Fast Fridays Speedway

Gold Country Fairgrounds - Auburn, CA

2001 Season Opener
Fast Fridays Speedway
May 11, 2001
From Gary Roberts

Fast Fridays kicked off their 2001 season last night on a beautiful hot Auburn evening. Both stands were absolutely packed and the beer line at intermission took forever. I guess that’s the price to pay for attending such a popular event. The temperature has been in the high 80s this week and a lot of last minute water was added to the track, covered by more dirt on top, causing some slippery early events. But the track soon evened out and most riders seemed quite pleased with it.

Scratch Main
Mike Faria
Bobby Hedden
Chris Manchester
Ryan Fisher

First time around Ryan Fisher and his machine parted company on the first corner leaving Ryan’s bike literally hanging over the wall. Amazingly the only damage was to the handlebars. Ryan was disqualified from the re-run. Mike Faria once again showed his class, got the gate and left Hedden and Manchester to battle for second place.

Handicap Main
Ryan Fisher
Chris Manchester
Mike Faria
Bart Bast
Bryan Yarrow
Eric Carrillo

The presence of all three of our Junior National Champions from the last 3 years in this event demonstrated once again how well our Junior Speedway program is paying off.

Division 2 Main
Vince Bertolucci (0)
Dave Booth (30)
Matt Brown (20)
Robert Mellor (10)
Deven DeFreece (0)
Ron Woodsford (0)

Ron Woodsford was disqualified for breaking the tapes. Popular Vince Bertolucci, the man with only one leg, proved once again how much greater his determination is than his physical handicap. Dave Booth fought his way through from a 30 yard line start, but made no impression on Vince.

Division 3 Main
David Fonts
Brenton Bast
Eric Ryan

A runaway victory for Bakersfield’s David Fonts. On his first night on a 500, ex-Junior Speedway rider Brenton Bast took second.

Juniors Division 1
TJ Fowler
Greg Hooten
JT Mabry

For the past 3 years, the names Ryan Fisher, Eric Carrillo and Bryan Yarrow respectively could have been engraved on the Junior National Championship trophy at the start of the season. This year the Division 1 class is wide open. This week, with great style, TJ Fowler won both the heat and the main.

Juniors Division 2
Paul Johnson
Jay Ricketts
Bruce Bast

Juniors Division 3
Mitchell Johnson
Larry Azevedo
Adam Butler

I apologize for the brevity of this report. I spent the evening looking down the lens of a new camera, so missed most of the races. I am sure other members of speedwaybikes@yahoogroups.com can elaborate over the missing details.