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/142442
.' . • ~. .. _. - • - ~ • - _. 1..._ '.. -:.. _ ~. s-;:ii;w~:;·W-A.""""-H."-C_M_-"''''._ e .._V'' ' '.-A.'' ' ' '-H_-C_M_-'' ....... __ ... .,; ~ .. i spectator's car arid any thing else that got in front of him. Domokos also made his first appearance on a Honda three-wheeler which he kept nose up for some radical moves. French, Yarrow fly in Auburn By Jann Houston AUBURN, CA, JUNE 25 The undisputed Rookie of the Year in the North this season has to be young Kevin Frenchl Looking a bit shocked as he Kevin French (top) won the Auburn Handicap main in his First Division debut. (Above) Shawn McConnell chases Dubb Ferrell at IMS. Blevins, Larsen leaders in Visalia By Jerry Parsons VISALIA, CA, JUNE 19 The largest crowd to ever attend a central California speedway race came to the Visalia Auto Plaza tonight to cheer on Randy 30 Blevins and Keith Larsen as they dominated the First Division main events. After a night of crashed-filled heat races the mains were no different. As the Handicap main jetted off the line, Gran tSalyers and Randy Blevins bit out in the first tum. The second start was about as successfull as the first with Salyers again going down, taking the rest of the riders with him . Another restart was soon underway with jeff Tomlin off the 30 grabbing the holeshot. Blevins was hanging to the outside as he moved from third to first in one move , leaving Blevins as runner-up. Salyers was running a hot third as he pressed the ' leaders. Blevins held his lead and took the win with Tomlin taking home second. The Scratch main was a showcase for Keith Larsen as he quickly put away the competition. Tomlin, again running in second, was willing to take a chance to grab the lead as he jammed in tight behind Larsen. Larsen kept it nailed to win. Tomlin • again took the runner-up spot. The Scratch consolation was a killer race as it appeared to have the makings of a main event. The consolation seem to be no different from the others as Phil Gagnon and Buddy "Bud Man" Robinson went down in tum one. Gagnon was quick to grab the lead in the restart as Duane Yarrow and the "Bud Man " battled for second. Salyers kept their hands full in fourth . Gagnon was soon making tracks as' he gained some time on the pack to take the win. Yarrow held tight for second as Robinson went out with bike problems. Saylers finished third. Besides the hot and heav y races, the fans also had Doug Domokos to keep them busy at intermission. Dornokos, now riding for Honda, kept the crowd cheering as he wheelied over a picked up his program at sign in , discovering he was in First Division for the first time at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, he said, " Well , I'd better do something tonight." He took the lead in his first hea t race out of the gate, holding off the best of th em - such as Pat Linn, Duane Yarrow and And y Gilbertson - for the win. H is Handicap semi was anot h er lead fro m start to finish, th is time in a field wh ich included north ern California's number one point leader, Buddy Robinson. The Handicap main tu rn ed out to be a five-man race, with the loss of Li nn wh o was taken to the hospital wit h a broken collarbone which he suffered during his Scratch heat. Ge tting back to the Handicap main, Fren ch shot in to an excellent lead out of the gate, never giving anyone a chance to get close. Gary Stewart was second until lap three when Robert Curry took over that spot, and Ron McGill moved past Dave Faria, Jr. for third. On the last lap McGill moved to second, and Curry dropped to third while French took the checkered flag, unaware of all the fast act ion that had gone on behind him. The Scratch main was fast, smooth and uneventful as Duane Yarrow took the lead from the po le position, managing to increase his lead on every lap. Paul Orlandi was second, And y Gilbertson third, and Bert Stephens settled for fourth . Craig Elstins won a close Second Division main, Dennis Davis was second, Rocky Robinson th ird. Rick Stephens won' his first D-3 main, Jim Brenner was second, and Bill Thomas was third. On the Junior division side of the program, Mike Parsons won the first heat, and newcomer Darrell Anderson ,looking more like an "old timer" every week, won the second heat. John Houston, Jr. won ' the main, Scott Brant was second, Bart Bast was third. . Remember, Napa opens on July 17 at 7:30 p.m. Also, Auburn fans will be given a special show on July 16, as Alan Christian, Eddie Ingels, Steve Lucero and Pam "Pinky" Bennett come to Auburn for an exciting night of racing. Results SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Duene Yerrow; 2. Peul Orlendi; 3. Andy Gilbertson; 4. Bert Stephens. