Inland Motor Speedway
National Orange Show
San Bernardino, California

Sunday Winter Racing Series
February 13, 2011
By: Ryan Evans
Photos by: Dorcey Wingo

Former National Champion Ricky Wells completed a perfect afternoon with a come-from-behind victory in the main event at the second Winter Series event at Inland Motorcycle Speedway in San Bernardino.

Wells entered the main event perfect and chose gate two. Buck Blair, with the second gate choice, selected gate one and made it pay off when he launched into the lead at the start. Turn one had all five racers in tight formation, but Blair and Wells emerged from the corner in the top spots. Wells stalked the leader for a lap and tried to force a mistake. He switched his attack to the outside line entering turn three the second time and he was alongside Blair at the end of lap two. There was enough dirt on the outside to propel the USA Under 21 Team Member into the lead on the back straight. Blair chased Wells valiantly the rest of the way but couldn't find a way past. Wells was first to the checkered flag, Blair was second, "Fast" Eddie Castro finished third, Fox was fourth, and Jason Ramirez finished fifth.

Wells gave everyone a glimpse of his day by kicking off the heats with a blistering victory. Blair defeated Bobby Krips in the second heat. Ramirez ended the first round with a resounding win over Castro.

Krips began the second round by beating Brad Pappalardo for his first win. Castro defeated Tyson Talkington in the next heat. Wells finished round two by beating Blair for his second win.

Krips opened the final round with a defeat of Pappalardo for his second straight win. Joey "The Bolt" Holt led the penultimate heat for three laps before Blair used the outside to take the lead and his second win. Wells closed out the heats by beating Castro to remain perfect.

Blair and Ramirez had raced side-by-side for two laps in the first semi before the former Youth National Champion made the outside work well enough to take the win with Blair following him into the main event by finishing second. Wells ran away with the second semi and was going to be joined by Castro before the veteran rider suffered an engine failure on the final lap and handed the transfer to Fox.

Tyson Talkington led the Last Chance for a lap before Castro pushed him off the inside line to take the lead and he went on to victory.
Ryan Tovatt put together four smooth laps and was victorious in the Second Division Main Event. Rohn Zellner was second, Drew Coats finished third, and American Touring Team Member Marvin Sonnier was fourth.

Mitch Pierson led the first lap of the Third Division Main Event but Chris Jones had weaved through traffic to get into second and challenge the leader. Jones's efforts were unsuccessful on laps two and three but he charged up the inside of Pierson entering turn one the final time to take the lead. Jones held off Pierson on the final lap for the victory. Chris Casey finished third, Chad Erl was fourth, Mike Salyer finished fifth, and C.J. Sanborn was sixth.

Max Ruml led from start to finish en route to victory in the Youth 250cc Main Event. Samuel Ramirez finished second, Nicholas Varner was third, and Jake Hansen was fourth.
Varner led all four laps and scored the win in the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event. Kurtis Hamill finished second and Dillon Ruml was third.

Sebastian "Big Daddy" Palmese held off the challenges of Gino Scopellite to win the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event. Brian Pintear was third, Chase Sanborn finished fourth, Daniel Casey was fifth, Dalton Leedy finished sixth, and Michael Wells was seventh.

The next speedway event at IMS will be the 2011 Gumball Rally on March 5 and 6. Saturday will have a Billy Hamill Speedway Academy for adults, followed by an open practice, and concluding with a full program of speedway racing at 6:00 p.m. Sunday will have the Billy Hamill Speedway Academy for juniors followed by the annual Gumball Rally starting at 1:00 p.m.

RESULTS

Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event
18 - Sebastian Palmese
7 - Gino Scopellite
58 - Brian Pintear
108 - Chase Sanborn
393 - Daniel Casey
222 - Dalton Leedy (fell, remounted)
214 - Michael Wells (fell)

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event
333 - Nicholas Varner
104 – Kurtis Hamill
111 - Dillon Ruml

Youth 250cc Main Event
308 - Max Ruml
22 - Samuel Ramirez
333 - Nicholas Varner
123 - Jake Hansen

Third Division Consolation
392n – Chanse Vaccaro 20
313 – Joey St. Louis 10
266 – Jonni Jade 20
124 – Paul Thornton 0
235 – Carl Shockley 10
226 – Rick Huspek 0
211 – Steve Brown 0(fell)

Third Division Main Event
116 – Chris Jones 20
192 – Mitch Pierson 10
391n – Chris Casey 20
154 – Chad Erl 10
333 – Mike Salyer 20
393 – C.J. Sanborn 10

