Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
1273 High Street
Auburn, California
Speedway
Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
AUBURN, CALIFORNIA, July 7, 2023
Story and Photos by Michael Kirby
The Southern California boys made their way north Friday night and made every mile count. Broc Nicol, Dillon Ruml and Slater Nightcap rolled in Auburn and Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway from down south looking to win on the tricky dirt oval.
Nicol and Lightcap made the miles count each coming away with impressive main event wins. Nicol proved to be the fastest man of the night picking up his fourth Division I scratch main event win of the 2023 season. A very experienced speedway journeyman, Nicol worked his way into the night’s finale with wins in both his heat and semi-final races. Nicol sat in the outside lane four. Lightcap drew lane two and Ruml sat in one. That left Louie Mersaroli in lane three and the lone local rider in the main event. From the gate it was Nicol all the way with an excellent start. Nicol hit turn one in the lead and just kept increasing his lead. Ruml and Lightcap were in a tight run for second and third but without a mistake had no chance of catching Nicol. At the finish it was Nicol followed by Lightcap in second, Ruml in third and Mersaroli in fourth.
The Southern California boys scored a one-two punch with Nicol taking the scratch main and Lightcap scoring an impressive win in the handicap main event. Lightcap is handicapped on the 30-yard line and had two third place finishes in his heat and semi-final races before the main event. Low yardage riders Aidan McNutt and Chase Kangas had a time leading for several laps, but Lightcap found a way through weaving his way to the lead and kept it until the finish line. Kangas did an impressive job holding onto second place and Timmy Dion starting off the 20-yard line finished third. The boys from down south breezed into town with wins in both Division I main events and breezed out of town with the trophy hardware.
In the fourth round of the six round Team Challenge grudge match the Team Law Tigers had a great night behind wins by Billy Janniro and Timmy Dion. The Law Tigers scored four points in the first heat with Janniro’s win and an added point by Louie Mersaroli for a third-place finish. In the second race Team Law Tigers tallied four points with Dion’s win and another point added with a third-place finish by Greg Moore. Team M-45 had second place finishes by Blake Borello and Daniel Faria adding four points to their score for the round. The score for round four was Law Tigers eight points and M-45 four points. When the dust settled the score after four rounds had the Law Tigers increasing their lead in the series over Team M-45 to 29-19. The action continues in the series July 28 with round five as Team M-45 tries to catch Team Law Tigers.
After a two-week break Darren Armbruster was back in the saddle and wasted no time with another win in the Youth 250 main event. Handicapped on the back yardage 40-yard line Armbruster survived two crashes during the main event for the win. Jameson Hutchinson was second and Caden Cavrikas was third. The win was Armbruster’s fifth for the season.
Matthew Wright capped an emotional week with a win in the Youth 150 main event. Last week Wright had his speedway bike stolen off his work bench in his family’s garage. After passionate appeals to the racing community law enforcement officers located the specialized motorcycle and returned it to Wright Wednesday just in time to ready the bike for Friday’s race. Wright, who is handicapped on the 50-yard line, had his hands full in the main event as Wesley Rearick closed in on him and nearly caught him at the finish line. Rearick finished second and Riley Rearick finished third.
Next week July 14, Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway brings back the fan favorite Extreme Sidecars for the third round of five rounds this season. These teams of sidecar specialists roar into town with their 1000cc three wheeled chariots and put on a great show. Then on July 21 one of the most popular events of the season returns to Fast Fridays as the North vs. South Challenge is staged. One of the longest running grudge matches in speedway racing historic puts the best riders from Northern California against the best riders from Southern California. If you are a speedway fan both of these events should not be missed.
Results for 7-7-23
Division I Scratch Main Event
1-Broc Nicol, 2-Slater Lightcap, 3-Dillon Ruml, 4-Louie Mersaroli
Division I Scratch Consolation
1-Billy Janniro, 2-Timmy Dion, 3-Alex Martin, 4-Blake Borello
Division I Handicap Main Event
1-Slater Lightcap, 2-Chase Kangas, 3-Timmy Dion, 4-Billy Janniro, 5-Daniel Faria, 6-Gregory Moore
Division I Handicap Consolation
1-Alex Martin, 2-Blake Borello, 3-Louie Mersaroli, 4-Dillon Ruml, 5-Sammy Tetrault, 6-Broc Nicol
Support Class Main Event
1-Cody Aker, 2-Sammy Tetrault, 3-Fred Cook, 4-Ray Holt Jr., 5-John Peters, 6-Troy McQueen
Youth 250 Main Event
1-Darren Armbruster, 2-Jameson Hutchinson, 3-Caden Cavrikas
Youth 150 Main Event
1-Matthew Wright, 2-Wesley Rearick, 3-Riley Rearick, 4-Leeann Emerson, 5-Wesley Schweitzer
Team Challenge Series (Round Four)
Team M45-4 Team Law Tigers-8
Total (Rounds One-Four)
M-45-19 Law Tigers-29
| Michael Kirby Photos |
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Darren Armbruster celebrates his Youth 250 main event win. After two weeks off Armbruster came back for his fifth Youth 250 win of the season. |
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Slater Lightcap, one of the Southern California riders that came north Friday night won the Division I handicap main event and was second in the scratch main event. |
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Broc Nicol, the fastest man of the night at Fast Fridays, won his fourth Division I scratch main event of the season. |
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The ever-popular Pee-Wees line up for the start of a heat race. |
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Matthew Wright, after having his speedway bike stolen and then returned, won the Youth 150 main event. |
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Cody Aker had a perfect night with two wins in the Support Class including the main event.
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Timmy Dion scored three points with a win for the Law Tigers in the fourth round of the Team Challenge. |
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Along with Timmy Dion, Billy Janniro scored three points with a win for the Law Tigers in the fourth round of the Team Challenge. |
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