Carson City Raceway
Winchester, California
2004 Season Opener
April 9, 2005 - Carson City Raceway @ Fuji Park Speedway
By Gary Roberts
The opening of a brand new Speedway track was celebrated in Carson City, Nevada, last night, complete with Carson City's mayor coming along and cutting a ribbon, to officially open the track.
This is the good news that Northern California Speedway riders have been waiting for. The weather was kind in that the recent rain and snow in the area held off, but it was very cold, which I believe was the biggest factor in a small crowd of determined, but uncomfortably cold spectators, most of whom stayed to the end.
Rider turn out was a bit disappointing, but those who did show up quickly adapted to the well shaped decomposed granite track. The weather held up track preparation during the week and by the end of the evening some riders experience difficulty with ruts and bumps. This did not detract from some excellent racing.
Unofficial results:
Scratch Main
1. Tommy Hedden
2. Bobby Hedden
3. Bart Bast
4. Bryan Yarrow
Bobby Hedden got the gate from the pole position with Bryan Yarrow close behind from the outside starting position. Bryan's outside line did not work and he quickly got overtaken by Tommy Hedden but started a challenge with Bart Bast for third place. Bobby held what looked like a safe lead until the third lap when his brother took a wide exit with a good drive
from turn 4, going round the outside of Bobby. He continued the wide line for the last lap to take the win.
Scratch Consi
1. Bob Hicks
2. JJ Martynse
3. Ian Ferris
4. Greg Hooten Jnr.
Ian Ferris came back from a 4 year retirement to take a good lead with Greg Hooten challenging. When Greg went wide, Ian pulled out further. Bob Hicks took advantage of Greg's mistake and waited for Ian to make the same mistake a lap later. JJ Martynse followed him through. Bob was riding a 2 valve Jawa.
Handicap Main
1. Bobby Hedden (50)
2. Tommy Hedden (50)
3. Bart Bast (50)
4. Shawn Eldridge (0)
5. JT Mabry (20)
6. Ian Ferris (30)
Shawn Eldridge did well to hold on for 3 laps, on, by this stage of the evening, a less than ideal track, before the 3 high yardage riders got past him. Bobby Hedden started the evening looking unsure of the track, with a fourth place in his heat and a second behind Bart in the semifinal, but made no mistake in the handicap main. Brother Tommy was close behind, making Hedden first and seconds in both mains. This opens the 2005 AMA district 36 scoring with the Hedden's at the top of the list.
Handicap Consi
1. Bryan Yarrow
2. JJ Martynse
3. Greg Hooten Jnr.
4. Bob Hicks
5. Devin DeFreece
This race was stopped after 3 laps when DeFreece fell and Bryan Yarrow who was less than 5 yards behind had to lay it down. How did Bryan Yarrow fail to qualify for the Handicap Main? He won his heat, but fell in his semifinal.
Div 2/3 Main
1. Eddie Ingels
2. Dave Jessup
3. Sean Billenstein
4. Lovlien
5. Kevin Fereira
6. John Deathrage
Div 2/3 Consi
1. Caravella
2. Tom Fehrman
3. Steve Rowett
4. Lovlien
5. Tori Hubbert
Carson City Raceway will not be running every week. They plan 7 more events this season, with the next one on May 21. The other 6 will be held on July 2 and 30, August 13 and 20 and October 8 and 22. By May 21 Fast Fridays will be 3 weeks into the season, (opening night is May 6), the weather will have warmed up and there will be a better showing of riders and more spectators. Overall, the visit to Carson City Raceway was a nice evening out. For the Northern California visitors the drive up left nothing to be desired, with the beautiful drive around Lake Tahoe. There is no reason why this track will not be a big success.
Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com
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