Race Watch
RACE WATCH
You And Me Against The World
BRUCE PENHALL IS RETURNING TO speedway racing. But not as a rider. Instead, America’s only two-time speedway world champion will serve as manager for the United States entry in the World Team Cup Final, to be held August 10 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.
Penhall’s return to speedway is especially noteworthy when you consider that past U.S. teams have had an Englishman. John Scott, as their mentor. “John and I will actually be co-managers,” Penhall said. Their duties are divided, Scott concerning himself with the team's tactical decisions, while Penhall’s main job is to help the riders read and adjust to the track conditions during the evening.
And for that, Penhall figures he’ll have his hands full throughout the 20-race program. “Most of the American riders aren't used to racing against the best in the world,” he said. “Let's face it. British League racing is the best in the world, and we have only a few Americans riding over there now.” Yet some of the national teams the Americans will face, particularly the English team, will consist of nothing but British League-riders.
I’m a little bit worried about some of our guys’ machinery, too,” says Penhall. “Their bikes are good, but they’re set up for short tracks, such as Costa Mesa, rather than the long tracks.” And since the World Team Cup Final is an FIM world championship race, the Long Beach track must be a minimum of 440 yards long—more than twice the length of the Costa Mesa track.
Still, the Americans have one advantage over the three other teams competing in the World Team Cup Final. They are the host team, and all of the U.S. riders are familiar with the Long Beach oval. The Nissan-American Final, the U.S. qualifying round that determines this country's five representatives for the individual World Final, is held at Long Beach every June. And Bobby Schwartz, the man who dominated the American Final last year by winning all five of his heats, is considered America’s strongest rider for this year’s World Team Cup. “Bobby is riding nearly perfect right now,” claims Penhall. As of June, Schwartz was one of the top> three point leaders in British League, and considered a prime candidate to captain the U.S. squad.
But it will take more than one man to win the World Team Cup Final at Long Beach; it will take a group effort. And that’s where Penhall, as co-manager, hopes to play a significant role. “It’s the biggest race for me; I want to win that thing,’’ he said. And when Penhall wants to win, there’s not much that can stop him. He proved that during his final two years of racing. Now he'd like to return to speedway just as he left it—a winner.
Kevin Schwantz: Instant Superstar
If you haven’t been to a national roadrace in the last six months, well . . . sorry, but you missed it. Because since December, the discovery, the rise and the arrival of Kevin Schwantz as America's next roadracing superstar happened. Don't worry, though, because chances are there will be plenty more of Schwantz’s career to catch in the next few years. He has just signed a contract with U.S. Suzuki for the '86 and '87 Superbike seasons, as that company tries to end Honda's dominance of American roadracing.
Most overnight success stories are of anything hut overnight success. A racer pays his dues for years, then suddenly receives an avalanche of publicity. But Schwantz’s story really is one of instant success. The first time he ever swung a leg over a Superbike was on December 2 of last year. The Superbike was Yoshimura’s Suzuki, the place was Willow Springs—a track on which Schwantz had never raced—and the> event was a local club race. Yoshimura was looking for an heir to the ride held by the soon-todepart Wes Cooley, and was weeding through a multitude of would-be superstars. Cycle News Editor John Ulrich, who had noticed Schwantz at a few endurance races, convinced Yoshimura to give this young unknown from Houston an in-race tryout. So Schwantz, an inexperienced kid riding an unfamiliar bike on an unfamiliar track, proceeded to walk away from the field, turning lap times that would have made Cooley himself proud.
Obviously,Schwantz got the Yoshimura ride. And he has been beating the best riders in the country ever since.
But even though his Superbike success has come swiftly, Schwantz is no stranger to competition. He’s been involved in trials, motocross, short-track and TT most of his life, only turning his attention to production roadracing in the past two-anda-half years. He comes from a motorcycling family; his father. Jim, was an accomplished trials rider in Texas, and his uncle and former employer. Houston Yamaha dealer Darryl Hurst, won the Houston short-track National in 1975. But Hurst believes that his nephew’s riding ability is not acquired by association. but is instead natural. “It's his balance, probably,” claims Hurst. “He has that same ability that Kenny Roberts had to do just the right thing at the right time. He reminds me a lot of Kenny.” > Schwantz’s riding style reminds Cvele News ' Ulrich of another rider. “He’s like a roadrace version of Bob Hannah,” Ulrich says. No matter who you ask, though, everyone agrees that Schwantz is a young man who can push a roadrace bike past its limits and still bring it back in one piece.
Whether that sheer ability will be enough to let Schwantz steal the Superbike crown from Honda remains to be seen. But Suzuki has just bet that it will be more than enough.
Super-Tight Supercross
In Supercross, there’s usually one rider every year who outshines the rest, who gives it everything he’s got andjust a little bit more. But not this year. In 1985 there are four riders who stand out. With only one round left in the 1 1-event series,
Broc Glover and Jeff Ward are locked in a tie for the series points lead, and within 10 points are Ron Lechien and Rick Johnson.
There have been other close contests in the Supercross series before, but never has there been so much depth, so many almost-equal riders. Of all the riders, the only one who has won more than a single event is Ron Lechien, but, top of the four, he's also the rider with the worst finishes.
Indeed, it seems that everyone who's anyone has taken his turn in the winner’s circle this year. Lechien has three wins, and Glover. Ward, Johnson, Mark Barnett, Bob Hannah. Johnny O'Mara and David Bai-> ley have all taken one race each. It all comes down to the wire at Pasadena in August. None of the top four has ever won a Supercross title before, but if you had to pick a favorite it would have to be one of the two veterans, Glover or Ward. Regardless of who becomes the next Supercross champ, though, one thing is for sure: he’ll take the title the old-fashioned way—he'll earn it.
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