1995 California Speedway Race Results

Del Mar Speedway, October 14, 1995

A pleasant surprise, just as we thought the season was over. This was the weekend of the Del Mar Mile, a big AMA flat track event, which took place on the Sunday. There was an extremely good motorcycle show on the Saturday, and J C Agajanian, former promoter of Ascot Speedway managed to get a speedway track put together for the one night occasion in the Del Mar rodeo stadium. And what an excellent track it was.

Scratch Main

1. Bobby Schwartz
2. Steve Lucero
3. Charlie Venegas
4. Shawn McConnell
5. Rob Pfetzing

Handicap Main

1. Steve Lucero
2. Brad Oxley
3. Charlie Venegas
4. Rob Pfetzing
5. Don Odom
6. Doug Nicol
7. Shawn McConnell
8. Gary Ackroyd

Support Class Main

1. Mike Reed
2. Jason Daniels
3. Paul Colston
4. Richard Jones
5. David Lynch
6. Larry Rowley

Del Mar Sidecars, October 14, 1995

Results are from Bob Brayton ( SidecarBob@msn.com )

On the night before the Del Mar Mile, promoter Chris Agajanian brought Speedway Racing to the picturesque Horse arena. The night proved to be one of total enjoyment for the over 3000 spectators to show up for the event scheduled at the last minute. The Speedway Sidecars had the fans cheering for most of the night as their high horse powered rigs hit the long oval. The high speed straightaways and the tight turns made for a very close night of racing. The #2 Team of Bob Brayton and Frank Tamburelli provided plenty of their own excitement as they threaded their way past the rigs of the #29 team of Matherson and Cole and the #X4 team of Carmont and Taling to win the main event of the evening. What, you don't like our shows?

Sidecar Main Event

1. USA #2 Brayton / Tamburelli (Hon)
2. USA #29 Matherson / Cole (Yam)
3. NZ #X4 Carmont / Taling (Hon)
4. USA #69 Partain / Albright (Kaw)
5. USA #8 Hall / Moreno (Kaw)
6. USA #5 Matherson / Leeder (Yam)

US National Speedway Championship, September 16, 1995

1. Greg Hancock 13
2. Bobby Schwartz 13
3. Steve Lucero 12
4. Charlie Venegas 11
5. Rob Pfetzing 9
6. Bobby Hedden 8
7. Josh Larsen 8
8. Bart Bast 7
9. Jim Sisemore 7
10. Gary Hicks 7
11. Brad Oxley 7
12. Gary Ackroyd 6
13. Shawn McConnell 4
14. Andy Northrup 4
15. Don Odom 2
16. Mark Hannah 0

Reserves: Bob Hicks 1 Jesse Finch 1

The Costa Mesa track was in even better shape than normal. No blue groove appeared and there was a lot of overtaking. By far the largest crowd of the year, at 7,204. Many surprises in the opening heats. Favourites were Hancock, Lucero, and Gary Hicks. Hicks came 4th in the first heat. Hancock was beaten by Venegas in heat two. Schwartz relegated Lucero to second in heat 3. Josh Larsen, also a favourite after being runner up last year had a terrible start and salvaged 3rd place in heat 4. Venegas came 4th in heat 5 for no real reason, putting an end to his chances of winning the title. Hancock lost a point to Gary Hicks in Heat 7. Schwartz lost both his points in heat 12 when Hancock lead from the gate. With remarkable determination, Bobby Hedden then took 2nd place from Schwartz, overtaking him on the outside. Schwartz announced earlier in the season that he is retiring at the end of this year and certainly went out on a high.

At half time Rob Pfetzing was ahead on 9 points, Lucero had 8 and Hancock and Schwartz had 7. Pfetzing's early rides proved to be easier than his last two, from which he scored nothing. Josh Larsen had a terrible start to the evening, then seemed to come alive in heat 16, winning and taking another point from Lucero. By the end of heat 17 Schwartz had 13 points and was unbeatable. Lucero and Hancock came together in heat 18, each with 10 points. Hancock elbowed his way to the front in the first lap and that's how it finished. Once there, he seemed 10mph faster than everyone else. The run off for first between Schwartz and Hancock was not as spectacular as expected. The first attempt did not complete a lap. Schwartz was leading into turn 3, when Hancock found traction and ran into him. In the re-run, Hancock lead from the start and Schwartz did not even attempt to catch him.

Two topics for discussion in the pub afterwards: Would Hancock have got past Schwartz, in the first re-run? Should Hancock have been disqualified for causing the accident? Either way, Hancock was a worthy winner, he was incredibly fast and showed remarkable talent to succeed on European 1/4 mile tracks then do the same on Costa Mesa's 185 yard mini-track. Another interesting observation. Nobody visibly suffered mechanical problems all evening. Well that's it from sunny California till next year.

