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Wild West Speedway
Winchester, California
Ken Maely Cup
August 8, 2004 - Wild West Speedway
By: Ryan Evans
SRA National Champion Scott Brant added another trophy to his collection by winning the inaugural Ken Maely Cup at Wild West Speedway in Winchester on Sunday.
The Ken Maely Cup will be an annual event honoring the legendary man who had a tremendous influence on the sport of speedway as well as other forms of motorcycle racing as well. A perpetual trophy with a steel shoe mounted on the top was awarded to Brant and will be presented to the winner in future years as well.
Brant's perfect score allowed him to select his starting position first and he chose gate two. Former National Champion Chris Manchester then selected the pole. Another former National Champion, Charlie "The Edge" Venegas, chose the outside gate next, followed by Justin Boyle who picked gate three, leaving gate four to "Fast" Eddie Castro.
Brant and Castro left the line together, but Brant's inside line allowed him to secure the lead exiting turn two. Venegas, feeling that the tapes had gone up slower on the outside, pulled up in the first corner and vehemently stated his case. His pleas fell on deaf ears as the referee allowed the race to continue. Manchester passed Castro for second, but was unable to challenge Brant who cruised to the victory. Castro hung on for third, Boyle finished fourth, and Venegas was credited with fifth.
The first of three preliminary rounds began with Manchester defeating S&M Racing teammate Denny Scopellite. Boyle fought off Castro to win race two. New York's Tom Sephton adapted quickly to the track and beat Northern California's Tommy Hedden in race three. Brant provided a preview of his evening with a victory to close out the first round.
Hedden scored a victory over Dario Galvin to begin round two. Brant made is two straight by winning race 16. Buck Blair was victorious in race 17 and Venegas kept Manchester at bay to win the final race of the round.
Venegas earned his second win at the start of the third round. Brant kept his perfect score by defeating Castro in race 30. Boyle defeated Sephton in the next race and Manchester booked his place in the main by winning the final heat race.
Venegas and Boyle finished one-two in a four-rider runoff that was used to fill the third and fourth spots in the main. Castro won the Last Chance to secure the final spot in the five-rider main event.
After having his winning streak snapped the previous week, Tim Gomez set out to begin a new string of Second Division Main Event victories. His quest became harder when he was penalized for touching the tapes. Neil Facchini took the lead at the start, but Gomez quickly dispatched the rest of the field and began stalking Facchini. Facchini still led when they took the white flag, but the patience of Gomez finally paid off when he slipped by on the inside entering the final corner and beat Facchini to the checkered flag. John Stunkard was third, Rudy Laurer finished fourth, and Steve Murray was fifth.
Josh O'Neal took the lead at the start of the Third Division Main Event and quickly built a comfortable lead. O'Neal wasn't challenged the first three laps, but went down in turn two allowing Mike Boyle to assume the lead. Boyle was uncontested the rest of the way and won for the third time in 2004. Steve Dziadus Sr. was second, Steve Dziadus Jr. finished third, Kim Stevens was fourth, O'Neal ended up fifth, and Nathan Smelser was sixth.
In the Youth First Division Main Event Jason Ramirez and Krystal Cramer battled into the first corner, but Ramirez emerged with the lead on the back straight. Ramirez held the lead for a lap, but overslid in turn four and allowed Cramer to grab the lead and race away with the victory. Ramirez had to settle for second and Northern California's Jay Ricketts was third.
Gino Manzares was awarded the victory in the Youth Second Division Main Event after he was forced to lay his bike down to avoid the fallen race leader, Ricky Valdez. Nathan Galvin was credited with second, Joey Holt was third, Valdez finished fourth, and Blake Bowen was fifth.
With Costa Mesa returning to action the next few weeks Wild West will be taking a break for the rest of August. The next event is scheduled for Saturday, September 4.
RESULTS
Youth Second Division Main Event (awarded)
21 - Gino Manzares 10
134 - Nathan Galvin 10
114 - Joey Holt 0
5 - Ricky Valdez 10 (fell)
69 - Blake Bowen 0 (fell)
24 - Tamara Krips 10 (non starter)
Youth First Division Main Event
13 - Krystal Cramer
66 - Jason Ramirez
29n - Jay Ricketts (fell)
Third Division Main Event
198 - Mike Boyle 10
212 - Steve Dziadus Sr. 0
909 - Steve Dziadus Jr. 10
136 - Kim Stevens 20
377 - Josh O'Neal 0 (fell, remounted)
188 - Nathan Smelser 20 (fell, remounted)
Second Division Consolation
144 - Tom Hamilton
240 - Hideaki Ota
194 - Tony Bracy
178 - Eloy Medellin (non starter)
115 - Mark Baldwin (non starter)
Second Division Main Event
136 - Tim Gomez (tape penalty)
201 - Neil Facchini
249 - John Stunkard
182 - Rudy Laurer
214 - Steve Murray (engine failure)
Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 - Scott Brant 3 3 3 9
6 - Shawn McConnell 1 0 1 2
14 - Eddie Castro 2 2 2 6
16 - John DeFries 0 1 1 2
18 - Justin Boyle 3 1 3 7
24 - Bobby Krips 0 F R 0
37 - Denny Scopellite 2 1 1 4
39 - Buck Blair 2 3 2 7
40n - Tommy Hedden 2 3 1 6
43 - Charlie Venegas 1 3 3 7
104e - Tom Sephton 3 2 2 7
130 - Chris Manchester 3 2 3 8
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 1 1 R 2
145 - Dario Galvin 0 2 2 4
389 - Nate Perkins 1 F F 1
468e - Josh Carr 0 0 N 0
Race Results
1: Manchester, Scopellite, Perkins, Krips
2: Boyle, Castro, Harmatiuk, Galvin (fell, remounted)
3: Sephton, Hedden, McConnell, Carr
4: Brant, Blair, Venegas (tape penalty), DeFries
15: Hedden, Galvin, DeFries, Krips (fell)
16: (restarted) Brant, Sephton, Boyle, Perkins (penalty line) (fell)
17: Blair, Castro (tape penalty), Scopellite, Carr
18: Venegas, Manchester, Harmatiuk, McConnell
29: Venegas, Blair, Scopellite, Perkins (fell)
30: Brant, Castro, Hedden, Krips (retired)
31: Boyle, Sephton, McConnell, Harmatiuk (retired)
32: Manchester, Galvin, DeFries, Carr (non starter)
Runoff: Venegas, Boyle, Sephton (fell), Blair (fell)
Last Chance: (restarted twice) Castro, Sephton, Hedden, Blair (fell, excluded)
Ken Maely Cup Final
1 - Scott Brant
130 - Chris Manchester
14 - Eddie Castro
18 - Justin Boyle
43 - Charlie Venegas (retired)
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