Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

second-st raight third-place p o int. To mm y Hed d e n got a spot in the next heat , su bb ing for Rob ert Curry, who began his heat prior to the starti ng tapes and was d isquali fied . Venegas took his second straight win in that one, lead ing Ga ry H ick s an d th e aforem entioned H edd en . Ma n ec he st er' s le g endary mechan ical ailme nts conti nu ed to pla gu e h im wh en hi s rese rve b ike s p u ttere d home in last du e to a fried ignition box. Fa ria a nd Ha mill m e t in th e next heat, and "Flyi n'" Mike was impeccable off the line, leading Hamill through four perfect laps . Ha ncock go t th e nigh t's seco nd w in fro m gate fo u r w he n he topped p ole si tter Bobby Hedd en and jannir o. Bast was off pace at the sta rt and fin ished an u ncha racteris tic last. ROUND 4 The openi ng heat of the fourth round wa s pivot al. Venegas appeared to have Hamill and Han cock beat on the ou tside line after Han cock got the bes t gate fro m the pole. Unfo rtu na tely for "The Edge," Ian Ferris cras hed an d brou ght out the red flag. Hamill go t the gate on the restart, and Venegas had to fight to grab seco nd in the late-going. Hancock drifted off the pace late and end ed up last, behin d reserve rider Tommy Hedden. Bobbv Hedden ow ned the nex t heat , go ing start to finish ahea d of McConnell a nd res e rve ride rs C ha d Fe licio a nd br other Tom m v, who wa s o n back -to• back rides. Larsen got his first win in heat three. Schwa rtz was second and [anniro third . Hi cks ca me off the line even with the leader bu t couldn't ge t around the corner and floundered to the back. Fa r ia we n t fo u r fo r four in th e . rou nd 's last event. The all-Northern California-rider heat fou nd Sisemore in second , a hea d of the st ruggli ng Bast and ' Curry. Fari a led the way wi th 12 poi nts w ith o ne rou n d to go. Hamill wa s a p oint behind w ith I I and Venegas was th ird with nine. FINAL ROUND janniro wo n his first heat of the night at th e ri gh t tim e . His thr ee-point net upped his tot a l to nin e, w hich would put him in a run -off for a spot in the 13 main . In one of the night's most exdting finishes, Faria fina lly dropped a point in fa ct he dropped a co u ple - w h e n Schwa rtz got a way fi rst an d then seemed to stall in fron t of Faria. Han cock slipped aro und them both and took th e win . H a ncock' s third wi n of th e night left him at 10 poi nts and propelled him straight into the 13 Main . Larson d id likew ise in the next-to-last hea t. His win over Ve negas left him wit h 10 points and a d irect transfer into the B. Venegas ga in!'d seco nd, w hic h was still en ou gh for a d irect tran sfer to the A main . Hicks fin ish ed off hi s n igh t with a p erfe ct tapes-to-flag win . RUN-OFF Faria , H am ill and Venegas were tucked away in the A main, awa iting the winner of the 13 main. Larson and Hancock we re in the 13 wi th 10 points ap iece. Th e last tw o spo ts wo u ld ha ve to be fi lled b y [ ann iro , Bobb y H edd en o r Schwartz, who all finis hed with nine p oints eac h . Sch w artz co n tinued hi s impressive night w hen he took the runoff over Bobby Hedden and a dejected [anniro, wh o ran second until Hedden pa ssed him at the midpoin t. BMAIN Schwartz blasted ou t of gate tw o and led 99 p ercent of th e ra ce . H ancock w orked on "Boogaloo" for all four lap s and finally, miraculously in fact, edged out the w in bv inches a t the line. " ' o t bad fo r a old guy, huh?" Schwa rtz kid d ed wh ile the crowd sti ll buzzed in t he b a ckg ro u n d after h is impressive second-place run. "I thought I had Greg, bu t he got me by about four in c h es a t th e lin e ." H an coc k' s w in transferred him into the final and kept his back- to-back title hopes alive. AMAIN Faria, wh o transferred di rectlv to the ma in wit h 13 poi nts, choose io s tart from the pole for the main eve nt. Ha mill ta llied 12 and ha d th e next pick, a nd predicta bly picked la ne two . Ve negas was the last d irect transfer , wit h I I, an d stayed in line with his grid- three choice . Hancock, who narro wly beat an imp ressive Bobb y Schwartz in the 13 main final, filled out the field from the ou tsid e in la ne four. Th