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/141059
o N .'" co 0.. M .... en ex> . > ::;; ;@ w Z w ..J U >- U T he Speedway seas on opener had a goo d start a week ago in Bak ersfi eld. If first nigh ter s are any indicator of th e seas on , w e hav e a lot to lo ok forward to be y o ur spectato r o r rider. Per ennial winner Steve Bast go t the right gro ove at Bakersfield and kep t it go ing th e re st of th e evening . More ab out him later. One of the reasons the Bak ersfield show wen t so well w as th e track. It was in good co ndi tion and staye d th at wa y throughout the pr ogr am. T h e Bak ersfield oval has b een sh o rt ened this year, leaving wider co mers and the opportunity fo r more passin g in th e turns...fo r th ose with th e horsepower an d the knowh ow. Man y of the rid er s wer e sporti ng new leathers an d some h ad eve n cha nge d th eir riding numbers. T h at, and the fact th at two North ern Calif ornia riders, Gus Lau er an d Alan Christian, plus a few First Division newcomers were in the Handicap heats kept th e spe ctators looking in the program to see who was in front of who. Of the newcomers to First Division , I've reall y got to note Mark Cherr y , Steve Nutter an d Sco tt Sivad ge for the m ar ked im provemen t in th eir riding abili ties. T hey all started from t he zer o y ard marker but prob abl y won't stay th ere long if th ey con tinue p erfo rming lik e th ey did. Steve Nutter finished second in the Handicap Main with Scott Sivad ge close behind him. Mark Cherry wo n his he at and th e Handicap Consolation. Ke ep an eye on these yo ung riders in th e futu re. The Second Divisi on Main was ta ken by Jim Castor wh o is de termined to find himself a place in the First Division this year. Not fa r be hin d him in sec on d was Dan Toomey in hi s first professional Speedway race. Baker sfield favorite Ed ' Schweitzer finish ed third . Big Mik e Kon le h ad bike problems in b oth his h eats and could n't ge t a tran sfer but is always a threa t d urin g th e season. Bill C od y a lso had problems with hi s bike and h ad to quit ;', the middle o f his match race with Mik e Bas t. T he n , tw ice in th e even ing, Bill laid his b ike down to mi ss a fallen rider thus knocking himself out of co n te ntion for the pri ze money. The c ro wd ~a s quick to re alize h ow mu ch th is had cos t Bill and give him a big o vatio n for his qu ic k action s. Steve Bast won bo th Main eve n ts an d was o nly o ne race away from a clean sw eep in the season o pe ne r. Coming fr om the 50 -yard line in the Handic ap Mai n , St eve p assed fo ur ride rs on th e second lap dow n th e fro nt straigh taway . By th e b eginning of th e third lap he h ad th e lead and stay ed the re . Steve also grabbed the lead in the fir st lap of th e Scratch Main and kept it until th e end. The battle for second pl ace was h app ening beh ind with Danny Beck er taking i t and Bill Cody and Mik e Bast pl acing third an d fourth. T he o nly race Steve d idn't win at Bak er sfield was his Scratch Semi. He fini shed second b eh ind Les Chankey. Walking off with his trophies and co un ting his winnings St eve was heard mu tterin g, "Th is is go nna be my year". With earl y season fo rm lik e h e displ ayed , it very well could be but only time will tell wh ose year th is is going to be afte r all th e kin ks ar e worked o u t o f the bikes and all th e muscles ar e back in shape, especially with a lot' of new talent comin g up through the ranks. It will ce rtainly be an in teres ting season. Bak ersfield started th e season but th e other tracks aren't fa r behind. Irwindale started Thursday ;April 2 7th , and Costa Mesa , Friday the 28th. May 29 th is th e open ing date for Ventura. Reno, Nevad a begi ~1S Wednesd ay , May 3 0th . June brings three more ' tra ck s in to th e speedway circui t, Co rona on Saturday the second; Nap a, Saturday th e ninth; and Sacramen to st artin g F riday th e eigh th . , . T hat ma kes eigh t tracks scheduled for th e West Coast this sea son an d th ere is talk of still more to come, With more trac ks going during the week many more of the Second Division riders will have in creased o pp ort unity to ride. During the seas on y o u sho uld see more talented riders develop into co mpe titi on fo r th e cu rren t First Division racers. T h e be st thing to h appen in spe edway during the off season wa s ex plaine d by the announcer I Bruce Flan de rs during the questi on and answe r session at Bak ersfield. T he S:R,A. has co me up with a p oint fund that is quite sim ila r in s tructure to that o f th e A.. .A . n ational program. It sh ould M provide a p oint fund of nearly $5,000 to be shared by' the top ten speedway rid ers in the season poin t total. If the extremely larg e crowd in Baker sfield is any indication , the Speed way year sh ap e s u p like thi s : Mo re money. More hors ep ow er. More racin g. A good b et for an interes ti ng seas on.