Riverside’s Lucero Wins National Championship

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

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 had waited for a year to defend his title and bring honor to victory. He 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 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.”

Hancock finished tied for fourth place with Schwartz with 10 points, behind Louis Kossuth of Foresthill, who had 11.

The 16 riders faced every other rider once over 20 races with the three, two, one and no points given for order of finish.

Last year’s incident prevented Schwartz from winning his third national title, and the hard feelings lasted a couple of weeks.

“You live with it because people constantly bring it up,” said Hancock, who recently finished third in the World Championships. “You hate for people to keep running you down.”

Schwartz cavalierly said this week that “[Hancock’s] a great rider and deserved to win.”

He also said that last year’s incident never should have happened, either. There should have been only one runoff. The one he won. It was a lot more simple Saturday.