Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

1999 Week 15
Fast Fridays Speedway, Auburn, CA
Friday August 13, 1999
From Gary Roberts

For some reason the crowd looked a bit thinner than normal on Friday night, so some a few people missed some great racing. The track was near perfect all evening. A number of riders commented how there were plenty of different racing lines, which was proven by the close racing and plenty of overtaking.

Unofficial results:

Scratch Main
1. Charlie Venegas
2. Bobby Hedden
3. Mike Faria
4. Bart Bast
A super close race. Charlie did his usual gate trick with Mike Faria following him on the cushion of dirt just outside Charlie's racing line. Bobby Hedden was not far behind. Mike seemed to get ahead a couple of times, but not far enough to cut in front. On the last turn Bobby Hedden made his move on the inside and crossed the line side by side with Charlie. Some were convinced that Bobby had won it.

Scratch Consi
1. Jim Sisemore
2. Chris Manchester
3. Bob Hicks
4. Ryan Fisher
Ryan Fisher overshot the first corner and despite closing the gap did not close up. Out front, Chris Manchester's tidy riding style was not enough to catch Jim Sisemore.

Handicap Main
1. Chad Felicio
2. Bart Bast
3. Chris Manchester
4. Charlie Venegas
5. Ryan Fisher
6. Tommy Hedden
Ryan Fisher was the leader in the first running of this race, but parked it on turn four and caused a horrendous pile up. The only non participant was Chris Manchester who somehow rode round the outside of it. Charlie Venegas' bike ended up 10 yards into the infield, narrowly missing a flagman. Ryan was put back for the re run and again closed the gap, but was not able to recover any places.

Handicap Consi
1. Bobby Hedden
2. Jim Sisemore
3. Rick Shafer
4. Mike Faria
5. Bob Hicks
Matt King qualified, but was a non starter

Division 2 Main
1. Mark Thomas
2. Rachalle Kerr
3. Ivan Sevart
4. Mike Browne
5. Matt Browne
6. Shawn Eldridge

Division 2 Consi
1. Scott Olney
2. Terry McCurdy
3. Harlan Bast
4. George Snodgrass
5. Dave Booth
6. Bill Thomas

Division 3 Main
1. Brian Leventon
2. Jamie Hughes
3. Mike Achilles
4. Robert Mellor
5. Mike Douglas
6. Bill Dixon
7. Chris Hall
8. Vince Bertolucci

Division 3 Consi
1. Mark Blasey
2. Kevin Fereira
3. Ron Woodsford
4. Chris Orlandi
5. Bill Warnock
6. Rich Mignano
7. Les Veale
Brian Mullen was a non starter
This race did not get off to a good start. 10 yard line rider Ron Woodsford jumped the start and looked set for breaking the tapes. To save re-stringing the tapes, the starting Marshall hit the button. The zero yard riders had no idea what was going on behind them, so proceeded to make the start. The red light was immediately on, some riders saw it some didn't, so the first corner comprised some riders slowing down and others accelerating. Brian Mullen and Mark Blasey got tangled and Brian was unable to make the restart.

Division 1 Juniors
1. Eric Carrillo
2. Bryan Yarrow
3. Jon Curry
Bryan Yarrow lead for at least half the race, before Eric found his way through. The division one juniors race has been much more competitive this year, since Ryan Fisher has moved up. However, the Junior National is going to be disappointing. The reason is lack of Div1 Junior riders. Chris Kerr fractured his skull in a bicycle accident a couple of weeks ago. He was at the track last night and thankfully looked well, despite his head being and irregular shape. This week JJ Martynse broke his arm, when skate- boarding. I don't understand why these kids cant stick to their Speedway racing instead of risking diminishing our Speedway show, by getting hurt doing their dangerous hobbies.

Division 2 Juniors
1. Alex Marcucci
2. Greg Hooten
3. Brenton Bast

Division 3 Juniors
1. Chris Olney
2. Danny Easley
3. Mark Carrillo
4. Amanda English
5. Jeff Butler

The quality of our Junior Speedway riders has really gone up this year. One top division 1 rider, who clearly does not follow the progress of the juniors thought that the Division 3 juniors race was a Division 1 race.

Its difficult to believe that the season will all be over for the year in just 3 weeks time. With the high level of enthusiasm for Speedway in Auburn, it's a shame there's no off season events.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com