Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128312
2 Charli e " The Edge " Venegas stands atop the podium at ro und three of the World Championship IC E Spe ed w a y Se rie s, flanked by runner-up Ronny Kemp (left) and th ird -placed James Mann (right) . The (our-rider, (our-lap heat-race portion of the program got under w ay, with the to p four riders in World Championship po ints sq uaring of f first. England's James Mann lined up on the outside, wit h Ronny Ke m p from Cary, North Caro lina, inside in the n um ber- t hree slot , Georgetown. Cali for nia 's Jo hn Grant in slot two , and Missoula. Montana 's Tyler Hansen on the po le . Official starte r Ke ith Brewer released th e gate . send ing the racers flying into tum one. Grant got the best of it , followed by Mann . When Grant w ent a little high off po le o n the second lap, "Mad Dog" Mann pounced on him to take the lead. T he ve ry quick (ou r laps e nded with Mann taking the IO-point victory. followed by Kemp (five po ints), Gra nt (three po ints) and Hansen (on e point), Througho ut t he e ven ing . Charlie " T he Edge" Venegas (rom San Bern ard ino, California, won two heats; Bobby Richards fro m Colorado Spr ings, Colorado, and Kemp also w on heats ; and Mann won his second heat. When th e heat- race po ints w e re totaled , Mann, Venegas and Kemp had earned front-row starting spots in the mai n event. Rich ards , Gra nt , Chris "Yo u ng Gu n" Strong fro m Binghamton, New York, Ca l Harrington from Grand junct io n, Colorado, Ted Taylor from Arbuch le , California , and Matt King from Vallejo, California, would have to do battle in the last-chance qualifier. The fou r-lap LCQ w as a good one. Taylor took the lead from the start and sta yed there until the third lap, when Grant forced his way by. King worked his way up to third place fo r the final tran sfer po sition. The six- la p m a in w as a classic , wi th every thi ng on t he lin e : Th e Lovela nd Ch amp ionship title w ith its cas h rew ards , th e W orld Champions hip po ints , a nd the fo ur seeded pos itions to Vegas w e re all at stake . Th e tapes we re released, and Ke mp roc keted into the lead w it h author it y. In the firs t -tu rn mayhem, Mann w as moved out high, allow ing Venegas and Grant room to shoot by. On lap three, The Edge made a pass for the lead that w as a wo rk of art. Meanwhile, further back , Mann recovered and got by Grant for t hird. Venegas held o n fo r t he vict o ry, showi ng the world he w as truly back fro m the injur ies he suffered two years ago. Local Loveland racer Shawn Hurley suffered a d islocated shou lder fro m a heat-race get-off, and Bill Hermant broke an ankle w he n he fell in his first heat. Everyone wishes both veteran ice racers a speedy recovery. RESULTS H EAT" I. James Mann; 2. Ronny Kemp ; 3. John Gr.on'. H EAT 1: I . Charlie Ve nega.s: 2. Chris Strong ; 3. Cal Hanington . HEAT 3: I. Bobby Richards: 2. Ted Ta. ior. 3. y Matt King HEAT 4: I. Charlte Veneg as: 2. J . ohn Gran t; 3. Ted Taylor. H EAT 5: I. RorvTy Kemp: 2. Cal Hanington : 3. \AI\AI\AIrllr lt:.n&=\AIc;, rnm Bobby Richards. HEAT 6: I . James Hann; 2. Ch ris Strong: 3. 3. Tyler Hansen . LCQ : I. John Grant ; 2. Ted Taykw"; 3. Matt King; ~ . Cal Harrington; 5. Chris Strong. MAIN : l. Charlie Venegas: 2. Ronny Kemp: 3. James Mann; ~ . John Grant: 5. Ted Taylor. World Cham pio nship ICE Sp e ed w a y Se r ie s Points St an dings (Afte r l rounds) : I. James Ham ( 135): 2. Ronny Kemp (125); 3. Charlie Vonega> (76); 4. John Gr.on (58); S. ' Ty\e<" HMuen (36); 6 . Q-a;g E" . 1Ie (33); 7. Bill Henn>n, (3 1); 8. Chris Stron g ( 2 ~) ; 9. Cal Harrington (20); 10. (TIE) Ted Hovani