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Kevin French; 2. Ron McG ill ; 3. Robert Curry; 4. Devid Farie, Jr .; 5. Gery Stewart. SECONDDIV: 1. Creig Elstins ; 2. Denn is Devis; 3. Rocky Robinson . THIRD DIY: 1. Rick Stephens ; 2. Jim Brenner; 3. Bill Thomes. JR SPDWY: 1. John Houston , Jr .; 2. Scott Brent; 3. Bert Best; 4. Derrell Anderson; 5. Bobby Hedden; 6. M ike Parsons. Faria, Scopellite sweep San Berdoo By Scott Daloisio ,• . • , ··!I.U 11 · · · ·(1 1 way he opened it by winning the Scratch main before a large crowd tonight at John LaDouceur's Inland Motorcycle Speedway. Multi-time National and State Champion, Michael Bast (Justice Brothers/ Knobby Shop Jawa), took the lead from the pole spot over Faria (Cod y Products/Cycle Gear/Jones Goggles Jawa) and Shawn McConnell (Ridin ' High/Vans Jawa). Faria, coming off wins in his heat and semi , swept by Bast on the outside in tum four on lap one to take the lead. Bast reclaimed the top spot as he 'ducked inside in tum one on lap two with Faria forging ahead for good in tum two . Bast was able to pull even in the comers a .number of times over the last two laps, but in the end it was Faria by five bikelengths in theall-Jawa main event. McConnell ended up a distant third followed by Dubb Ferrell (Dean 's Independen t Mazda/ Vera 's Leathers jawa). Denny Scopellite (H ot Moves Weslake ) scored the win in the red-flag shortened Handicap main event for h is second IMS victory of the season. Coming from the 10, Scopellite took the lead a t the start over Guy Ermolenko (Gaston & Dillon jawa) and Rick Miller (Ecl ipse/Bel-Ray/jT Weslake ). Miller took second from Ermolenko on the back chute on the opening revolution only to have Ermolenko come right back by. The two young riders got in to a battle royale for the runner-up spot inches behind the leader Scopellite. The battle raged on until the end of lap three when Miller decided it was time to gamble. Miller went high and hard into tum one getting by Errnolenko and pulling alongside Scopellite. Unfortunately, Miller lost it and went backwards into the pit gate. At .the same time the gate flew open, British League star John Cook (FOM/ Hi-Point Weslake) tried to avoid Miller and went over the handlebars. The only injury in the incident occured when rider Tom Burba, who was standing against the pit gate, got nailed as it swung open. Fortunately Burba was only shaken from the scary incident. The race was over halfway complete at the time and was called official giving the win to Scopellite over Ermolenko and Faria. New Zealand's Chris Martin (Frank Schuter Jawa) won his first ever IMS main as he led wire to wire in the Second Division go. Bentley Barrett (Frog House Jawa) took Ron Blanton (Castrol/Bell/Wenn Jawa) for second on the opening go 'round but promptly gave it back when he hit the dirt in tum two. Tim McCasland (Jawa) and Pat Hawley (Terry's Waterbeds/MMHLM Godden) both went down on lap three while Mark Weaver (Jawa) took second from Blanton on the same lap. Weaver and Blanton stayed close to Martin but were unable to dethrone the overseas rider. Don Davis (Jawa) took the lead on lap one and won his first IMS Third Division main. Will Harper (Weslake) beat Davis off the zero for the lead with Davis getting by in tum three and never looking back. Mark Dwyer (Jawa) snatched second spot for the second week in a row when he passed Harper on lap three. On July 7, "Bad" Brad Oxley and the "Miracle Worker," Shawn Moran, will return from England to take part in that night's "Battle of San Bernardino." Results SAN BERNARDINO, CA, JUNE 30 "Flyin' Mike" Faria closed out the month of June the same .. ~'l' . SCRATCH MAIN: 1. 'M ike Ferie (Jew); 2. Mike Bel1 (Jew); 3. Shewn McConnell (Jew); 4. Dubb FerrellIJew). ,