High School Motocross at Ascot Park
SAM
at
Ascot Park
Saturday January 25, 1975
By: Tom Blattler
The first high school motocross Super Bowl qualifier was held last Saturday at Ascot Park, as over 80 high school riders competed under the Scholastic Association of Motorsports.
This race was the first high school qualifier since the very successful California State High School Championship held last November at Saddleback Park. A series of qualifiers will be held at Ascot Park (Los Angeles County), Corona Raceway (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties), O.C.I.R. (Orange County), and Carlsbad Raceway (San Diego County) to determine the total number of qualifiers for the High School Super Bowl of Motocross at the L. A. Memorial Coliseum.Under the direction of Jim Manning, many big sponsors have also become quite interested in the SAM High School Motocross program. D&G Performance Parts, Laguna Kawasaki, and T & M Engineering have already given discounts to SAM members," and many more are expected in the near future. Last Saturday, many top riders were on hand, such as, California State 250 Expert Champ Steve McFarland, State number two rider in the 125 Experts, Jeff Bunn, and Jim Gallagher, one of the top 125 Juniors in the State.
Bunn, riding for San Pedro High, rode his 125 Honda from the Flying Machine Factory to victory in the 125 Expert class, as he defeated Rolling Hill's John Oswald and McFarland. Jeff then returned in the 250 Expert class aboard his 125 Honda, and became the only double winner of the day. Bunn captured the overall victory over McFarland, who was riding his super quick 250 KTM from the Flying Machine Factory.
Gallagher, who competes for Carson High, captured all three motos in the 125 Junior Division two to collect the easy overall victory over Danny Ruiz of Narbonne High and Carson's Pete Murillo. Another Carson High rider, Joe I jcciardi, captured his class, as the Honda rider took two of the three motos in the 125 Beginner Division two class. Ucciardi, who is a regular at Ascot, took the wins in the first and third motos with South High's Dan Huizing finishing first in the second moto. Licciardi placed second to Huizing in the second race, as Huizing collected the second place overall with third going to Shawn Mahn of West High in Torrance.
The 250 Beginner class featured a very impressive rider in Carson High's North Hefley, as Hefley easily captured all three motos aboard a Maico. Venice High's Dewayne Doric finished second overall followed by Honda-mounted Pat Jeffreys from Rowland High.
Long Beach Jordan's Steve Moore was the victor in the 125 Junior Division One, as the Honda-mounted Moore was really on the gas through the day. Moore captured all three races quite easily with Honda-mounted Jeff Tomlin second overall and Narbonne's Ryan Helzee third.
West High's Danny Westergaard rode his Yamaha to victory in the xOOcc class, as he and Rummy Cobbs battled throughout the three motos with Westergaard taking the win. Cobbs who was riding a Yamaha captured one moto with Westergaard finishing first in two of the races. Third went Suzuki-mounted Greg Tiner of Marina High.
The SAM High School Motocross series continues next Saturday afternoon at Ascot Park with another Super Bowl qualifier.