Second Division Consolation (restarted)
151 – Brandon Leedy
240n – Rick Fehrman
175 – Jake Myers
153 – Brad Moreau
224 – Bander Alexander (retired)
150 – Damon Barry (non starter)

Second Division Main Event
389 - Ryan Tovatt
163 - Rohn Zellner
195 - Drew Coats
52 - Marvin Sonnier

First Division Scoring 123T
14 – Eddie Castro 2327
22 – Mike Bloom 0000
24 – Bobby Krips 2338
28 – Joey Holt 0022
39 – Buck Blair 3238
46 – Aaron Fox 1113
48 – Tyson Talkington 2215
63 – Michael Raines 0101
66 – Jason Ramirez 3115
142 – Ricky Wells 3339
145 – Brad Pappalardo 1225
201 – Dylan Black 10F1

Race Results
1: Wells, Talkington, Black, Holt (fell, remounted)
2: (restarted) Blair, Krips, Fox, Raines
3: Ramirez, Castro, Pappalardo, Bloom
11: Krips, Pappalardo, Ramirez (fell, remounted), Holt (fell, remounted)
12: (restarted) Castro, Talkington, Raines (penalty line), Black (fell)
13: (restarted) Wells, Blair (penalty line), Fox, Bloom
19: Krips, Pappalardo, Talkington, Bloom
20: Blair, Holt, Ramirez, Raines
21: Wells, Castro, Fox, Black (fell)
Semi #1: Ramirez, Blair, Krips, Pappalardo
Semi #2: Wells, Fox, Talkington, Castro (engine failure)

First Division Consolation
28 - Joey Holt
22 - Mike Bloom
201 - Dylan Black (non starter)
63 - Michael Raines (non starter)

First Division Last Chance
14 - Eddie Castro
48 - Tyson Talkington
145 - Brad Pappalardo
24 - Bobby Krips (tape exclusion)

First Division Main Event
142 - Ricky Wells
39 - Buck Blair
14 - Eddie Castro
46 - Aaron Fox
66 - Jason Ramirez

Photos by: Dorcey Wingo

	Here is something you don't see every day, the Goodyear Blimp at IMS!
	While most of the USA deals with Old Man Winter, SoCal Speedway riders attend the morning meeting under the guidance of IMS Pit Steward Gary Hicks, Sr. and Referee Tom Fox.
	First Division regular #46 Aaron Fox leads Event 2 around turn two as (L) #39 Buck Blair, #24 Bobby Krips, and #63 Michael Raines stay close. Blair would go on to win the fast four-lapper.
	In First Division Event 3, #66 Jason Ramirez takes the early lead as (L) veteran rider #22 Mike "Spider Man" Bloom, #14 "Fast Eddie" Castro, and #146 Brad Pappalardo pass their IMS dirt along to the next guy.
	In Event 13, First Division rider #39 "Battling" Buck Blair throws a rear chain in turn two, handing 2009 National Champ #142 Ricky Wells the lead as #46 Aaron Fox and #22 Mike Bloom (R) pursue.
	In Second Division rivalry, #240n Rick Ferman leads the pack into turn two, including #153 Brad Moreau and a trio of guys who need to get numbers on their equipment.
	Third Division heavyweight #211 Steve "Beach Ball" Brown leads a host of motorcycle maniacs into turn two at San Berdoo.
	Youth 250cc Hot Shoe #308 Max Ruml tears toward the back straightaway, admiring the distance between himself and his closest pursuer.
	First Division speedster Joey "The Bolt" Holt leads veteran #22 Mike "Spider Man" Bloom around the IMS blue groove.
	With all the bucks riding on the First Division Main Event, #39 Buck Blair (R) comes out of the chocks ahead of the field, taking a decisive lead going into turn two. Against the wall is #66 Jason Ramirez, in lane four and making his first Division One Main Event is #46 Aaron Fox. #14 Eddie Castro gates from lane three, while former National Champ #142 Ricky Wells watches Buck's front wheel. [Blair would hold the lead for two valiant laps, and then succumbed to the outside-passing Wells.]
	And the end of lap two, Wells takes the faster outside line as Blair hones in on the inner blue groove. Wells took another checked flag before he heads back across the pond to resume Premier League racing in merry old England.
	Youth 200cc First Division winner #333 Nick Varner takes his victory lap.
	First Division contender #24 Bobby Krips managed to break the tape with his helmet coming out of the starting gate in lane one, nullifying this otherwise righteous head start into turn 2. From the left is #14 "Fast Eddie" Castro, #24 Bobby "Cowboy" Krips, #48 Tyson Talkington and # 145 Brad Pappalardo.