Inland Motorcycle Speedway
National Orange Show
San Bernardino, California

Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out
August 28, 2009 - IMS, San Bernardino
By: Ryan Evans

Former National Champion “Flyin” Mike Faria was victorious in the Scratch Main Event at Inland Motorsports Speedway in San Bernardino.

The Scratch Main Event was reduced from five riders to four when Buck Blair was excluded for touching the tapes. When the tapes finally went up Faria jumped into the front ahead of his competitors. The wily veteran was never seriously threatened and calmly led all four laps to claim the victory. Shaun Harmatiuk finished second, Jimmy “Little Animal” Fishback was third, Gino Manzares finished fourth, and Blair was credited with fifth.

Youth National Champion Brad Pappalardo led the eight-rider Handicap Main Event through the first lap before the red flag came out. Pappalardo started at the front of the restart but was under pressure from Tyson Burmeister. Burmeister went by the 16 year old on the third lap but found himself being pestered by Shaun Harmatiuk. Burmeister withstood the challenge for four laps and was leading when he took the white flag when he ran out of fuel and relinquished the lead. Harmatiuk led the last lap for the win, Jason Ramirez finished second, Jimmy Fishback was third, Pappalardo finished fourth, and Josh Abbott was fifth.

The Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge began with two four-rider semis that determined who would challenge previous winners Burmeister and Manzares in the Final. Faria won the first semi and Fishback won the second semi. In the Final, Burmeister was the first to be eliminated and was followed by Manzares. Fishback defeated Faria in the last battle to claim the prize.

Joey Holt continued his dominance of speedway’s middle division by winning the Second Division Main Event. Drew Coats was second, Steve Bowen finished third, and Ed Lynch was fourth.

Former sidecar competitor Chris Jones led the Third Division Main Event for three and a half laps before succumbing to the constant pressure of Chris Thomas. Thomas held off Jones through the final corner to take the victory. Tyson Talkington finished third, Mike Wiley was fourth, Steve Brown finished fifth, Rick Huspek was sixth, and Justin Weeks finished seventh.

Nick Varner overcame a large handicap to pass and defeat Jimmy Fishback IV to win the Pee Wee Main Event.

The next event at IMS is the Denny Pyeatt Memorial. The event honors the former racer who was tragically killed from injuries suffered in a crash at Hackney, England on July 16, 1982.

RESULTS

Pee Wee Main Event
  3 – Nick Varner
275 – Jimmy Fishback IV

Third Division Main Event
189 – Chris Thomas		10
116 – Chris Jones		0
220 – Tyson Talkington		0
101 – Mike Wiley		10
211 – Steve Brown		0
226 – Rick Huspek		0
257 – Justin Weeks		10
268 – DeWayne Stark		10	(non starter)

Second Division Consolation
242 – Bruce Marteney
136 – Kim Stevens
208 – Geoff Herkner		(engine failure)
119 – Miles Calvin		(retired)
103 – Kyle Hicks		(non starter)

Second Division Main Event
244 – Joey Holt
195 – Drew Coats
177 – Steve Bowen
354 – Ed Lynch

Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Semi #1
  9 – Mike Faria
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk
 30 – Tim Gomez
 17 – Robbie Sauer

Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Semi #2
 25 – Jimmy Fishback
 66 – Jason Ramirez
 39 – Buck Blair
149 – Philip Harmatiuk

Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge
 25 – Jimmy Fishback
  9 – Mike Faria
221 – Gino Manzares
184 – Tyson Burmeister

Handicap Main Event (restarted)
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk		40
 66 – Jason Ramirez		30
 25 – Jimmy Fishback		40
145 – Brad Pappalardo		10
141 – Josh Abbott		10
184 – Tyson Burmeister		30
  9 – Mike Faria		50	(retired)
221 – Gino Manzares		30	(retired)

First Division Last Chance
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk
 11 – Bobby Schwartz
 66 – Jason Ramirez
184 – Tyson Burmeister

Scratch Main Event
  9 – Mike Faria
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk
 25 – Jimmy Fishback
221 – Gino Manzares
 39 – Buck Blair 		(tape exclusion)