Motorcyclist Finally Gets a Lucky Break : Racing: After recovering from injury, Pfetzing qualifies for U.S. National when another rider is hurt.

Speedway motorcyclist Rob Pfetzing of Orange finally got a good break this week when he was moved from first reserve into the starting field for the U.S. National Saturday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Pfetzing, 23, broke his right ankle May 30 in Perris and had been sidelined four months when he got a telephone call Wednesday to inform him that he would be among the 16 riders in the field.

Pfetzing was injured racing Alan Christian and Mike Faria in a scratch heat at Perris. The three were in a tight formation on the inside groove of the track when Christian clipped Faria’s rear tire, lost control and crashed into Pfetzing.

“I knew it was broken immediately,” Pfetzing said. “I told the ambulance crew, ‘Get me some ice. I broke my ankle.’ Then, I asked them if there were any bones sticking out. I didn’t want to look.”

Coincidentally, Pfetzing’s big break in reaching the championship came when Chris Manchester broke his collarbone last Saturday playing football with friends on his front lawn in Hesperia.

“Fortunately, I went riding in Corona Tuesday to see if the right ankle is strong enough,” Pfetzing said. “I taped my ankle heavily and used a motocross boot. It was plenty strong, but it was little sore the next day.”

Pfetzing broke his ankle in eight places. Doctors placed screws in his ankle, and it took nearly three months to rehabilitate. He received a doctor’s release to race about a month ago, but took off another month to make sure his ankle was healed.

Pfetzing was ranked third in the riders’ point standings when he was injured, and could only watch as he dropped to 14th place during his layoff. The top 13 riders from Southern California, the top two from Northern California and overseas rider Rick Miller were assured of berths in the championship.

“I hate to make the field at the expense of another rider, but injuries are a big part of racing,” Pfetzing said. “The doctor said I was 80% healed, and I wanted to make sure I was 100% before I started riding again. I resisted the temptation of coming back too soon.”

In the meantime, Pfetzing attended the races every Friday night at Costa Mesa and has no doubt that two-time U.S. champion Bobby Schwartz and defending champion Mike Faria are the riders to beat this season for the title.

Pfetzing insists Schwartz is the “odds-on favorite” to win the championship because of his starting ability and professionalism. He thinks Faria is making the best starts of his career and rates Steve Lucero with “an outside chance” at winning.

“Those three and myself will be in the hunt,” Pfetzing said. “I can make better starts than anyone. I haven’t ridden in four months, so I won’t be as smooth, but my gating (starts) won’t be a problem. My only concern is that I might be a little gun-shy.”

Promoter Harry Oxley said the layoff has hurt Pfetzing’s chances of winning the title, but he thinks the veteran rider will score at least one upset during the evening. Each rider will compete in five heat races on the 20-event program.

“I don’t think he can finish in the top five,” Oxley said. “When you sit around for four months with a broken ankle, you can’t expect to be in tip-top shape. But Rob showed he had the ability to beat anyone early in the season before he got hurt.”

This won’t be the first time Pfetzing has sneaked into a championship race. Last year, he missed the opening half of the season and two qualifying rounds with a back injury. He scored enough points in the final qualifier at the fairgrounds to make the field.

Pfetzing barely qualified, but he finished tied for fifth with Rick Miller in the 1990 championship. Pfetzing’s best finish came in 1986, when he tied Schwartz for first place with 14 points but lost the title in a runoff.

“I was national champion for 12 minutes,” Pfetzing said. “Bobby beat me with his experience. He knew it would be a quick gate (starting tapes would release quickly) and was prepared. He beat me with a better gate that night.”

Faria and Josh Larsen, who ride for Jim Russell Racing, were fined $100 and given a 14-day suspended sentence for failing to use the community fuel drum provided by promoter Stu Peters at the State championship Sept. 28 at Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore.

Under American Motorcycle Assn. rules, all riders who compete in the state or national championship are required to fuel their bikes from a common drum provided by the promoter. The rule assures that all riders are using the same fuel.

Faria and Larsen fueled their bikes from a can provided by tuner Don Russell at Glen Helen. Referee Jim Fishback tested the fuel for additives at the conclusion of the program, but was unable to detect any additives.

“I don’t believe they were using additives, but they both know the rule and they broke the rule,” Fishback said.

Schwartz, 35, was the big winner on the Southern California circuit this year. The veteran rider won 36 main events at four tracks, or 20 more than this closest rival, Faria. Schwartz had most of his success at Glen Helen, where he beat Faria for the State championship two weeks ago.

Schwartz had 14 main event victories at Glen Helen. Faria and Schwartz each won eight scratch main events at Costa Mesa.

The big losers this season were track promoters. The weekly program at Victorville closed in August and attendance declined 22,800 at Costa Mesa compared to last season.

Last year, 104,800 fans attended the weekly races at Costa Mesa for an average of 4,192 on Friday nights. This year, only 82,008 attended the races for an average of 3,417 per night.

Shawn Moran of Huntington Beach, who lost the world championship in a runoff to Per Jansson of Sweden at Bradford, England, last season, recently announced his retirement. Moran told Speedway Star magazine he plans to stay in Britain and “get a real job.”

Like some boxing retirements, speedway retirements are seldom permanent. Most figure Moran will return to racing next season.

Moran’s older brother, Kelly, was the last rider to repeat as national champion, turning the trick in 1983-84.