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

California Speedway
July 30, 2008 - Industry Speedway
By: Ryan Evans

After three attempts to complete the race, Under 21 National Champion Ricky Wells won the Industry Speedway Scratch Main Event for the second week in a row and the third time overall in 2008.

Wells got the best start on the first attempt to complete the Scratch Main and led down the back straight. Neil Facchini and Jimmy Fishback came together in turn three with Facchini going down and bringing out the red flag. The referee ordered a complete restart. On the second try Buck Blair got an amazing start from gate four and was first to the corner, but turn one bunching brought Wells down and Shawn McConnell laid his bike down to avoid a catastrophe. Wells gathered himself and got up for the restart. The third attempt found Wells leading into turn one while Facchini slid off behind him. The race continued and McConnell, Wells, and Fishback were three abreast down the back straight. Wells got to the inside in turn three ahead of Fishback but he still had McConnell contending on the outside. Wells was still in front entering turn one and found enough traction to pull ahead exiting turn two. McConnell switched plans and went back to the inside to protect second from Fishback. McConnell parked a little in turn one and Fishback went by on the inside. Wells pulled away from that point and won comfortably, but the battle for second wasn’t over. McConnell returned the favor by going under Fishback exiting turn four only to have Fishback pass him again in turn two. The pair battled side-by-side on the final half-lap with McConnell finding enough grip on the outside to beat Fishback for second by inches. Blair finished fourth and Facchini was fifth.

The heats began with Tim Gomez scoring an impressive win over Blair and Bobby Schwartz. McConnell and Fishback gave a preview of their main-event battle by swapping the lead several times in the next heat before McConnell edged Fishback at the finish line. Wells closed the first round with a dominant win over Jason Ramirez.

The second round started with McConnell being awarded the victory after he and Allen Doss went down on the third lap. Schwartz was forced to withdraw from the meeting after breaking the front end of his motorcycle without colliding with anything. Blair was awarded the win in race 22 after he used the outside to pass Neil Facchini for the lead. Round two ended with Eddie Castro leading from start to finish for the victory.

The last round commenced with Fishback keeping Gomez at bay for the win. Blair used the outside to pass Brad Sauer for his second victory in the penultimate heat. Ramirez completed the heats with a solid win over Facchini and Wells.

Fishback won the first semi with Facchini following him into the main in second. Blair got the best start in the second semi while Gomez used the outside to get into second. Blair pulled away for the win, but Wells passed Gomez up the inside at the end of lap three to take second and the transfer to the main. McConnell and Gomez had a fantastic side-by-side battle in the Last Chance, but it was the age over youth as McConnell took the win to book the final spot in the Scratch Main Event.

Rudy Laurer started in gate four in the Scratch Main Event and used the outside in the first corner to take the lead in front of Bryan Buffington. For the first three laps Laurer would lead down the straights but go wide in the turns which allowed Buffington to stay within striking distance. Laurer kept a tight inside line on the final lap, though, and was first to the checkered flag. Buffington settled for second, Steve Bowen finished third, and Eloy Medellin was fourth.

Tim McGrath led the Third Division Main Event for two laps before being overtaken by Bruce Marteney on the inside of turn one. Marteney led the next lap and a half and appeared to have victory in hand, but fell in the final corner and handed the win to McGrath. Tony DeAlmeida finished second, Marteney was third, and Chris Thomas was fourth.

Austin Norvatil and Gino Manzares battled handlebar-to-handlebar for a lap before Novratil settled into the lead and steadily pulled away until the finish with Brad Pappalardo stealing second away from Manzares at the line. Nicky Reimer finished fourth and Samuel Ramirez was fifth.

Nick Varner led every lap to win his third straight Pee Wee Main Event. Nicky Reimer was second, Jacob Wandolowski finished third, and Trent Hunter was fourth.

Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen trapped from the outside starting position and never looked back en route to victory in the Sidecar Main Event. Dan Alexander and Matt Davis finished second, Scott Driggers and Sean Driggers were third, Gerard Jackson and Dave German finished fourth, and Tommy Thornton and Steven Bumpus were fifth.

RESULTS

Sidecar Main Event
  1 - Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen
 22 - Dave Alexander/Matt Davis
 13 - Scott Driggers/Sean Driggers
 66 - Gerard Jackson/Dave German
 31 - Tommy Thornton/Steven Bumpus

Pee Wee Main Event
  3 - Nick Varner
 41 - Nicky Reimer
257 - Jacob Wandowlowski
 14 - Trent Hunter

Youth Main Event
  8 - Austin Novratil
611 - Brad Pappalardo
 21 - Gino Manzares
 41 - Nicky Reimer
 22 - Samuel Ramirez		(fell)

Third Division Consolation
124 - Paul Thornton
166 - Joseph Tuba
226 - Rick Huspek

Third Division Last Chance
242 - Bruce Marteney
157 - Tony DeAlmeida
308 - Hugh Randolph

Third Division Main Event
186 - Tim McGrath
157 - Tony DeAlmeida
242 - Bruce Marteney 		(fell)
189 - Chris Thomas 		(fell)

Second Division Consolation
187 - Blake Bowen
136 - Kim Stevens
153 - Brad Moreau

Second Division Main Event
182 - Rudy Laurer
 77 - Bryan Buffington
177 - Steve Bowen
178 - Eloy Medellin 		(fell)

First Division Scoring 	1	2	3	T
  6 - Shawn McConnell 		3 	3 	1 	7
 11 - Bobby Schwartz 		1 	R 	N 	1
 14 - Eddie Castro 		0 	3 	0 	3
 21 - Brad Sauer 		0 	2 	2 	4
 25 - Jimmy Fishback 		2 	1 	3 	6
 30 - Tim Gomez 		3 	1 	2 	6
 39 - Buck Blair 		2 	3 	3 	8
 66 - Jason Ramirez 		2 	Fx 	3 	5
 86 - Neil Facchini 		1 	2 	2 	5
142 - Ricky Wells 		3 	2 	1 	6
232 - Allen Doss 		F 	1 	N 	1
321 - Russell Green 		1 	R 	1 	2

Race Results
12: Gomez, Blair, Schwartz, Doss (fell)
13: McConnell, Fishback, Green, Sauer (fell, remounted)
14: Wells, Ramirez, Facchini, Castro
21: (awarded) McConnell [30], Wells [30], Doss [0] (fell), Schwartz [10] (retired) 
22: (awarded) Blair [20], Facchini [10], Fishback [20], Ramirez [20] (fell, excluded)
23: Castro [0], Sauer [0], Gomez [30], Green [10]
28: Fishback[10], Gomez [10], Green [0] (retired), Schwartz (non starter) 
29: Blair [30], Sauer [20], McConnell [30] (fell, remounted) [30], Doss [0] (non starter)
30: Ramirez [0], Facchini [20], Wells [20], Castro [30]
Semi #1: Fishback, Facchini, Ramirez, McConnell (retired)
Semi #2: Blair, Wells, Gomez, Sauer

Last Chance
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 30 - Tim Gomez
 66 - Jason Ramirez
 21 - Brad Sauer

Scratch Main Event (restarted twice)
142 - Ricky Wells
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 25 - Jimmy Fishback
 39 - Buck Blair
 86 - Neil Facchini 	(fell, remounted)