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North vs. South Civil War of Speedway Fast Fridays Speedway E! By M. SOBER PHOTOS BY GEN MOORE AUBURN, CA, JULY 18 Q he 13th running of the famed II North vs. South Civil War of Speedway turned into a rout on Friday night at the Fast Fridays Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn. The Southern team, venturing north in an attempt to break the six-to-six series deadlock and return the Blue/Grey Cup to their domain, found themselves trailing by a score of 10-2 after only two heats, and they were never able to recover, eventually falling to the Northern team by an overall score of 75-45. Three-time North vs. South individual champion Gary Hicks concisely described the night's outcome to track announcer Mike Rooney as he strode toward the starting line for the night's Grand Final race: "Hey, we're all glad to come up here and race for you people. It's a great track, and I had fun, but there's a lot of really good riders up here and, as you probably noticed, they just kicked our butts." Also on the race program was the initial running of the Youth North vs. South Speedway Team Competition. The six-man Northern team is comprised of current Youth Champion T.J. Fowler, Danny Easley, Ricky Felicio, Paul Johnson, J.T. Mabry and Alex Marcucci, who together soundly defeated the visiting Southern squad by a score of 50-21. The Southern team, which consisted of Krystal Cramer, Rickey Wells, Tim Gomez, Jason Ramirez, Dario Galvin and Dale Fachinni, will get their chance for revenge when the event is repeated the next weekend at Ken Maeley's Speedway Ranch in Corona. The South's eventual demise was foreshadowed early on. as their number-one rider, Scott "The Dominator" Brant, fell while chasing Bobby "The Blaze" Hedden, which allowed Hedden and Bart "Simpson" Bast to sweep the top two spots and take a 5- I advantage in the opening heat. "The dirt was a bit deeper than I figured," said a dejected Brant. who scored no points after his fall. Bakersfield's Randy DiFrancesco brought home the South's sole point with a third-place finish. In the second heat, "Bronco Billy" Janniro teamed up with "Flyin' Mike" Faria to put the North up 10 to 2. Janniro, who was making his first trip back to the States from his British Speedway Elite League duties, led the entire way, as Gary Hicks seemed to suffer a lack of horsepower and could only manage a .third-place finish, ahead of struggling teammate Dukie Ermolenko. In heat three, 2000 Junior Speedway Champion Bryan Yarrow got the best start and held on to the threepoint win, ahead of Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell and Chad Felicio. In heat four, Tommy Hedden came from behind quick starter Charlie "The Edge" Venegas to take the win. When Bart Bardecki rolled home third, the North had another 4-2 heat win and a first-round advantage of 18-6 overall. In the opening ride of round two, the South scored what turned out to be its only heat-round win of the evening, when Brant claimed the win ahead of Tommy, DiFrancesco and original race leader Bardecki. Yarrow owned heat six from start to finish, in front of Ermolenko. In heat seven, "The Gatemeister," Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz, made an awesome start but couldn't hold off Janniro for all four laps and finished second. When Bast and Bobby Hedden matched their opening-heat brilliance and swept the top spots in heat eight, the South found themselves in a giant hole, trailing 32-16 at the halfway point. The South desperately needed to win heat nine. Brant came from behind to steal the top spot from Faria, who somehow finished ahead of his teammate Janniro, who continued to dazzle the crowd with his Main-event winner "Bronco Billy" Jannlro brandishes the checkered flag for the sold-out crowd at Fast Fridays Speedway, site of the 13th annual North vs. South Civil War of Speedway. aggressive, heart-stopping, wide-line antics. In heat 10, Bast scored his second straight win, ahead of Hicks, Bobby Hedden and Southern reserve rider Bobby Kripps, who was subbing for Ermolenko. Bardecki scored his lone victory of the evening in the next ride, which the North once again swept when Tommy continued his solid night with another second-place finish. Yarrow finished off the third round with his third consecutive triumph, and the North's margin stood at 47-25. As the final round began, the South's mathematical elimination loomed ahead, and despite Brant's third straight win in heat 13, it became a reality when Tommy turned the lights out with a great come-from-behind win over Hicks in heat 14. Bobby Hedden and Janniro finished off the round with wins, and when Northern reserve rider Chris Kerr finished second in his only ride of the evening in the final heat, the Northern team's lead stood at 62-34. With the South out of the running, the A and B finals could have been just an afterthought, but they turned out to be some of the best races of the evening. In the first Final, Venegas got a superb gate out of lane two and led the Hedden boys to the checkered flag. In the Grand Final, Janniro stomped on the gas from lane four and finished ahead of Brant, who, despite a poor start, got past Yarrow to collect the four secondplace points. Yarrow held on to third, ahead of Hicks. eN Fast Fridays Speedway Auburn, California Results: July 18. 2003 (Right) The North team - (from left to right) Bart Bast, Chad Felicio, Bobby Hedden, Bart Bardecki, Tommy Hedden, Mike Faria and Chris Kerr celebrate with some friends on the podium in Auburn, California. O/A: I. North (75) [Billy Janniro (15): Bryan Yarrow (14); Bobby Hedden (12); Tommy Hedden (12); Bart Bast (9): Mike Faria (4); Bart Bardecki (4); Chad Felicio (3): Chris Kerr (2)1: 2. South (45) IScott Brant (13); Charlie Venegas (9); Gary Hicks (7); Bobby Schwartz (5); Dukie Ermolenko (4); Shawn McConnell (3); Jim Estes (2); Randy DiFrancesco (2)1. cue I e n e _ 50 • AUGUST 13, 2003 51