Costa Mesa Speedway, September 8 1995

Scratch Main

1. Gary Hicks
2. Brad Oxley
3. Steve Lucero
4. Shawn McConnell
5. Charlie Venegas

Handicap Main

1. Shawn McConnell
2. Steve Lucero
3. Brad Oxley
4. Andy Northrup
5. Gary Ackroyd
6. Gary Hicks
7. Jesse Finch
8. Randy Beddow

Support Class Main

1. Kenny Hansen
2. Randy Skinner
3. Jason Daniels
4. John O'Neil
5. Tom Collier
6. John DeFries

Costa Mesa Speedway, September 1, 1995

Scratch Main

1. Steve Lucero
2. Brad Oxley
3. Bobby Schwartz
4. Andy Northrup
5. Charlie Venegas

Handicap Main

1. Lance King
2. Steve Lucero
3. Andy Northrup
4. Brad Oxley
5. Brian Pappalardo
6. Dave Taylor
7. Mark Hannah
8. Jason Chism

Support Class Main

1. Bob Richards
2. Randy Skinner
3. Mike Reed
4. Richard Jones
5. David Lynch
6. John DeFries
7. Bryan Thompson
8. Tony Gomez

I missed last weekend's Victorville meeting. Apparently the meeting was abandoned after the riders walked out following an accident in which Randy Evans incurred serious head injuries. From the riders I have spoken to, the reason given was unhappiness over the medical facilities and the condition of the track. The promoters decided to cancel the remaining speedway meetings for the rest of the season at both Victorville and Glen Helen. Apparently Glen Helen lost money this year, and is unlikely to reopen next year, as things look today, although there is a lot of hope that this will change. Victorville had a sidecar only meeting this weekend and as things stand today will have sportsman class speedway next season, as well as sidecars. Again, this may change. So, there is only one more regular meeting at Costa Mesa, then the Costa Mesa National Final on Sept. 16, then that's it for 1995. A sad end to the season.

Costa Mesa Speedway, August 25, 1995

Scratch Main

1. Charlie Venegas
2. Steve Lucero
3. Bobby Schwartz
4. Andy Northrup
5. Rob Pfetzing

Handicap Main

1. Jesse Finch
2. Brad Oxley
3. Steve Lucero
4. Mark Hannah
5. Charlie Venegas
6. David Taylor
7. Don Odom
8. Gary Ackroyd

Support Main

1. Tom Collier
2. John De Vries
3. Larry Rowley
4. Danny Holt
5. Mike Boyle
6. John O'Neil

Costa Mesa Speedway, August 11 1995

Best Pairs:

1. Shawn McConnell 10 Don Odom 12
2. Bobby Schwartz 18 Jesse Finch 3
3. Rob Pfetzing 14 Andy Northrup 5
4. Steve Lucero 15 Gary Ackroyd 2
5. Doug Nicol 10 Mark Hannah 6
6. Charlie Venegas 10 Jason Chism 6
7. Brad Oxley 14 Brian Pappalardo 1

McConnell and Odom won, mostly because they demonstrated the ability to ride as a team. Also, many of the other teams had members with widely different talent levels, that there was not much from half a lap away.

Best Pairs Final (One member from each team)

1. Venegas
2. Lucero
3. Oxley
4. McConnell
5. Northrup
6. Schwartz

Support class main

1. David Taylor
2. Randy Skinner
3. Craig DePillippi
4. Larry Rowley
5. Danny Holt
6. Tom Collier

I am out of town next week, so there wont be any reports for a while. Thanks also for the interest and gratitude many of you have expressed in these results. - Gary Roberts

Glen Helen, August 5 - California State Championship.

1. Steve Lucero 15
2. Charlie Venegas 14
3. John Aden 12
4. Jim Estes 9
5. Greg Ayers 9
6. Jerry Black 8
7. Paul Colston 8
8. Walt Farnum 7
9. Steve Furman 7
10. Bobby Schwartz 7
11. Jake Zemke 6
12. Jesse Finch 5
13. Angela Hale 4
14. Randy DiFrancesco 3
15. Craig Furman 3
16. Rick Pearce 3

The track was again not good. For much of the evening there was only really one line around it. In comparison with recent California State Championships there were many top names missing. (Rob Pfetzing, Gary Hicks, Brad Oxley, Gary Ackroyd rode the previous night at Costa Mesa, but were not on the program). Bobby Schwartz was back 4 weeks after breaking a collarbone and was clearly not back to form. Jim Estes, as top Glen Helen points scorer had a disappointing evening, ending with a broken primary chain as the gate went up. Despite all this, there were some excellent races. The championship decider was the penultimate race, which brought Lucero and Venegas both with 12, Aden with 11, and Bobby Schwartz together. By this time the track had flattened down. Lucero kept to the inside and Venegas took the outside and the lead swapped several times. Both riding with everything they knew how, it was probably the best race I've ever seen. Lucero won, making it his third State Championship win.

