Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128234
Gene Romero 's West C o a s t Fla t Track Series Rou n d 7 : V e n t u ra Spe edw a y B y M IK E K IBBY P HOTOS B y D E NNIS S UT ER V ENTORA,CA, SEPT.6 R o u n d se ve n of Gene Rom er o 's West Coast Flat Tra ck Serie s m et with sunny beach es and cool b reezes at Ventura Sp eedway 's ba nked quarter-m ile ova l. T he series ra n in conjunctio n with a full USAC Ford Focu s M idget Ser ies program , a first of its kind . Th e resul t was nonstop action throughout th e entire eve ni ng . The ca rs ran th eir 3D-l ap m ain event first, whic h provided a smooth, fast, wide, ta c k y groo ve that was mu ch t o the bik e rac ers' liking. Defend in g W CFTS Open Vinta g e c ha m pio n a nd series p oin t lea de r Ri ck Ho c k in g sh o w ed e ve ryo ne h e li k ed it best as he set fast t ime in both th e Open Pro an d Vint ag e cl asses on two diff erent b ik es. He the n not only wo n both heat races bu t a lso won bo th dashes very handily . It looked li k e the Bill Kn ight Raci ng/ A&A Raei n g/ Sa dd le ma n- bac ke d Ho ck i n g would be un beatable. When t he Op en Pro green light flashed for the main event , though , J esse Sanchez got the hol eshot , with K enn y Ca rlotta and Ho ckin g in tow. Hock ing got a drive und er Car lotta off of turn two , but Carlotta go t him back as they went in t o three. As they hit the stri p e fo r t he first ti me, it was Diaz Raci ng /Peninsula Tires' Sanchez with the po int. Carlotta then trie d to sneak under San chez in turn on e, but 40 O C T OB ER 1 . 2 003 ยท cue I (Above) Kenny Carlotta (7 M ) leads Wood 16 6 E). Carlotta w as a threat for the Open Pro w in , but he crash ed ha rd twice, causing two re d n ags be fo re packi ng up fo r the ni ght. (Rightl M ikey Rush w on th e Honda Top Gu n 450 class. th ere wasn 't eno ugh room , and Car- San che z hit th e turn firs t , foll ow ed by lott a had t o lay it down . A littl e shak - Hoc k in g , Jimmy Wo od, J ohn Hlebo en but okay , Carlotta would make the and A .J . Herrer a. Hock ing closed up ro ll ing restart , on Sanchez and put on the pressure Wi th one lap down and 15 to go , e n ... 5 -- for the n ext thr e e l aps . S a n c h e z seeme d to be hol ding up Ho cking as Wood cl ose d in on the leaders . Hocki n g ' s pressure finally p ai d o ff as Sanchez bob bled in t urn two . Wood got the best of it . as he got by both of th em down the back st rai ghta way . Whe n they crossed th e line, Carl ott a we n t dow n aga i n ; thi s t im e he unl oad ed hard in turn th ree, and out cam e another red flag . Wi th th e scoring revert ing back to th e pr evio us lap , Wood's double pass woul dn't co unt, and he wou ld have to li ne up behind Sanchez and Hocking fo r the second rolling restart . Th is ti me it wou ld take onl y one lap for Woo d to ge t b y , as the l e a d er s went t hree abreast into tum one . Wood led them dow n the back st rai ght , followe d by Hocking and Sanchez, At the halfway flag s, Sha wn Raggi o put a m ove ,?n San ch ez for th ird. Lap aft er lap, Hock ing led Wood do wn the back straight, and Wood got a better drive off of four to lead Hock ing into tum on e. D e f e n d i n g WCFTS Op en Pro Ch amp ion Ke v in Bricker was on the m o v e and chall en g ed San ch ez for fourth. Th e last lap had Wood crossing the line fir st , foll owed closely by Hocki ng, a small ga p an d th en Rag gio i n th i r d . B r i c k er and Sa nc h ez would co me together in th e last turn , but they wo ul d bo t h sta y up , w ith Sanchez finishin g fourth and Bricker fifth . Afte r goi ng down twice, Car lotta was on the move an d ended up fin ishing a respectable six th pla ce after start in g fro m the rear of the fie ld . " O h, it was a blast , m an ," Wo od said afterward. "It' s al ways fun to rid e with Ric k . Go ing into three th er e, I co u l d hear him co min g u p on me, and I thoug ht, 'Oh, m an , should I try t o outbrak e h im? No, I'll j ust shut off,' a n d he b las t ed p ast me. I' d sq u a re h im b a c k up and g e t hi m c o m i n g o ff. But I rod e m y st o ck fram er , and co m in g off t wo he had someth ing fo r me, I' d j u st spin the ti re , but m y Maxxis t ires worked fan tast ic. By th e time I could ge t th at t hi ng hooked up ... I m ean , to make up the differ en ce betwe en a framer and a sto ck one, the Maxx is reall y is a good ti re. But it w as a great main eve nt , a great race." T he Saddl em an O p en Vi n tage m ai n eve nt was all Hoc k ing . He hit turn one first , followed by Steve Hall, J oe St effen and Paul Rusin . Per fo rmance Cyc le/Flattrack F abr ication s/ Top One Lubr ican ts /wife /mothersponsored Hall stayed close early but faded in the later laps. On lap three