Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

SPEEDWAY AND THE WEEK THA TWAS Story an d pho tos b y Dennis Greene When yo u attend all three of the Speedw ay events held in the sou thland as it is my pleasure to do , o ne gets an ove rall lo o k at just wh at is goi ng o n in Class A racing. A goo d exam ple of what I mean can be illust rated with a lo ok at Dan ny Becker. In Bakersfield , Calif. th e op en ing eve nt o f the Sp eedway week , Danny was riding his heart o ut and putting on a first ra te sho w with giant slides and long whe elies, but his hard drivi ng ways were to be his downfall wh en his bike got away from him after do ing a w hee lie o n the back straigh ta wa y. T he next night at Irwi ndale , th is charging st yle pa id off for Dann y in the Ha ndicap Main, whe n a small wheelie took him to the wall an d he used it for traction to ju mp into the lead , for t he win. But o n Fri day night at Cos ta Mesa, it darn nea r put Becker in the hospital along with Mike Konle when they ta ngled . Or , tak e a look at Speedway via St eve Gre shman. Steve had a first place tak en from him when in the last lap of an earlier event , he and Ed Williams got together and St eve came o ut with several spo kes poking o ut from his fron t wh eel. This was soo n mended, and he ca me back st ro ng to win the Handicap Main at the end of th e night. Then Thursda y at Irwindale, t he litt le giant (Steve) got in o ver his head in a run away wheelie and got o ff. He d id qualify fo r the Scratch Main event , but ran last. St eve was not on th e progr am Fr iday night. Ed Williams in mot ion at Costa Mesa. COSTA MESA, CALI F" MAY 4, 1973 Wh atev er yo u l ik e to co mpare Speedw ay to , you can do it at Cost a Mesa . It has been said th at Spe edway is roll er derb y , wrestling, a nd a cla mba ke, aU rolled into on e. This may all be true , but it is st iU one of the best nights of ent ertain me n t th at you can spe nd yo ur money on . Speedway is not supposed to be a contact spo rt or so I ha ve been to ld, but aft er 23 events last Friday night that saw no less than a dozen riders bite the dust , I wonder. It is to be expected that t he Division Two and Three riders will get off because of lack of experience, but when two of the top Division One guys eat it , you have got to stand back and take a look. Danny Becker , and big Mike Konle race hard, as one must to wi n, but there is a point wh ere som ething mu st give, as proven wh en these tw o got th eir handleb ars ca ugh t together o n th e fro n t straight and went full tilt into the wall . There are j ust two th ings that kept th is from be ing a horrendous crash. One , th e fact th at the waUs in turn o ne are mad e to move under im pac t. Two, both riders react fast er than dropped cats to an emergency. Stand ing in the infield as I d o , I could see no reason at all for this type of high speed horse play, and both riders should consider just how many times that they will have to face each other in the next five mo nths, (at least 120 times) . T hey will co me to the line in co mpetition an d entrust their lives to each o ther. ' Getting out from behind my lectern now, here is wha t went o n in the final night of th e seco nd week of Speed wa y. On e survivor o f the Second Division cras h-and -bu rn party , Mar k Che rf , ke pt on raci ng while all fell do wn around him, fo r his first-ever win in the Premie r Second Division Main . Bar ry Id on , last week 's winn er, finished last. Ralph Casto r, wh o has one win this seaso n, ca me in fo r seco nd spot. In scrat ch racing , th e start is aU imp ortant . You have to mov e out with the spe ed of a bullet. Fo ur riders are o ff and running as the gat e goes up and th e quickest of qu ick was Bill Cody in th e Scratch Main . Bill had some troub le keeping Ed William s from o ut-racing him as Ed held off th e challe nge of St eve Bast and Don Cullu ms , The staggered sta rt o r Handicap Main even t went to l .A.P. mounted Mark Ch erry who started in front from th e zero yard lin e. Th is win wiU move him back at least ten yards and he will have to work harder to wi n ne xt time . Unde r th e new poi nt set up tha t is being record ed , aU riders will be mo ved bac k ten yards after a certain numb er of po int s are earne d . This does mea n that ride rs like St eve Bast , who alr ead y starts aU the way in the back o n the 50 ya rd line and still wins by quite a large mar ing, will be mo ved back an other te n to the si xty and so fo rth . It is indee d poss ib le to see three or four o f the to p guns co ming from the 70 yard line this seaso n ! Yo u might ask , where will it all stop? Well, t he Wo rld 's Cha mpio n, Ivan Mauge r, has sta rted o n th e 140 yard line and wo n his event. BATES POS TS RECORD SPEED WA Y CONTINGENCY BUCKS AT COSTA MESA Bat es Ind ustries, In c., mak ers of r acin g le ather s a n d m otorcycle acces so rie s, h as p o ste d a re c ord am oun l Son ny Nutter a nd Bill Cod y bo t h ridethe sa me ma ke of bike . The Bast Boys pu t t heir best whee ls forward as Ste ve G resham a nd Bill Cody pu rsu e. of co n tingency mon ey fo r th e 197 3 season of the Speedway Racing As sociation at Orange Cou nty Fairgroun ds in California. T he total amount of $4,500 is unique in that it includes . all three speedway divisions, plus an amount for season-end award s. " We welcom e Bat es back to Costa Mesa for the sec o nd-yea r in a row", said promoter Harry Oxley, "and appreciat e their inn ova tive approach in recognizing the up and co ming riders in Division II and III, as well as th e esta blished, well-known rider s in Division I. T he Division II and III boys will really be sto ked , for th ey appreciate every bi t of finan cial help an d recogniti on th ey can ge t. And, you bet ter believe you are goin g to see a lo t of Bates Leathers again a t Cos ta Mesa th is ye ar." " Speedway is one of the faste st growing areas o f racin g in th e coun try," said Bob Rudolph , Vice Presid en t o f the Lon g Beach bas ed manufacturer , " and we want to mak e sure that speedway racers get the rec ognition the y deserve . We hope th at our deep co mmitmen t to the spo rt will help produce a world champion wh o began co mpe ting at the Costa Mesa track ." Steve Gresham does t he"splits at I rwin dale . N ote that he still keeps the bike crossed up . M t" ... M Ol > ::;: " ~ w Z W ..J o >o

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