Victorville Speedway
Wheel2Wheel Raceway
Victorville, California

Stallone's Cycles Spring Classic
April 19, 2008 - Victorville
By: Ryan Evans

Tim Gomez turned in a solid performance and captured his first Scratch Main Event victory at the Stallone's Cycles Spring Classic at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville.

Buck Blair was off the line first, but Gomez found more traction entering turn one and pulled down to the pole in front of Blair to take the lead. Blair gave chase on the back straight, but Gomez stuck to the inside to fend off the challenge. Gomez withstood the inside attack for another lap before Blair switched to the outside entering turn one. Gomez was equal to that task and Blair's quest ended on the back straight when he suffered a flat tire and slowed to a stop. Gomez cruised the final lap for his maiden victory in First Division. Michael Hull finished second, Robbie Sauer was third, and Blair was credited with fourth.

Four rounds of heats that utilized the Olympique format began with Hull beating Russell Green and John DeFries. Blair earned his first victory over Gomez and Sauer. John Marquez led all four laps to get an impressive win in heat 8. Sauer took advantage of starting in the front and defeated Green and Blair. Heat 13 had to be restarted, but only after a great laydown by John Marquez saved bodies and bikes of himself and Green. Gomez scored his first win of the evening after passing DeFries and holding off Sauer.

The final round began with an excellent three-rider battle between former junior riders Green, Gomez, and Hull. Green led the entire way while facing constant pressure from Gomez and Hull who battled side-by-side for four laps behind the sixteen year old. Green was first to the finish line with Gomez just beating Hull to the line. Blair started at the back, but used the outside to win the final heat.

In a break for the status quo, two riders transferred from the Last Chance to the main event. Hull got a great start and took the win with Sauer finishing second to follow him into the main.

Former National Championship participant Tony "The Tiger" Bienert spun a few practice laps recently and decided to return to racing. He chose to compete in Second Division to "get the cobwebs out" and his performance resulted in it being his last appearance in that division.

J.C. Masters led for three laps before being passed by Steve Bowen. Bowen was under pressure from Bienert who had patiently worked through the pack from the 30 yard line. Bienert made a brilliant move in the final corner and charged passed Bowen to snatch the victory. Masters was third, Steve Dziadus finished fourth, Rick Fritch was fifth, and Dylan Black was credited with sixth.

Black was involved in a wild crash earlier in the evening. Black was leading the second heat when he found too much traction in turn four and went over backward. The bike cartwheeled into and over the wall and safety fence and into the spectator area.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Tony DeAlmeida stalked Paul Thornton for three laps before taking the lead and going on to victory. Thornton settled for second and Rick Huspek finished third.

The next event in the high desert will be the High Desert Spring Festival Invitational at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds in Ridgecrest on Saturday, April 26. The racing begins at 6:00. The next event at Wheel2Wheel Raceway is the Eliminapolis 500 on Saturday, May 24.

RESULTS

Third Division Main Event
157 – Tony DeAlmeida 	20
124 – Paul Thornton 	10
226 – Rick Huspek 	10

Second Division Main Event
103 – Tony Bienert 	30
177 – Steve Bowen 	20
202 – J.C. Masters 	10
212 – Steve Dziadus 	20
288 – Rick Fritch 	10
Dylan Black 		10	(non starter)

First Division Scoring 	1 	2 	3 	4 	T
 16 – John DeFries 		1 	1 	1 	N 	3
 17 – Robbie Sauer 		1 	3 	2 	2 	8
 30 – Tim Gomez 		2 	2 	3 	2 	9
 39 – Buck Blair 		3 	1 	3 	3 	10
 41 – John Marquez 		0 	3 	0 	1 	4
320 – Michael Hull 		3 	0 	2 	1 	6
321 – Russell Green 		2 	2 	1 	3 	8

Race Results
4: Hull, Green, DeFries
5: Blair, Gomez, Sauer, Marquez
8: Marquez [0], Gomez [20], DeFries [10], Hull [30]
9: Sauer [10], Green [20], Blair [30] 
13: (restarted) Blair [10], Hull [0], Green [20] (penalty line), Marquez [30]
14: Gomez [20], Sauer [30], DeFries [10]
18: Green [10], Gomez [30], Hull [20]
19: Blair [30], Sauer [20], Marquez [0], DeFries [10] (non starter)

First Division Last Chance
320 – Michael Hull
 17 – Robbie Sauer
 41 – John Marquez
321 – Russell Green

First Division Main Event
 30 – Tim Gomez
320 – Michael Hull
 17 – Robbie Sauer
 39 – Buck Blair (retired)