Industry Speedway
The Grand Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California
2008 California State Championship
September 17, 2008 - Industry Speedway
By: Ryan Evans
Charlie “The Edge” Venegas captured his second consecutive California State Championship and his third overall as Industry Speedway wrapped up its 2008 season.
Venegas won four of his five races and scored 13 points overall to take home the title. Seventeen year old Ricky Wells scored 12 points to finish second overall and Industry Speedway Season Points Champion Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell scored 11 points to garner third overall.
The first race required three attempts after John Marquez and the Mike Faria each fell in the first two attempts and were penalized. Jimmy Fishback held off McConnell to win the third try. Venegas trapped from the outside in the next heat and cruised to the win. Russell Green scored an impressive win the next heat. Northern California’s lone representative, Tommy Hedden, finished of the opening round with a win ahead of Wells.
Wells began the second round with his first win. Hedden made it two in a row with a win in the next heat. Bobby Schwartz beat Eddie Castro for his first win. Venegas ended round two with his second consecutive win.
Neil Facchini started round three by holding off Fishback for a victory. Shaun Harmatiuk won event 26. Venegas made it three straight wins by beating Faria with previously unbeaten Hedden only managing third. Wells won his second straight to complete the third round.
Castro opened the fourth round with a win while Hedden’s fourth place effectively eliminated him from Championship contention.
Venegas was en route to his fourth straight win when Wells and McConnell clashed and went down and the referee ordered a full restart. McConnell got the best start the second time and kept Wells and Venegas at bay for his second straight win. Their finishing order meant that they were tied for the overall lead entering the final round.
Faria collected his first victory in the next race. Schwartz finished round four with his second win.
Venegas guaranteed himself no worse than a runoff for the title by beating Fishback and Schwartz to begin the final round. McConnell beat Castro for his second straight win.
Wells came to the tapes in the next race needing victory to force a runoff. Faria had other ideas, though, and jumped into the lead. Wells offered a brief challenge on the outside, but realized he wouldn’t find sufficient traction and settled in behind the leader. Faria made no mistakes to take the win and Wells settled for second in the race and second overall.
Hedden won the last heat for his third victory to score 10 points overall.
The Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge Championship featured eight riders competing in two semi-finals with the top two from each semi going to the main. Veteran riders McConnell and Schwartz survived the first semi with Tim Gomez and Brad Sauer getting eliminated. Wells and Hedden made it through the second semi with Fishback and Robbie Sauer being eliminated.
Defending Challenge Champion McConnell was the first rider eliminated in the final with Wells following him out the door next. This left Schwartz and Hedden for the four-lap final challenge. Hedden made the better start with Schwartz right behind him. Hedden was flawless and never offered Schwartz an opportunity to get the lead. Hedden was first to the checkered flag with Schwartz getting second.
Eloy Medellin won both of his heats and put together four perfect laps to win the Second Division Championship. Rudy Laurer was second, Doug Geist finished third, and Danny Faria was fourth.
Chris Thomas led the Third Division Championship for two laps before Bruce Marteney went by him for the lead. Marteney held on from there for the victory. Gary Greenwood finished second, Thomas was third, and Tim McGrath was fourth.
Austin Novratil scored seven points to win the Youth First Division Championship. Gino Manzares was second overall with six points, National Champion Brad Pappalardo was third with four points despite missing his final race, and Joey Holt was fourth overall.
Rocco Scopellite won two of his three races to win the Youth Second Division Championship. River McDougall was second overall, Nicky Reimer was third overall, and Samuel Ramirez was fourth overall.
Bob Brayton and Steve Bumpus won all three of their races, including the main event, to win the Sidecar Championship. Defending National Champions Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen finished second, Dave Alexander and Matt Davis were third, and Stuart Glass and Jack Straw were fourth.
The pomp and circumstance of the event was tempered during one of the sidecar heats. Pappalardo, an aspiring photographer who shoots photos from the infield between his races, was clipped by a sidecar. The impact took his legs out from under him and he landed hard on the back of his neck and head. After being tended to by the medical staff he walked off the track with some assistance from his grandfather, Bill Hancock. Pappalardo was not transported via ambulance, but driven to a hospital near his home. CT scans were negative and he was diagnosed with a concussion and also suffered ligament damage to his left knee.
The California State Championship marked the final event of Industry Speedway’s 2008 season. It completed the fifth season overall and the first under the current promotion led by Jeffrey Immediato and former World Champion Bruce Penhall.
