Northrup Flies Again
by Tom Simrak
Speedway from turn two
www.geocities.com/MotorCity/6390
There is somthing to be said about Orange County Harley Night
at Costa Mesa. It is always the biggest night of the year in the stands. And tonight
was no exeption. A crowd of over 35 thousand people saw history in the making.
I didi not say it was history to be proud of though. In a support B race, two riders
crashed at the start finish line taking out the hay bails, flag stand and 24 year vet starter
Jerry King. I have never seen that before. Jerry was OK.
In the second heat race of the night, Brad Oxley was pinched down low. Having no place to go
Brad went to the infield. The rules say if both tires cross the pipes your out.
Oxley came back on the track and continued. In the next turn all hell broke loose.
3 or 4 riders came together stopping the race. Form where I sit it looked as if
it was Brads fault. The crash damaged Jerry Blacks bike and sent him into a rage.
People came to calm him down but it didn't work. Jerry is a big guy and it would take
more than one person to stop him. And it did. When all was said and done Black was DQed
for the rest od the night for punching the ref. Another first for speedway. You think the ref
was done for the night, Guess again. In the scratch main, Charlie Venegas had his turn.
Charlie das DQed for touching the tapes. It looked to me as though Charlie anticipated
the start but did not touch. I was not as close as the ref so I can't say he was wrong.
Charlie argued the call but refused to leave the track. John Aden a few weeks ago showed
us that this will cost $100.00 and a one week suspension. Charlie went around the track
and started to line up again. This is when it got ugly. Some guy on the infield, I don't
know who he was or thought he was, took it upon himself to disable Charlies bike. He reached
in aknocked Charlie over while pulling on his kill cord. Riders came rushing to Cahrlies aid
from in the pits, Security gaurds ran onto the track. It took Bobby Schwartz and a three hundred
pound gaurd to hold Charlie back. Now because this is my page I think I can give my opinions.
First off, I think this ref is doing a good job. He is still learning but he is diong good.
I do however think he needs to use a little more discretion(spelling?) Maybe he should throw fewer
riders out and just move them back 20 or 30 yards. These riders pay alot of money to ride here.
There pay checks are not all that big anymore. One bad call by the ref puts a big bang
in their wallets. they sould be givin a chance to ride. If they keep getting DQed for calls
that they feel are bad they will stop racing here. They will go up north where they can race
3-4 nights a week and make big money. Also the fans may stop coming if their favorite riders
keep getting tossed. Might I suggest the addition a second ref. Nobody can eepect one ref to
see it all. If there was two maybe that would help. Brad, If your listening, I would be willing
to offer my services free of charge. Anything to see this problem worked out. As much as I love
this sport I would hate to see it fail.
Ok how about some results.
Handicap semi #1 Handicap semi #2
1st Northrup 1st Lucero
2nd Hicks 2nd Chism
3rd Venegas 3rd Ackroyd
4th Faria 4th Schwartz
all transfer to main event
Handicap main event
1st Northrup
2nd Hicks
3rd Schwartz
4th Faria
5th Lucero
6th Ackroyd
7th Chism
8th Venegas (DNS)
scratch semi #1 Scratch semi #2
1st Hicks 1st Venegas
2nd Northrup 2nd Oxley
3rd Lucero 3rd Faria
4th Castro 4th Pearce
1st two to main 2nd two to last chance
Last chance main
1st Faria
2nd Castro
3rd Lucero
4th Pearce
winner only to main event
Scratch main event
1st Hicks
2nd Oxley
3rd Northrup
4th Faria
5th Venegas (DQed)
Support main event
1st Johnnie Walker (red)
Sidecar main event
Dean Steele and Dwayne King
return to HOME page
back to RESULTS page