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/128638
U .S . N ational S p e e d way C h a m p io n s h ip C o s ta M e s a Speedway Charlie "The Edge" Ve neg as was crowned the U.S, National Speedway Champion at Co sta Mesa Speedway in Ca lifornia . B y E LA INE J O NES P HOT OS B y M I KE B ASSO COSTA MESA, CA, OCT. 14 t ' s been a story book ye ar for t he young man fro m San B erna rdin o , and Cha rlie " T h e Ed ge " Ven eg as t op p e d i t off by winning th e U.S. N a t i on a l S p eed w ay Champ ionship b e f or e a packed hous e a t C osta Mesa's Orange County Fairgrounds. T here seems t o be no boundari es to Venegas ' ac complishments : He won the Mi lne Cu p a nd Th e Fa ir D erby earlier in the ye ar. But th e Na tio na l title wa s the on e he wanted m ost. To w i n the tit le , o ne mu st fi rst m o v e up throu gh f our r ound s o f Scratch ra cing . Po ints were awa rded 3 -2 -1 -0 ; th e t o p 10 adva nce t o th e semis, from which th e top tw o transfer to the ma in event, wh ile thi rd and fourth get on e more shot in the last cha nce qualifier . Sponsors sweetened I 26 NOVEMBER 8 , 2000' eye th e po t by awarding ca sh to th e w in ner of each ev ent. ROUNO ONE JRM Co ns t ruc tio n sp on sored th e first Ev ent. On th e pol e w as Bobby " B o og al o o " Schwa rt z, w ith Ch arl es " Du ki e" Ermol enko in two and Gar y Ackro yd and Ian Fer ris in th re e and four. The gate went to Sch wa rtz, bu t E rmolen k o too k t h e le ad as th e y came out of turn t wo . T here we re no othe r po sition c hanges in the qu ick fou r-Ia p pe r and th e first w in o f th e n i gh t w ent t o Er m o l e n k o , w i t h Schwartz seco nd , Ackroyd third and Ferris fourth . Bobby Hedd en d rew the po le in th e B r ant E ng in eer ing - b a c k ed seco n d I e n e _ s event. Venegas was in two . " Flyin '" Mike Faria and "Fast" Ed Castro we re in three and four. Go ing fo r hi s fo urth U .S . Nationa l Cha m p io ns hi p , F a ri a ex ploded out of th e gate . Castro was working the outside in second . Hed den was also out in the d irt, try ing to fi n d a w a y thr oug h . Ven eg a s was working any li ne he co uld fi nd so he cou ld ge t through and sc ore po int s, bu t he was fou rth w ith zero po ints fo r his efforts. Faria wo n eas ily, wit h Castro second and Hedd en thi rd. Shawn "Mad Dog" McConne ll was on the po le in the Dick Rogers Rac ing-sponsore d thi rd event. B r y a n Th ompson was in t w o . " Rad " Br ad Oxl ey , th e current National Champion , wa s i n thre e . Ri ck Ell is , the Northw est 2000 po ints ch amp ion from Hillsboro, Oregon , was in four. McConnell wen t wi re to wire . Oxley was a close second , with Thompson thir d. Ellis had trouble in every corner as he tried t o get a handle on the small Costa Mesa " B u ll r i n g . " Hi s gearing appea red to be way too t all fo r the tight track . K in gston Mol d and Mach in e sponsored th e fourth event. Jim Estes wa s o n th e pole . C h r is "The K id" Ma n c hes ter, t h e yo u ngest Na tio n al cha mp at 18 , was in two . Lo ng -over due " Go r g eo us" Gary Hicks was in three . On t h e o utsi de w as " F l y in '" Ryan Fisher. Before the t apes c ame u p, Estes got into them and was sent to the 20-ya rd line . T he y loaded in again , and this time Hick s ca me out s t ro ng , wi t h M an ch est er seco nd. Fisher was runnin g thi rd and t ried to move Ma nc hes te r off the groove, but tha t wa sn' t going to happ en and he had to settle for th e th ir d. Est es wa s fo urth. T he fin al eve nt of the