RESULTS
Sidecar State Championship Final
V2 - Bob Brayton/Dwayne King
1 - Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen
22 - Dave Alexander/Matt Davis
911 - Stuart Glass/Jack Straw (retired)
Youth Second Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
9 - Rocco Scopellite 3 3 2 8
22 - Samuel Ramirez R N N 0
41 - Nicky Reimer 1 2 1 4
43 - River McDougall 2 1 3 6
Youth First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 - Brad Pappalardo 3 1 N 4
4 - Joey Holt 0 0 1 1
8 - Austin Novratil 1 3 3 7
21 - Gino Manzares 2 2 2 6
Third Division Championship Final (awarded)
242 - Bruce Marteney
371 - Gary Greenwood
189 - Chris Thomas (fell)
186 - Tim McGrath (fell)
Second Division Championship Final
178 - Eloy Medellin
182 - Rudy Laurer
399 - Doug Geist (fell, remounted)
105 - Danny Faria (fell)
Last of the Mohicans
Semi #1: Gomez and B.Sauer eliminated
Semi #2: Fishback and R.Sauer eliminated
Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Final
40 - Tommy Hedden
11 - Bobby Schwartz
142 - Ricky Wells
6 - Shawn McConnell
State Championship Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
6 - Shawn McConnell 2 2 1 3 3 11
9 - Mike Faria 1 1 2 3 3 10
11 - Bobby Schwartz 1 3 2 3 1 10
14 - Eddie Castro T 2 2 3 2 9
17 - Robbie Sauer 1 0 0 1 R 2
19 - Dale Facchini 2 0 0 2 2 6
21 - Brad Sauer 0 0 1 0 1 2
25 - Jimmy Fishback 3 2 2 1 2 10
40 - Tommy Hedden 3 3 1 0 3 10
41 - John Marquez F 1 1 0 0 2
43 - Charlie Venegas 3 3 3 1 3 13
66 - Jason Ramirez 0 N N N N 0
86 - Neil Facchini 1 1 3 2 0 7
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 2 2 3 2 1 10
142 - Ricky Wells 2 3 3 2 2 12
321 - Russell Green 3 1 0 1 1 6
30 - Tim Gomez (R) F - - - - 0
16 - John DeFries (R) Did Not Ride
Race Results
15: (restarted twice) Fishback, McConnell, Faria (penalty line), Marquez (penalty line) (fell)
16: Venegas, D.Facchini, N.Facchini, Gomez (fell), Castro (tape exclusion)
17: Green, Harmatiuk, R.Sauer, B.Sauer
18: Hedden, Wells, Schwartz, Ramirez
20: Wells, Fishback, Green, D.Facchini
21: Hedden, McConnell, N.Facchini, R.Sauer
22: Schwartz, Castro, Faria, B.Sauer
23: (restarted) Venegas, Harmatiuk, Marquez, Ramirez (non starter)
25: N.Facchini, Fishback, B.Sauer, Ramirez (non starter)
26: Harmatiuk, Schwartz, McConnell, D.Facchini
27: Venegas, Faria, Hedden, Green
28: Wells, Castro, Marquez, R.Sauer
31: Castro, Harmatiuk, Fishback, Hedden
32: (restarted) McConnell, Wells, Venegas, B.Sauer
33: Faria, D.Facchini, R.Sauer, Ramirez (non starter)
34: Schwartz, N.Facchini, Green, Marquez
40: Venegas, Fishback, Schwartz (tape penalty), R.Sauer (retired)
41: McConnell, Castro, Green, Ramirez (non starter)
42: Faria, Wells, Harmatiuk, N.Facchini
43: Hedden, D.Facchini, B.Sauer, Marquez
PAST CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONS
1968 – Sonny Nutter 1979 – Mike Bast 1990 – Mike Faria
1969 – Steve Bast 1980 – Alan Christian 1991 – Bobby Schwartz
1970 – Steve Bast 1981 – Bruce Penhall 1992 – Mike Faria
1971 – Steve Bast 1982 – Lance King 1993 – Chris Manchester
1972 – Steve Bast 1983 – Mike Bast 1994 – Mike Faria
1973 – Mike Bast 1984 – Bobby Schwartz 1995 – Steve Lucero
1974 – Steve Bast 1985 – Steve Lucero 1996 – Steve Lucero
1975 – Steve Bast 1986 – Bobby Ott 1997 – Charlie Venegas
1976 – Mike Bast 1987 – Mike Faria 1998-2005 Race Not Held
1977 – Mike Bast 1988 – Sam Ermolenko 2006 – Josh Larsen
1978 – Mike Bast 1989 – Steve Lucero 2007 – Charlie Venegas
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