Lucero Wins as Hancock Fails in Title Defense

A bump, a spinout, and a championship in the runoff. That’s how Riverside’s Steve Lucero won the U.S. National Speedway Championship Saturday at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Lucero’s victory was his second national title and denied Apple Valley’s Mike Faria his third. Lucero also won the title in 1988.

After five races in the scratch-racing format, both men had 14 points and, for the second year in a row, the title was decided with a head-to-head runoff.

Coming out of the first turn, Faria--starting from the outside on the 1/10th-mile oval, bumped Lucero’s rear wheel. He spun out, and Lucero raced uncontested to the finish line in the four-lap race in front of about 6,500.

“I’m happy the No. 1 plate will stay in California next year,” said Lucero, alluding to defending champion Greg Hancock’s racing in Europe.

It was a tough night for Hancock, who won a questionable decision last year when he bumped leader Bobby Schwartz, also of Costa Mesa, in a runoff. Instead of being disqualified, Hancock got another chance and won when Schwartz broke a chain.

So Hancock returned to Orange County Fairgrounds determined to prove last year was no fluke.

“A true champion can win twice in a row,” Hancock said. “That would put any ideas about what happened last year to rest.”

But it didn’t quite work out that way Saturday.

Instead, Hancock appeared to be knocked down on the first turn, but was excluded from the restart by track officials who said he fell on his own.

“Maybe what goes around comes around,” Hancock said afterward. “I got the better of the calls last year and not this year.”