By ?
Owego, NY, 1978
Champion Speedway regulars Hank Bassett and Rick Stone were an unbeaten group of four - NOT including 1977 winner Bobby Schwartz - when rain cut short last night's qualifying for tonight's U.S. Open Speedway Motorcycle championships.
Only three of four 10-heat rounds were completed, meaning that the fourth round must be run beginning at 6 p.m. tonight. After it is completed, the top 24 point scorers advance to round-robin semifinals which determine four finalists in the $12,600 event.
Bassett, Briarcliff Manor rider who was second to Schwartz last year and
currently tops Champion's rider standings:
Stone from West Cornwall, Conn.,
Marvin West, currently the top rider at Oklahoma City,
and Randy Oaks of Thousand Oaks Calif.,
all were a perfect 3-0.
Schwartz won his first and third heats, but crashed with former motocrosser Bobby Harris of Windsor on the first turn of his second heat. The crash left Santa Barbara's Schwartz, currently the top rider in California, far behind in the brief 4-lap heat but he managed to scramble back to second behind Bobby Haskell of Owego.
The suprising Haskell, who hasn't won a regular feature at Champion this season, and Schwartz were part of a 5-man group posting two firsts and one second. The other Champion regulars Norm Robinson of Spencerport and Gene Bonsignore of Rochester plus Californians Ron Rose (Newberry Park) and Brian Bishop (San Luis Obispo).
A crowd of about 1,500 watched the qualifying.
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