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Inland Motorcycle Speedway
National Orange Show
San Bernardino, California
2009 Western States Championship
October 3, 2009 - IMS, San Bernardino
By: Ryan Evans
Gary Hicks won all his races to take home the Western States Championship at Inland Motorsport Speedway in San Bernardino presented by Bully Dog.
Hicks made the best start in the Final with Tommy Hedden and Jimmy Fishback snapping at his heels. Hedden tried the outside line to get around the leader while Fishback was using the inside. Both riders tried valiantly to get past the leader. Hicks never succumbed to the constant pressure, though, and he was first to the checkered flag. Hedden finished second, Fishback was third, and Josh Larsen finished fourth.
Fishback kicked off the heats with a win over Mike “Spiderman” Bloom. John Marquez defeated Hedden in the next heat. Hicks collected his first win in event three. Buck Blair beat Robbie Sauer in the next heat. Larsen had to pass fast-starting Brad Sauer to win the final heat of round one.
Hedden began round two with his first win. Mike Faria beat Brad Sauer in the next heat. Marquez beat Neil Facchini for his second straight win. Hicks defeated Fishback in event 15 for his second win. Larsen beat Blair to end the second round. Shawn McConnell beat Faria after an epic four-lap side-by-side battle to start the third round. Devin Defreece beat Bloom to win event 24. Hedden beat Josh Abbott for his second straight win. Fishback held off Larsen in the next event for his second victory. Hicks remained the only perfect rider by ending round three with a victory.
McConnell began the final round by beating Marquez. Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz had to pass Brad Pappalardo on the outside before winning event 31. Hicks kept his perfect score alive by holding off Larsen in the next event. Hedden won the penultimate heat to earn a spot in the Final. Fishback beat Faria in the last heat to join Hicks and Hedden in the Final.
Faria got into the tapes in the Last Chance race and was sent to the penalty line. When the tapes finally went up, Larsen and McConnell came together in turn one and brought out the red flag. The third time the riders came to the tapes Larsen made the best start and thwarted all of McConnell’s challenges and booked the last spot in the Final.
Two semi-finals pared the Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge Championship to Hicks, Blair, Fishback, and McConnell. The first start ended violently in turn four when McConnell got into the back of Blair, causing the Colorado native’s machine to lift and go through the turn four fence at a high rate of speed. Blair was down for several minutes, but was able to get up. McConnell was excluded and Blair withdrew from the rest of the meeting with soreness in this knee and wrist. This left Hicks and Fishback for the final challenge and Hicks, keeping his theme of perfection for the evening, led the entire way for the victory.
Tyson Talkington led the Second Division Main Event for a lap before Joey Holt, who charged from the back of the field, took over the lead in turn two. Holt never looked back from there and went on the victory. Rick Farron finished second, Damon Barry was third, Rick Valdez finished fourth, Talkington was fifth, and Geoff Herkner was credited with sixth.
Steve “Beach Ball” Brown led the Third Division Main Event for one lap before Mike Wiley went around him on the outside for the lead. Wiley didn’t turn a wheel wrong after that and collected the win. Rod Requejo was second, Brown finished third, John Pavia was fourth, Kevin Johnson finished fifth, and Chris Thomas was sixth.
Nicky Reimer led all four laps to win the Youth Main Event. Gabe Price finished second and William Ballasteros was third.
Reimer was also victorious in the Pee Wee Main Event with Victoria Matthews finishing second, Nick Varner getting third, and Ballasteros finishing fourth.
The Western States Championship was the final event of the IMS schedule. Promoters Jason Bonsignore and McConnell will have events throughout the winter and will announce their 2010 regular season schedule soon.
