Industry Speedway
The Grand Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California

2006 AMA/USA Speedway Under 21 National Championship
December 16, 2006 - Industry Speedway
By: Ryan Evans

The 2006 AMA/USA Speedway Under 21 National Championship was a family affair with Neil Facchini winning the championship and Dale Facchini taking second.

Neil, in his final year of eligibility for the event, turned in a dominant performance in winning all five of his races for a fifteen-point perfect score. Dale, who tied with T.J. Fowler on twelve points, won a runoff to finish second overall.

The fourth annual event returned to the beautiful Industry Speedway where it was held in 2004. The Under 21 used a traditional twenty-heat championship format after a pair of qualifying heats was used to trim the field to sixteen. The meeting also included sixteen youth riders competing in separate divisions of the California Youth Championship as well as four riders competing in the California Pee Wee Championship.

Four riders battled in a pair of qualifying heats for the remaining three spots in the Under 21. The first heat was won by Ronny Woodsford who was followed by Tori Hubbert for second. Scott York and John Marquez failed to finish which resulted in neither rider scoring a point. In the second qualifying heat, Marquez booked his place with a win with Hubbert's third and Woodsford's fourth earning them a spot. York's second place wasn't enough and he would be the reserve for the Under 21.

Round one began with Tim Gomez, who was third last year, scoring a convincing win over Travis Henderson. Brian Starr, who just missed the podium in 2005, won the second race with Kenny Ingalls finishing second after passing Alex Marcucci on the second lap. T.J. Fowler, who finished second two years ago, ran away with race three. Neil Facchini trapped from gate four to win the last race of the opening round.

Neil Facchini came right back to win the first race of round two ahead of New York's Casey Donholt. Last year's runner up, Dario Galvin, held off Gomez to score his first win of the day. Fowler made it two in a row with a win ahead of Ingalls. IN race fourteen, Travis Henderson and Marcucci battled for the lead in turn one, but Dale Facchini used the outside to power into the lead and never looked back en route to his first win.

Fowler began the third round with his third straight win and was followed by J.T. Martynse.

In race 20 Dale Facchini, Brian Starr, and Tim Gomez went into the first bend in tight formation. Dale Facchini and Gomez tangled as they went into turn two which left Gomez down next to the wall while Dale Facchini was able to emerge with the lead. Gomez looked for a restart which never came and Dale Facchini cruised to his second consecutive win.

J.T. Mabry made a great start and kept Galvin behind him for his first win of the day. Neil Facchini closed out round three with a win to keep pace with Fowler's perfect score while Ingalls used the outside to pass Brian Hollenbeck for second.

Ingalls began round four by breaking his string of second-place finishes with an impressive win over Dale Facchini and Galvin.

Event 29 was the giant showdown between the two remaining undefeated riders, Neil Facchini and Fowler. Neil Facchini was first off the line followed by Gomez with Fowler mired in third. With Neil Facchini pulling away, Fowler stalked Gomez before passing him on the second lap. Fowler chased the leader the rest of the way and made it close, but Neil Facchini would finish with his unblemished day intact.

In event 30 Starr won his second race of the day with Martynse finishing in second.

The final race of the fourth round featured two restarts. One race stoppage occurred when Hubbert went down hard, but she showed her toughness and made the restart. The third attempt resulted in J.T. Mabry getting his second straight win ahead of Marquez.

Donholt began the final round with a win over Marcucci. Gomez won his second race in event 38 while Ingalls used the outside again to pass Mabry for second and bring his point total to eleven.

The penultimate scheduled race brought the Facchini brothers to the line. A victory for Neil would wrap up the title, while a win for Dale would increase his chances for second overall and also open the door for Fowler to have a chance at the championship. Neil left little doubt with a quick start and he cruised to the championship with his younger brother having the best seat in the house.

The final scheduled race brought Starr, Galvin, and Fowler to the tapes. Starr and Galvin had outside shots at a podium finish while Fowler needed at least second to avoid a runoff with Dale Facchini for second overall. The first start had all three riders going three abreast down the back straight. With so much on the line, contact was unavoidable and all three riders went down in turn three and forced a restart. Galvin was first when the tapes went up, followed by Starr with Fowler having to come from the back. Galvin wasn't challenged on his way to victory while Starr held off Fowler.

Dale Facchini won the coin toss for the runoff and wisely selected the inside starting position. When the tapes went up it was Dale Facchini who took the lead with Fowler in tow. Dale Facchini remained calm on the inside line while Fowler tried everything he could to get by. Fowler's efforts went unrewarded as Dale Facchini was first to the checkered flag to claim second place overall.

Jason Ramirez won all three of his heats and put together four smooth laps in the final to win the California Youth First Division Championship. Krystal Cramer finished second, Ben Essary, who competed despite injuring his foot earlier in the day, was third, and Bryce Starks finished fourth.

Russell Green had a perfect day, including a victory in the final, to claim the California Youth Second Division Championship. Thomas Reich was second, Chad Hoyt finished third, and Brad Pappalardo was fourth.

River McDougall won all four of his races to take home the California Pee Wee Championship. Kurtis Hamill finished second overall, Cassandra Medellin was third, and Bryson Galvin was fourth.

The AMA/USA Speedway Under 21 National Championship was theconclusion of the United States racing schedule. Industry Speedway's 2007 season will kick off on Wednesday, April 11.

