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Victorville Speedway
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
14800 Seventh Street
Victorville, California
Denim Doctor Challenge
Victorville Speedway
July 28, 2002
From Ryan Evans
1996 World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill returned home to capture the overall victory while Chris Manchester won the Denim Doctor Challenge as both of America's Current National Champions enjoyed success at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville Sunday.
AMA National Champion Hamill was superb in his debut at the new facility as he scored a 15 point maximum in dominant fashion. SRA National Champion Manchester was able to exact some revenge by winning the Denim Doctor Challenge, in which the top four scorers compete in a bonus race for an extra purse.
Since Hamill was top scorer he had first choice of starting position and he decided on the inside gate. Manchester chose gate two, Bryan Yarrow selected gate three, and Eddie Castro was left with the outside. Manchester was first to turn one with Hamill in tow. Hamill gained ground on the back straight and tried Manchester on the inside in turn three. Manchester was not moving off the precious inside line and didn't relinquish the lead. Hamill tried inside and outside for four laps but was unable to get around Manchester. The former Overseas Champion took the win, Hamill was second, Castro was third, and Yarrow was fourth.
Billy Braden capped a perfect evening by winning the Second Division Championship Cup Final. Braden had to earn the victory as he, Jeff Blaydes, and Eloy Medellin all went down on the first attempt. On the restart, Doug Benjamin jumped into the lead, but was followed closely by Braden. Braden kept the pressure on Benjamin, who fell on the second lap. Braden assumed the lead but had to fight off Blaydes. Blaydes kept the pressure on, but Braden held on for the win. Medellin was third and Benjamin was fourth.
The evening featured what amounted to two separate programs. The Second Division Championship Cup was held prior to the First Division program. The Championship Cup featured 20 riders competing in three rounds of scratch heats with the top four scorers transferring to the main event. The top six scorers would transfer into the First Division program. This meant that some riders may compete as many as eight or nine times on the program!
The first round of the Second Division program was an exhibition of slipping and sliding as the riders adjusted to a wet track. The winners of the first round were Benjamin, Blaydes, Braden, Ed Martinez, and Neil Facchini.
The track began to come around in the second round and the racing did as well. Benjamin made it two for two to begin the round. Medellin won the next race after Facchini fell. John Stunkard was the victor in the fourth race, while Chad Newlee earned his first victory in race nine. Braden defeated Blaydes to finish round two.
Tomasz Hampel opened round three with an impressive win over Stunkard. Blaydes came from behind to hand Benjamin his first defeat. Newlee took his second checkered flag in event 13 and Robert Mellor won race 14. Braden earned his third consecutive victory to close out the preliminary heats.
Although the four places for the main event were determined, the transfer positions into First Division had to be decided. Six riders were tied with six points apiece, and after three of the main event participants declined to ride First Division, five spots remained. All except the last place rider would transfer up the program.
The riders lined up and got no further than turn two when several riders went down and Stunkard was last to get up, but he dusted himself off and remounted for the restart. On the restart, Chad Newlee took the lead and held it throughout the first lap. Martinez went down in turn three and on the next lap Mellor fell hard exiting turn four and brought out the red flag. The race was then abandoned without an official result because Mellor's injury prevented him from racing any further, thus the five positions went to the other five riders.
When the First Division riders hit the track it was Bryan Yarrow winning the opening race by defeating fellow Northern California teenager Chris Kerr. Hamill adapted to the track quickly by defeating "Cowboy" Bobby Krips by a large margin in the next race. Castro earned his first victory over John DeFries and Manchester won easily over Shaun Harmatiuk in end round one.
Manchester began round two the way he finished round one, with a victory, this time he beat Kerr. Hamill won his second consecutive race to make himself two for two. Yarrow impressively held off Castro to keep himself perfect. Harmatiuk closed out the second round with an easy victory.
Hamill opened round three by defeating Castro. Krips earned his only victory of the evening in the next race. Yarrow and DeFries had a good battle going in the next race before Yarrow slid off entering turn three. Yarrow was penalized 20 yards and was unable to catch DeFries, who took the win. Manchester finished round three with a win, in a race in which Hiles was credited with last after the referee determined that he knocked down Newlee.
Kerr began round four with his first victory of the evening. Manchester then defeated his Kelly Dunagan Racing teammate Castro to remain perfect. Yarrow remained one point behind Manchester by holding off Krips in race 31. Hamill kept his score perfect by winning the final race of round four.
Kerr won race 33 to open the final round and bring his point total to 11. DeFries then won his second race of the evening and finished with 10 points.
Race 35 brought the showdown between Hamill and Manchester for the overall victory. Both entered the race on perfect scores. Hamill exploded from gate four and took the lead in turn two. Manchester tried to put pressure on Hamill, but the former World Champion pulled away for the win.
