Inland Motor Speedway
National Orange Show
San Bernardino, California

Bruce Penhall Classic
August 5, 2011
By: Ryan Evans

"Flyin" Mike Faria turned in a flawless performance and won the Bruce Penhall Classic for his second consecutive main event victory at Inland Motorcycle Speedway in San Bernardino.

Faria's perfect score afforded him the opportunity to have first pick of starting position and he picked gate one. When the tapes went up Faria exploded off the line and into the lead as the field entered turn one. Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell was right behind him throughout the first lap and hoping for an opening. Faria opened a little breathing room on the second lap and left McConnell to hope for a mistake. That mistake would never come as Faria cruised the rest of the way and won the main event for the second straight week. McConnell settled for second, "Fast" Eddie Castro fnished third, Aaron Fox was fourth, and Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz finished fifth.

John "Mongoose" Marquez opened the heats with a win over Russell Green. Faria beat Schwartz in the second heat for his first win. Jimmy "Little Animal" Fishback beat Dukie Ermolenko to end round one.

Round two began with Faria using the outside to go around Fox for the lead and the win. Fihback beat Joey "The Bolt" Holt for his second win. Schwartz beat Marquez to end the second round.

McConnell started the final round with a win over Fox. Faria beat Ermolenko to remain perfect. Castro beat Rick "The Rage" Valdez in event 24. McConnell then beat Schwartz in the final heat for his second straight win.

Schwartz won the first semi and was followed into the main event by Fox. Faria remained perfect by winning the second semi with McConnell getting second to join him in the main. Castro won the Last Chance to fill the final spot in the main event field.

Mitch Pierson was the initial leader in the Second Division Main Event and remained at the front the first half of the race. Gabe Price charged through the field and found himself in second with his sights squarely on the leader. Price went for the lead as they exited turn four on the next-to-last lap but ran into the back of Pierson and went down. Pierson wasn't threatened on the final lap and held on for the victory. "Rattlesnake" Steve Bowen finished second, Chris Jones was third, Mike Salyer finished fourth, Brandon Leedy was fifth, and Joey St. Louis finished sixth.

Rick Howard led the Third Division Main Event until Steve "Beach Ball" Brown went by as they entered turn three. Brown led the rest of the way and scored a very popular victory. Tony DeAlmeida finished second, Kip McClain was third, Kevin Fife finished fourth, Dan Eddy was fifth, Howard finished sixth, and Rick Huspek was seventh.

Broc Nicol suffered an engine failure in the Youth 250cc Main Event which gave the victory to Hayley Perrault.

Nicol's luck wasn't completely bad, though, as he passed Perrault on the second lap of the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event and claimed victory. Braydan Galvin finished third in his first speedway meeting of 2011.

Dalton Leedy led all four laps en route to victory in the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event. Maverick Molloy finished second, Michael Wells was third, and Shea Bendykowski finished fourth.

Alyssa Smith led from start to finish and was victorious in the Pee Wee Main Event. Sara Cords finished second, Dakota Shockley was third, Jimmy Fishback IV finished fourth, and Luke Whitcomb was fifth.

RESULTS

Pee Wee Main Event
31 - Alyssa Smith
14 - Sara Cords
34 - Dakota Shockley
275 - Jimmy Fishback IV
27 - Luke Whitcomb (fell)

Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event
222 - Dalton Leedy
34 - Maverick Molloy
214 - Michael Wells
23 - Shea Bendykowski

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event
98 - Broc Nicol
0 - Hayley Perrault
45 - Braydan Galvin

Youth 250cc Main Event
0 - Hayley Perrault
98 - Broc Nicol (engine failure)

Third Division Main Event
211 - Steve Brown 10
157 - Tony DeAlmeida 20
316 - Kip McClain 30
311 - Kevin Fife 30
349 - Dan Eddy10
188 - Rick Howard 0
226 - Rick Huspek 0

Second Division Main Event (awarded)
192 - Mitch Pierson 0
177 - Steve Bowen 20
116 - Chris Jones 10
333 - Mike Salyer 0
151 - Brandon Leedy 20
313 - Joey St. Louis 0
37 - Joe Donaldson 10
113 - Gabe Price 30(fell, excluded)

First Division Heat Scoring123T
6 – Shawn McConnell E336
9 – Mike Faria 3339
11 – Bobby Schwartz 2327
14 – Eddie Castro 1236
15 – Dukie Ermolenko 2125
25 – Jimmy Fishback 3317
28 – Joey Holt 02N 2
41 – John Marquez 32N 5
46 – Aaron Fox 1124
63 – Michael Raines 00N 0
195 – Drew Coats R 011
293 – Rick Valdez 1023
321 – Russell Green 2114

Race Results
1: Marquez, Green, Castro, Raines
2: Faria, Schwartz, Valdez, Holt
3: Fishback, Ermolenko, Fox, Coats (retired)
11: Faria, Castro, Fox, Valdez
12: (restarted) Fishback, Holt (penalty line), Green, McConnell (engine failure)
13: Schwartz, Marquez, Ermolenko, Coats
22: McConnell, Fox, Coats, Raines (tape penalty)
23: Faria, Ermolenko, Green, Marquez (non starter), Holt (non starter)
24: Castro, Valdez, Fishback (fell, remounted)
25: McConnell, Schwartz, Raines (non starter)
Semi #1: Schwartz, Fox, Fishback, Ermolenko (tape penalty)
Semi #2: Faria, McConnell, Castro, Green

First Division Last Chance
14 - Eddie Castro
25 - Jimmy Fishback
321 - Russell Green
15 - Dukie Ermolenko

Bruce Penhall Classic Main Event
9 - Mike Faria
6 - Shawn McConnell
14 - Eddie Castro
46 - Aaron Fox
11 - Bobby Schwartz