The Southern California offseason will be short, however, with the next event scheduled for January 20 at Victorville. Several other events, including the annual Gumball Rally, on the schedule before April.

RESULTS

California Pee Wee Championship 1 2 3 4 T
3 - Bryson Galvin 0 0 0 0 0
43 - River McDougall 3 3 3 3 12
104 - Kurtis Hamill 2 2 2 2 8
178 - Cassandra Medellin 1 1 1 1 4

California Youth D-2 Championship 1 2 3 T
2 - Braydan Galvin 1 2 2 5
9 - Rocco Scopellite *Did not ride - broken clutch during practice*
12 - Thomas Reich 4 4 3 11
18 - Russell Green 4 4 4 12
22 - Samuel Ramirez 2 1 1 4
139 - Phillip Harmatiuk 3 3 2 8
154 - Chad Hoyt 2 3 4 9
178 - Eloy Medellin III 1 1 1 3
611 - Brad Pappalardo 3 2 3 8

Results
7: Green, Pappalardo, Ramirez, Galvin
8: Reich, Harmatiuk, Hoyt, Medellin
16: Reich, Hoyt, Pappalardo, Medellin
17: Green, Harmatiuk, Galvin, Ramirez
25: Hoyt, Pappalardo, Harmatiuk, Ramirez
26: Green, Reich, Galvin, Medellin
Consolation: Harmatiuk, Galvin, Ramirez, Medellin

California Youth Second Division Final
18 - Russell Green
12 - Thomas Reich
154 - Chad Hoyt
611 - Brad Pappalardo

California Youth D-1 Championship 1 2 3 T
9n - Bryce Starks 2 1 2 5
13 - Krystal Cramer 3 1 2 6
21 - Gino Manzares 0 3 1 4
24 - Ben Essary N 2 3 5
32 - Steven Reese 2 0 1 3
66 - Jason Ramirez 3 3 3 9
70 - Cody Ciciarelli 1 2 0 3
114 - Joey Holt F Fx F 0

Results
5: Cramer, Reese, Ciciarelli, Manzares
6: (restarted) Ramirez, Starks, Holt (fell), Essary (non starter)
14: Manzares, Essary, Starks, Reese
15: (restarted) Ramirez, Ciciarelli, Cramer, Holt (fell, excluded)
23: Ramirez, Starks, Reese, Ciciarelli
24: Essary, Cramer, Manzares, Holt (fell)
Consolation: Manzares, Ciciarelli, Reese, Holt (fell)

California Youth First Division Final
66 - Jason Ramirez
13 - Krystal Cramer
24 - Ben Essary
9n - Bryce Starks

AMA/USA Speedway Under 21 1 2 3 4 5 T
00 - Tori Hubbert 0 0 F 1 0 1
3 - T.J. Fowler 3 3 3 2 1 12
19 - Dale Facchini 2 3 3 2 2 12
25 - J.T. Martynse 1 1 2 2 0 6
30 - Tim Gomez 3 2 F 1 3 9
45 - Dario Galvin 2 3 2 1 3 11
93 - J.T. Mabry 1 1 3 3 1 9
97 - Casey Donholt 1 2 1 0 3 7
116 - Alex Marcucci 1 0 1 0 2 4
121 - Ronny Woodsford 0 0 0 1 1 2
155 - Scott York (R) Fx - - - - 0
171 - Brian Hollenbeck 0 1 1 R 1 3
201 - Neil Facchini 3 3 3 3 3 15
212 - Kenny Ingalls 2 2 2 3 2 11
238 - Travis Henderson 2 2 0 Fx 0 4
241 - John Marquez 0 1 1 2 0 4
248 - Brian Starr 3 0 2 3 2 10

Results
Qualifying Race #1: Woodsford, Hubbert, York (fell), Marquez (retired)
Qualifying Race #2: Marquez, York, Hubbert, Woodsford
1: Gomez, Henderson, Donholt, Woodsford
2: Starr, Ingalls, Marcucci, Hubbert
3: Fowler, D.Facchini, Mabry, Hollenbeck
4: N.Facchini, Galvin, Martynse, Marquez (fell, remounted)
10: (restarted) N.Facchini, Donholt, Mabry, Starr
11: (restarted) Galvin, Gomez, Hollenbeck, Hubbert
12: Fowler, Ingalls, Marquez, Woodsford
13: D.Facchini, Henderson, Martynse, Marcucci
19: Fowler, Martynse, Donholt, Hubbert (fell)
20: D.Facchini, Starr, Marquez, Gomez (fell)
21: Mabry, Galvin, Marcucci, Woodsford
22: N.Facchini, Ingalls, Hollenbeck, Henderson
28: Ingalls, D.Facchini, Galvin, Donholt
29: N.Facchini, Fowler, Gomez, Marcucci
30: Starr, Martynse, Woodsford, Hollenbeck (retired)
31: (restarted) Mabry, Marquez, Hubbert, York (fell, excluded), Henderson (fell, excluded)
37: Donholt, Marcucci, Hollenbeck, Marquez (fell, remounted)
38: Gomez, Ingalls, Mabry, Martynse
39: N.Facchini, D.Facchini, Woodsford, Hubbert (fell, remounted)
40: (restarted) Galvin, Starr, Fowler, Henderson
Runoff for 2nd Overall: D.Facchini, Fowler