Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

North American U21 World Qualifier / 2008 Youth National Speedway Championship
Fast Fridays, Auburn, California USA - August 29, 2008
By Gary Roberts

For the second year in succession Fast Fridays hosted both the North American Under 21 World Qualifier and the 2008 Youth National Speedway Championship in front of what was probably their smallest crowd this season. It was a packed evening of 40 races resulting in an exciting run off with a handful of peewee races thrown in between for good measure.

The evening started out slowly with the first three races having to be restarted due to over enthusiastic racing on a slick track, but once the program got underway there were a number of exciting races.

once the program got underway there were a number of exciting races.

The Under 21 was predictably won by Ricky Wells, with Kenny Ingalls second and Alex Marcucci third, similar to last year with positions 2 and 3 reversed. As was the case last year, the spectrum of skill levels in the event was very broad, and the rest of the field was not in the same league as these three. Ingalls lost his point to Wells, Marcucci lost his points to Wells, Ingalls and JT Mabry.

North American Under 21 World Qualifier

Unofficial results:
Ricky Wells 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 15
Kenny Ingalls 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 14
Alex Marcucci 2, 2, 3, 3, 2 12
JT Mabry 1, 3, 3, 1, 1 9
Jason Ramirez 0, 3, 3, 2, 1 9
Tim Gomez 2, 2, 0, 2, 3 9
Russell Green 3, 2, 2, 1, 0 8
Casey Donholt 2, 1, 1, 2, 2 8
Bryce Starks 3, 1, 0, 1, 3 8
Ben Essary 1, 0, 1, 3, 2 7
Ricky Felicio 2, 2, 2, 0, 1 7
Travis Henderson 1, 1, 0, 2, 2 6
Jay Ricketts 0, 0, 0, 1, 1 2
Tom Fehrman 0, 1, 1, 0, 0 2
Tori Hubbert 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 1
John Randolf 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 1

2008 Youth National Speedway Championship

The Youth National had a lot more surprises and ended with a much closer result. From his appearance in the North verses South, I expected Austin Novratil to win. He had a perfect evening with the exception of a fall in one heat, while leading, which left him with 12 points. At the end of his 5th ride in heat 18, Cody Ciciarelli had 13 points. Coming out for their 5th ride in heat 19, Gino Manzares had 12, Brad Pappalardo had 11 and Austin Novratil had 9. But the result, with Novratil winning, Pappalardo second, Manzares third, put a three way tie for Ciciarelli, Pappalardo and Manzares to decide the podium places.

Along with the run-off came vast quantities of adrenalin. First victim was Manzares, who touched the tapes and was moved back 10 yards. Then Ciciarelli did the same thing and took a 10 yard penalty. Unlike many older riders, both showed true sportsmanship, no argument with the referee, no tantrums. Finally when the tapes went up for the last time, Pappalardo took the lead, which he held for the necessary 4 laps. Ciciarelli took second with Manzares trying everything to get past him, finally running into him and falling. Ciciarelli did well to stay aboard and completed the race in second.

It was disappointing for second, third, and fourth place men, any one of the four would have been a worthy winner. But on the night, the one who held his calm was Brad Pappalardo, nephew of the great Greg Hancock. Brad’s #1 pit man was his very proud grandfather, Greg’s Dad, Bill Hancock.

Unofficial results:
Brad Pappalardo 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 13
Cody Ciciarelli 3, 2, 2, 3, 3 13
Gino Manzares 3, 3, 3, 3, 1 13
Austin Novratil 3, 3, 0, 3, 3 12
Thomas Reich 2, 1, 3, 2, 3 11
Tyler Warren 1, 2, 2, 2, 2 9
Joey Holt 1, 2, 0, 2, 3 8
Tanner Kane 3, 3, 1, 1, 0 8
River McDougall 0, 1, 3, 1, 2 7
Ricky Reimer 0, 1, 2, 1, 2 6
Amber Felicio 0, 2, 2, 1, 1 6
Kendra Warren 1, 0, 1, 2, 1 5
Jameson Dilkey 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 4
Desi Fehrman 2, 0, 0, 0, 1 3
Sam Ramirez 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 0

Next week it’s the track championship, followed by a dark night, then the final round of the AMA National Series.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com