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
In Kingson Mold and Machine 's event 14, po le sitter E rm o le n k o showed the boys t h e way home . Larsen was a so lid se cond . Fisher ha d h is ha nd s full ho lding off Oxley for th ird . In the Lankersh im Lo c k and Key backed event 15, Faria showed the stuff that has made h im a Nationa l champ three times by goi ng wire to wire . DiFra nce sc o held off McConnell for second . Estes was fourth. With three round s in t h e books , Hicks was the only rider without a defeat. Larsen was one point back and Faria and Castro wer e two back. ROUND 4 In the fina l ro und , rid ers were try ing to get those fina l precious points . Event 16 , sponsored by Raven In sura nce, wa s red -flagged whe n Hed de n got into th e ta pes. He was sent to th e 20. Mancheste r a nd Ba st got tangled up in one and a complete re sta rt was c alled . Bast g ot o ut on top on the resta rt and look ed like he had things s ewn up , but Mancheste r rained o n his parade o n th e wh ite -flag lap and bea t h im to th e c he c ke rs . Hedden was third a nd Ellis fourth. Ru s s ell Ra cin g s po nso re d eve nt 17 . Th e crowd gave a standing ova tion to th e 43 -year-old Schwa rtz , who put in a classic ride a g a inst Fa ria in o ne of the most exciting races of th e n ig h t. Hic k s lo s t his perfect sco re , placin g th ird . O xle y was fo urth . Lars e n got b a c k on t rack in the Dick Rogers Racing -backed event 18 . McConnell got the gate , but Larsen took the w in. F is h e r and Ack ro yd rou nded out the fie ld . Borge Dev el opment spons or ed e vent 19, and it was a ll Venegas from the get -go. Ferris, DiFrancesco and Thompson followed him home . In Kempton Ma chine Works' event 20 , Estes got into the tapes for the s e cond time, and agai n h e had to come from the 20. Janniro finally sorted ou t the Bullring and took the lead from E rm o le n ko after one lap and went on for the win. Estes was third . SEMIS Th er e was a runoff for the final two spots in the semis , with three riders in the hunt. McConnell was on the pol e , with Castro in two and Bast on the outs ide. Castro c ut a gr eat gate and wa s off on to p, with Ca stro lo c king int o sec ond. McC onnell s p un out in o ne and ju st c o u ldn 't m ake up th e difference. The two moving on would be Ca stro a nd Ba st. Hic ks drew the pole for the Yamaha Mot or Corporation -bac ked event 2 1. Ven ega s wa s in two , with Jann iro in thr e e . On th e o u t si de we re Ermolenko and Bast. Ven egas c ut a g rea t g at e and got out o n t op , with Ermo lenko a nd Hicks out behind him . The fic kle finge r of fate stepped in do wn th e ba ck stra ight, Hick s br o ke a c h a in. His nig ht , wh ich had been so br illi an t , was over. Ve n e g a s a nd Er m o le nko were in th e m a in event. Bast and J a nniro wer e o n the ir way to the LCQ . In the celebrations that followed t he Champ ionsh ip , Venega s was given a hero's rece ption, b ut J osh La rsen (Ie ftl and Ch ris Manc hester (right) also j oin e d Ch a rlie (c enter! in the festivities on the podiu m . (Ab ov e l eft) Venegas leads Billy Janniro around the Bullring. (Abo ve) In the main event, Venegas stayed in front of Josh Larsen and Ch ris Manchester all the way to t h e checkers. Death" U.S. National Championship Final. Eve ryt hing would be decided in fou r q uic k laps . Venegas ha d drawn the p o le , wi th Lar sen in two an d E rm o lenko in three . O n the outside were Sc hwa rtz and Manchester. Ve ne gas wa s aboard an upright motor and a ll the re st were on laydown motors . T h e first attempt was red-flagged when Venegas went wide in turn one and Manchester g ot pushed o ff h is line and went down. Nobod y' was penalized, and they lined up again . This time th e red cam e out when Ermolenko got into Schwartz on the back straight and both wen t down . No penalties and they lined up for the third time. This tim e they got as far as tum fou r before the red c ame out. Ermolenko and La rsen t a ngle d, and th is t im e Ermolenko was s ent to the 20 . The fourth time , they all got awa y cle a n, and for t he third tim e Venegas broke on top, a nd this time he put a lot of da y light b etween h imself and th e rest of th e fie ld. Larsen and his teammate from t he Bri tish le a g u e , Man chester, were second and th ird , with Ermo lenko a nd S chwartz fourt h and fifth. It has been a C inde re lla ye a r for Ven egas, and he will ha ve a lot of titles to defend when the 200 I season sta rts . He 's the ma n at the top, and he eamed every bit of it with great riding a nd perfectly prepar ed machinery. eN Event 22 was a memorial ra c e for s ec u rit y guard Rich a rd Miller , who died s udde nly a coup le of weeks ago. On the pol e wa s Larsen , with Faria in two a nd Ca stro in three . On the outs ide were Manchester and Sc hwartz. On the first try at a go, Ca stro br ok e the tapes and was disqualified . They line d up again , and this time Faria got in too deep and he bro ke th e t a p e s and joined Ca stro. Th e third tim e was the charm , and Manche ster s taye d a h e a d a ll the w a y to the c hecke rs. Schwartz was s econd; he wa s go ing to the ma in with Mancheste r. Larsen wou ld get o ne more shot in the LCQ . LAS T CHANCE QUALIFIER In th e LCQ, sponso red by 1-8 00 THE LAW 2 , Larsen on the pole , with Jann iro in two and Bast in thr e e. Faria was allow ed to com pete , and he dr ew four. The qui et Lars en exploded off th e pole a nd too k th e lea d befor e the y hit the first turn . J a nniro wa s out se cond and was goi ng for it. Ba st was a ve ry c lo s e thi rd , lo o k in g fo r an o pe n ing . Fa ria , on on e of Jann iro 's bikes , didn't get a lap in the books ; he slid out. La rs en wen t to wor k , a nd no o n e was go ing to deny him the fina l spot in the m a in. Costa Mesa Speedway Costa Mesa, Califomia Resuhs: Dctober14,20DO u.s . NATIONAL SPEEDWAY CHAMPION SHIP: I. Cha rlie Venegas (J a w); 2 . Jos h Larsen (Jaw); 3 . Chris Manchester (J aw); 4 . Duk ie Ermolenko (J aw); 5. Bobby Schwartz (GM); 6. Billy Janniro (Ja w); 7. Bart Bast (J aw); 8 . Mik e Fari a (GM) ; 9 . Gary Hick s (GM): 10 . Ed Castr o (Jaw ). MAIN E VE N T It a ll c a me down to the fina l event of the night. The Coo rs Light "Sudde n cycle n e _ :s . N O V EM BER 8 , 2000 27