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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128238
A M AlPr o g r e s s iv e Insuranc e U.S. N atio n a l S p eed vva y Championship S e r ie s F in a l R o u nd : Gold C o u n t ry Fairgrounds Hancock Signs Off on jourthSpeed way 'fitle Even if he m an ag ed to t op the p ro gram and gai n the extra point for fin ish ing the regu lar heats w it h th e most points, he wo ul d h ave t o wi n the A m ain and hope Ham ill fi nished fourth in that fi na l rid e to fo rce a tie and a runo ff . A lso in hi s wa y we re the pesk y du o of Fisher and Janniro , wh o were ca pab l e of w inn ing t h e event a n d dashin g Hanc oc k 's lon gshot hopes. A s it tu rn ed out, Hamill had a very rare off night an d o nl y m an aged to scor e n ine h eat points, w h ich wa s m erely good eno ugh to get him into the B main. "I never really fel t right all night," H a m i ll exp lain ed a f te r th e ev e n t. "Maybe a little je t lag or whatever ; I flew in yesterday after th e Swed ish League Ch am p i on sh i p s, and now I ha ve to go back to En g l an d in th e m o rn in g . N o exc use s, I j us t d idn 't have it tonight." Hancock fin ished up hi s heat s with 14 points, dropping o nly o ne po int along th e way , and j o ined Fishe r and " F ly in ' Mike " Faria , who scored 12 po ints apiece in the A main . J anniro was the last man to qualify for th e points -ri ch fin al whe n he beat Ha mi ll in the fin al round. Had Ham ill prevai led in that race , bo th he and Jann iro woul d ha ve h ad 10 poi nts, an d a r u n o ff w o u ld ha ve be e n requ ired to see who wou ld m ake th e A m ain . A s it tu rned out , a ll Hamill By M. S O BE R P HOTO S BY G EN M OO RE AQBQ RN,CA, 5EPT.26 n oming into the fi nal round of th e \ ; 2 0 0 3 Am eri can Motorc y cli st Association Progress ive Insuranc e United St ates N ati o n al Speedw a y Champion sh ip at th e Go ld Country Fa irground s F r ida y n ig ht, a ll eyes were on first-round points lead er B ill y "Th e Bu ll et " Hamill 's a tt emp t t o beco m e only th e second rider eve r to w in thre e st r a i g ht U .S . Sp eed w a y Na tio na ls . Ins t ea d, Greg Ha n c o c k ro s e up o u t o f t he s h ad ow s an d cla imed his own pi ec e o f Speedw ay history , joining Ham ill as th e fi rst rid ers t o claim fo u r Nation al Ch amp i o ns hi ps sinc e Mik e Bas t w o n seven back in th e 1970s. Hamill and Hancoc k 's four ti tles are a com binat ion of AMA an d SRA Speedway titles. '" reall y c am e here wi th a full head of st eam th i s y ea r ," sai d Han c ock afte r th e event, as he he ld his Nat io nal Championship tr ophy close t o his c he s t. '" sh owed up w ith a b ett er bik e , t oo, whi ch o b vio usl y ma d e a d ifference ." Han c o c k ' s road t o th e t itl e was anythi ng bu t easy and a long sho t at b e st. E n t e r i n g th e even t wi t h 14 c h a m p i o n shi p po i nts , he t r a i l e d Hamill by seven, Ry an Fisher by fi ve , and " B ro nc o B ill y " J anniro b y t wo . 36 O CTOBER 29 , 2003' eye I e n eVIl's could do was win the B m ain - which he did - and collect the 12 cha m pio nship series points and hop e his 33po int tot al wo uld be enough to carry him to his f ift h U .S. Speedway t itl e. H a m ill ' s b es t c h a nc e t o ret a in t h e nu mbe r - o ne plat e r est ed o n the sho ul de rs of Faria, who , c om ing into th e eve nt wi th 11 po ints, could only score a m ax imum of 3 1 po ints w ith a win . If Fisher fi nished better tha n la st p la c e , Ham ill would also be o us t ed . Janniro co uld put Hami ll aw ay with a second -p lace fin ish. But none of these endless sce nar ios matt ered to a nyo ne excep t Ham ill ; the rider s in the A main we re all afte r o n ly o ne t h in g - t he 2003 Speedway title. Trail i ng a s he was in over all points , Hancock had to secure a win and the 20 po ints to have any chance of coming out on top . Which is exactl y what t h e affabl e 32-year-old speedway vete ran pulled o ff. Wi th a perf ect start from the pol e, he pull ed away for the wi n . Fisher still held his ow n destiny in his hands, and with a se c ond -pl a c e f i n ish h e wo ul d b e crowned th e 2003 Speedway Cham pion. But it was not to be, as Ja nniro pulled o ff a gre at st art of his own fro m the outside and dropped into second place, behi nd the rap id ly fleeing H a n c o c k . Fish er w ent o n the attack b ut co u ld not reel in Jann iro and h ad t o settle f or third p l ace, ahe ad o f Far ia. J ann iro ' s 18 po ints left his tw o rac e tot al at 34 - o ne more po int than Ham il l' s. Fi sh er 's 19- p lus-16 sum left h i m in a tie w i t h Hancock at 35 po int s ap iece. H an c o ck and F i s h e r stage d a run off , w ith Fi sh er sta rti ng fro m th e inside po le and Hanco ck aga inst th e c rash w a ll in t he la ne- fou r dirt. A s he'd done all night, Han cock m ade a spot -on st art and p ow er ed aw ay t o th e victory , well ahead of Fisher, who was grac iou s in defeat. "Man , Greg wa s o n fir e all night! " Fish er said . '" rode good, but he rode bett er. B ut hey, I'm still young, and I got many years to go. There's always next yea r!" Hamill 's B-main win was ahead of Bart "Sim pson" Bast an d Bobby "The B laze" Hedden , w ho bo th rode c o ns is te ntly i n th e se rie s a n d t i ed f o r si xth o ve r all with 2 0 p o ints . Sc ott Br ant won the C main event, as well as th e B m ain , in th e opening round and fi ni shed with 20 po in ts overall as well. F a ri a , wh o was th e on ly rid er besid es Ham ill , Hanco ck , F isher and J anniro to q ualify fo r the A m ain , finished fifth overall with 2 5 poi nts. ELIMINATION ROUND Mark Ca rrillo, who was a Youth rid er th is ti me last yea r and a second- d ivi-