Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events • Costa MsaSpeedway e r S m rS um e easonOpene Mad Dog • rips opener By Elaine Jones Photo by Mike Basso Shawn " Mad Dog " McConnell (left) put the bite on his competitors and took the wins in both the Scratch and Handicap mains at the Summer s eaec n.o pener . at Cos ta Mesa Speed way. Succ ess has its rewards. COSTA MESA, CA, IULY31 o r th e seco n d ti me th is season, Sha wn "Mad Dog" McCo nnell put togeth er two su pe rior rides to capture b o th th e Scra tc h a nd H an d icap main events at th e Coo rs Light / 1-800THE-LAW-2 Su mme r Season Opener at th e O ra nge Cou n ty Fa irg ro u n ds in Cos ta Mesa. McConn ell looks on track fo r a s h o t a t th e Na t io na l Cha mp ions hip, as he has su per eq uipment this year a n d is r id in g confident ly a nd relaxed . The first Scratch semi saw the po le go to Rand y "The Rocket" DiFrancesco . Ne xt to him was "Du kie" Ermolenko. Charlie "The Edge" Venegas loaded into three, with Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz on the outside in four . Venegas read the gate and wh en the tapes came up, he wa s gone. DiFrancesco locked in behind him and Schw artz went to work on the outside, taking the long way around . He wa s probably going the fastes t, but the low line was the p la ce to be, and he would settle for thi rd and another sho t in the last-c ha nce qualifier, along with Ermolenko. Venegas and DiFra ncesco transferred to the mai n. The second semi had "Gorgeou s" Ga ry Hicks o n the pole, wi th Johnny Wa lker in two. McConnell load ed into th ree, with Joh n " Boy" Aden in four . TI,e race was McConnell's as he had the lead fro m the ge t-go and ma de it look lik e a wa lk in the pa rk. Hicks had his hands fu ll with Aden but held him off, and he, too, wo u ld mov e to the main. Ad en and Walker wou ld ge t one mor e sho t in the LCQ. . The LCQ saw the draw for the pole go to Walke r. Ermo lenko was in tw o, w it h Aden in three an d Schwartz in fou r. The first try a t a go saw Walker and Ermolenko get up close and personal in fou r, and it looked like Walker got a piece of Ermole nko's r e ar wheel , whic h caused Dukie to fishtai l. Wa lker wen t d own , and Ermolenko ended up go ing ou t wit h an injured leg . On the restart, the gate went to Schwartz, and he put together a textbook ride to take the wi n and the final spot in the mai n. The pol e w en t to Venegas for the Sc ratch main . N e xt to h im wa s DiFrances co . McConnell had drawn three, and Hicks and Schwa rtz lined up in three a nd four . The :;a te went to Venegas, bu t the move went to McCon nell, as he dro pped down to the inside and came out of two on top and go ing away. Schwa rtz was in seco nd and looked to have that locked up until th e w hite-flag la p , w he n H ick s got a wheel under him and got second . Vene gas was fou rth , with DiFran cesco fifth. Th e format w as a lit tle di ffer ent on the Handicap side of the progr am . The Suppo rt rid er s ra n a Scratch progr am, but in thei r first race, the winner was moved into Division O ne Handicap for a cha nce to play with the big d ogs . Earning that right wer e Tim Tu cker , Kevin "Ba nana Man" Rubio , "Smokin' " Joe Win st on a nd Donni e Rob inson. Win s to n, w ho has been ca lle d up to Fir st Division on occasion, was the only one to make it to a semi. F ~ Q; .. .. .c E Q. U) 44 In the first semi, Robb ie Sau er went wi re to wire. Hicks, O xley and Ermo lenko came from long yardage to make the tra nsfe r wi th him . In the secon d semi, it was Winston for two before Aden ran hi m down a nd McConn ell , DiFrancesco and Venegas were home for the fina l tran sfer spo ts. The lin eup for th e Handi ca p mai n hadSauer alo ne on the 20. Ermolenko an d DiFra ncesco sha red the 40. The 50 belonged to Ad e n and Ve ne ga s, a nd Hicks, Oxley and McConne ll set u p hou sekeepin g on the 60 . It took DiFrancesco only one lap to run down Sauer, bu t on e lap la ter Venega s w as knocking on his door. Un fortun ately, fate s tepped in and Venegas went out with b ike p roble ms, and the door opened wide for McConnell. The mov e came on lap five down the back straight; McConnell dia led it u p a notch, took the lead and never looked back. Hicks got b y DiFrancesco and too k a run at McConnell , but " Rad" Brad Oxley (who had lost a chain, costing him a shot at the Scratch main) was hungry and looking for a win . Time ran out and the win was McConnell 's, with H ick s seco nd and Oxley third. Th e Sidecar team of Bill Matherson and Dale Leed er co n tinue d thei r wi nning ways as they ea rned their way to the main, alon g wi th Bob Brayton and Dw a yn e Kin g . A la n H all an d Dir k Votaw, the latter back from an ea rly-season injury, had no trouble melding, and they lined up for 'the four-lap go . The final s p o t w en t to S tu a r t Glass a n d Deion Stokes on the big Du cati . The ga te came up and Mat herson and Leed er go t out first. Brayton and King had a scary mom ent wh en they played tag wit h the back-stra ig ht wa ll, but th ey recovere d an d never lost the second position . Hall and