Support Class Championship

1. Randy Beddow
2. Brian Pappalardo
3. Rodney Sherman
4. Joe Erhardt

Costa Mesa Speedway, August 4

Scratch Main

1. Brad Oxley
2. Steve Lucero
3. Charlie Venegas
4. Don Odom
5. Jesse Finch

Handicap Main

1. Lance King
2. Steve Lucero
3. Andy Northrup
4. Joe Erhardt
5. Don Odom
6. Randy Evans
7. Doug Nicol
8. Jake Zemke (nonstarter)

Support class Main

1. Craig DePhillippi
2. Paul Colston
3. Bill Green
4. Tony Wood (NZ)

Both the handicap main and the support class main were incomplete races. Despite a very well prepared track there were an unusual number of accidents. The handicap main, the last race of the evening was running late and an accident resulted in it having to be re-started. Steve Lucero went into the pits to make adjustments and the promoter told the man on the gate to not let him back out. Jake Zemke came back to the pit gate to tighten his carburetor screws and the promoter refused to give him 2 minutes, and sent him back into the pits. The gate opened to let him in, Lucero came back out and was back in the restart. Another accident stopped the race after 5 of 8 laps, and the finishing positions were established from the order of the previous lap.

Victorville Speedway, July 23

The track was in good shape and stayed that way. Excellent racing throughout.

Scratch Main

1. Charlie Venegas
2. Andy Northrup
3. John Aden
4. Dustin Schroeder (broke tapes and disqualified)

A disappointing result. Steve Lucero had a disastrous heat race and Jim Estes had engine failure, so did not qualify.

Handicap Main

1. Jake Zemke
2. Jesse Finch
3. Andy Northrup
4. Steve Lucero
5. Charlie Venegas
6. John Aden

Support Main

1. Craig Dephillippi
2. Kenny Hansen (Canada)
3. Aaron Nichols
4. Rick Seip
5. Bentley Barrett
6. Bill Green

Glen Helen, July 21

Costa Mesa was closed, due to the Orange County Fair, so there were more riders than usual. The track was a mess and didn't get any better through the evening. This resulted in many accidents, some with involving injuries. Gaps between races were long, delaying our visit to the Screaming Chicken Saloon till after 11.30. Many good races though.

Scratch Main

1. Charlie Venegas
2. Jesse Finch
3. Jim Estes
4. John Aden
5. Greg Ayers

Handicap main

1. Rick Pearce
2. Walt Farnum
3. Steve Donovan
4. Greg Ayers
5. Randy Francesco
6. Charlie Venegas (From 120 yard handicap)
7. Jerry Black
8. Steve Furman

A result without total agreement. The race was stopped after 4 laps when Pearce, then in second place, having been overtaken by Farnum, had to lay it down to avoid a track marshal removing the fallen Furman's machine. Meanwhile Steve Donovan had slowed, having thought he saw a red light and Ayers had overtaken him. The results were backed up a lap, but it was not clear as to the start of which previous lap. Farnum did a lap of honor, before the referee reversed the result.

Support Main

1. Fred Timberlake
2. Rick Seip
3. Mitch Hall
4. Craig Dephillippi
5. Kon Baur
6. Cory Lucier

Victorville Speedway, July 15

Scratch Main

1. Billy Hamill
2. Jim Estes
3. Walt Farnum
4. Steve Lucero (very expensive engine failure - rod through the case)

Handicap Main

1. Jason Chism
2. Billy Hamill
3. Andy Northrup then Jake Zemke, Matt Becker, Walt Farnum, apologies, missed order of last 3, it was late)

Support Main

1. Kenny Hansen (Canada)
2. Bill Ewing
3. Rick Seip
4. Bill Green

Glen Helen Speedway - July 14

Scratch Main:

1. Jim Estes
2. Jesse Finch
3. Walt Farnum
4. John Aden
5. Jerry Black

Handicap Main

1. Randy Beddow
2. Paul Colston
3. Jake Zemke
4. Walt Farnum
5. Dustin Evans
6. Rick Pearce
7. Steve Donovan
8. John Aden (qualified, but non-start)
9. Tom Wetzel
10. Mike Reed
11. John DeVries
12. Rick Seip
13. Cory Lussier
14. Craig DePhillippi

Victorville Speedway for July 8, 1995

Scratch Main

1. Steve Lucero
2. Jim Estes
3. John Aden
4. Charlie Venegas (fell and disq)

Handicap Main

1. Steve Lucero
2. Charlie Venegas
3. Jerry Black
4. John Aden
5. Tony Wood (NZ)
6. Paul Colston

Support Main

1. Bill Green
2. Kenny Hansen (Canada)
3. Rick Pearce
4. Mark Hesse