Paso Robles Speedway Paso Robles, California
May 30, 1997 - US Final Qualifier
Paso Robles Speedway
From: Gary Roberts
The Paso Robles round of the US final qualifier took place on Friday
night at the Paso Robles Fairground Rodeo arena, that was converted into
a speedway track for the night. The D shaped track looked OK, although
the surface was breaking up a bit towards the end, I guess due to the
same problem that we have at Santa Maria every week, extreme heat and
winds.
Racing was excellent. A few surprises, but it was no surprise that Bobby
Schwartz came out the winner. He looked like winning it all night. He
dropped only one point to Bob Hicks in the qualifier, and after a good
battle with Bart Bast, won the semi, then went on to win the main. None
were easy, but 40 year old Bob did it.
After three and a half laps in the lead, John Aden began to look like he
would win the main, but Bobby who had been on his heels all the way
through, made his move going into turn three and was followed by Bob
Bobby Hedden.
Embarrasment of the night was Randy DiFrancesco. As first reserve, he
replaced no-show Paul Colston. He won two qualifying heats and took at
second in the other, including a win over John Aden. I don't understand
why he didn't make the semi-final. Randy has been a consistent winner at
Santa Maria, but against division 2 riders, many with 2 months racing
experience. It was good to see him succeed among such competition.
I have listed the results based on the total scores for both the Paso
Robles round, and the 2 week earlier Costa Mesa round.
PR CM Total
Bobby Schwartz 23 24 47
John Aden 21 23 44
Mike Faria 20 20 40
Bart Bast 16 21 37
Bobby Hedden 22 9 31
Shawn McConnell 15 15 30
Bob Hicks 14 15 29
Brad Oxley 5 16 21
Pat Lynn 8 13 21
Louis Kossuth 10 10 20
Rick Pearce 7 11 18
Jerry Black 10 7 17
Andy Northrup 13 3 16
Robert Curry 8 7 15
Gary Ackroyd 5 10 15
Kelly Bennett 8 7 15
Matt Becker 8 5 13
Eddie Castro 9 4 13
Randy DiFrancesco 12* 12 Reserve 4 rides
Chad Felicio 5 6 11
Vance Felicio 4 5 9
Jason Chism 1 7 8
Jason Daniels 3 5 8
Brian Pappalardo 5 3 8
Paul Colston 0 5 5
Chalie Cooley 1 0 1 Reserve 2 rides
My understanding is that there is another round at Auburn next Friday
and from the total of these three, top scorers will be selected for the
US final. THere will be a further 2 rounds, one at Dixon, one at
Bakersfield (?) and from the total of the 5 rounds top scorers will be
selected for the national at Costa Mesa at the end of the season. Sorry
if I seem a bit vague. I've not been to Costa Mesa since the season
opener because I moved 400 miles north, so have lost track somewhat of
what is going on.
The US final at Costa Mesa also strikes me as wrong. I agree
wholeheartedly with what the UK based US riders say in the speedway
star. The skills to win races at Costa Mesa are not necessarily the same
as those needed to win races in the UK. On an upright engined machine,
it is quite possible for a local rider to qualify from the US final.
They practice there every week. Chris Manchester moved to the UK to
further his speedway career. He has not ridden at Costa Mesa for
certainly months, probably years. Chris rode well over here, he even won
a national at Costa Mesa, he was selected to ride for a UK club, where
his UK riding skills have developed. To ask him to go back to Costa Mesa
to qualify in a US final is not compatible with the direction that his
skill set has been developing. There is a danger that America's best may
have their place taken by a Costa Mesa specialist who won't have the
resources to take advantage of the next round.
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