|
|
1996 Niagara Speedway Race Results
July 6, 1996 Niagara Speedway
By Kim Gregory
Welland's weather finally cooperated! After the cancellation of three weekend races, over 800 Niagara race fans finally saw some racing. The nights final speedway event was a story in itself!
The track was a little tacky in the beginning heats, but buy mid evening it was the best it has ever been. Al Chisholm took a fall in the first turn of the first Division One race of the evening. He caught a little too much traction on the tacky track, lifting his front wheel, and when it came down, the tank - slapper wobble pitched the bike into a cartwheel. Al suffered a stiff neck, and his bike was finished for the evening.
Tim Ford, Ian Boyd, Andy Harris and Andy Delimat had mechanical problems that severely hurt their standings for the evening. Andy Harris's crankshaft cracked in half. The Jawa had two oil holes instead of one, and they are known to fail this way. (He learned this after the break, and the resulting crash into the fence!) I managed to get through the evening with only a flat front tire, and it was my first event of the year without a crash!
The Division Two final saw Joanne Edwards take the win in her first event following her horrible crash at last years National Championship. Mark Engel and her were tied with one win each going into the final.
By the time the Division One Speedway event was run, the tapes starting gate had broken. The start was done using just a green light, and on all three tries, was very uneven. Chris Hesmer jumped by so much (on the first attempt), that the other riders just waited on the line. The ref put him back 10 meters for the restart. On the second start, Chris laid it down into the haybails in turn three, and the race was stopped. On the third start, Jeff Orosztook the lead and held it for half a lap before John Kehoe took over for the rest of the race. All eyes then followed Chris as he moved up from the back, making successful passes on the outside until he got to Jeff. Then Sobec Muszynski dropped out with mechanical problems. Jeff held off Chris until the final turn when Chris changed his tactics and got inside of Jeff. The finish at the wire was VERY close. The ref initially called Jeff as taking second, and through the photographing of the winners, the fans yelled their opinions on the true finish positions. Later, when the prize money was being paid out, the ref said he had had his eyes on Fred Legault in fourth, as he was a little out of control. The scorekeepers in the control tower both said they say Chris take second by a foot, and the ref changed the ruling on their call.
The prize money for speedway (as per CMA regulations) was very low, as this year the quad (ATV) racers have taken a bigger slice of the purse. This was discussed between Kehoe, Chris, Jeff and the track officials, and the track changed the payout by adding more funds to make the amounts similar to last year's purse. 1st place now got $192 instead of $60. Second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth got $120, $72, $48, $24, $24.
Heats
Division One
Points Rider # Heats 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cons1 Cons2 Final
8 John Kehoe # 1 4 4 +4 = 12
8 Jeff Orosz #31 4 4 +2 = 10
7 Chris Hesmer #11 3 4 +3 = 10
6 Sobec Muszynski #25 4 2 +3 = 9
6 Fred Legault #68 3 3 +1 = 7
6 Bogdan Muszynski #18 3 3 DNF = 6
4 Andy Harris #19 2 2 0 = 4
4 Glen Brown # 9 2 2 +2 = 6
3 Tim Ford #42 0 3 +3 = 6
3 Gary Hesmer #37 2 1 +1 = 4
2 Kim Gregory #97 1 1 +1 = 3
2 John Busler # 6 1 1 +2 = 4
1 #29 1 DNS = 1
0 Al Chisholm # 8 F DNS
Division Two
Points Rider # Heats 1 2 Final
5 Joanne Edwards #62 3 2 + 3 = 8
5 Mark Engel #69 2 3 + 2 = 7
2 Brian Marshall #87 1 1 + 1 = 3
0 Ian March #47 0 0 0
0 Ian Boyd #2 DNS DNS
Division One Consolation
1st Sobec Muszynski, 2nd Glen Brown, 3rd Gary Hesmer, Andy Harris DNS
1st Tim Ford, 2nd John Busler, 3rdKim Gregory, Andy Delimatand Al Chisholm DNS
Division Two Final
1st Joanne Edwards, 2nd Mark Engel, 3rd Brian Marshall, 4th Ian March, Ian Boyd DNS
Division One Final
1st John Kehoe, 2nd Chris Hesmer, 3rd Jeff Orosz, 4th Fred Legault, Bogden Muszynski DNF
600cc Expert
1st Scott Sehi, 2nd Jeremy Thompson, 3rd John Parker, 4th Mark Nafziger, 5th Dave Art, 6th Todd Sharpless, 7th Kurt Biegger, 8th Bob Soburing
600cc Intermediate
1st Ken Shaffer, 2nd Jeff Berdan, 3rd Bill Harrett, 4th Doug Caswell, 5th Graham Hill, 6th Hank Roslocki, 7th Terry Salisbury, 8th Lloyd Brown, 9th Philip Winer, 10th Chad Heidemen
600cc Novice
1st Jeff Seguin, 2nd Jason Spearin, 3rd Dave Taylor, 4th Marin Wingate, 5th Joshua Edwards
250 Int / Expert
1st Jeremy Thompson, 2nd Greg Hall, 3rd Kurt Biegger, 4th Tom Braithwaite, 5th Ken Shaffer, 6th Mark Porreita, 7th Russel Spices, 8th Philip Winer, 9th Glen Brown
250 Novice
1st Rob Rainville, 2nd Jason Spearin, 3rd Gerald Slack, 4th Ryon Rainville, 5th Steve Metcalf, 6th Joshua Edwards
ATV Expert
1st Dave Little, 2nd Jim Goertz, 3rd Steve Boone, 4th Shawn Langis, 5th Dave Davies, 6th Leo Verhart, 7th Darren Verhart, 8th, 9th Cedric Dixon
|
