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/141064
M " 1 M e-. '" e c: .., " en ;: w Z W ...J U >U Larry Moon attempts to pass inside Mi ke Konle - unsuccessfully . Story and Ph otos by Dennis Green e In tern ational Speedway In co rp orated has '. taken over the prom otion at Ve ntu ra Coun ty Fai rgroun ds, th ey are th e same people th at run the mo st successful show in the S outhland : C osta Mesa. T hey put all th eir talent and t echn ol o gy in com ple tely re buildin g th e old facility at Venutra and sp ent bi g money in doing it. But th eir new b ab y turned ou t to be a brat an d things wen t .an y th in g but sm o othly . Even Mother Na tu re worked ag ai nst th em on op ening ni ght. Moderate fo g he ad ed a long list o f min or problem s that will be remedied as th e season go es on (excep t th e weather). A malfunction o f the st ar ting gate was a no t he r maj o r h eadache for th e promo ter and rid ers alike , the new D shaped t rack see me d to c on fuse th e m aj o ri ty o f the riders , and their normall y smoo th rid in g st yl e t urned in to o ne that can o nly be com pared with a Divis io n three show. A ver bal co n flict erupted be tw een Dannv Becker an d the referee over an infield shortcut taken b y Mik e Bast. Becker thought he should be elimi nated. Bakersfield At Bakersfield we again find the same bad weather conditions prevailing. Rain, wind, and ligh tn in g. The show was stopped several times becau se riders kep t go ing through th e crash wal l, and it h ad to be rebuilt each time . Noone was injured. T h e pressure in every event was eviden t, and an out-and-out effort by Mike Kon Ie and Bill Co d y to beat the Bast boys was in vain . In bo th main even ts Kon le an d Cody fin ishe d j ust be hi n d o ne of th e Bas ts. T he ref sai d n o th at h e was forced to . th e infield by o ther rid ers and was not at fault and th at le d to a gre at amo un t of name-calli ng and misu se of th e Kin g's English b y Danny . The ref w on as alw ays. Dan returned t o th e pits t o coo l off an d prep are fo r his .ride in th e Scratch Main event. Dan returned to the starting line with Steve and Mike Bas t Bill C od y , ' div ert ed hi s and mouth-p ow er to go- powe r , and won th e even t handily . A m ajor pil eup in turn 3 sen t Mik e Curoso to th e h osp it al wit h dam age d on e to hi s leg an d h ip. Also inv ol ved in th is p ileup w as Dubb Farrell . Dubb was sent sprawling an d was hit by anothe r rid er bu t re tu rned to th e pi ts under hi s own powe r. Con ta ct be tween Mark Ch e rry an d Ed Williams fo und Ed coming o ut on th e short end with a lot of p ain t o an already damaged shoulder. As the ni gh t went o n, thi ngs smoothed out an d raci ng returned to n orm al. Steve squeezed in to win th e Handicap Main eve nt j ust ah ead of Mike Bast. Taking a look at the second Division Main we fin d a new name to be ad ded to th e reco rd book: Ti m Brad ley. For the' most par t du rin g the nigh t it was difficult to tell th e riders in th is divisio n apart ; th ere was an ab un dance of slip pi~g an d slicling , crashes an d b ums and si lly mi s takes. Knowing th e capahilities of the promo ters and riders Steve won the Scratch , and little b ro ther won th e Handicap eve n t. In both main s Konle was second and C od y th ird. Home town her o Dan Toome y had one o f th ose unfortunate - nights. He came o ut in all n ew helme t and leathers o nly to t ak e a clive to th e gro un d and fail to earn a tran sfer spot to th e second Divisi on. Getting his name ad de d to th e trans fer list was Keith Tennis. . Irwi nd ale it I. 1 Th e weather got even worse, fo r the nex t nigh t at Irwindale and t he show was c anceled for the night with out an y riding at all because rain ea rlier in the day h ad made the track too muddy to b e compe titive. I don't fe el that I wiII be go ing o u t on a limb wh en I say all th ese minor p roblems " ill be elimin at ed ne xt T uesday n igh t a t Ven tu ra. CostaMesa Fri day nig h t at Co sta Mesa saw just a little clearing in the weath er and good racing all nigh t. Steve Gres ham, the Little Gi an t, had a night of it from every direction. Some of it was ve ry fu nny. After the che ckered flag in a q ualifying event the biggest man o n the track. Big Mike Konle , an d one of the smallest, S te ve, came togethe r in tu rn I and jousted each other a round. T h is w as n o t a matter of t he big guy pic king on th e little guy at all , Mike w as hit goi ng into th e tu m an d was pus hed into Steve, b u t th e Li ttle Gian t was su re th at Mike 'was out to ge t him. As th ey we nt u p the back straigh t, S teve tri ed to kick th e big man knowing th at if he to ok a swing at him Mike would pu t him in th e hospital. But his fo o t hit the rear ch ain and sprocket, sp ar ks flew, and that was th at . In Steve 's n ex t even t he was pushed around by Larry Sh aw , and this time when h e go t to th e pits, be cause Larry is a little mo re his size, h e went looking for bl ood. Larry defended hims elf, and the blood Steve go t wa s his own . A good thrashing may be what it take s to key him up to win because that is j us t wh at he d id in th e Handicap Main even t. T his is th e even t wh ere th e winn er gets to kiss th e t ro ph y girl, and Steve had to b ack off after just a light tou ch of th e lip because of a p u ffy mout h provided by Larry Sh aw. Runnin g second in th e Handicap Main eve n t wa s Mi ke Curo sq, th e rider th at was carr ied off th e track T uesd ay n igh t a t Ve ntura an d was la ter released fro m the h o sp it al. Curoso came to the track wi th a cane an d h ad a very sore leg and hip. T he Sc ratch. Main event agai n went to Mike Bast. Th at ma kes it fo u r Scratc h Main event w ins for hi m at Cos ta Mesa. ...