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Victorville Speedway
Wheel2Wheel Raceway
Victorville, California
Team Racing
February 10, 2007 - Victorville
By: Ryan Evans
Former World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill and Tim Gomez scored a dramatic maximum heat win in the final race to lead the Victorville Vikings to a 46 to 38 victory over the Industry Aces at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville.
The score was tied at 36 entering the final heat in which the top two scorers from each team would fight it out for double points. Hamill and Gomez represented the Vikings and Nate Perkins and Eddie Castro represented the Aces. Due to the tie score, a coin toss was required to designate which pair would have choice of starting position. The Aces won the toss and selected gates one and three.
When the tapes went up the Vikings duo burst into the front with Hamill trapping everyone from the outside and Gomez clamping down on the pole to secure second place. Perkins gave chase on the inside while Castro tried in vain on the outside, but both riders' efforts were to no avail. Any hope of splitting the Vikings pair and salvaging a tie was lost when Perkins went down on the third lap. Hamill and Gomez sped away and secured the victory for the Vikings.
Hamill, making his first appearance at Wheel2Wheel since winning Round 2 of the 2004 AMA National Championship Series, got things started by blitzing the field to lead a 4-2 heat victory. Castro seemed to have things in hand for the Aces in the second race when he slid off entering turn three on the second lap. Castro's mistake allowed Shaun Harmatiuk to take the race win, but a fall by Billy Lyons led to a drawn heat. Perkins held off Dale Facchini and Gomez for another drawn heat in race three.
Perkins was leading race four when Lyons fell and was excluded. Perkins jumped into the lead on the restart and partnered with Rohn Zellner for a 4-2 heat win over Harmatiuk. Hamill roared to his second straight victory in what would become a drawn heat. Blair won race six, but Dale Facchini and Gomez held off Michael Hull to keep the heat drawn at the overall score tied at 18.
Hamill held off Perkins for his third straight win and Neil Facchini managed third place for a Vikings 4-2 which made the score 22-20 Vikings. Hull won race eight with Blair protecting his partner in second for an Aces 5-1 which gave them a two-point advantage. Castro won race nine with Gomez and Dale Facchini forcing their third straight drawn heat.
Hamill jumped into the lead in race ten and when he saw Gomez running second he waved his partner ahead and the pair teamed for a 5-1 and brought the score to 31-29 in the Aces' favor. Castro won a drawn heat eleven before Perkins and Rick Valdez teamed for a 4-2 in heat twelve that tied the score entering the final race of the day.
Mike Bloom was leading the Second Division Main Event when he fell in turn two and brought out the red flag. John Marquez led the restart and had the race in the bag when he fell in the final corner. Bloom, who had started from the penalty line, slipped underneath Bryan Buffington to snatch the victory.
Mike Lane was leading the Third Division Main when he fell in turn two on the final lap. Mike Nutting took advantage Lane's misfortune for his first main event victory. Newcomer Billy Vaughn was second, Joe Dillard finished third, and Lane was credited with fourth.
Dylan Black got a great start and held off the hard-charging Russell Green to win the Youth Main Event. Brad Pappalardo finished third and Kurtis Hamill was fourth.
Erika Lyons was the early leader in the Pee Wee Main before Margi Hamill passed her at the end of lap one. Kurtis Hamill, who was handicapped 90 yards, passed Lyons for second and patiently followed his sister before passing her for the lead on lap three. Kurtis Hamill took the victory, Margi Hamill was second, and Lyons finished third.
The next event at Wheel2Wheel Raceway will be Saturday, February 24 when the venue hosts the Winter Shoot Out. Billy Hamill will be making his second and final appearance before he leaves for Europe. The Wheel2Wheel promoters encourage everyone to attend the 2007 Gumball Rally scheduled for next weekend at Perris Raceway.
RESULTS
Pee Wee Main Event
104 - Kurtis Hamill 90
199 - Margi Hamill 0
77 - Erika Lyons 0
Youth Main Event
7 - Dylan Black
18 - Russell Green
611 - Brad Pappalardo
104 - Kurtis Hamill
Third Division Main Event
218 - Mike Nutting 10
181n - Billy Vaughn 0
714 - Joe Dillard 0
141 - Mike Lane 10 (fell)
152 - Fred Remington 0 (non starter)
Second Division Consolation
69 - Blake Bowen 177 - Steve Bowen
213 - Mark Sincavage 288 - Rick Fritch
Second Division Main Event (restarted)
202 - Mike Bloom (penalty line)
77 - Bryan Buffington
104n - Tyler Hansen 241 - John Marquez (fell)
Victorville "Schlamans" Vikings 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 - Billy Hamill 3 3 3 2* 6 17+1
2 - Neil Facchini 1 0 1 1* R 3+1
3 - Shaun Harmatiuk 3 2 0 2 7
4 - Billy Lyons F Fx - - 0
5 - Tim Gomez 1* 1* 2 3 4** 11+4
6 - Dale Facchini 2 2 1 1 2 8
Industry "Joker Machine" Aces 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 - Buck Blair 2 3 2* 0 7+1
2 - Michael Hull F 0 3 0 3
3 - Eddie Castro 1* 2 3 3 2 11+1
4 - Rick Valdez 2 1* 0 1 4+1
5 - Nate Perkins 3 3 2 3 0 11
6 - Rohn Zellner 0 1 0 1 2
Race Results 1: Hamill, Blair, N.Facchini, Hull (fell) (4-2) (4-2)
2: Harmatiuk, Valdez, Castro (fell, remounted), Lyons (fell) (3-3) (7-5)
3: Perkins, D.Facchini, Gomez, Zellner (3-3) (10-8)
4: (restarted) Perkins, Harmatiuk, Zellner, Lyons (fell, excluded) (2-4) (12-12)
5: Hamill, Castro, Valdez, N.Facchini (fell, remounted) (3-3) (15-15)
6: Blair, D.Facchini, Gomez , Hull (3-3) (18-18)
7: Hamill, Perkins, N.Facchini, Zellner (4-2) (22-20)
8: Hull, Blair, D.Facchini (R/R), Harmatiuk (1-5) (23-25)
9: Castro, Gomez, D.Facchini, Valdez (3-3) (26-28)
10: Gomez, Hamill, Zellner, Blair (5-1) (31-29)
11: Castro, Harmatiuk, N.Facchini, Hull (fell, remounted) (3-3) (34-32)
12: (restarted) Perkins, D.Facchini, Valdez, N.Facchini (R/R) (retired) (2-4) (36-36)
13: (points=6-4-2-0) Hamill, Gomez, Castro, Perkins (fell) (10-2) (46-38)
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