Victorville Speedway

San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
14800 Seventh Street
Victorville, California

Denim Doctor Shootout
Victorville Speedway
Sunday June 23, 2002
From Ryan Evans

Scott Brant scored a 15 point maximum to claim the overall victory at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville on Sunday.

The evening began with Northern California's Chris Kerr scoring an impressive victory over Shawn McConnell. "Fast" Eddie Castro came from behind to beat Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz in race two.

Josh Larsen, who was the overall winner at the last meeting in Victorville, claimed the lead at the beginning of race three. Larsen led for two laps before Gary Hicks went down and forced Brant to lay his bike down. The referee ordered a restart with Hicks on the penalty line. This time it was Brant who jumped into the lead and he held off Larsen to get the win. Dukie Ermolenko, making his debut at his own facility, took the win in race four.

Brant made it two for two with an easy win to start round two. Larsen earned his first victory while knocking Castro from the ranks of the undefeated. Kerr kept pace with Brant by beating Hicks, who pulled out of the meeting after the race due to a shoulder injury suffered in the first race. Ermolenko won the last race of the round to match Brant and Kerr with two wins each.

Castro opened round three by handing Ermolenko his first defeat of the evening. Shaun Harmatiuk was leading Race 19 when the red flag came out. Robbie Sauer took advantage had held back Harmatiuk to get the victory. Brant and Kerr met in Race 20 as the only undefeated riders. Brant eliminated any suspense by jumping out to the front and pulling away for the win. Larsen won his second race in a row by defeating "Cowboy" Bobby Krips to end round three.

Shawn McConnell began round four by trapping from the outside and running away with his first win of the evening. Krips battled Schwartz in Race 25 and went on to the victory. Larsen and Ermolenko met in Race 26 each needing a victory to keep hopes alive for the overall win. When the tapes went up, it was Larsen who took the lead, and despite Ermolenko's best effort, it was Larsen at the checkered flag. Brant and Castro met in the last race of round four. A Castro victory would create a three-way tie for first. Brant ended all speculation by cruising to the win.

Larsen kept the pressure on Brant by winning the first race of the last round to bring his total to 14. In the next race, Brant needed a victory to secure the overall win, but defeating Ermolenko would be no small task. Brant took the lead right away and left no doubt about the outcome as he raced away with three points and the overall victory. Castro claimed third overall with 13 points after winning his last race. Robbie Sauer earned his second victory of the evening to finish the final round.

The top four riders took their place for the Denim Doctor Shootout. The first attempt ended in turn one as Castro and Larsen came together and Larsen going down. Larsen vehemently showed his disdain for Castro's actions after he picked himself up. On the restart it was Castro who jumped into the lead. Larsen gave chase for two laps, but his attempts appeared to be futile. Exiting turn four on the third lap, Castro left some room on the inside and Larsen went underneath Castro as they took the white flag. Castro remained on the high line through turns one and two and down the back straight. Larsen held the lead entering turn three, but Castro had built up speed on the high-banked turns and re-passed Larsen in turn four and took the win. The battle brought the crowd to its feet with wild appreciation. Brant was third and Ermolenko was fourth.

Chad Newlee jumped out to the early lead and never looked back as he claimed the Support Main Event. Scott Tidwell, who had qualified via the Last Chance, finished second, Northern California's Devin DeFreece was third, and Eloy Medellin was fourth.
Japan's Hideaki Ota was an easy winner in the Support B Main Event. Ota, who has now won a main event at every current Southern California track, is showing improvement every week. Kevin Templeton finished second, Steve Dziadus was third, and Rohn Zellner finished fourth.

The next meeting at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville will be on Thursday, July 4th to celebrate Independence Day. It will be a First Division only, all-scratch format. There will also be the Speedway Sprint Cars and a fireworks show.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation
244 - DeWayne Stark
119 - Jeffrey Badders
350 - Kodiak Calkin

Support B Main Event
240 - Hideaki Ota
155 - Kevin Templeton
212 - Steve Dziadus
163 - Rohn Zellner          (fell, remounted)

Support Consolation
321 - Billy Lyons 	    0
174 - Tomasz Hampel        10
229n - Jason Botsford       0
117 - Billy Braden          0
332 - Brian Hunt           10
113n - Rachalle Kerr       10

Support Last Chance
118 - Scott Tidwell
165 - Randy Kreps
296 - Tom Rossano        (fell)

Support Main Event
123 - Chad Newlee
118 - Scott Tidwell
112n - Devin DeFreece
178 - Eloy Medellin

Junior Main Event
  3 - Justin Boyle
 10 - Tim Gomez
 39 - Troy McConnell
 27 - Krystal Cramer       (non starter)

Rider                         1          2           3          4          5          T
  2 - Josh Larsen             2          3           3          3          3         14
  3 - Gary Hicks              1          2           N          N          N          3
  6 - Shawn McConnell         2          2           1          3          2         10
 11 - Bobby Schwartz          2          2           1          2          1          8
 14 - Eddie Castro            3          2           3          2          3         13
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko         3          3           2          2          2         12
 17 - Robbie Sauer            0          0           3          0          3          6
 24 - Bobby Krips             2          1           2          3          2         10
 27n - Chris Kerr             3          3           2          1          1         10
115n - J.J. Martynse          1          0           1          2          1          5
128 - Doug Benjamin           0          F           0          0          1          1
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk         0          1           2          1          0          4
158 - Terry McCurdy           1          0           0          1          0          2
173 - Jeff Blaydes            0          1           1          1          0          3
316 - John DeFries            1          1           0          0          2          4

Race Results
1: Kerr, McConnell, McCurdy, Benjamin (fell, remounted)
2: Castro, Schwartz, Martynse, Sauer
3: (restarted) Brant, Larsen, Hicks (penalty line), Harmatiuk
4: Ermolenko, Krips, DeFries, Blaydes
9: Brant, McConnell, Krips, Sauer
10: Larsen, Castro, DeFries, McCurdy
11: Kerr, Hicks, Blaydes, Martynse
12: Ermolenko, Schwartz, Harmatiuk, Benjamin (fell)
18: Castro, Ermolenko, McConnell, Hicks (non starter)
19: (penalty line) Sauer, Harmatiuk, Blaydes (penalty line), McCurdy
20: Brant, Kerr, Schwartz, DeFries
21: Larsen, Krips, Martynse, Benjamin
24: (restarted) McConnell, Martynse, Harmatiuk (penalty line), DeFries (fell, remounted)
25: Krips, Schwartz, McCurdy, Hicks (non starter)
26: Larsen, Ermolenko, Kerr, Sauer
27: Brant, Castro, Blaydes, Benjamin
31: Larsen, McConnell, Schwartz, Blaydes
32: Brant, Ermolenko, Martynse, McCurdy (tape penalty)
33: Castro, Krips, Kerr, Harmatiuk
34: Sauer, DeFries, Benjamin, Hicks (non starter)
Runoff for 5th Place: McConnell, Krips, Kerr

Denim Doctor Shootout   (restarted)
 14 - Eddie Castro
  2 - Josh Larsen
 10 - Scott Brant
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko    (retired)