Ken Maely's Ranch
Corona, California

Winter Series - Round 8
February 8, 2004 - Ken Maely's Ranch
By: Trish Wells

Another exciting day of racing was witnessed at Maely's Ranch yesterday at the 8th round of the Winter Series. There was a full schedule, with plenty of action packed racing throughout the day. A couple of hiccup's put the racing a little behind schedule, but thanks to our many volunteers the day went relatively smoothly. A huge thank you to Darren, our resident electrician, who repaired our starting gate/light problem.

Justin Boyle and Bobby Krips put on an excellent show for the crowd, with their first class racing. Had Boyle not fallen in the first round, his name would have been in the top three points scorers for the day. Tim Gomez (who previously had dominated this series) seemed to have met his match with these two.

Paul Colston also had a great day, with two wins and two seconds under his belt by the end of the day. The day ended with Krips taking honors for first place with an almost perfect 15 points, Colston took second with 14 points. Then the youngsters dominated the rest of the field, with Gomez taking 3rd (13 points), Dario Galvin 4th (12 points), Dale Facchini and Justin Boyle tied for 5th (11 points), Rudy Lauer (10 points), Greg Vandemore (9 points), Shane Kump and Michael Hernandez (7 points). As you can see by the points spread, there was some close racing.

The racing in Division Two was equally exciting. Sam Soltz and Tony Bracy put on a great show. A fall in round three, put Jim Lavender out for the rest of the meeting, and Soltz out of round three. Bracy again took home Division Two first place for the day with 15 points, Randy Porsley 2nd with 10 points, Sam Soltz 3rd with 7 points and Steve Dziadus 4th with 6 points.

Division Three, with the newcomers, is starting to pick up the pace. Brian Starr, who was in his third race meeting, earned a perfect score with 4 wins. Mike Boyle dusted off his speedway bike and took home 2nd place in Division 3. Another newcomer Robert Avels took home 3rd place, and Tommy Kistler 4th.

Division One Junior Krystal Cramer rode like the champion we all know she is, and took home 1st place with a perfect score. Ricky Wells' 20 yard wheelies off the start line were a sight to see. These two youngsters are both flying, and are two of the smoothest, in control riders in the Junior Division that anyone has seen for a long time. We wish them both luck in the upcoming Gumball Rally being held at Maely's Ranch Feb 21 & 22.

Division Two had Cramer, Wells and Tyler Odom riding 80cc two strokes, and Gino Manzares and Richard Valdez riding 200cc. It was Cramer's 1st race on an 80 and she handled it with ease. Valdez high-sided his bike in round 4, but I have news that he is OK and ready to jump back on the bike. I really commend this young rider whose first instinct was to get off the track. Valdez, who hadn't ridden for 2 months, looked at home on his bike, and we look forward to seeing him ride again. Wells took home 1st place with a perfect score (20 yard line), Gino Manzares was 2nd with 9 points and Tyler Odom was 3rd with 8 points.

Now...again, the Peewee class. Each week sees more and more young kids coming out to race which is great. Once we had the classes figured out, these kids put on a great show. The competition in all three peewee divisions is really heating up and real estate was extremely tight. The PW50B was won by Nathan Booth, Stephanie Cancino came 2nd, Brock Nicol 3rd, Jack Higginson 4th with highly commendable performances by Margi Hamill, Jared Pitts, Hayley Graf, Brook Flanagan, Caitlin Pitts and Baylee Odom.

PWA was a battle of future 2nd generation speedway riders. Parker Colston, Braydan Galvin and Kurtis Hamill all appeared to lead the race at some point of time. But they all learnt the race is not over until the checkered flag is waved. Colston took 1st place with 15 points, Galvin 2nd with 12 and Hamill 3rd with 9. Each of these riders has their own unique style, which was extremely "interesting" to watch.

PWAA, the fast kids, was great to watch. Ryan Surratt, on a 65cc bike, was put further back each race, but still managed to end the day with a perfect score, and 1st place overall. I think this kid would give the XR100 riders a run for their money. Larry Smith III came in 2nd, Allen Mohrmann 3rd and Nick Schoonover 4th. Nick took a couple of nasty tumbles, but jumped back on the bike, which just shows this young riders determination. Well done Nick.

The XR100 class winner was Ricky Wells with a perfect score, followed ever so closely by Willy Surratt, Tyler Odom took 3rd and Larry Smith III took 4th.

Flat track was won by Jim Ottele, with Doug Douglas and Alan Girdler tieing for 2nd.
Again, thanks so much to all our volunteers, including Dave Delbridge for the great referring, Brandy McElroy the gate person and everyone else involved.

Thanks also to Jerry Ambrose, who's Burritos certainly lived up to their reputation and Races Pub. It was great to see Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine and his partner in crime Mr. Steve Graham at the racing, I hope you guys had a great time.