RESULTS
Pee Wee Main Event
41 – Nicky Reimer
6 – Victoria Matthews
3 – Nick Varner
7 – William Ballasteros
Third Division Consolation
161 – Michael Moore 10
362 – Ralph Chudy 10
268 – DeWayne Stark 20
226 – Rick Huspek 0
Third Division Main Event
101 – Mike Wiley 20
131 – Rod Requejo 10
211 – Steve Brown 0
355 – John Pavia 10
122 – Kevin Johnson 20
189 – Chris Thomas 20 (fell, remounted)
Second Division Consolation
274 – Bubba Vazzana 0
257 – Justin Weeks 0
212 – Steve Dziadus 10
266 – Jonni Jade 0 (fell)
Second Division Main Event (restarted)
244 – Joey Holt 30
147 – Rick Farron 30
150 – Damon Barry 0
293 – Rick Valdez 30
220 – Tyson Talkington 0 (fell, remounted)
208 – Geoff Herkner 0 (non starter – restart)
Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge Semi #1
3 – Gary Hicks
39 – Buck Blair
2 – Josh Larsen
11 – Bobby Schwartz
Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge Semi #2
25 – Jimmy Fishback
6 – Shawn McConnell
40 – Tommy Hedden
9 – Mike Faria
Last of the Mohicans Last Man Out Challenge Final
3 – Gary Hicks
25 – Jimmy Fishback
39 – Buck Blair (non starter – second start)
6 – Shawn McConnell (excluded)
Western States Scoring 1 2 3 4 T F T
2 – Josh Larsen 3 3 2 2 10 5 15
3 – Gary Hicks 3 3 3 3 12 8 20
6 – Shawn McConnell 1 2 3 3 9 4 13
9 – Mike Faria 1 3 2 2 8 2 10
11 – Bobby Schwartz 0 1 2 3 6 3 9
17 – Robbie Sauer 2 1 1 1 5 - 5
21 – Brad Sauer 2 2 0 1 5 - 5
22 – Mike Bloom 2 0 2 1 5 - 5
25 – Jimmy Fishback 3 2 3 3 11 6 17
30n – Devin Defreece 1 0 3 1 5 - 5
39 – Buck Blair 3 2 N N 5 - 5
40 – Tommy Hedden 2 3 3 3 11 7 18
41 – John Marquez 3 3 1 2 9 1 10
86 – Neil Facchini 0 2 0 2 4 - 4
120 – Doug Greyson 2 1 0 0 3 - 3
141 – Josh Abbott 1 0 2 1 4 - 4
145 – Brad Pappalardo 1 1 1 2 5 - 5
177 – Steve Bowen 0 0 1 0 1 - 1
178 – Eloy Medellin F 0 0 0 0 - 0
293 – Rick Valdez 0 1 1 0 2 - 2
Race Results
1: Fishback, Bloom, Abbott, Facchini
2: Marquez, Hedden, Faria, Schwartz
3: Hicks, Greyson, McConnell, Medellin (fell)
4: Blair, R.Sauer, Pappalardo, Valdez
5: Larsen, B.Sauer, Defreece, Bowen
12: Hedden, McConnell, R.Sauer, Bloom
13: (restarted) Faria, B.Sauer, Greyson, Abbott
14: Marquez, Facchini, Valdez, Bowen
15: Hicks, Fishback, Pappalardo, Defreece
16: Larsen, Blair, Schwartz, Medellin
23: McConnell, Faria, Pappalardo, Facchini
24; Defreece, Bloom, Valdez, Medellin
25: Hedden, Abbott, Bowen, Blair (non starter)
26: Fishback, Larsen, Marquez, Greyson
27: Hicks, Schwartz, R.Sauer, B.Sauer
30: McConnell, Marquez, Defreece, Blair (non starter)
31: Schwartz, Pappalardo, Bloom, Greyson (fell, remounted)
32: Hicks, Larsen, Abbott (tape penalty), Valdez
33: Hedden, Facchini, B.Sauer, Medellin
34: Fishback, Faria, R.Sauer, Bowen
Last Chance (restarted)
2 – Josh Larsen
6 – Shawn McConnell
11 – Bobby Schwartz
9 – Mike Faria (tape penalty) (fell, remounted)
41 – John Marquez (fell)
Western States Championship Final
3 – Gary Hicks
40 – Tommy Hedden
25 – Jimmy Fishback
2 – Josh Larsen
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