w Sise more cu t the bes t ga te, but Hedden took the lead after o ne lap and nev er looked ba ck. Sis emore had enough for second , and Cooley topped Taylor for third . SEMIS Th e top 10 rid ers in p oints wou ld move up the ladder to the semis. Wit h M a n ch e ste r injured a nd un abl e to r estart, e ve ryon e .would m ove up a spot to fill the ra ces. Th e top 10 w ould b e : La rse n, Hi ck s , Bobby H e dd en , Fa ria, Bast, Schwartz , Ve negas , Sisemore, N orthrup and Oxley. The races were seeded by fini sh points, and th e top tw o would transfer directly to th e main. The second two w ou ld go to th e LCQ, and fifth would be d on e for th e night. The first semi saw Hedden get away on top . Schwartz a nd Hicks bumped coming o ff the line an d Hi ck s ' kill switch disengaged, causing him to freewheel throug h the first turn and ou t to th e wa ll. Schwart z tap-d an ced all around to keep' fro m hi tti ng him an d finally go t goi ng again. In fro nt it was s till Hed den, with Ox ley second, and both would transfer to the main. Venegas wen t throu gh a no ther bike but limped home in third , a nd he would have one mor e sho t in the LCQ, alon g with Schwartz. La rsen came u p w ith ano the r great start in the following race and took it to the fro n t, w it h Bas t hot on h is heels. Northru p was running third , with Sisemore and Fari a tan glin g in th ree - wi th Sisemore b e in g d eemed th e cause. Larsen an d Bast would go directly to the m ain, a nd Northrup and Faria wou ld ge t one last shot. LAST-CHANCE QUALIFIER Schwartz ca me up with th e gate in th e LCQ, bu t Fari a cam e up with the ride as he too k it to them and w as out in front by the end of on e. The defending cha m p io n was going tothe main and lo okin g to k eep his Nati onal title . Northrup came away w ith third, an d Venegas broke another bik e. MAIN EVENT It all cam e down to the last race . Four laps wo u ld decide the National Champion ship. Larsen was on the pole, with Hedden in tw o and Bast in three. O xley loaded int o four, with Faria in five. The (Top) The fi nish in the main event was cl os e, with Bast bare ly hol ding off the det ermi ned charge of Oxley. Mike Faria finished third. , (Ab ove) The top th ree spray the bubbly aft er finishing an action-filled night of racin g. gate came up and Larse n was aw ay on top. All night, he had been go ing lo w thro ugh on e and tw o, but thi s time he got h igh in two and th at w as a ll Bast need ed todrop d own low on the pole an d get through. O xley , who always likes to ge t down on the PVC, was right the re to take over se cond, with Faria running third a nd lo oking fo r a way around both of them . In spite of being DQed earlier in the evening, it was Bast who put it a ll together. H e will w ear two crowns th is coming season as the AMA Nati ona l Champ ion a n d th e Coors Light Uni ted States Champion. "I knew I barely made it," Bast said 0 later. " It was a battl e." Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, Callfomia Resu lts: October 3, 1998 FINAL: 1. Bart Bast (jaw ); 2. .Brad Oxley (GM); 3. Mike Faria (GMI; 4. Bobby Hed de n (law): 5. Josh Larsen (G M); 6. Bobby Schwa rtz (GM); 7. A ndy Nnrth ru p (Jaw); 8: Charlie Vent. gas (GM) ;-9. Gary H icks (e M ); 10. e Jim Si semore (jaw ). 00 0\ 0\ ........ ..... C'l I-< (].J .g ...... U .0 35

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