Faria Found His Success on the Slide : Motorcycle racing: He tries to become the second rider in 24 years to win the speedway nationals three times in a row.

It took Mike Faria more than 15 years to win the No. 1 plate in speedway motorcycle racing, and the 35-year-old veteran is not ready to give it up. Faria will be going for his third consecutive championship in the U.S. Speedway Nationals tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Only one rider, Mike Bast, has won the nationals three times in a row in the last 24 years. Bast won it seven times, including five in a row from 1975 to 1979.

As a tuneup last Saturday night, Faria won the California state championships at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino for the third time--not in a row. The field of 16 riders was nearly the same as for the nationals, except for Ronnie Correy and Billy Hamill, riders from the British League who flew in Thursday for tonight’s race.

“They’re coming from a season of riding much larger tracks, and I don’t know if they can adapt quickly enough to such a small track as Costa Mesa, even though they’ve ridden there in the past,” Faria said. “I think some of the locals, fellows like Steve Lucero and Bobby Schwartz, and maybe the kid, Chris Manchester, will be tough. They’ve been riding Costa Mesa every week.

“I’m the one they’ll have to beat, though. I was high-point man at Costa Mesa this year and I got a break in the draw. All I need is five good gates (starts). My mechanic (Bubba Connors) drew the No. 1 starting spot for me. That means I’ll start on the inside for two of my most important heats.”

Faria will be easy to spot in his pink and blue leathers, which match the color scheme of his British-built 500cc Weslake bike.

In the nationals, each rider races five times, facing every other rider once, in a series of 20 four-lap races.

The most important heat may be the first, in which Faria will start from the inside against both Hamill and Correy, plus Bart Bast, Mike’s nephew.

“That pairing means one of the three favorites is going to come out with only a third place, and it’s very tough to win the nationals with a third place in any heat,” promoter Harry Oxley said. “I think we are going to see a new name on the championship trophy. I feel that Faria’s success at the state championships and his past two national titles have made him overconfident and he’s liable to lose points early in the night.”

In addition to his victories the last two years, Faria finished second twice, in 1982 to Shawn Moran and 1983 to Kelly Moran. In 1985, he appeared to have the championship won when he was knocked down by Mike Curuso in his final heat.

It makes for a strange scenario, but Faria’s big break might have been the result of a devastating fire on Thanksgiving Day in 1988.

“Eighteen years of my career went up in flames that day,” Faria recalled. “I had just returned from a year in the British League and had new bikes and new leathers hanging in the garage next to my house in Colton. I had three bikes, 10 sets of leathers and all my tools and spare parts there. It was about an $80,000 wipeout and my insurance didn’t cover it because the garage wasn’t attached to the house.

“I was really down, but I pitted for Steve Lucero a few months later in the Spring Classic and realized how much I missed speedway. I showed up opening night at Costa Mesa wearing motocross pants and a rugby shirt. I borrowed a bike from Lucero and won the scratch main.”

His plucky attitude caught the attention of Warren Russell, a Downey businessman, whose son was a speedway rider. Russell, who earlier had sponsored power boats and funny car dragsters, decided to sponsor Faria.

“It was the turning point in my life,” Faria said. “Everything fell into place. Warren supplied me with motors, machines, leathers, a mechanic, everything I needed to give me the freedom and confidence I needed. I had always ridden as a privateer, scratching for everything as I went along. Suddenly my career just hooked up.”

In midseason this year, Faria moved from Colton to Russell’s home in Downey because of marital problems, and plans to relocate there. That may make the southeast L.A. suburb the motorcycle capital of the world. Wayne Rainey, who won his third consecutive world road racing championship last month, also lives there.

“Maybe it’s an omen,” Faria said. “One Downey guy won three straight, so another guy ought to be able to do it, too.”

After tonight’s nationals, Faria and Schwartz will head for Australia and New Zealand to ride on the Ivan Mauger circuit, named in honor of the six-time world champion from New Zealand who helped introduce speedway racing to Southern California in the 1960s.

“Next year, I hope to go back to England and ride for my old British League team (Belle Vue) for the entire season,” Faria said. “Winning three straight nationals will fulfill my ambitions in this country and my next ambition is to get to the World Finals. You need to ride in England to be ready for that.”

Faria rode the 1988 season for Belle Vue and posted an 8.23 scoring average, which he proudly says “is higher than Bruce Penhall scored in his first year.” Penhall won world championships in 1981 and 1982, the only American since Jack Milne in 1937 to accomplish that feat.

Speedway racing is the cycling equivalent of sprint car racing for cars. At Costa Mesa, where the track is only 190 yards long in contrast with about 440 yards in Europe, riders are in a power slide most of the way around, their front wheels cocked at a crazy angle. With a compression ratio of 13:1, a speedway bike can go from zero to 60 in three seconds--and it has no brakes. The stress on the rear tire is so great that a new tire is used for every heat, even though the distance traveled is less than half a mile.

“Two things are very important in speedway,” Faria said. “The first is to get to the first corner first. That way you’re out in front and you’re spitting mud and dirt and stuff on the other riders. The second is, if you don’t get there first, to never give up, to keep fighting and plugging until you get to the checkered flag.

“You can’t ever let up, especially in a race like the nationals. Even if you know you can’t catch the leader, you’ve got to fight for the points. One position in an early heat can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing.”