Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

Opening Night
May 6, 2005 - Fast Fridays, Auburn
By Gary Roberts

Fast Fridays Opening Night was very fortunate. After heavy rain all week and rain only 5 miles away when the racing started, the weather conditions were perfect. There was a good sized crowd, considering that it still cools down relatively early in the evening.

The racing went off pretty much as planned although there were a horrendous number of accidents. I counted more crash wall sections demolished than had been the case for the entire 2004 season. Opening night nerves perhaps? Fortunately nobody seemed to get seriously hurt.

After all the rain during the week everyone expect the track to be wet and slushy. This was not the case. The first few races were dry and dusty, but once wetted down, a good racing surface developed, although there was not a lot of overtaking in the main events.

Unofficial Results

Scratch Main Event
1. Bart Bast
2. Ryan Fisher
3. Mike Faria
4. Tommy Hedden
A good gate from Bart enabled him to get in front of Ryan, with Mike taking third. That's how it stayed for the 4 laps.

Scratch Consolation Event
1. Charlie Venegas
2. Chris Kerr
3. Bobby Hedden
4. Nate Perkins
I can not remember the last time Bobby Hedden failed to qualify for both main events. I think this was a factor more of the limited racing lines. One man who found a very fast racing line, which he stuck to all evening was Charlie Venegas. Once he got the gate his lead increased every lap.

Handicap Main
1.Matt Browne (10)
2.Billy Hiles (20)
3. Chris Kerr (40)
4. Bart Bast (50)
5. Nate Perkins (30) (fell)
6. Alan Christian (40) (n/s)
A good win for Matt from the 10 yard line. The decreasing yardages of these riders meant no overtaking took place in this race. Despite taking a few tumbles, I was particularly impressed with the performance by Nate Perkins from Southern California. In his first visit to Auburn he beat Mike Faria in his scratch heat.

Handicap Consolation Event
1. Bobby Hedden (50)
2.Bryan Yarrow (40)
3. JJ Martynse (20)
4. Tommy Hedden (50)
Charlie Venegas (50) and Ryan Fisher (50) qualified, but were non-starters.

Division 2 Main Event
1.Kell Kerrigan
2. Danny Easley
3. Rachalle Kerr
4. Greg Searle
5. Mike Achilles
6. Josh West
Josh West took the gate, but got as far as turn 4 before crossing into the in field. Kell Kerrigan took over the lead and won the race. Closing on him was former youth rider, Danny Easley, returning after a 1 year break from Speedway.

Division 2 Consolation Event
1. Vince Bertolucci
2. Shawn Eldridge
3. Mike Browne
4.Harlan Bast
5.Richard Powell
6. Steve Lewotsky

Division 3 Main Event
1. Cory Barringer
2.Kjell Lovlien
3. Danny Poli
4.Norman Brooks
5. Derek Sheppard
6. Greg Howell
7. Greg Lovlien
8. Ronny Woodsford
Cory Barringer must have been practicing during the off season! He made a great start in his heat and in the main, and pulled away each lap.

Division 3 Consolation Event
1. Tori Hubbert
2. Steve Rowett
3.Kevin Fereira
4.Brian Leventon
5. Johnny Frank
6. Rich Mignano
7. Clark Caravella
8. John Schroeder
For the first time at Auburn on a 500cc machine, former youth lady rider, Tori Hubbert grabbed the gate and held the lead for 5 laps.

Division 1 Youth Main
1.Ricky Felicio
2.Jay Ricketts
3.Krystal Cramer
4. Paul Johnson

Division 2 Youth Main
1. Cody Ciciarelli
2. Ben Essary
3. Tom Fehrman
4. Bryce Starks

Division 3 Youth Main
1. John Randolf
2. Trevor Searle

It is good to be back into the routine of weekly Speedway. Fast Fridays runs every Friday night till September 2, for the AMA District 36 Speedway points championship.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com