Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Louis Kre isberg gets more than a little out of shape at Ventu ra . SPEEDWAY WEEK q Bast back on track at Costa Mesa By Jim Brown COSTA MESA. CA, MAY 13 Wi th the supers tition o f Friday t he 13th cas ti n g it s spell o n th pi ts a t Cos ta Mesa . Mik e Bast t' a nd Ala n Ch ristian both came to , th e lin e ho p in g fo r good lu ck. Last !' week Chris tian was the o ne ta king ho me the top honor s, b u t this week belonged to Bast , as h e up pe d his w i nn i ng p er ce ntage at t he s mall so u th ern California tra ck . Th is time Bast and Christia n bot h won their Scra tc h h ea ts. b u t for some reason, nei th er o f them tra nsferred in Handicap raci ng. Bast won his Scratch sem i while Christ ian cou ld n 't get around Keith Chrisco in th e ot her sem i. In the Scra tch m ain. th ey faced th e ta pes lo o kin g lik e ra tt lesna kes ready to stri ke. When the ta pes flew u p , Bast was go ne . p u lled o ut a co m - forta ble lead a nd. in an errorless ri de. took the ch eckered flag. Bast. spo n - sor ed by R iversid e M its ubishi, J us - ti ce Bro s. , a nd Pre -Fab Erectors has pu t five o u t of seven Scratch mains a t Cos ta Mesa u nde r h is be lt th is season a nd has no intention o f slowi ng d own . In H andica p raci ng John Sa ndona, spo n sor ed by Oa kley , Sepctrol, a nd STP. ha s been r idi ng har d a ll seaso n a nd gave a good exa m p le Friday ni ght. In hi s H andica p heat he fin - ished th ird but ca me back stro ng to win th e semi -fina l a nd th e main event. Steve Lucero wo n hi s Scratch he at. but in the semi h e hit th e wall in turn three so h ard he broke h is bike's seat a n d turn ed it s front wh eel into a pret- zel . resulting in fo u rt h place and a po o r finish in th e co n so la tio n . Kei th Chrisco won hi s Scrat ch h eat. a n d hi s sem i, but fini shed th i rd in the ma in . H e wa s a lso a ble to tran sfer in H andi - ca p racing right to th e main. but fin - ish ed fifth. Mike Faria wo n hi s H an - di cap heat and transferred from th e semi to th e co ns o la tio n and finished fourth. In Scratch racing he finish ed second in his h eat behind Bast . In th e semi, in turn one on the fir st lap, he a n d Christian got too tight and Faria high-sided. but ca me back in the con- sol ation with a hurt kn ee and won . . Craig Schaefer won h is Handicap heat. transferred from the sem i to the consolation and took the win . The second Handicap heat was captured by Brad Oxley who follow ed Schaefer into th e consolation and took second place. Oxley transferred in Scratch racing to th e consolation where he took another second pl ace. Second Div ision rac ing was domi - nated by R on Bl anton . Blanton (Busby Racing/Grin Products/Hair by Bev) won his heat race a n d the main event. Other Second Division heats were won by Randy Blevins and Pat H awl ey. A new rider o n th e pro- gram . J ohn McN eill . fini sh ed seco nd in h is h eat a nd third in the main . McN eill is fro m Austra lia . raced with Bruce Penhall in 1981. won th e Brit- ish League C ha m pions h ip a n d has pl ans to be h ere a ll seaso n. Third Division raci ng had Terry Cl anton a nd Guy Wa ter son winn in g th ei r h eats. Wat erso n went o n to wi n ~ th e main event. . ~ Re sults SCRA TCH MAIN : 1. M ike Ba st; 2 . A la n Chri st ian ; 3. Ke ith Chrisco; 4 . Dave DeTemp le. HA NDICAP MAIN : 1. Joh n Sa ndo na: 2. Sam I Ermolenko; 3 . M ike Curoso ; 4 . Robert Pfetzi ng; 5. Keith Chrisc o: 6 . Scott Siv8 dge. SECOND DIY: 1. Ron Blan to n; 2. Mark Dwyer; 3 . Jo hn McNeill ; 4 . Pat Hawl ey; 5. Ran dy Blevins; 6 . Pat Cain . THIRD DIY: 1. Gu y Waterso n; 2 . Larry Wi ll ey; 3 . Darsow decides Denver dic e • spo nsored by Sh oei , H i-P o int , a nd Oi lsa ll , won hi s H an dica p heat , ca me in seco nd in the semi . th en went o n to win the Ha ndicap hea t. came in seco nd in