Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

sio n short -yard age rider at the begin nin g of the 200 3 Sp eedway season , m an ag ed t o j oin a no t he r f orm e r You th rid er, J. J . Mart y nse, in sec uring the tw o reserve spo ts aft er finishing th ird and fo urt h in th e Fin al Elimin a ti on race . Th e 2 00 0 Y o u th Sp eedway Cha mpio n , Br ya n Yarrow . and Po lish National Bart Ba rdecki fi n ish ed fi rs t and se c o nd in t h e F in al an d joined the othe r 14 rider s on the regul ar cham p ionsh ip p ro gra m. ROUNO ONE C h ri s M an ch e st e r , w ho w a s th e yo ungest -ever Am eri c an Sp eedw ay Cha m pion wa y ba ck in 1992, sho we d sig ns o f loo king to repeat that feat a dec ade later. He domin ated the o pe ning hea t , fini sh ing ahead of Hed den and o ne o f t he pr e - ra c e f a v or ites , J an niro . In t he second heat . Han coc k pro v ided a p rev iew of t hi ngs t o co m e with a sm art gate and a w in . ahea d of C harli e " T he E d g e " Venegas an d Southe rn Cali fo rnia po int s dom ina tor Brant. Faria too k ca re of bu sin ess in th e next ri de , fin ishin g well cle ar of Bast , E ric Ca rri llo a nd Bob by " Booga loo" Sc hwa rtz. Fi sh er m ad e th e best gate in t he fi na l rid e of the o pe ning round , leav ing Hamill rel oadin g in turn two aft er nearl y spi ll ing wh il e try ing to sq uare off the co rne r arou nd th e fl eet Fisher. Ham ill reco vered t o gain th ir d, ahead o f B ard e ck i , but co u ld n' t reel in T omm y H e d d e n , who s t ub bo rn ly m aintained the sec ond -p lace po ints . ROUNO TWO O n the second end of a bac k -to-be ck rid e, Ham ill qu ickl y m ade amend s for h is su b par fi rst-ro und perform an c e, o utg at ing and then leavin g Manch est er a nd Venega s t o a rg ue o ve r th e runner- up spot - a co nversation tha t Ma nc he ste r qui c k l y tu rn ed int o two second -p lace po int s. In th e next heat, Yarrow showed a flash of som e o f hi s un limit ed pot en ti a l with a lan e -fo ur v i c t o r y ove r Bobby Hedden . To mmy Hedd en and Schwartz tan gled in the op en ing corner and we re rep la ced by reserv e ride r s Martynse and Carri ll o, w ho fin ished in that ord er. For Schwartz, it wa s his final ride of th e eve ni ng, and (Above) AMA U .S. National Speedway Champion Bill y Hamill (131 w ins his second heat of the evening as Charlie Venegas angles the outside and Manchester looks for a way betwee n th e two. H an c o c k f i n is he d o n e p o int o ff a m aximum , wi th 14 p oint s. F ishe r 's second -place fin ish left h is tot al at 12 and also ens ured him a spot in th e A m ain and a shot at the titl e. In the nex t h ea t , B o bby Hed d en garnered his lone wi n o f the evening. Brant led the first 3 1/ 2 laps bu t fell in t he last tu rn ; he p ushed his b ike acros s the li ne in th ird pl ace but was officia lly sco red in last p la ce. Th e second-to -Iast heat came up huge for Janniro and Hamill. T he reign in g ch amp c o uld hav e forced a run -o ff fo r the final sp ot in the A main had he managed to hold off the polesitt i ng J anni ro a nd w on th e heat , w h ich would ha v e ti ed th em at 10 po ints apiec e. But it w as no t t o be: J an n iro got t he q ui ck g at e and led Hamill and Bast to the fin ish stripe . Th o se th ree po ints g ave Ja n niro 11 t ota l and what turn ed o ut to b e t he final sp ot when F aria won t h e fina l h eat ove r Cast r o an d V en egas and finis hed with 12 point s. In the D F in a l , T omm y Hed den m a de sho r t w o rk o f Car ril l o a n d Ba rd e c ki from l a ne f ou r . It w a s a