Castro needed a victory to secure the final spot in the Denim Doctor Challenge and he made short work of Krips by getting the gate and leading all the way in the final preliminary race.
Hamill will make his first appearance of the season at Arrowhead Motor Speedway in San Bernardino on Wednesday before heading back to Europe for the World Cup next week.
RESULTS
Second Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
112n - Devin DeFreece 1 R 0 1
113n - Rachalle Kerr 1 1 0 2
117 - Billy Braden 3 3 3 9
118 - Scott Tidwell 0 1 F 1
123 - Chad Newlee 0 3 3 6
126 - Doug Lupo 2 1 1 4
128 - Doug Benjamin 3 3 2 8
131 - David Lynch 2 2 0 4
163 - Rohn Zellner 0 1 2 3
165 - Randy Kreps 0 0 1 1
173 - Jeff Blaydes 3 2 3 8
174 - Tomasz Hampel 1 2 3 6
178 - Eloy Medellin 2 3 2 7
201 - Neil Facchini 3 0 1 4
229n - Jason Botsford 1 R 1 2
236n - Robert Mellor 2 1 3 6
249 - John Stunkard 1 3 2 6
269 - Ed Martinez 3 2 1 6
293 - Rick Valdez 2 2 2 6
Second Division Heat Results
1: Benjamin, Lupo, Hampel (fell, remounted)
2: Blaydes, Lynch, Kerr (fell, remounted), Tidwell (fell)
3: Braden, Medellin, DeFreece, Zellner
4: Martinez, Valdez, Botsford, Kreps
5: Facchini, Mellor, Stunkard, Newlee
6: Benjamin, Lynch, Zellner, Kreps
7: Medellin, Hampel, Kerr, Facchini (fell, remounted)
8: Stunkard, Valdez, Tidwell
9: Newlee, Martinez, Lupo, DeFreece (retired)
10: Braden, Blaydes, Mellor, Botsford (retired)
11: Hampel, Stunkard, Martinez, Lynch
12: Blaydes, Benjamin, Facchini, DeFreece
13: Newlee, Zellner, Botsford (fell)
14: Mellor, Medellin, Lupo, Tidwell (fell)
15: Braden, Valdez, Kreps, Kerr
Runoff: Abandoned
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 - Chris Manchester 3 3 3 3 2 14
8n - Bryan Yarrow 3 3 2 3 1 12
14 - Eddie Castro 3 2 2 2 3 12
24 - Bobby Krips 2 1 3 2 2 10
27n - Chris Kerr 2 2 1 3 3 11
44n - Billy Hiles 1 1 X 2 1 5
104 - Billy Hamill 3 3 3 3 3 15
123 - Chad Newlee 1 1 2 1 1 6
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 2 3 0 E 2 7
174 - Tomasz Hampel 0 1 1 1 2 5
178 - Eloy Medellin 1 0 1 1 1 4
249 - John Stunkard 0 0 2 0 0 2
269 - Ed Martinez 0 2 1 1 0 4
293 - Rick Valdez 1 2 0 N N 3
316 - John DeFries 2 0 3 2 3 10
First Division Heat Results
17: Yarrow, Kerr, Medellin
18: Hamill, Krips, Hiles, Hampel
19: Castro, DeFries, Newlee, Martinez
20: Manchester, Harmatiuk, Valdez, Stunkard
21: Manchester, Kerr, Krips, DeFries
22: Hamill, Valdez, Newlee
23: Yarrow, Castro, Hiles, Stunkard
24: Harmatiuk, Martinez, Hampel, Medellin
25: Hamill, Castro, Kerr, Harmatiuk
26: Krips, Stunkard, Martinez
27: DeFries, Yarrow (penalty line), Hampel, Valdez
28: Manchester, Newlee, Medellin, Hiles (excluded)
29: Kerr, Hiles, Martinez (fell), Valdez (non starter)
30: Manchester, Castro, Hampel (fell, remounted)
31: Yarrow, Krips, Newlee, Harmatiuk (engine failure)
32: Hamill, DeFries, Medellin, Stunkard
33: Kerr, Hampel, Newlee, Stunkard (fell, remounted)
34: DeFries, Harmatiuk (penalty line), Hiles (fell, remounted)
35: Hamill, Manchester, Yarrow, Martinez
36: Castro, Krips, Medellin, Valdez (non starter)
Second Division Cup Main Event (restarted)
117 - Billy Braden
173 - Jeff Blaydes
178 - Eloy Medellin
128 - Doug Benjamin (fell)
Denim Doctor Challenge
1 - Chris Manchester
104 - Billy Hamill
14 - Eddie Castro
8n - Bryan Yarrow
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