Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California
Fast Fridays, Auburn, California USA - July 7, 2006
By Gary Roberts
A smaller than expected crowd saw some excellent speedway last night at Auburn. Several races were won in the last corner. The lack of riders was also disappointing. Where have they all gone?
In the handicap main Tommy Hedden started back on the 40 yard line, along side TJ Fowler and Chad Felicio. In front of him were Greg Hooten on the 20, JT Mabry on the 10 and Josh West on the zero yard line. The first attempt to start the race lasted just one lap, when TJ Fowler fell on turn 3 and Chad Felicio had to lay it down. Fowler was put back to the penalty line. In the restart Tommy Hedden got the better start ahead of Felicio and quickly caught up with Hooten. He got past him on lap 2 started working on Mabry. Two laps later as Hooten went wide and Felicio and Fowler got past, then Mabry did the same thing. West lead the final lap, just ahead of Hedden, but in the last corner his race fell apart when he let Hedden and Felicio steal what would have been his first division 1 win. This was Tommy’s first handicap win this year. From the nine events held at Fast Fridays this year, there have been nine different handicap main event winners.
Charlie Venegas lined up for the scratch main in gate 3 with Tommy Hedden on the outside him. On the pole was Sacramento’s Greg Hooten and in gate 2 Reno’s Mike Faria. The first time the gate went up the red lights came on immediately. The referee was unhappy with riders moving at the line. In the restart, Venegas blasted out of the gate and rode four perfect laps. A much closer race went on behind him. Mike Faria rode the inside and Tommy Hedden rode the outside, side by side for most of the race, with Faria finally taking the second place. Fourth place man 20 year old Hooten made a remarkable achievement even qualifying for the race. His three competitors are seasoned professionals with decades of experience in the sport, but Hooten rode just as fast, ending only a couple of bike lengths behind Hedden.
For the fourth consecutive week, TJ Fowler won the scratch consolation race.
Division 2 main event winner was Placerville’s Jim Lewis, who entered the sport in May this year. Jim has finished in the first 3 for the past 3 weeks, but this was his first win.
The Division 3 main was won in the last corner of the last lap by Sacramento’s Johnny Frank when he got past Adrien Contrares.
Also worthy of note was the winner of the Division 3 consolation race. 74 year old Rich Mignano makes the 350 mile round trip from Cottonwood every week to compete.
Unofficial results:
Scratch Main Event
1. Charlie Venegas;
2. Mike Faria;
3. Tommy Hedden;
4. Greg Hooten.
Scratch Consolation Event
1. TJ Fowler;
2. Chad Felicio;
3. JJ Martynse;
4. Ivan Sevart.
Handicap Main Event
1. Tommy Hedden;
2. Chad Felicio;
3. Josh West;
4. TJ Fowler;
5. JT Mabry.
Handicap Consolation Event
1. Alex Marcucci;
2. Danny Easley;
3. Mike Faria;
4. Ivan Sevart;
5. JJ Martynse.
Division 2 Main Event
1. Jim Lewis;
2. Matt Proto;
3. Josh Euerle; 4
. Danny Turner;
5. Kell Kerrigan.
Division 2 Consolation Event
1. Tyler Hansen;
2. Danny Poli;
3. Bill Warnock;
4. Harlan Bast.
Division 3 Main Event
1. Johnny Frank;
2. Adrien Contrares;
3. Paul Schoen;
4. Tom Fehrman;
5. Lenny Bourassa
Division 3 Consolation Event
1. Rich Mignano;
2. Dennis Michel;
3. Kjell Lovlien;
4. Clark Caravella;
5. Glenn Scott.
Youth Main Division 1
1. Bryce Starks;
2. Ben Essary;
3. Cody Cicciarelli;
4. Will Hilgenberg;
5. Ricky Felicio.
Youth Main Division 2
1. Ben Turner;
2. Amber Felicio;
3. Tyler Warren;.
Youth Main Division 3
1. Tanner Kane;
2. Eric Randolf;
3. Michelle Fehrman;
4. Jamison Dilkey.
Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com
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