first ro und w a s s po nso re d b y Mar k Wal la c e Ma so nry . Ba rt " S im p so n" Ba st , th e 1998 N at i on al c hamp , w as o n th e Ra n dy " T he Ro c k et " p ol e . DiF ran c esco 'was in t wo. Josh Larsen an d Bill y J anni r o were in three and fo u r . La r se n u sed h i s g re at ga t ing sk ill s to put him self in th e lea d. Bast ran second . Larsen g ot low o n t h e po le and had no trouble k eep ing the rest of th e field at bay . O n the w hite flag lap , J anniro pa ssed Bast to t ak e the second -p la ce point s. D iFr an cesco was fou rth . ROUND TWO T heir ner ves weren 't q ui te as bad as th e rac er s go t ready for th e sec ond round . In th e Borg e D ev el o pm ent Inc .-back ed sixth event , Venegas wa s o n the po l e. N ext to him w as Ell is, with Est es and Schw art z in three and fo u r. V en ega s wa s lo oki ng f o r redemption from his first race , and he left no doubt that he had a whole lot of fig ht left in hi m whe n he went wire to wire. Estes also fared m uc h bett er, comi ng away wi th second . Schw artz settled for third. Ellis was still tryi ng to get a hand le on the track and d id not finish . Di Fran c esco drew th e pole fo r the In si d e r s Mo torcyc le C lub ' s eve nt seven . O xl ey wa s in tw o , with Cas tro and Ackroyd in th ree and four. Castro wowed the cro wd w ith h is over-t her a ci n g . top, o u t-i n - t h e - d ir t DiF ranc esco put in a good eff ort fo r seco n d . Oxl ey a n d A ckr oyd we re third and fou rt h. B ill Co dy Rac ing sponsored event eig ht. Fe r ris wa s o n th e po le , wi t h Fis her in two . J an ni ro an d Hedd en we re in three and four. F ish er took things in hand off the li ne and the win was h is. Janniro put the pressure o n but had to settle for second . Hedden and Ferris finished thi rd and fourth. Hi ck s drew the pol e for th e NJK back ed eve n t n i n e , a n d it wa s all Hick s fro m start to fin ish . Bast, from gate t w o , was second . McConn ell came o u t of three for third. Ermolenko , on the outside, was fourth. A& D Clea n-U p Masters sponsored eve nt 10 . L ar sen was o n t he pole, with F ari a in two and Thompso n and Man chester in three and fo ur. Th e red light ca me on, the rid ers were ca lle d bac k , and Faria was sent to the 20 fo r ant icipa ti ng the gate. Th ey li ne d up agai n , and t his ti me Larsen was o ut o n to p and goi ng away. Man ch est er locked in be h ind h im. F aria got b y T ho m p son fo r th ird . T wo rounds we re in the books and two ri ders were pe rfec t on the even ing: La r sen a nd H ic k s. Ca stro was o n.e poi nt bac k, and Far ia, Jan niro, F isher and Manch ester were two po in ts back . ROUNO THREE H i c k s c a me o ut o f gat e fo ur in W arren and Ev ie Russell ' s eve nt 11 and put in ano ther w ire-to -w ire romp . Ca stro and F err i s we re se cond and third. Ell is was st ill tryi ng t o ge t o n track . Schwartz taught sch oo l in Pow er cell C om mun i cat ion s ' e ve nt 1 2 , showi ng the k ids how it' s don e. Bast , Fish er an d Thompson fol lo w ed him home. JRM Construct ion put th eir n am e o n event 13 . The red flag ca m e o ut a n d th e ref pena li zed Ackro yd for rou gh riding after M anc he ste r ended up in th e wa ll. T hey lin ed up aga in , and t h is t im e Ve ne g as , o n th e o ut side, read the ga t e to pe rfection and we nt o ut o n top , w ith J ann iro ri d in g hi s t a ilpip e. Ven eg as wou ld no t be d en ied t h e win . J anni ro se ttle d f or sec o nd . Ma nch ester he ld A ckroyd at bay for th ird.