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Victorville Speedway
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
14800 Seventh Street
Victorville, California
Wheel2Wheel
Victorville Speedway
August 18, 2002
From Ryan Evans
Shaun Harmatiuk capped a perfect night with a main event victory at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville Sunday night.
Harmatiuk's perfect score gave him first choice of starting position and he chose gate two. Robbie Sauer had second choice and he selected the pole. John DeFries was next to chose and he picked gate three. Eloy Medellin was left with the outside.
Sauer left the line first and had a slight edge entering turn one. Harmatiuk roared around the outside of Sauer and held the lead on the back straight. Sauer went wide going into turn three and DeFries took over second. Harmatiuk opened up a comfortable lead but the battle for second wasn't over. Sauer went to the outside in turn three on the second lap and stayed wide until he took over second in turn one on the third lap. Sauer was unable to close any ground on the leader as Harmatiuk went on to the victory. DeFries finished third and Medellin was fourth.
The basic format was 12 riders competing in four rounds of scratch racing. The exception being that Harmatiuk, Sauer, and DeFries would start 50 yards behind the other riders because their abilities warranted such a handicap. The top four scorers qualified for the main event with the fifth through eighth scorers qualifying for the consolation.
Round one began with DeFries quickly making up the stagger to take the lead on the second lap and run away with the win. Harmatiuk followed suit in the second race, but it took him two laps to take the lead. Sauer looked as if he would make it the third consecutive race for the back yardage riders, but he slid off entering turn three and could only manage third.
Harmatiuk began round two with another victory from the back. Sauer earned his first win by getting the lead on lap two and running away. DeFries made it two for two by closing out the second round with a win.
Sauer started the third round with a win, but he didn't gain the lead until the third lap. At this point the riders that started at the tapes had picked up the pace and were making it harder to be passed. DeFries made it three in a row, but didn't get to the front until the last lap. Harmatiuk kept pace with DeFries by passing Mark Hitchcock on the third lap.
The fourth round began with DeFries being handed his first defeat as he finished third while Medellin took the win. Harmatiuk kept his perfect night going by winning his fourth race handily. Sauer closed out the qualifying rounds by making an outside pass on lap three to take the lead and the win.
Steve Dziadus and DeWayne Stark battled throughout the four-lap consolation, but in the end it was Dziadus who got to the checkered flag first. Michael Novratil finished third and Bryan Baichtal was fourth.
RESULTS
Junior Speedway
5 - Dario Galvin 3 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 9
8 - Austin Novratil 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 4
27 - Krystal Cramer 2 - 3 - 3 - 3 = 11
Junior Speedway
10 - Tim Gomez 3 - 3 - 3 - 2 = 11
29n - Jay Ricketts 2 - 2 - 2 - 3 = 9
Scoring 1 2 3 4 T
17 - Robbie Sauer 1 3 3 3 10
112 - Bryan Baichtal 1 1 2 F 4
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 3 3 3 3 12
164 - Rusty Hall F N N N 0
174 - Tomasz Hampel 2 F N N 2
177 - Mark Hitchcock N 0 2 2 4
178 - Eloy Medellin 2 2 2 3 9
181 - Michael Novratil 1 1 1 2 5
197 - Kim Stevens 0 1 0 1 2
212 - Steve Dziadus 2 2 1 2 7
244 - DeWayne Stark 3 2 1 1 7
316 - John DeFries 3 3 3 1 10
Race Results
2: DeFries (50 yard handicap), Hampel, Baichtal, Hall (fell)
3: Harmatiuk (50), Medellin, Novratil, Stevens
4: Stark, Dziadus, Sauer (50), Hitchcock (non starter)
10: Harmatiuk (50), Stark, Stevens, Hall (non starter)
11: Sauer (50), Dziadus, Novratil, Hampel (fell)
12: DeFries (50), Medellin, Baichtal, Hitchcock
17: Sauer (50), Medellin, Stark, Hall (non starter)
18: DeFries (50), Baichtal, Novratil, Stevens
19: Harmatiuk (50), Hitchcock, Dziadus, Hampel (non starter)
26: Medellin, Hitchcock, DeFries (50), Hall (non starter)
27: Harmatiuk (50), Novratil, Stark, Hampel (non starter)
28: Sauer, Dziadus, Stevens, Baichtal (fell)
Consolation
212 - Steve Dziadus
244 - DeWayne Stark
181 - Michael Novratil
112 - Bryan Baichtal (engine failure)
Main Event
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
17 - Robbie Sauer
316 - John DeFries
178 - Eloy Medellin |
