Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events V entura S peedw ayLong Track o rep eat as he sta rted off the seco nd ro und by cu tting the best ga te and goi ng wire to wi re . MCConne ll was a close second, with Northrup and Kit Nay picking u p third and fou rth. Venegas cut the best gate in the second heat, but it was Castro wo rking the outside who made the pass on the second la p to take the lead and the win. Venegas was secon d and Aden th ird . Wins ton and Sau er rounded ou t the field. [anniro came alive in th e th ird heat a nd loo ked ve ry im p ressive, topp in g Hicks and DiFra ncesco. Estes was fourth, and Schwartz, still tryi ng to find a good combi natio n for his gearing, finished fifth . Ermo lenko turned in ano the r grea t rid e in th e fina l heat of the ro u nd and was now two for two . Ackroyd held off Jones for seco nd, wi th Thompson fourth. Bran t and Ermolenko were tied with two wins eac h. Two points back, it was real crowded: McConnell, Castro, Jan niro and Venegas . Two points behind that group were Hicks, Schwartz, Jones , Estes and Difra ncesco. Venegas threw d own the cha llenge as he led off the final round. From the out- (Left) Charlie Venegas edged out the compet ition to take the victory in the Scra tc h main event at Ventura Race way's Seaside Pa rk. (Below) "Mad Dog" McCon nell puts the bite on his rivals in the Scratch consi as he rides to the win. By Elaine Jon es VENTURA, CA, JUNE27 38 t would be th e only tim e th is se aso n that Spee dway wo uld ge t a lo n g tr ack to p lay o n, and they cou ldn' t have pick ed a better one than Ventu ra Raceway's Seaside Park. Originally built for speedway motorcycles, the track had not had one on its surface for four years. The Speedway show was the final even t of th e Mo to rcycle Extravaganza Weekend, wit h the best weather that had been see n in Ventura for a while. The Pacific Ocean w as a s to ne's throw aw ay, and prom oter Cliff Morgan pulled out all the stops. As mu ch as he wa n te d to, Brad O xley didn' t race bu t inst ead op ted to make sure the tra ck and the show were the best that they could be. He succeeded . The fo rma t w as an all-Scratch prog ra m , w it h t h ree ro un d s of r a ci n g . Poin ts in th e five -ma n heats were awarded four- three-two-one-zero. "Duki e" Ermolenko was set to go and read y for a lon g track like those he is used to ri di ng overseas. The first heat saw Ermolenko put it to the rest of the field as he broke from the outs ide and ou thorsep owe red th e rest of th e field . C ha rlie "The Edge" Ven egas w as still trying to so rt out his gearing but was a solid seco nd , with Billy [anniro, th e on ly rider from Northern Califo rnia, third . Andy 'The Enforcer" Northrup and "Smo kin'" Joe Wins ton finished out the field. Th e second heat w as a ll "Steady" Scott Brant. Brant has always loved the big tracks, and he proved it, .going wire to w ire in the quick fou r-la pper. "jammin' " Jim Estes was also running stro ng a n d fini sh ed a close seco nd, w hi le "Fas t" Ed d ie Castro tri ed to mak e the outside wo rk an d finis he d third . Rob bie Sauer and Bryan Thompson were fourth and fifth. John "Boy" Aden p ut a nice ride to g e ther in the third h ea t, a nd even though his gearing wasn't quite where it n eed ed to be , he p ulled off the win . Shawn "Mad Dog" MCConnell, w ho had flown in from Toronto, Canada, that morning, was seco nd, wi th Ran d y "The Rock et" DiFrancesco third. "Gorgeous" Gary H icks was hav ing so me big bike problem s and he could d o no better than fourth. Johnnv Walker finished fifth and los t his motor, so his da y w as over. The final heat had Bobby "Boogaloo" Sch w ar tz s ho w Gary "The Exte rm inato r" Ac k royd a nd " Roc ki n'" Rich ard Jones the way around. Rick Pearce was una ble to make the call 'as he, too, ha d suffe red bike problems. Brant liked that winning feeling so mu ch th at h e m ad e h is n ex t ra ce a side gate, he was in the lead as they hit the firs t tum. Estes poured on the pressure and they raced close all th e way, but he had to se ttle for second . Nay an d Brad Sauer were third and fourth. [anniro ensured himself a spot in the main