Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California
Fast Fridays, Auburn, California USA - June 16, 2006
By Gary Roberts
Southern Californians Nate Perkins and Charlie Venegas came north and stole both trophies for the main events.
In the scratch main the line up was exactly the same as last week. Charlie took the inside gate position and once the tapes were up he was gone. Behind him Tommy Hedden, Bryan Yarrow and Mike Faria were left in his dust. Faria pulled off at turn two while Hedden and Yarrow held a close battle for second, with Hedden taking a slim lead, but with no chance of catching the very fast Venegas, so that remained the finishing order.
Nate Perkins got to the handicap main with a second place in his heat behind Greg Hooten and a win in his semi final. At the 20 yard line he was behind newly promoted Josh West on the zero, and in front of TJ Fowler, Tommy Hedden and Bryan Yarrow on the 40 yard line and Charlie Venegas who chose to start on the 50. Perkins made a determined gate and quickly caught West. He got past him on the second lap and started building a safe lead. On lap three Tommy Hedden got past West, on lap four Fowler passed him and on lap five Yarrow did the same. Nate Perkins’s win in the handicap main makes him the sixth different rider to win a handicap main in the six events held at Fast Fridays this season. To me this proves how well the averaging of handicaps has worked out with time.
Sacramento’s Danny Turner started racing Speedway a year ago, 2 months before his 49th birthday. This season he was promoted from division 3 to division 2. Last night he won the division 2 main event. This would be considered an impressive achievement for a newcomer, but is outstanding for one of his age. Bast family member Josh Everle of Rocklin won the third division main for the second time in three weeks.
Several vintage races took place on Jawa 2 valves. (Where are all those JAPs?). It brought out some faces that have been missing for a while including Bob Hicks, Vance Felicio, Mike Rooney and Andy Gilbertson. Current riders Bryan Yarrow and Tommy Hedden also competed. The sound of straight pipes was not that different to today’s machines. Tommy won all races except the last, which was won by Bob Hicks on probably the most immaculate 2 valve I have seen since they were considered new bikes.
On the injury front, Danny Easley has recovered from his injury, but Bart Bast is still struggling with collar bone and ankle injuries. I hadn'’t thought about it, but mastering the use of crutches with a broken collar bone can’t be fun. This week the only injury was to Mike Rooney, the announcer! He collided with a fallen Vance Felicio in a vintage race. Get well Roon Dog
Unofficial results:
Scratch Main Event
1. Charlie Venegas
2. Tommy Hedden;
3. Bryan Yarrow;
4. Mike Faria
Scratch Consolation Event
1. TJ Fowler;
2. Chad Felicio;
3. Nate Perkins;
4. Matt Becker
Handicap Main Event
1. Nate Perkins;
2. Tommy Hedden;
3. TJ Fowler;
4. Bryan Yarrow;
5. Josh West
Handicap Consolation Event
1. Greg Hooten;
2. JJ Martynse;
3. Mike Faria;
4. Matt Becker;
5. Devin DeFreece
Division 2 Main Event
1. Danny Turner;
2. Matt Proto;
3. Jim Lewis;
4. Rachalle Kerr;
5. Steve Lewotsky
Division 2 Consolation Event
1. Mike Browne;
2. Bill Warnock;
3. Danny Poli;
4. Harlan Bast;
5.Les Veale
Division 3 Main Event
1. Josh Everle;
2. Johnny Fran;
3. Tommy Fuhrman;
4. Jim Jensen;
5. Jeff Irwin
Division 3 Consolation Event
1. Dennis Chandler;
2. Kjell Lovlien;
3. Glenn Scott;
4. Lenny Bouressa;
5. Paul Schoen
Youth Main Division 1
1. Ben Essary;
2. Bryce Starks;
3. Will Hilgenberg;
4. Cody Cicciarelli
Youth Main Division 2 / 3
1. Tom Reich;
2. Tyler Warren;
3. Amber Felicio;
4. Jamison Dilkey
Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com
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