e fir st a ttem pt a t the season's fina l race ended qu ickly as Hamill beat Faria to th e first turn by a hal f a b ike le n g th o n ly to h a v e t he n e w ly (Above) Close quarte rs: Bobby Hedden (background) prepares to wheelie through the crash wallafter tangling · with Greg Hancoc k (foreground) and Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz (partially obsc ured) during heat race action. Hedden was uninjured, and returned to the action. (Left) Shown here in heat race act ion, Schwartz (left) rode well enough to qualify for the B main, but Hancock (partially hidden) rode arou nd him 10 move on 10 the A main, where he finis hed fourth. (Below) Just like speedway: Hamill ducks down low on Ihe podium while Faria shoots up high and Venegas '"fills in" Ihe trophy queen with champagne. crow ned Auburn track cha mpion fail to tu rn, w hic h took the w ho le field wi de int o the first-turn pasture. Fa ria an gled off a nd fell d own in front of the cras h wall but Han cock had nowher e to go and ended up pili ng on to Ham ill w ho had already la id his bike down to avoi d Far ia . Imm ed iat el y af ter th e p ileup , Han cock ru shed to his Exide teammate's aid, noticeably aware of the seriousness of the altercation. Hami ll stayed d ow n on the track for a cou ple of minut es an d then, much to the delight of he capacity crowd, rose and staggered back to check on his bike. " I'm s u pposed to r id e in Pol an d tomorrow, bu t obviously tha t ain 't happen ing," Ha m ill af ter the crash. " I'm . go nna go to the doctor ton igh t and get this thin g checked out." On th e restart, Han iill , who co ul d barel y grip the throttle and wa s worried abo ut bei ng able hold on long en ou gh , go t the q ui ck st art a nd led the tightly packed field through the first turn. Fari a and Venega s bot h ga ted behind Hamill a nd w ent abo ut a tt ac ki ng the lea d er . With Faria insid e and Venegas outside, Ham ill had his hands full and could n' t afford th e s lig h tes t b obbl e o r e rro r. Meanwhile, Hancock, wh o lined up for the rest art on reserve rider Chad Felid o's [awa , opted to change to Larson 's GM when it was offered to him by it' s ow ner, who d ashed it across the infield just seconds before Han cock was abou t to stage . Hancock got a decent start from lane four, but had nowhere to go in turn two a nd was relegat ed to trailing th e lead ers as they battled toward the flag. For the first two laps, Faria and Venegas took turns assu ming the second-place position; on lap three Ven egas finall y edged in front and got slightly clear of Faria as starter Mark Joiner readied the white flag. All three front-runners stayed in a tigh t grou p th rough out th e final. Hamill remained flawless for all four laps a n d p umped hi s fist in th e air tri umphantl y as he took the checkered flag aboard hi s Exide Battery I Arai / Ta lo n GM. Venegas held on to second place and was not iceabl y di sappoin ted , bu t pragmat ic, after the event. . " I obvio us ly w anted to w in, but 1 gues s it was n' t my year," Venegas said . "I finished in fro nt of all the guys wh o rid e in the sta tes, so I'll jus t ha ve to be happy wit h that. I'll be back next year 'cause this is where my heart is." Faria , who under th e old five-h eat , total-poin ts sco ring sys tem wo uld have been the champion , with 13 po ints, finished in third . When asked abou t ha ving to ru n a main event after topping the points, Faria remained ope n-minded. _ "I knew coming in that 1 had to wi n the mai n to get the title," Faria said . "I was read y to p ull it off, bu t it just d id n' t happen . 1 cong ra tulate Hamill. He wen t ou t a nd w on it ." Hancock finished in fourth place, but seemed eve ry bi t as happy as Hamill w hen he joined him for the celebratory chec kered flag lap. eN Fast Fridays Speedw ay Auburn, California Results: September 4, 1999 B MAIN (fou r tap s; four riders, winner tran sfers to A m.lin) : 1. Greg Hancock (GM); 2. Bobby Schwa rtz (C M); 3. Jos h Larson UdW); 4. Bobb v Hedden (Ja w). A MAIN: 1. Billy Ham il! (eM'); 2 C h arlie Ven ega s (j.1W); 3. Mik e F.ui.l (e M); 4. G nog Hancock (G M>. en en en N N G> J:J E G> C. ~ 41

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