th e semi , th en we n t o n to wi n the H andi cap main . Rob ins o n had a close shave in his hea t rac e whe n Dennis Bra n sfor d fell do wn a nd o ne of the co rne rm en was slow in removi ng hi s bi ke. ca using Rob in - so n to swerv e. b ut h e was a ble to maintain h is lead . To m Bu rb a was uanbl e to tra ns fer in Ha ndica p rac ing, bu t won hi s Scra tch h eat an d th e sem i a n d fin- is he d t h ir d i n t h e ma in. D a ve DeTemp le wo n hi s hea t race, fin ish ed seco nd in the sem i a nd in th e ma in . He didn't tra nsfer in Handicap rae- ing.Tn his hea t race he parked between turns o ne a nd two and then allowed himself to be disq ua lified by go ing in side the pole to not ca use a crash . Ro bert P fetzing , riding Mik e Fa ria' s ba ck-up bik e, won his Handicap and transferred to th e main where he was di squalified fo r ca using a red flag. He finished seco nd in h is Scratch heat, tra nsf erred to th e conso la tio n a nd finis hed th ird . Far ia was un a ble to ride du e to a kn ee inj ury sus ta ined at Co sta Mesa . Seco nd Divisi on h ea ts were wo n by T omm y Walton. Ed Cas tro, a nd J im C lausma n . T he seco nd heat had a fo ur-rider cra sh initi at ed by R on Wi llia ms. wh o go t hi s foot ta ng led u p in a bike. W illia ms rem o unted a nd finis hed seco n d afte r a restart. Ed Cas tro, sponso red by Da ve Whi tel y, Dea n Ski les a nd a roc k a nd ro ll ba n d ca lle d Chu ms ,' ca me bac k to win the main event.: Re su lt s SCRATCH MAIN: 1. Mike Bast ; 2. Dave DeTem - ple ; 3 . Tom Burba; 4 . Davis Sims. HANDICAP MAIN: 1. Buddy Robinson; 2. Mark Dwyer; 3 . Tim McCasland; 4 . Mike Bast ; 5 . Denny Scopelinle; 6 . Robert Pfetz i ng . SECOND DIY : 1. Ed Castro; 2 . Pat Hawley ; 3. Tommy Walton ; 4 . Jim Clausman; 5. Ken Hansen; 6. Ron W illiams. By Ern ie Fer guson DENVER, CO, MAY 6 Lance Darsow took all th e honors Friday night as h e bat - tled his way to the overall at th e National Western Ar ena in Den ver. Da rso w was h ot as he took th e corners on th e inside line to over - take su ch riders as Colorad o's number • one Ken n y Peiper a n d brother Dave Peiper , als o o ne o f th e sta te 's top rid- ers. Darso w fini shed seco nd in hi s fir st heat of th e eveni ng behind slick- ridin g Ri ck Steele an d then took th e flag i n the next Fir st Div ision Scratch h ea t ah ead of Bri an H oe!. In th e H andi cap semi main , he outraced th e field a n d sho t by Putt Mill s to take a lead he never relinquish ed . In th e Scra tch semi, Da rsow beat some o f the state's best wh en he too k the event o ver All en Rohr, Mike J au - don a n d H o e!. After finis hin g seco n d in the H an d ica p ma in, h e took th e black a nd whi te flag in th e Scra tch m ain ove r Sco tt O rm iston . Ji m my Tro udt a nd Ro h r. Daw son is a you ng ma n who is d efin itely a co mer. H e h as a lot of to p F irst Divisi on riders look in g o ver th eir sho u ld ers. T he Seco nd Divisi on was ca p tu red by J ack Peiper as h e had a good night over Denn is Har rlev, Sco tt Crooks a n d Jo h n nie Swi egar d t . Mar vi n Town ie,' took th e T h ird Divisio n with a ;\' in ove r Rod Perko. Bruce Wasso n a nd P eter Madden . Bast unbeatable at Hemet Aus tra l ian rider J ohn McNeill , la bel ing thg la rgest tra ck on the cir- cuit " m in u te," made a memorabl e so u thern Ca lifornia debut. H e im- proved w i th every rid e, won the H an d ica p consy. McNeill recently wo n the SRA Western Australia n cha mpionship in Perth . Results SCRATCH MAIN : 1. M ik e Feri e; 2. Sam Ermo- lenko: 3. Steve lucero: 4 . Sco tt Talkington. HANDICAP MAIN : 1. Greg Ayers; 2. Stev e Lucero; 3 . Sco tt Talkington; 4 . Mike Far ia; 5. J immy O'Dell; 6 . Tim McC8sland. SECOND DIY MAIN : 1. Guy Waterson; 2. Kev in Krugh ; 3. Carlos Cardona; 4 . Bently Barrett: 5. Mike Coniglio ; 6. Russ Romero. THIRD DIY MAIN: 1. Randy Beddoe; 2. Walt Far - num; 