Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA

Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA
Saturday August 5, 2000

Bart Bast wins the Sideways Saturdays Track Championship

From Gary Roberts

The Sideways Saturday season came to an end for 2000 this weekend with a healthy sized crowd enjoying the track championship. This season has seen a lot more growth in terms of crowd size and a lot of good racing. At the pre-race riders meeting the promoter thanked all the riders for participating, emphasizing how the riders made the show. The riders in turn thanked the promoters for keeping the show going. It is comforting to hear the mutual gratitude, since the promoter has lost a lot of money over the last couple of years and the whole future hinges on their continued interest in the sport.

The track championship provided some good close racing, a few surprises, a few disappointments, usual stuff.

Overall winner was Bart Bast, with Bobby Hedden taking second place, after a runoff with Billy Janniro.

Eric Carrillo, in his first month in first division scored a very credible 10 points. His five points were lost to the five riders who finished above him on the list. Ryan Fisher was particularly unlucky in his first ride, having a coil wire come loose, when leading. Bast lost his point to Hedden, Hedden lost his points to Janniro and Hicks, Janniro lost his points to Bast and Fisher.

Division 1 Track Championship Result

Bart Bast          14
Bobby Hedden       13
Billy Janniro      13
Bob Hicks          12
Robert Curry       12
Eric Carrillo      10
Ryan Fisher         8
Ian Ferris          8
Rick Shafer         7
Steve Martynse      6
Marvin Sonnier      5
Scott McNeil        4
Paul Orlandi        4
Scott Olney         3

Division 2 Track Championship Result

1. Ivan Sevart
2. Jon Curry
3. Dave Booth
4. Harlan Bast Senior

Hot favorite, Chris Kerr found too much traction in the second lap of his heat race and looped it. This was a disappointment to the crowd, as well as to Chris, because this popular ex-Junior has ridden very well in his first season on a 500 and has a big following from the crowd.

Transferring up from third division this year, Ivan Sevart was the worthy winner of the second division track championship. Ivan got a bad start in his final and worked his way up the field. Ex-junior Jon Curry, enjoying his first year on a 500, did well to take second place.

Division 3 Track Championship Result

1. Billy Hiles
2. Kelly McBane
3. Les Veale
4. Geno Bellino

Since his first race, ex-flat tracker Billy Hiles has looked very competent on a Speedway bike. It was no surprise that he won the third division track championship. Second place was taken by another first year rider Kelly McBane.

Junior Division 1 Track Championship Result

1. Bryan Yarrow
2. JJ Martynse
3. Greg Hooten Jnr.

Recovering from as twisted ankle last weekend, Bryan Yarrow took the First division junior track championship.

Junior Division 2 Track Championship Result

1. Mark Carrillo
2. Brenton Bast
3. Chris Olney
4. Danny Easley
5. TJ Fowler

Always consistent, Mark Carrillo took two wins and a fourth to finish up top points scorer in the Second division junior track championship.

Junior Division 3 Track Championship Result

1. Paul Johnson
2. Tom Fehrman
3. Pete King
4. Bruce Bast
5. Jeff Butler

These were the top 5 from a field of 11 division 3 junior speedway riders. This is the highest number of juniors I recall ever in one division. Also encouraging is the fact that Fehrman, King and Bast all started this season. Winner Paul Johnson is in his second year.

So comes to an end another season for Sideways Saturdays. Great strides have been made this season with the organization and general quality of the show. The track has improved throughout the year as has the quality of racing. It is unfortunate that it has not been supported by all first division riders. This was demonstrated by the fact that only 14 riders took part in the track championship. Chad Felicio was to have ridden, but has still not fully recovered from the ankle injury incurred two weeks ago.

Currently there is no solid plan for a racing venue for Speedway on Saturday nights for the rest of the year. It is hoped that something can be arranged at another track for at least a couple of events before the end of the season.

Fast Fridays has plenty more races left this season. Apologies for no results yet for the Fast Fridays event that took place on Friday August 4. For the first time in a couple of years, I missed it. United Airlines delivered me back in Sacramento 4 hours later than scheduled. I was not happy. If I can scrounge up the results from somewhere, I will send them out later.

Gary Roberts - groberts@iee.org