Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

Elimination Challenge Series Round 5
August 1, 2003 - Fast Fridays, Auburn
By Gary Roberts

Thursday evening it rained, Friday evening weather perfect till sometime after midnight, and more rain. Great timing.

So after the North verses South team race, the first round of the AMA National, this week it was business as usual, with a regular program. The track looked good, the stands were not as packed as the previous 2 weeks, but there was still a respectable crowd in attendance, and racing went well.

Scratch Main
1. Mike Faria
2. Bart Bast
3. Charlie Venegas
4. Eric Carrillo
For the first time this season, Bobby Hedden was missing from the main event. He drew a semi final with Faria and Venegas and came out third. Despite his absence, the main event went well, with Mike getting the gate, and Bart close behind. Charlie tried all sorts of wide lines to get around Bart, without success. It was good to see Charlie regaining top form again after his injuries the past couple of years.

Scratch Consolation
1. Bobby Hedden
2. Chad Felicio
3. Bryan Yarrow
4. Rick Shafer

Handicap Main
1. Bobby Hedden (50)
2. Mike Faria (50)
3. Eric Carrillo (40)
4. Bart Bast (50)
5. Matt Browne (10)
6. Chris Kerr (30)

Handicap Consolation
1. Billy Hiles (10)
2. Bryan Yarrow (40)
3. Ivan Sevart (10)
4. Ian Essary (10)
5. Tommy Hedden (40)
Charlie Venegas qualified, but did not race.

Division 2 - Main
1. Mike Browne
2. Mike Achilles
3. Mark Thomas
4. Ron Woodsford
5. David Fonts
6. Bill Warnock

Division 2 - Consolation
1. Vince Bertolucci
2. Shawn Eldridge
3. Dean Blankenbiller
4. Harlan Bast
5. Greg Searle
Rick Gutzke qualified, but did not ride.

Division 3 - Main
1. Kim Stevens
2. John Deathrage
3. Matt Pangburn
4. Danny Poli
5. Rich Mignano
6. Steve Rowett
Rick Gutzke and Steve Lewotsky qualified, but were non starters.

Division 3 - Consolation
1. Dave Quick
2. Greg Chacon
3. Treggan Mullinex
4 Greg Lovlien
5. Greg Howell
6. Clark Caravella
7. Les Veale
Chris Harris qualified, but did not ride.

Youths - Division 1
1. Alex Marcucci
2. TJ Fowler
3. JT Mabry
A great win by Alex Marcucci, since this was a scratch race. Alex was top scorer in the North verses South, so is currently enjoying outstanding form. Could he pull of a surprise in the Youth National?

Youths - Division 2
1. Jay Ricketts
2. Ricky Felicio
3. Tom Fuhrman
4. Mitchell Johnson

Youths - Division 3
1. Cody Ciciarelli
2. Tori Hubbert
3. Bryce Olney
4. Mike Bray
5. Trevor Searle

Following the resignation of John Grant, Fast Fridays is looking for a referee. I would like to publicly thank John for doing a great job for the last few years. As an ex-referee myself, I fully understand the challenges of the job. Only the insensitive need apply!

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com