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dlft - V.atfarla- Auburn --Napa - C oRa-M. . . -Sa M ike Faria leads Mike Bast in 'almost perfect' Speedway actio n at San Bernardino Faria, almost perfect at San Bernardino By Scott Daloisio SAN BERNAR DI N O , CA, AUG. II Crowd Ia vor ite Mike Faria sco red 19 out of a possible 20 poin ts to capture the Natio nal Cha mpionship Qual ifier at 34 J o h n LaDo uce ur's In la nd Motorcy- ' cle Speedway tonight. Faria (Cody P rod ucts/Cycle Gear/ Jones Goggles J a wa ) suffered h is on ly defeat in event 15 when Keith Larsen (Jones Goggles/O ffshore/ KR W Wes lake bea t Fa ria by inc hes at the checkered flag. The on ly other surprises in the qualifying ro unds occurred when Mike Bast (Justice Bro th ers/Knobby Shop J a wa ) broke th e tapes in event six and Alan Christian (ST P Godden ) felI while runn ing seco nd in event 16. Entering th e semis, Mik e Curoso (B&B/ Ca rlisle Wes) and Steve Lucero (L ucero Machine/Su per Seer J aw ) were th e o n ly riders with pe rfect scores. Curoso saw h is effort go dow n the tubes in h is semi when h e went over the handlebars in turn two an d injured h is shou lder. On the restart, Ch ristia n was first out of the gate with Canadia n star Len Dillon (Castrol/Raco Auto Jaw) gett ing by in turn two. Christian re-asserted himself by turn three and led the remaining three la ps to win over P aul Orlandi (Han sen Motors Wes) a nd DilIon. After a slo w start o n th e even ing , John Sandona (Windlord/ Super Seer/ Chase-Harper Godd) flexed his m us cle and led alI the way in the second semi over Lucero to earn a trip to th e . main. The third semi may welI have been the best race ever h eld at IMS. Bast was first out of the gate with Far ia ta kin g ove r in turn two . Fro m that poin t o n the two "speedway masters" co ns tantly traded th e lead back a nd fort h , sen ding the h uge crowd and an nouncer Bruce Flanders in to a frenzy. Faria was fina lly a ble to win o u t by two bikelen gth s to pick up h is tic ket to the mai n. In th e fi na l semi it was Bobby "Insane" McLai n (Dewey Thompson Auto Wes) who took the lead from Rick Miller (Eclipse/ O ff Shore/ Bel-Ray Wes ) at th e wh ite flag and led the rest of the way for the upset win , ahead of Miller and Gene Woods (7- Up /Mattrix/ Arai Godd ). In th e co nsolation it was Bast wire to wire ove r MilI er and Orlandi. Faria dr ew th e p ol e a nd gra bbed the lead a t the sta rt of the ma in over Ch rist ia n , McL a i n an d Sa ndo na. McLai n a nd Chris tian got int o a wa r for second wi th McLain, running th e po le, able to move by in the turns whi le Chris tia n wou ld re-pass him on the straights. T his went on until the Red Roosters were victorious in McLain exited turn four on lap three th e first two matches , thus winning a nd did the most spectacular 360 in overall. th e history of IMS, running fulI After the dust settled from the tug-T throttle while he was practically lying o-war, th e stage was set for a couple i on the ground. Mcl.ain's move was • hotter th an the month of July and it _ of exciting main event s. In his first California Divisio n one sent up a roar from th e crowd that race, Colorado transplant Mike G o- ? was heard at the Cradley Heath vs. lightly was the first rider o ut, lining ~ Halifax match in En g land. Unfortuu p o n the IO-yard line. On th e 20- It nately, it dropped McLain a lI the way to last. At the checkered it was - . yard lin e was Bla nton . Sha ring the 30-yard line were Tom Hughes and :> Faria by fo ur bikelengths over ChrisDean York. Cl ear back on the 40-yard tia n, Sa ndo na a nd McLa in. line were Tom Morley and Grant SalResults yers. Golightly got th e lead for th e 1. Mike Faria (Jaw ) 19; 2. A lan Chr ist ian (Godd) first two laps, un til his steel shoe fell 15; 3. John Sandona (Good) 14; 4. (TIE) Rick Miller (Wes )/Bobby McLa in (Wes) 13; 6. M ike Bast (Jaw) off . From the n o n it was Blanton 12; 7. (TIE) Paul Orland i (W es)/ Steve Lucero (Jaw) lea di n g, fo lIowed very closel y by 11; 9. M ike Curoso (W es) 9; 10. Dave DeTemple (Jaw) S. Hughes. Trying everyt hi ng he co u ld, Hughes kep t knocking on Blanton 's back door. Bla nton wa s able to hang on to ta ke the wi n. H e was folIo wed by H ughes, Mor ley, York and finalI y Sal yers. By Sam Slideways After some very intense action in the hea t races, the line-up for the VISALIA, CA, JUi..Y 31 Scra tch main was set. On the ou tside Ron Bla nton a nd Buddy Robsat Hughes. In the third slot was inson took advantage of the Robinson. Taking the second slot sticky race track to defeat all was Chris Reichardt and on the pole challengers at tonight's exciting sat Morley. Reichardt got the best start. H e was folI owed by Morley/and speed way in Visalia. Alo ng with a lI th e battles o n the Robinson . On the seco nd lap Rei race track , th ere was a lso a very chard t went wide in turn two and enjoyable ba tt le co nducted in the Morley slipped under hi m . On the th ird lap Reich a rd t went wide again. infield. T he Delan o Carata ns and the Kingsburg Red Roosters engaged in T his ti me Rob in so n got by him and a two-out-of-three tug-of-war. DesMorley for the lea d. Rob in son held o n for the win. pite a sincere effort by the Carata ns , Blanton, Robinson victorious at Visalia