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HICKS WINS INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY CYCLE MAIN AGAIN
– By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Jun. 3 – Gary Hicks enjoyed his first speedway motorcycle feature victory at Industry Speedway last Wednesday so much he repeated the triumph on his 500cc JAWA cycle Wednesday. Despite rainy and threatening weather most of the day, he encored his victory at the Industry Hills Expo Center under the roof at the Grand Arena indoor dirt track. The Ventura resident was the high point Division 1 rider after winning all three of his heat races for a maximum nine points. However, the 40-year old rider, who missed most of the 2008 season with a shoulder injury, failed to transfer to the D-1 main. He finished third in his four-lap semi-main for the eight high-point riders in a 16 D-1 rider field. Only the top two finishers in the two semis advanced directly to the feature. Hicks earned the fifth and final transfer spot by winning the four-lap “last chance race” for third and fourth place riders in the two semis. Hicks passed lap one leader Buck Blair on the second lap and barely held off determined Blair's attempts to regain the lead.
Charlie “the Edge” Venegas started the D-1 feature from the inside (lane one) and led the five rider field into the first turn. However, outside (lane five) starter Hicks surged past Venegas on the high-side through the first two turns and led all four laps. Venegas, the 2007 Industry Speedway track champion and winner of most main events at the track, trailed by three yards at the checkered flag. Shawn McConnell, the 2008 Industry Speedway D-1 track champion, finished third, with 17-year old D-1 rookie Jason Ramirez fourth and Eddie Castro fifth.
For the second consecutive week, Joe Jones, of Costa Mesa, and his sidecar rider, Jimmy Olsen, of Huntington Beach, won the four-team sidecar main event. They raced in a clockwise direction as opposed to the counter-clockwise direction used by speedway cycle racers. It was Harley Night at Industry and seven riders raced their street-legal Harleys. D-1 rider Jimmy Fishback won the four-lap main event after earlier finishing second to a rival in their seven-rider heat race. Austin Novratil, 14, of Huntington Beach, led all four laps to earn his second consecutive Division 2 (intermediate level) feature trophy. He raced as a Junior Division rider on a 250cc cycle last year and moved up to a more powerful 500cc cycle this year. He skipped the D-3 rookie level because of his proven ability.
Butch Waymire, a 53-year old American Airlines captain on B-777 flights from Los Angeles to London and Tokyo, made his Industry Speedway D-3 debut memorable. As a spectator last year he spoke to rider Eddie Castro and then purchased one of Nate Perkins' speedway cycles to try speedway cycle racing as a hobby. The Big Bear resident fell at Costa Mesa in his first outing recently, but he hit the jackpot Wednesday in his first attempt at Industry Speedway. He won his two heat races and then led all four laps of the six-rider D-3 (rookies) main. He dodged a fallen rider on the first lap in turn one and won his first main impressively.
Sammy Ramirez, 9, of Orange, won both of the four-rider youth races on a 200cc cycle. Youth rider Rocco Scopellite, on a 250cc cycle, won both four-lap match races with D-1 rider McConnell, on his 500cc after McConnell started 40-yards behind his “rival”. Promoter Jeff Immediato and the track officials ran off 38 races speedily after a 35-minute delay waiting for the track ambulance to arrive. The CHP had diverted it the the scene of a traffic accident with injuries. The D-1 feature concluded at 9:58 pm.
Jonni Jade, a purple-tinted hair member of a rock band, performed the National Anthem from the infield at 7:30 pm on his electric guitar following the usual starting line introductions of all riders in competition. Jade (No. 266) was involved in the D-3 consolation race crash last week in which J. C. Masters rode over Jade's downed cycle and launched into the fourth turn crash-wall. According to reports, Masters suffered a broken wrist and had a pin inserted to stabilize it. He also broke a bone in his ankle according to a fellow competitor who spoke to Masters. Round three of the 19 consecutive Wednesdays of speedway cycle racing at Industry will be Aflac Night on June 10. Carl Edwards' No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup show car will be on display just inside the front gate. Racing gets underway with preliminary races at 7:00 pm, and the National Anthem at 7:30 with constant activity on the track for more than two hours. Many of the D-1 riders will race this Saturday at Costa Mesa in a US National event. Howie Zechner's 2009 AMA/USA Speedway Cycle State Long Track Championship, plus 2009 Sidecar Championship, will be held Saturday, July 11 at 7:00 pm on the Perris Auto Speedway half-mile.
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