3 . John Dunn ; 4 . John Aitken; 5 . Richard Perkins; 6. Jim Evans . MATCH RACE: Buddy Robinson del. Scon Talk - ington . By Jim Brown HEMET, CA , MAY 14 For the first time, after two races this season, Hemet Speed- way was under the lights Sat- urday night. There was a good cro wd and without th e sun to d eal with . th e track held together qu it e well , with th e excepti on o f a bother- so m e hole in turn three that was mark ed off with lime to help the rid- er s a vo id it . The program was for Fir st and Second Di visions only. The Scrat ch ma in was won by Mike Bast , who a lso won th e Scrat ch semi a n d hi s Scr a tch heat. Except for Handicap racing , wh ere his 50-yard sta rti n g p osition was too much to o verco me, Bast was unbea table. Bast, spons ored by Justice Bros., R ivers id e ' Mi tsubishi, a nd Pre-Fab Erectors. still ma naged to tra ns fer into th e H andi- ca p m ain , bu t finish ed fourth . With all th e titl es and m ain events Bast has won . yo u m ight think it wo u ld be co m mo n p lace for h im. But whe n h e wi ns Bast still ge ts exci ted, lets ou t wi th a wa- hoo. does a whee lie a nd thro ws hi s go ggles in the stan ds. Buddy " Bud Man" Robin son won h is Scra tch h ea t, b u t was disq ua li fied in the Scratch semi for ca using a red flag . He then ca me back to win th e co n so la tio n . J o h n Sandona was lead- ing in that ra ce but wh en he ro u n ded tu rn fou r to tak e t he checkered fla g , he got too go o d a bit e o n th e track, went into a wh eel ie, was separa ted from hi s bike a n d dum pe d u ncere- m oni ou sly o n th e tra ck. ,~ C?b i n so~ Faria breaks drought in Ventura By Bill Locey VENTU RA, CA, MAY 10 Flyi n' Mi ke Fa ria ended his 0- for - 1983 drough t a n d wo n his first tro p hy in Ven tura (or any - where) as h e convincin gl y took th e Scra tch Ma in T uesday n igh t a t th e " Co m mo tio n by th e Ocean." P ro - gra m co ver bo y, Grey Ayers, too good for th e 10-yard-line, lived up to hi s billing by winning th e H andicap main for th e secon d co nsec u tive week . It was another week of su per- fas t a nd su pe r -safe racing as o n ly six riders fell with no one unabl e to walk away. Faria , adjustin g to hi s new Wes- lak e aft er a career on a Jawa, ha s alre ady clocked a 12.I-second lap tim e a ro u n d the one-fifth-m ile oval - tha t's fa ster than an y of th e three- quarter midget drivers have man aged yet on six Friday nights of racing. Ayers seems toI ike it just fin e i n Ventura as wei!. He proved it in a surprising thrashing of Fair in a Scratch h eat race; Faria was unbea ten thereafter. how ever. In a sem i, 1981 Track Champ Stev e Lucero had it locked up until he went too wide around turn two on th e final lap. T h is miscue allowed Scott Talking- ton a n d a dirt-splattered Rob Pf etz- i ng on the fin al bend to earn ' a transfer behind th e ever- improv ing T alkington. . In the Scratch main . Faria o ut- g a ted th e field from th e th ird sta rt in g spo t, go t to turn one fir st , a nd h eld off last week 's winner, Sam Ermo - lenko, to win by five lengths. In H andicap racing. Ayers wa s eve ry bit as a wes o me as he was la st week - win n ing three ti mes . Tim McCaslan d. th e Yell ow P er il, loo p ed it, sen d i ng hi s bike en d over end dow n th e straigh taway after th e ma in eve nt was o n ly a bo ut 10 feet a lo ng. Ayers went arou nd zero-yard -line - rider Jimmy O ' De ll a nd took a turn - o ne lead. Bu t Fa ria. like Ayers . a lso entered themain un bea ten, a nd began passing people on the ou tsid e. A turn-tw o bobble cost him, however, a n d Fl yin' Mike lost his ch a nce to g et aro u nd Talki n g to n and Lucero wh o were e nga g ed in a fra n tic fo u r -la p wheel -to -wheel ba tt le tha t sent 20- foot rooster ta il s flyin g thro ugh th e air. Ayer s won by half a la p. 28

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