Votaw we re ge tting the drives ou t of four, but they jus t couldn't get under Brayton and King and they would have to be con te n t with third . Gla ss and Stokes were fourth. Randy Skinner had no trouble winning the Support main, which was a survi valof-the-fit test con tes t. Rud y Laurer was second, w ith "G na rley " Bill McCa rley third. They were the only three to finish. Su p po r t B h on ors we n t to Paul . H itch cock , w ith Dave Dethrid ge a nd Eloy Medellin second and third . eN Cos ta Mesa Speedway Cos ta Mesa, Califo rnia Resu lts: July 31,1999 SCR: L Shaw n McCon ndl (G M); 2. Ca ry Hic ks (CM); 3. Bobby Schwa rt z (GtvO; 4. Charl ie Ve negas (Jaw); 5. Randy Dif ran cesco (Jaw). HDCP: 1. Shawn McCon ne ll (GM); 2. Gary Hicks . (GM); 3. Bobby Schwa rtz (G M); 4. Randy DIF ra ncesco (Jaw); 5. Joh n Aden (law) . SDeR; 1. B. Mat her so n / D. Leeder (Ya m) ; 2. B. Brayton / D. King tHo n): 3. A. Hall / D. Votaw (Yam); 4. S. Class/D. Stokes (Dud. SUP: 1. Randy Skinner (jaw); 2. Rudy Laure r (wes): 3. Bill McCarley (Jaw). SUP B: 1. Paul Hitch cock (jo1W); 2. Dave Delbridge (Wt. s); 3 . Eloy Medellin (Wt."S); 4. Scott Merse re a u (jaw); 5. Phil Harmatiuk (jaw). AHDRA "Thu de In TheValley" n r Vancil cancels 'em out A BRISTOL, TN, AUG. 14-15 HDRA su pp lied the thund er, but a di esel mechanic fro m New Mexico prov id ed the lightning at "Thu nder in the Valley" at Bristol Dragway. Do ug Va nci l, s ponso re d b y Va nce and Hines, tied a Jim 's To p Fuel m p h wo rld- record speed and wo n top hon ors in the class , outrunning the spo rt's best under blue skies and high temperatu res at this pictur esque facility. In the championship ru n , Va nc il sna pped off a nearly per fect .500 reaction time agai nst Steve Moo re and blistered th e q uarter- mile as p ha lt track in 6.841 seconds wi th a top-end speed o f 198.41 m ph. Moore's reaction time was s ligh tly s lower, at .509, a nd he was never able to mak e up th e d ifference, finis hing wi th a time of 7.030 seco nds at a speed of 188.73 m ph. Ho me tow n favori te Jake Silcox came d an gerousl y close to no t ma kin g th e show on Sunday when he shredde d an engine on his second ru n. In a fra n tic effort to replace the $50,000 motor, Silcox go t a-help ing han d fro m Vancil and ended up qu alifying four th. O n Sunday, Jim McClure beat Silcox, but he had to run a wo rld- record speed to do it. In Wicked Road Wa rri or Pro Fu el, Mike Bah nma ier edged ou t Bill Bertolet te for the tit le. Bertolet te had a .494 respon se time to -Bahnrnaier 's .544, bu t he couldn't hold the ed ge. Bahnmaier's Mid -Con tin en t Harle y -Dav idson ma chine ran a 7.4 02- s econd time a t 171.40 mph. Bertolett e finished in 7.506 seconds, traveling 172.06 mph. The Joker Machine Pro Stock crown went to Tommy Hannum, who received a by e when Mik e Act on 's m a chine couldn't answer the final bell . Connie Coh en's bike suffered a busted s ta rt, and the blonde, wh o had hoped to take home a hometown trophy with her allfema le team, was finished for the day afte r qualifying fou rth. Scott Truett set a natio nal s p e ed reco rd in the S&S Pro Dragster class and went on to win the class in 7.953 seconds, 174.59 mph. The Hea rtbreak Award of the weekend went to Mark Co x, who set a track record of 175.18 mph in 7.626 seconds in the S&S Pro Drags ter series bu t was un able to answer the final bell when he ' di scov er ed tha t so me th ing had brok en in the engi ne . No t on ly did he lose the oppor tunity to win the even t becau se he was unabl e to back up his record run, bu t his record d id not stand. TI,e Twin Thunde r Pro Gas title we nt .to Hu ck Ca meron of Pa inesville, O hio, whose 8.461 seconds and 159.76 top end was goo d enough to beat veteran racer Doc Savage by almost half a seco nd . The Zipper's Red Line Oil Modified ti tle w ent to Fra nk Rayburn of Wintersville, Ohi o, who bes ted Scott Tepper. Rayb u rn tripped the ligh ts at 9.187 secon ds and 151.53 mph. In the Super Spo rt class , Craig Kirsch of Sta mford , Connecticut, nu dged out Dave Doremus for the title in 10.50 seconds and 107.58 mph. Kirsch had bee n running extremely consistently all yea r. In the Departu re Bike Works Street Elimina to r d iv is ion , Frank Dove [r., sponso re d b y Har ley -Da v idson of Was h ing to n, defeated Tim Janczak. Dove's tim e wa s 9 .791 seco nds, h is sp eed 137.98 m ph. It was not the first s how do w n betw een th ese tw o , wh o have been ba ttling it ou t since the beginnin g of the season. Reignin g cham pion . Dove has thus far been able to han g on to the poin ts lead . In An d re ws Ela pse d Tim e , Dan . DeG ood wa s th e w eekend' s wi n ne r. DeGood we nt into the even t lead ing both the National and Eastern AHDRA points. The rewer e ma ny fam iliar names to top th e cha rts in th e Scream in ' Eagle pe rformance series. Jeff Eboc h won in A; Joe Taym an, also spo nso red by HarleyDavid son o f Wa sh in gton , won in D; James Kinn e y won in E; and N ic k Gona tas Jr. won in G. Taym an was the ov era ll class shoo tou t winner.

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