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Victorville Speedway
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
14800 Seventh Street
Victorville, California
2002 Second Division Invitational
Victorville Speedway
July 13, 2002
From Ryan Evans
Jeff Blaydes capped a perfect night by winning the Scratch Main Event at the Second Division Invitational in Victorville on Saturday.
John Stunkard, who qualified for the main event with a perfect nine points lined up on the pole, Eloy Medellin, who had scored eight points in the preliminary rounds, was in gate two, Northern California's Robert Mellor, also with eight points, was in gate three, and Blaydes, with a perfect score, lined up on the outside.
Mellor was first to the corner, but exited turn two high and Blaydes roared underneath on the back straight. From there, Blaydes opened up his lead with each lap and was first to the checkered flag. Mellor finished second, Stunkard was third, and Medellin was fourth.
In the Scratch Consolation, Randy Kreps used the pole position to his advantage and took the lead at the start. Winston Williams challenged for the lead for two laps, but Kreps held him off and went on to the win. Rohn Zellner finished second, Rachalle Kerr, who traveled from Northern California finished third, and Williams was fourth.
The format for the event had each rider competing in three preliminary rounds of scratch heats. The top four riders after the heats qualified for the main event, while the fifth through eighth scorers qualified for the consolation.
Blaydes gave the crowd a preview of his evening by winning the first race easily, while Mellor dropped his only point of the preliminary rounds. In the second race, Stunkard was an easy winner of Williams. Medellin took the win over Kreps in the next race. Doug Benjamin jumped out to a giant lead in the last race of round one, but began to experience engine problems on the last lap. While Benjamin tried to nurse his bike to finish, Kerr closed in on him. Benjamin could only watch in frustration as the young lady thrilled the crowd by taking the win at the last instant.
Zellner recovered from a round one fall to win the first race of round two. Stunkard made it two for two by defeating Tomasz Hampel in race 10. Mellor earned his first win of the evening in the next race. Blaydes closed out the round with a win after a brief battle with Williams.
Medellin opened round three with a win over Zellner. Stunkard closed out his preliminary round with his third win of the evening. Blaydes matched Stunkard's perfect score by winning race 19. Mellor closed out the preliminary rounds by defeating Kerr.
The event, which was run along with the speedway sprint cars, was only open to Second Division riders. Promoter Dukie Ermolenko wanted to give these riders a chance to have their own evening. The riders definitely enjoyed their evening and having three riders travel from Northern California enhanced the program. There was excellent racing throughout the evening and the fans enjoyed the racers' effort.
The next event at Victorville will be held on Sunday, July 28. It will be an all-scratch format for First Division as well as Second Division. It was announced that the evening will also feature a special appearance by 1996 World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill, who will make his first appearance at the track.
RESULTS
Preliminary Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
107 - Monte McKeon 1 1 0 2
113n - Rachalle Kerr 3 1 2 6
128 - Doug Benjamin 2 N N 2
147 - Winston Williams 2 2 2 6
155 - Kevin Templeton 1 1 1 3
163 - Rohn Zellner F 3 2 5
165 - Randy Kreps 2 2 1 5
173 - Jeff Blaydes 3 3 3 9
174 - Tomasz Hampel F 2 1 3
178 - Eloy Medellin 3 3 2 8
229n - Jason Botsford 1 0 2 3
236 - Robert Mellor 2 3 3 8
244 - DeWayne Stark 1 1 1 3
249 - John Stunkard 3 3 3 9
Race Results
1: Blaydes, Mellor, Botsford, Zellner (fell)
2: Stunkard, Williams, McKeon, Hampel (fell)
5: Medellin, Kreps, Templeton (fell)
6: Kerr, Benjamin, Stark
9: Zellner, Williams, Templeton, Botsford
10: Stunkard, Hampel, McKeon, Benjamin (non starter)
13: Mellor, Kreps, Stark, McKeon
14: Blaydes, Williams, Hampel, Benjamin (non starter)
16: Medellin, Zellner, Kerr
17: Stunkard, Botsford, Templeton (fell)
19: Blaydes, Medellin, Stark
20: Mellor, Kerr, Kreps
Scratch Consolation
165 - Randy Kreps
163 - Rohn Zellner
113n - Rachalle Kerr
147 - Winston Williams
Scratch Main Event
173 - Jeff Blaydes
236n - Robert Mellor
249 - John Stunkard
178 - Eloy Medellin |
