Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

Fast Fridays, Auburn, California USA - August 11, 2006
By Gary Roberts

Tommy Hedden (Auburn) and Bryan Yarrow (Citrus Heights) were last nights winners at Fast Fridays Motorcycle races.

Qualifiers for the scratch main event were Mike Faria on the pole, Tommy Hedden in gate 2, TJ Fowler in gate 3 and Charlie Venegas in gate 4. Hedden got a rocket fast start and was first into the corner. Taking the outside line was Venegas. Hedden kept the lead through turns and was first onto the back straight with Venegas battling hard on the outside. As the race progressed Venegas continued to challenge from the outside, but failed to gain ground, finally losing second place to an inside challenge first from Faria, then from Fowler. Hedden said after the race “I was determined to get the gate. My bike was running well all evening and everything fell into place for me. I would like to thank Bill Warnock and my wife Jessica for their support, along with Master Touch, Andy Gilbertson and SBL.”

The handicap main was a hard fought battle. Josh West was the only low handicap rider on the zero. Back on the 40 yard line were Chad Felicio, Bryan Yarrow, and Southern California visitor Eddie Castro. Behind them on the 50 were Mike Faria and Tommy Hedden. When the tapes went up Castro pulled away from the back yardage riders and had a good lead into turn one.

But in turn two he faltered, allowing both Yarrow and Felicio past. Yarrow lead the chase to catch West and after 3 laps he caught up and tried to get past first on the inside, but with West keeping a tight line, Yarrow was forced to try the outside. With Felicio close behind it was a gamble, but Yarrow found sufficient traction to get around West. A lap later Felicio and Castro eased past him too. Yarrow commented after the race “I missed the gate and Eddie took advantage, but I was lucky. It was a tough race. I would like to thank Brian and Serena Daland, as always, for the bike. I would also like to thank my wife Lacy and my parents for their support".

Division 2 winner was Fast Fridays season points leader Tyler Hansen, who makes the trip to Auburn every week from Reno.

Division 3 winner was Auburn’s Steve Rowett, after last week’s winner, Adrien Contreras, held an early lead.

A popular addition to the program this week was sidecar racing. Track favorites, Joe Jones and Brandy McElroy again were the main event winners. Second place went to Nick Edmonds and Paul James, the New Zealand champions, just returning from the World Gold Trophy in England.
Results:

Results:
Scratch Main Event
1. Tommy Hedden; 2. Mike Faria; 3. TJ Fowler; 4. Charlie Venegas.

Scratch Consolation Event
1. Bryan Yarrow; 2.Buck Blair; 3. Chad Felicio; 4. Eddie Castro.

Handicap Main Event
1. Bryan Yarrow; 2. Chad Felicio; 3. Eddie Castro; 4. Josh West; 5.Mike Faria.

Handicap Consolation Event
1. Greg Hooten; 2.TJ Fowler; 3. Devin Defreece; 4..Buck Blair; 5. Matt Proto.

Division 2 Main Event
1. Tyler Hansen; 2. Mike Achilles; 3. Danny Turner; 4. Jim Lewis; 5. Cory Barringer.

Division 2 Consolation Event
1. Danny Poli; 2. Josh Everle; 3.Bill Warnock; 4. Les Veale; 5. Kim Stevens.

Division 3 Main Event
1. Steve Rowett; 2. Adrien Contreras; 3.Paul Schoen; 4. Lenny Bouressa; 5. Clark Caravella.

Division 3 Consolation Event
1. Jeff Irwin; 2. Johnny Frank; 3. Dennis Michel; 4. Glenn Scott; 5. Greg Lovlien.

Youth Main Division 1
1. Jason Ramirez; 2. Ricky Felicio; 3. Bryce Starks; 4. Ben Essary.

Youth Main Division 2
1. Steven Reese; 2. Amber Felicio; 3.Tyler Warren.

Sidecar main event:
1. Joe Jones & Brandy McElroy; 2. Nick Edmonds & Paul James; 3. Mark Adams & Ashley Thill; 4. Jeff Medberry & Chris Levitt;5. Brian Notis & Matt
Davis.

Speedway notes.
Last weekend the first round of the AMA Speedway Championship Series took place in Costa Mesa, CA. Since 1998 this event has been dominated by European based Americans, Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill. But last weekend the winner was San Bernardino’s Charlie Venegas, with Reno’s Mike Faria taking second place. Hamill was third, with Hancock fourth, due to a controversial exclusion. The next round of this 3 round series will be held here at Fast Fridays in Auburn on September 1.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com