Orange County Roundup : Speedway Reunion Set for Costa Mesa

Former two-time world speedway motorcycle champion Bruce Penhall and seven-time U.S. champion Mike Bast head a field of retired riders who compete in the “Great Speedway Reunion” tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

The race, which will benefit the Childrens’ Hospital of Orange (CHOC), is scheduled to begin at 8 with gates opening at 6:30. Penhall is scheduled to compete in a best, two-of-three match race with Bast.

Other noted riders on the program include Sonny Nutter, “Wild” Bill Cody, two-time national champion Rick Woods, Dubb Ferrell, Ron Preston, Jim Fishback, Dave Sims, Danny Becker and Mark Cherry. Woods and Becker are also scheduled to compete in a match race.

Many of the riders were at a practice session last Saturday, but Woods declined an invitation to sharpen his riding skills, telling race organizers, “Practice? I’ve ridden there before.” Woods won his two titles on the tricky, 190-yard course at Costa Mesa.

Fishback, who now races in short-course, off-road series, said the adjustment from four wheels to the brakeless motorcycles was scary.

“I almost forgot how to ride these monsters,” Fishback said. “If you’re not on the gas, you don’t turn. If you don’t turn, you’re into the crash wall and there’s no brakes.”

Preston, who won the World Junior Championship in 1979, said some aching muscles were his biggest concern going into the race.

“I rode last week on a dry lake bed in El Centro, and it felt like I never had been off the bike,” he said. “I rode for 11 years, and you never forget.”

Area Notes

Former Troy High School basketball star Mark Wulfemeyer is offering private instruction to any youngsters looking to improve their basketball skills. Contact Wulfemeyer for details at (714) 859-8257. . . . Mike Barber and Doug Smith of the Rams have joined George Andrews in promoting the George Andrews Tackle Fund, a non-profit organization that helps raise funds to combat child abuse. Specifically, the fund raises money for Rancho Damacitas, a center providing long-term care and counseling for abused children throughout the Southland. For more information, contact the fund at (714) 676-5516. . . . The California Athletic Commission has sanctioned a 12-round bout between George Garcia of Santa Ana and Redlands’ Luis Hernandez for the vacant State bantamweight championship. The fight will be at the Irvine Marriott on Oct. 24. . . .The number of runners participating in Sunday’s Coronado Bridge 10-K run is being limited to 6,000. Contact the Leukemia Society of America, Inc., in San Diego at (619) 283-6131 for details. . . . Kathy Butler of Garden Grove recently helped the U.S. bowling team win a silver medal at the American Zone Competition in Colombia. The U.S. team finished second to Mexico there.