Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo
Sacramento, California

Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA
Saturday May 15, 1999

Mike Faria wins the Main Event!

The weather brightened up and Saturday was hot all day. Before the event the track had been well soaked and looked fairly level. Somebody had taken the pipe that was used to denote the pole and the promoter had some last minute scrambling to do to find another. Although the track seemed OK for the first couple of races it soon became uneven, rutted and bumpy. It was bladed and tyre packed, but didn't stay flat for long. Even Mike Faria was getting launched out of the crater in turn 4. Some of the masters of bumpy tracks seemed very comfortable with it. Billy Janniro always amazes me how he can keep going so fast, in the right direction, when so much of the time he is airborne! It was clear that some riders did not like it at all. Bobby Hedden, who had been incredibly fast the night before was not competitive in the Handicap Main. The track conditions clearly intimidated the lower division riders, whose races were slow and many looked like they would have done better with a motocross bike. But the conditions were the same for everyone and there were many good close races.

Scratch Main
1. Mike Faria
2. Billy Janniro
3. Bart Bast
4. Jim Sisemore
Mike bounced his way round with hard riding Billy Janniro close behind. This was the last race of the night and by this stage the track had dried out in places, throwing up quite a dust storm.

Scratch Consi
1. Pat Linn
2. Robert Curry
3. Chad Felicio
4. Matt Becker
This was a great race with the lead changing every lap. At the flag there was less than a wheel length between the first two.

Handicap Main
1. Billy Janniro
2. Jim Sisemore
3. Bart Bast
4. Ian Ferris
5. Bobby Hedden
6. Bob Hicks
The track conditions plus the fact that he had a 10 yard start on Sisemore, Bast Hedden and Hicks gave Janniro the advantage he needed to walk away with this one.

Handicap Consi
1. Robert Curry
2. Mike Faria
3. Patt Linn
4. Matt Becker
5. Rick Shafer
6. Dave Faria
Rick Shafer had a good night the previous Saturday at Chico and did well this week. In the semi final, he had very nearly qualified for the handicap main, but was overtaken on the line by Bob Hicks. He had earlier held off Bob Hicks and Pat Linn, to win his heat, in great style. Rick is a seasoned rider, who at the lower end of division one does not usually get a scratch ride, and only one handicap ride, unless he qualifies for the semi. But he shows up every week with a spotlessly clean bike and a big smile.

Division2 Main
1. Mike Browne
2. Matt Browne
3. Scott Olney
4. Harlan Bast Snr. Derek Silva and Richard Powell both fell.

Division2 Consi
1. Gary Moranville
2. Donny Powell
3. Tom Adams
4. Bill Thomas
5. Shawn Eldridge
6. John O'Connell

Division3 Main
1. Craig Boone
2. Harry Bradwell
3. Vince Bertolucci
4. David Fonts
5. Kevin Fereira
6. Brian Leventon
7. Rich Mignano
8. Ron Woodsford

Division3 Consi
1. Mark Thomas
2. Bill Dixon
3. Gary Hubbert
4. Les Veal
5. Chris Hall
6. Kimi Valentine
7. Tom Castagnola
8. Greg Hooten Snr.

Junior Division1
1. Eric Carrillo
2. Bryan Yarrow
3. JJ Martynse
4. Jon Curry

Junior Division2
1. Alex Marcucci
2. Ray Linn
3. Mark Carrillo
4. JT Mabry

Junior Division3
1. Danny Easley
2. Greg Hooten Jnr.
3. Chris Olney
4. Amanda English
5. Paul Johnson

Cal Expo is running most Saturdays now until August. Those Saturdays that its not running, Chico will fill in. The crowd was small and I don't understand why. A perfectly good Speedway track, $9 admission to see the greatest sport on earth, top competitors. What's wrong with the people of Sacramento?

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com