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Greensboro Coliseum: (From left to right) Anthony Barlow, James Mann, Nick FaFard and Ronny Kemp negotiate the last turn of the main event at round two of the 26th annual World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series in Greensboro, North Carolina. World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series Round 2: Greensboro Coliseum Two in a Row for Barlow BY GARY DENSFORD GREENSBORO, NC, DEC. 29 ound two of the World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series was greeted by a large, enthusiastic Greensboro, North Carolina, crowd. This was the third time in four years a World Cup speedway ice race has visited the Greensboro Coliseum, and the hard-core following of speedway fans that's developed over the years certainly got their money's worth. In the first heat race, current points leader Anthony Barlow from Merseyside, England, was starting on the outside; next to him was defending World Champion Nick FaFard from Quebec, Canada; Cary, North Carolina's Ronny Kemp lined up in the second slot; and Shawn Hurley from Westminster, Colorado, took the pole. The tapes went up, and FaFard fought off Barlow coming out of the first corner with a slight lead. Barlow was pushing FaFard hard, as Kemp and Hurley followed. On lap three, just as Barlow was making his move, his engine shut off - the a result of a broken fuel line on his experimental fuel-injection system. Kemp and Hurley dodged Barlow and went on to finish second and third, behind FaFard. Barlow was scored last. In heat two, James Mann from Bolton, England, was in the outside slot; Neil Painter from Birmingham, England, was in the third slot; David Haigue from Cardiff, Wales, was in the second position; and Robbie McNeil from Glasgow, Scotland, was on the R 42 FEBRUARY 6, 2002' cue I e pole. Mann took the lead over McNeil, Painter and Haigue. Mann was very fast on his new-generation Silver Rocket racing studs and he stretched out his lead. On lap three, Painter fought his way by McNeil to take second for good. McNeil held on for third, and Haigue settled for fourth. In heat three, Robert Arms from Taylors, South Carolina, was on the outside; Dublin, Ireland's David Speight was in slot three; Will Beverage from Northumberlin, England, was in two; and Wyandotte, Michigan's Greg Starcevic was making his first start of the season on the pole. Starcevic was so anxious to get his season going, he broke the tape, causing a false start. Referee Mark Crang decided to let him take part in the restart, but from 10 yards behind the other three riders. Before the electronic starting gate could be released by starter Big Daddy, Starcevic left the 10-yard line. Big Daddy saw him coming and released the tape just in time for Starcevic to duck under as he went by! Starcevic was disqualified for his second starting-line violation. Speight shot out of the gate like a cheetah. He wasn't to be denied, and he won his first World Cup heat race and scored 10 points in the process. Arms finished second and Beverage third. After the heats and last-chance qualifier, the top six riders of the night rolled into their respective positions for the start of the six-lap main event. From inside to out on the front n e _ s row were Mann, FaFard and Barlow; Kemp, Painter and Speight made up row two, 10 yards back. Blasting to the first turn in the lead was FaFard, followed closely by Mann and Barlow. A very fast Mann slid past FaFard to take the lead on lap two. Just an instant later, Painter slammed into the turn-four crash pads, sending him and his bike flying out in the race groove and bringing out the red flag. Luckily, Painter was able to shake off the crash and remount his tweaked machine. The ref sent Painter back to the 20-yard line and called for a restart, with everyone else taking their original.starting positions. Mann got to the first turn in the lead, with FaFard and Barlow neck and neck just behind. FaFard went wide in the first corner, taking Barlow all the way to the wall. Kemp took advantage of the situation, shooting by for second, with FaFard in hot pursuit. Coming down the back straight, Barlow used FaFard as a berm to get around the next corner, knocking him down in the process! He still kept the screw turned on full as he dropped down from the high outside of the next corner, causing Kemp to lose it. Nobody was hurt, but there was some serious rage being expressed out on the ice. To defuse the situation and get this race completed, Crang ordered a complete restart. The third start went off without a hitch. Barlow and Mann squeezed FaFard out of the first corner. By lap three, Barlow had begun to settle into a slight lead. FaFard was pressuring Mann hard for second, with Kemp following in fourth. Serious challenges took place, but the first four positions stayed the same until the checkered flag. On lap five, Painter got by Speight to take fifth, and the final order was Barlow, Mann, FaFard, Kemp, Painter and Speight. eN 6reensboro Coliseum 6reensboro, North Carolina Results: December 29,2001 (Round Z of 111 HEAT 1: 1. Nick FaFard: 2. Ronny Kemp; 3. Shawn Hurley. HEAT 2: 1. James Mann; 2. Neil Peinter; 3. Robbie McNeil. HEAT 3: 1. David Speight; 2. Robert Arms; 3. Will Beverage. HEAT 4: I. Anthony Barlow; 2. Shawn Hurley; 3. Neil Painter. HEAT 5: 1. James Mann; 2. Ronny Kemp; 3. Will Beverage. HEAT 6: 1. Nick FaFard; 2. David Speight; 3. Greg Stllrcevic. LCQ: 1. Ronny Kemp; 2. Neil Painter; 3. David Speight; 4. Shawn Hurley; 5. Will Beverllge. MAIN: 1. Anthony Barlow; 2. James Mann; 3. Nick FaFard; 4. Ronny Kemp; 5. Neil Painter. WORLD CUP ICE SPEEDWAY CH.AMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of II rounds): 1. Anthony Barlow (91{2 wins): 2. Nick FaFard (80); 3. James Mann (70): 4. Ronny Kemp (55); 5. Shawn Hurley (41); 6. Neil Painter (38): 7. David Speight (19); 8. David Haigue (18): g. (TIE) Will Beverage/Robbie McNeil (11); 11. Robert Arms (10). MX Winter Challenge Clark County Arenacross Round 417: Clark County Fairgrounds Watts Electrifies 'em! By JUSTIN WHARTON BATTLEGROUND, WA, JAN. 6 lec Watts was riding like a star, stomping the 85cc Open class at the seventh round of the highly popular Promoto Promotions Clark County Arenacross series, which doubled as round four of the MX Winter Challenge. This weekend's track was very different compared to other arenacross tracks, being very highspeed, with very few jumps but several sets of whoops. Add them all up and the result was some awesome racing. When the gate dropped for the 125cc Intermediate main event, Eric Turner got out of the gate the fastest, only to be passed by Joey Mancuso before the lap was over. While Mancuso pulled away from the field, things started to get exciting behind him, as everyone except Mancuso and Shawn Haberlock either wrecked or stalled their bikes on the next two laps. All of this allowed the YZ85mounted Haberlock, who happened to start out in last place, to get into second place, leaving everyone else to try to catch up. Mancuso stayed several corners ahead of most of the A field and pretty much just had to cruise all the way to finish line. Haberlock had the crowd on its feet when he got overzealous in the track's supercross-sized whoops and flipped over the bars. He was lucky enough to be able to get back on his bike before Richard Page got by, but from there on he had the rest of the group breathing down his neck until the very end, where he took second, behind Mancuso. Placing third was Page, followed by Keith Ford and Daniel Hamilton in fourth and fifth, respectively. The 85cc Open class was absolutely ruled by Alec Watts, as he trounced the competition on his KX85. When the field rushed into the first corner, Watts just walked away from the competition, leaving Devon Elia and Teddy Coburn to squabble over second. In the end, it was Elia who got the bright side of the coin, leaving Coburn with third place. Jordan MitchelJ was fourth and Benjamin Keel finished fifth. When the 250cc Intermediates strolled up to the line, it was hard to tell who was going to win, as there were many good names in the field including Page, who got the holeshot.