as he went wire to wire in his final hea t. Brant lost his hat trick wi th a second-place finish, and Ermolenko also had his parade rained on as he finis h th ird . Hicks and Aden rounded out the field : Castro ended his final heat in front of the hom etown crowd with ano the r win . McCo nnell was s tro ng ly cha lle ngi ng w hen Cas tro d rifted ou t and MCConnell was ca ug h t by a w heel and ended up going head over apple cart. He was ab le to res ta rt and lat er thanked all the rid ers for no t hi tting him. Ackroyd w as penalized o n the restart for anticipa ting th e gate and lined up on the 20-yard lin e. Cast ro went to work agai n, and McConnell was ru nnin g second when he lost it in turn o ne . Wi ns ton go t by Jones and Ackroyd to take second. Northrup go t on track in the fina l hea t of the round . Schwartz go t the best gate, but North ru p dialed it u p a nd pa ssed Schwartz , and DiF ra ncesco went righ t wi th him. Schwartz still seemed underpowered but had enough for third. Sauer and Thom pson finished out the field. The Scra tch consi saw the pole go to Schwartz, with McConnell in two and Nort hru p in th ree . DiFra ncesco was in four, with Estes a nd Aden in five a nd six . Th e ga te wen t up a nd McConn ell lau nched o ff th e lin e and hit th e f ir st tum flyin g. Estes was right behind him and was putting on th e pressu re, trying 10 move MCC onnell off th e lo w line. M cC onn ell d o esn 't " move" ve ry easy, and wi th only fou r quick laps he was able to hold off Estes, and the wi n was his. Aden and Northrup were batrlin g fo r third, and the no d went to Aden. DiFrancesco passed Schwartz on the white-flag lap for fifth. The Scratch main had Castro o n the po le, with [a nniro in two and Brant in three. Venegas had drawn four, with Ackroy d an d Erm olenk o in five and six. All were riding lay down [awas. Brant go t the ga te, but it was Venegas w ho turned the throttle wide ope n, we nt out in the d irt, and mad e the pass down the back straight 10 gain the lead by an eyelash as the rid ers came aro und on lap one. Fro m the re on ou t, it was the Venegas-and-Brant show as they battled for every inch of dirt. Castro threw himself-into the thick of things, b ut he co uld do no be tt er th a n th ird . Ermolenko was lryi ng to get on track but couldn' t find a line that would get him by anyone, an d he had to settle for fourth. [anniro gave a very good account of himself but he was just outhorsepowered and had to se ttle for fifth. Ackroyd coul d n't get going and sixth was his. The Sid ecar m a in beca m e a batt le betw een the broth ers Matherson aboa rd the Mission Yama has. The pole we nt to Bill Ma th erson and Dale Leed er, w hile John Matherson and James Eila nd we re in two. The three ga te went to Alan Hall and Jack Straw, with Steve Morrow an d Chris Chapman in fou r. Morro w a nd Chapman cu t th e best gate, but it was the big Yama ha of Matherson and Eiland that too k the lead at the end of one . Mo rrow and C ha pman tr ied to come back, but on the w hite-flag lap Matherson and Leeder ran them d o wn o n the b ack straight and locked into second, and that is w here th ey stayed. Wh en the checkere d ca me ou t, it was Matherson an d Eiland and Ma the rson an d Leeder ru nn in g o ne-two. Morrow and C hapman were third, wi th Hall and Straw fourth . Shawn McDougall led the troops from start to finish in the Support main. Michael Ma tt ocks a nd "Gnarley" Bill MCCarley battled for second, with Mattocks comi ng out on top . Tom Buckingham, Kit Nay and Billy Lyons finished out the field ., CN Ventura Raceway Seaside Park Ventura, California Results: June 27, 1999 SCR: 1. Charlie Venegas (jaw); 2. Scott Brant (Jaw); 3. Ed Castro'{law) : 4. Dukie Ermolenko (Jaw); 5. Billy Jannim (law). SCR CONS t: I. Shawn McConnell (GM); 2. Jim Estes (Jaw ); 3. John Aden (law): 4-. And y Northrup Uaw}; 5. Randy Difrancesco (Jaw). S D C K: 1. J. Matherson Z] . Eiland (Ya m ); 2. B. Matherstm /D . Leeder (Yam) ; 3. S. Morrow / C. Chap man (Yam) ; 4. A. HaU l). Straw (Yam ). SU P: 1. Sh awn McDougall (Ja w) ; 2. Mich ae l Mattocks (Jaw ); 3. Bill McC arle y (Ja w ); 4 . Tom Buckingham (Wes); S. Kit Nay (jaw).

• Cover