Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

By M. Sober Photos by Gen Moore AUBURN, CA, AUG. 27 u nior Speed way ph en om Eric "The Coyo te " Ca rr illo, 15, to p p ed h is imp ress iv e s easo n .wi th a n eve n more convin ci ng win in th e Div is io n O n e U.s . Junior Nation al Speedwa y Cham p ionsh ip . Ca rrillo, w ho led th e 'regu la r Junior Speedway seaso n w it h nine mai n-e ven t wi ns , swep t th e pro-' gram, scoring a maximum 12 poin ts in four flawless rid es . "I felt rea lly good ou t there ton ight," Carrillo sa id after recei vi n g h is firs tplace trophy, w hich was nearly as big as he is. "I just wa nt to thank the fans, all my sp ons ors , the other Junior racers and especia lly my par ents." Due to his Ju ne bir thd ay, Carrillo wh o is sponsored by Rod Lake, Ros e Racing, Peter ich Cycle an d Off-Beat Produ ctions - has the opti on of continuing to race in the Ju nior ranks ano ther vear, or to s tart on the SODs righ t froni th e start of the seas on. "I'm not su re what I'm gonna do ye t next year," he said . "l'Il think abou t it in the off-season." Finishing sec ond was 1999 Auburn trac k poi nts cham p io n Bryan Ya rrow, w ho a lso had a ve ry consi sten t nig ht, finis hing in second place in all four of his hea ts. Jon Cu rry , son of first -d ivis ion veteran Robert Curry, struggled a bit all n ig h t and fin ished third overa ll w it h four point s. Unfo rtu nately, the first-di vision Junior 'ranks were a bit sho rt of riders , d epleted by late-season inju ries to Chris Kerr, J.J. Martynse and A.J. Jone s. In the second-d ivision Juni or Na tional, J.T. Mabry swept his wa y t o the title wit h a perfect 16-poi nt score. Unlike the ' D-1 Jun iors, wh o scored three points for crossing the finish line in front, the Division Two and Thr ee riders we re staged in four-ma n heats and received four points for the win. Greg Hooton finish ed in the runner-up pos ition wi th 14 points, dropping only tw o point s on the night , both to Mab ry. Third place we nt to Sou thern Ca liforn ia 's Tim Go me z, w ho tot al ed nine points. Alex Mar cu cci w as fourth with eight po ints, and Brenton Bast finished his nigh t in fifth place with seven. The third- d ivision title was in d ou bt "right d o w n to t h e final he at , w hen Au burn ' s Pau l Jo hnson p assed Mark Ca rr illo on th e las t lap to drop h im to se co n d, cos ti n g h im th e p o in t th at would have tied him with Danny Easley for th e top sp ot. Easley, w ho fini shed seco nd to Carrillo in his opening rid e, only dropped that singl e poin t all night and wa s cro wned the D-3 Juni or cham p with 15 tot al points. Ca rrillo finished a close second with 14. Johnso n, who wa s the second -yo u nges t rid er in th e field , moved into thir d p lace wi th his las t-hea t heroics an d garner ed 12 points overall. Chris Olney wa s fou rth with 10 points , a nd Am and a Eng lis h co m p leted h er night with a total of eight point s, w hich was good for fifth ove rall. (Left) Eric Carrillo (75) goes around Bryan Yarrow (17) on his way to one of four straight wins, finis hing first overall in the J unior Speedway Championship in AUburn, California. Yarrow was second overall. (Below) "Flyin'" Mike Faria leads Bart Bast in the runoff for the Fast Fridays track title. D FAST FRIDAYS CHAMPIONSHIP Three-tim e Ll .S. Natio nal Speed way Ch a m p io n " Fly in'" M ike Far ia b eat Northern California's points leader Bart Bast in a ru nof f to w in th e 1999 A&S BMW Motorcycles /Fast.Fridays Auburn Tra ck Cham p ions hip . After five heat s, Faria an d Bas t were tied a t 14 po ints. In the ru noff, Faria found the start he needed to p rop el himself to another im pressive Speedway title. "I was outside of Bart at the line, so I knew that I had to pull off a qu ick start and ge t dow n onto th e groove," Faria said . "Once I saw him lift a bit coming ou t, I knew I could ge t to the first turn in fron t. After that , I had my hands fu ll ho lding him off." Despite trying to work the outside .in tu rns one and two, and then the insid e line in tu rns three and four, mu lti-time Aubu rn track champion Bast wa s forced to sett le for the ru nne r-up spo t, h alf a bike len gth from the win. The 1992 Ll.S. Nationa l Cha mpion, Chris Man chester, mad e his most im p ressive showing of th e se aso