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~~I J ..! I j j I Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series Round 5: Perris Auto Speedway ~track Sanchez surprised the leader by boldly stuffing it underneath Johnson in the tight left that took them into the infield section. Johnson immediately tried to counter the move in the following right-hand sweeper, but Sanchez refused to yield. With a clear track in front of him, Sanchez simply ...... S.ne'" CUZI upped the pace and escaped. He put the length of the entire front straightaway between himself and Johnson by lap 10 and was never seriously challenged for the lead after that. "Two laps after I passed him, I looked back and saw that I had already built a big lead on him," Sanchez said. "I just put it on cruise control after that. It was just like trail riding. I've gto to thank my cousin Freddy for letting me train on his YZ426. That really helped me tonight." Johnson then fell into a great battle with Spencer, the two giving the enthusiastic Perris crowd quite a show as they diced around the course. Johnson was able to prevail in the end, but he was still disappointed with second place. "I wanted it so bad that I just lost my composure and I gave it to him [Sanchez]," Johnson said. "My hat's off to him. He rode a great race. I guess first loser ain't bad considering how many rounds we've run this ..." .........n P7) just before . ....n to claim NCoacI Open Pro win of -" cae- Romero's Pwrts TT. Johnson _ .-d. 8IIIr MartIn 1741 wound up fourth. By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS By KIM COOK PERRIS, CA, JUNE 29 ene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series ran its inaugural Perris 1T at the Kazarian family's hallowed inland hall of speed, and Vanke Performance/CCM rider Jesse Sanchez went down in the books as the first Open Pro winner in the event. A&A Racing's Rick Hocking nailed down the victory in the Open class, and AV Kawasaki/Bud Spencer Racing/Hlebo Brothers Suspension-backed Bradley Spencer bagged his second win of the season in the Suzuki Novice 250cc class on a night that included a visit by the legends of motorcycle racing, the Trail Blazers. Sanchez, who was fast all night, rode a masterful race, earning his second WCFTS victory of the season after passing former WCFTS Open Vintage Champion Jeff Johnson for the lead on the seventh lap of the 15lap Open Pro A main. Sanchez then pulled away to an easy win in much the same fashion as he had when capturing his first victory of the year at the Visalia Short Track just two rounds ago. "I knew that my bike was hooking up good, and I just had to wait for a mistake from him [Johnson]," Sanchez said. "We had two new tires on the bike tonight, and I can't remember the last time I've had two new tires. I have to thank Gene G 46 JULv17,2002' cue'. (Left) Rick Hocking landed his second win of the season in the Open Vintage main event. Hocking led the race from wire to wire. (Above) Bradley Spencer 173) held off charges by Chris Canepa 11) and David Brown 12) to win his second Suzuki Novice 250 main event of the year. The three riders are separated by six points In the series standings. Romero for that, and Bob Swanson at CCM for helping me with my chassis." Johnson, who had set the fastest time in the heat races to land the pole, lined up one spot in from the outside wall on the big half mile, so that he could start on the groove. The move paid off, as he grabbed the holeshot aboard his Tony Denastuned Saddlemen/K&N/IMS Honda. Sanchez, former AMA Grand National number 74 Billy Martin, Rod Spencer and Danny Casey fell into line behind Johnson, with Casey losing control and blowing through the hay bales like a motorcycle stuntman as the n __ s field left the infield section and raced back onto the turn three of the half mile. Casey saved it, but lost positions in the process. Johnson was able to get good runs off of speedway turn four to maintain a slight advantage over Sanchez with three laps down while the top-four riders pulled away from the rest of the field. Martin ran third until lap six, when he slid out in the tight, right-left chicane just before the infield jump. He remounted in fourth place. Johnson still appeared to be in control as he led Sanchez across the line to start lap seven, but then year. The real pressure came from Spencer. I figured that he was going to be the guy to beat." Spencer, who has been the hottest rider in the WCFTS of late, never seemed to get going in the Open Pro class all evening. Battling with Johnson for third was the best that the 41year-old former sprint car racer could do this time. "It happens," Spencer said. "Oh well, at least Jeff and I were able to give the fans a race. I had a hard time making any moves on him in the infield. I was trying anything I could but we got a bad start, and that kind