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Cal-Expo SpeedwayF inal By M. Sober Photo by Geo Moore SACRAMENTO, CA, AUG. 1 e re n ni a l Speedway al s o-r an Bobb y "Bad Boy" H ick s finally broke through in his quest for a speedway cham pions hip by taking the w in in th e 1998 Ca l-Expo Sp eed way Trac k Cham pi onsh ip a t th e Ca l- Exp o State Fairgrou nds. Hi ck s, whose ni ckname seems as inappropriate as his lack of notab le pas t s peed way titl es , was p e rfe ct o n th e night , sco ri ng a maximum sco re of 15 points. The First Division Jun ior victory we nt to Eric Carillo, who won the CalExpo title whe n Bryan Yarrow fell in a runoff. The Second and Third Division main even ts went to Steve Are na and Eric Silva, respectively. In -the first round, H icks opened up his night by taking a hu ge win over pr erace favorite Bart Bast and first -out-ofthe-gate Chad Felicio. Jimmy Sisemo re wo n the next heat easily ove r Ian Ferris and Glenn Moore. Tommy Hedden bested Vance Felicio and Billy [a nniro in the next rid e . Bobby Hedd en finishe d out the firs t round wit h a wi n over Rob ert Curry and Harlan Bast Jr. Ha rlan Bast Jr. su rprised everyone by takin g the firs t wi n in rou nd two. Bart Bast took a big wi n over Sisemore in the next hea t, speeding away after a good start from lane three . Hicks kept his per fect score alive in the third heat of rou nd tw o, relegating Bobby H ed d en to second place and Tommy Hed den to third . . Billy Janniro got on the winner 's board w it h a nice w in o ver Matt Kin g and Scott McNeil. Sisemo re co n tinue d h is impressive nigh t in the openi ng ride of the th ird round, su rviving a res tart to take th e win over Tommy Hedden and King. In the next hea t, Bas t and Bobby Hed den met for the only scheduled time during the night, with Bobby getting the best of th in g s. Hi ck s ke p t o n h is .m a xi m u rn p ace in event 11, tak ing the gate and the win ahead of Vance Fel ici o and the flounde rin g Curry . Harlan Bast Jr. closed out the second round just as he had started the first , with an impressive - altho ugh s o m e w h a t (s t y li s tic a ll y speaking) brutal - three- point win. After three complete rounds, Hicks led the way w ith nine points. Bobby Hed de n and Sisemore were each one point back at eight, and Bast was fou rth with seven poi nts . [a nni ro started off the fou rth ro und with a swift gate and a win over Chad Felicio. Bast broug ht his brot her Ha rlan back to rea lity in the next ride . Tom my Hedden continued his consisten t nig ht with a second-place finis h, while Harlan Bast Jr .' s spu ttering Go d den left him p add li ng a lone in a turn -th ree eddy . Hick s had another win in the next heat , ea sil y ou tdistancing Ferris a nd King. Sisemore kept the heat on Hicks with a win in the closing ride of the round. . Bobby H edd en a nd Bart Bast kept their titl e hopes ali ve when th ey took wins and three points each in the opening rid es of the fifth and final rou nd . The third heat of the final round shaped up to be the most importa nt of the night. Hicks arid his perfect score we re set to go head to head with Sisemo re, who was bu t one point off a pe rfect tally. Hicks ha d the advantage of the pole, w hile Sise mo re wa s stationed on the outside in lane four. Harl an Bast Jr. held up the start wi th a sputtering bike, whic h would eventually prove to be a hind rance to Sisemore, as th e burly Ha rla n Bast Jr. ga ted wildly from ga te three, p re ven tin g Sisemor e fro m cleanl y pursu in g Hicks, wh o got ano the r of his exce llen t starts and was out to the early lead aboa rd his ShowGirls /City Limits / Ara i-b ac ked [ awa, Sisemore desperately set out to close the ga p on H ick s, but instead e nded his quest for the win with an impre ssive 360degree spin in tum two of lap three. Meanw hi le, [ anniro had visi ons of three points him self, as he wa s planted right on the rear wheel of Hicks, looki ng for a lane past, but instead he had to settle for a crowd-pleasing second. "Ma n, I ca n ' t be lieve I finally got one," Hick s said after. his excellent win : "I've been close to winning one of these fina ls, but just never quite made it. "Two nights in a row, I'm doing a postra ce interview; I kind of like it, " Hicks al s o s a id in reference to hi s Scratch main-event victory at Fast Fridays speedway just one night before the Cal-Expo Tra ck Championship. After Hicks' win, there wa s still one more ride to comp lete . After five rou nds of heats, Bobby Hedden a nd Bart Bast were tied for second place, wi th 13 points apiece. Bast got the ga te from lane t hree and led the closely con tested runoff to bag second p lace in the meeting . Sisemore was fourt h, with 12 points, a nd To m my Hed den rou n ded o u t th e to p five o ne p o in t back, with 11. l~ Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds Sacramento, California Results : August 1, 1998 O/A: 1. Bob Hicks (Jaw) 15 p ts; 2. BartBast (Jaw) 13; 3. Bobby Hedden (Jaw ) 13; 4. Jimmy Sise mo re (GM) 12; 5. To m m y He d en (Jaw ) 11; 6 . Billy Ianni rc (Jaw) 10; 7. d (TIE) Harlan Bast Jr. (Cdm / Chad Feltcio (Jaw)/Robt!rt Cu rry (Jaw ) / Van ce Pclicio (Jaw) 7; 11, 10m Ferns (law ) 6; 12. Matt King (Jaw) 5. D-2: 1. S teve Arena (j.1W); 2 . Harla n Bas t (Wes); 3. Mike Brown e Uaw ); 4. Scott -Olney. 0 ยท 3: 1. Eric Silva (Jaw ); 2. Bobby Chipma n (Wl.'s 3. - ); Richard Powell; 4. Do nnv Po well. 0 -1 JR: 1. Eric Carillo Uaw ); 2. Bryan Yarrow (Wes); 3. A.J. Jones (Wes ); 4. J.J. Martynse. D-2 JR: 1. jonathan Curry; 2. Matt Browne; 3. J.T . Mabry. - 0 -3 JR: 1. Ray Linn; 2. Alex Marcucci; 3. Brenton Bast.