n w he n he fini sh ed a s trong third wit h 12 p oint s. Cha rlie Venegas, who won last year's track fina le, finished tied for fourth pla ce w it h Rose Ra cin g ' s Jim my "The Ja m me r" Sisemore. In the firs t rou nd of heats, Venegas, Faria, Bast and Bobb y Hedden all sta rted thei r n ig ht wi th a wi n a nd th ree poi n ts. In the first hea t of ro u nd two, Ryan Fishe r d isquali fi ed hi m s elf when h e to uched the s ta r t ing tapes . O n th e restart, Bobb y Hedden w as k no cked dow n in the first tu rn, didn 't g e t a res tart and wa tch ed as Sisemore took hi s fi rs t wi n of the n ight. Bobb y ' S younger brother Tommy won the next hea t in front of Ian Essary, and then, in one of th e night' s big gest races, Fari a bea t Bas t and Vene gas to keep his perfect scor e intact. Ven ega s wa s the secon d rid er off th e line, but he los t th e runner-up spot to Bast in the late s tages of the race . Robert Curry finished off the firs trou n d with a win ov er Ian Ferri s and Bob Hicks. Bast kept his hopes alive in the ope ning rid e of round three when he moved ins ide of Sisemore, w ho had led the first 3 1/2 la ps. In the next heat , Man chester got his first win after consecutive second- p lace fin ishes. Venega s and Faria finished ou t the middle rou nd with convinci ng w ins over Fishe r a nd Bobby Hedden. In the fou rth rou nd , Fari a opened up th e fir s t heat ru nnin g in fron t of th e pack, b u t he d rop p ed to second w ith wha t he ter med "irritating clu tch prob lems ." Sisemo re was happy to take over th e point and ta ke th e th ree points . In the n ext hea t, Bobby Hed den go t th e best start, but Bart Bast pu t in the best rid e a nd came away wi th th e three points to maintain his tie at the top w ith Faria a t 11 points apiece. Man chester got his second win when he narrowly held off Ven ega s in their hea t, an d Fisher wo n the rou nd ' s final heat, just ahead of Cha d Felicia and Ferris. Sisemore beg an the final rou nd with a nice wi n over the quick -ga ting Tommy Hedd en, who eventually fad ed to third beh ind Felicia, wh o had his fourth second -p lace fini sh of the m eeting. Faria mana ged to sus tain his po sition at the top of the stand ings with a solid ga te-tofla g w in ov er Fis he r. Bobby Hedd en wen t wi re to w ire ahea d of Ven egas, and then Bast. ou td ueled Man chester in th e fina l rid e to mainta in hi s tie w it h Fa ria a n d fo rce th e e ve ning -e n d ing ru noff, wh ich went to Faria . Pleasa-nt Hill resid ent Matt Bro wn e wo n th e Divisi on Two track cha rnp ionship. Crowd favor ite Rachelle Kerr fell on th e firs t la p but end ed up in third w hen second-hea t winne r Sco tt Ol ney crashed ou t on lap three. Mea nw hile, up front, Browne was barely ab le to hold off the ha rd -ch arging Ivan Sev art, w hose last-turn da sh left him half a bike length sho rt of the title. It still had to be a fairly sa tisfying end to Sevart's seaso n, consideri ng he began the yea r riding from the zero-yard line in Division Three. John Kna pp held off Ron Wood sford, Robert Mellor and Mike Achilles to wi n the Division Three championship. It was Kn a p p 's fir st main-e ven t 'Yin of the eN entire seas on at Fast Frid ays. Fast Fridays Speedway Auburn, California Results: August 27,1999 Juni or Speed wa y Cha m pio ns hi p 0 ·1 J R NAT'L: 1. Eric C a rrillo (j a w); 2. Brya n Yarrow (j,lV.,,) 3. 10 n Cu rry (jaw). ; D~2 JR N AT' L: 1. J.T. Mabry (la w ): 2. Greg Hooton (w cs): 3. Tim Gomez (ja w); 4. Alex Ma rcucci ( We~ ); 5. Brenton B.1 ~t (8SA). D 3 J R NAT'L : 1. Danny Easley (Hon}, 2. Mark Car rillo (WI..'S); 3. Paul Joh nson (wes): 4. Chris Ol ne v (Wt's); 5. Amanda Eng lish (Hon). ' 4 Auburn Track Champ ionship O/A: 1. Mike Faria (GM); 2. Bart Bast (ja w); 3. C hris Manche ster (GM); 4. (TIE) Jimmv Sisemore (GM)/Charlie ; Venega s (j .1W)" 6. Bob by Hed den (j a w ); 7. (TIE> Ryan Fisher (le wl / Chad Felicio (lawr / Tornm y Hed den (j,w.:); 10. (fi E) Ian Ferri s (CM)/ Robcrt Curry O;w.'). D -2 C'S H II~: 1. Ma tt Browne (Jaw); 2. IWIn Seve rt (Wt.."S); 3. Rac bcll c Kerr (low): 4. Sco tt Olney (low). 0 · 3 C ' S H I P: I . Jo h n Knapp (wes): 2. Ron wood sford (j a w ); 3. Ro bert Mel lor (Ja w ); 4 . Mik e Achilles (Jaw). . N N (;; .Q E CI> c.. CI> en 51

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