thr ee-man heat, as Schwartz declined (Rightl Hamill (1 3) takes the on ly point that Hancock lost a ll night. first res erve Carrill o took o ver the rest of hi s rid es. Heat three , a lso k n own as e ve nt seven, was arg uab ly the fi nes t rac e of th e even ing , if not the enti re season. Pol e sitter Far ia got out first an d set a b li st ering p ac e as J ann ir o swerve d. twi st e d a nd m a nipu l at ed hi s J aw a a mo ng th e t ig ht -k nit g ro u p , wh ic h in cl ud ed the ve r y d et ermin ed B ra nt and F ish er. As t he cro wd roa red it s app roval, J an n iro attac ked o utside , in sid e and o n e it he r si de o f Fi sh er and Brant but co uld not find sufficient day li ght to get aro und Faria and had t o se tt le Io rs e c ond p l ac e . F i sh e r ed ged B rant at th e li ne for th e f inal poi nt. Hancoc k closed o ut the ro und with an ot h er pi ctur e -p e rfe ct ga t e a n d showed Cas tro and Bast th e road to th e checkered fl ag . A ft er tw o round s, Faria and Hanc oc k led th e wa y with six points apiece. R OUN O TH R E E F a ri a co nti n ue d hi s m a r ch t o w ard w hat h e ho p ed woul d be hi s fo u rt h U . S. N at i on a l Sp e edw a y t it le w i t h anoth er w in , desp it e getting off th e b l o c k s b eh ind t h e q u ic k-g a t i ng Yarro w. After his ope ni ng -round win , Man ch est er co ntinued hi s slide w ith a th ird -p lac e fin ish. Fi sh er g ot ba c k o n tra c k in th e n ext h eat , b eatin g t h e so li d - ridi ng Ba st and then Venega s, who was on his w a y t o f ou r co n sec ut ive th i r d p lac e finis hes . Th e nex t h eat sa w Ha nc o c k an d J anniro m eeting up for the fi rst tim e. Han c o c k c o ntin ued to set t he pa ce with a nothe r o utstand in g st ar t and finish. J an niro co uld n 't make up any ground and w as sti ll lo o k ing for his first w in after th ree rides. In t he final heat of t h e middle rou nd, Ha mi ll got his customary sp ot- on start, but, go ing into turn four on th e ini tia l lap, he in explicably hooked u p and h ad t o la y his GM down to avo id th e wall, and the freight t rai n we nt by as he st ruggled t o rem ount. B rant to o k immedi at e ad van t ag e of Ham ill's rare ga ffe and led Cas t ro and Mark Carrill o to th e fl ag fo r h is fi rst win. With 60 perce nt of the heats in the books , Hancock and Faria co ntinued t o lead w it h nin e po ints ap iec e. Fishe r was next with seven , w hi le Man chest er t a ll ied six, and Janniro wa s tied w ith Ba st and Yarrow at five apiece. H a m i ll t ra il ed th e leaders b y five po int s w ith on ly two rid es rem ain ing. ROUNO FOUR t o participate . Bran t used his .inside st art ing p o si t i o n t o c a p t u r e th e B F in al. Ya rr o w fin i sh ed righ t beh ind Br ant ope ned the sco ri ng in th e first ride with hi s sec ond strai ght wi n . Bast t o ok t h e sec o nd -pl ac e p o ints , an d Ma nc hester co nti nued his ma stery of t hird p lac e. H a m ill n e ed ed a wi n b adly i n ro u n d fo ur, and h e g o t i t , p utti ng Han cock off th e to p spot fo r the fi rst ti me all evening. Bobby Hed den to ok thi rd pl ac e , an d Fa ria ' we n t fr o m a pe rf ect score to a po or-st art , goose egg fourth -pl ace finish , Janniro , who was n earl y as short on points as Ham ill , also got the wi n h e nee ded t o k eep o n a p ace that would gi ve him a shot at the A m ain . Bard eck i posted his best fin ish of the n i g ht w ith a sec o n d- p l a ce r o mp , ahead of Venegas and Mar k Carr illo, who was sub bing fo r Sch wart z. Fish er closed o ut the fo urt h ro und with the quick gat e o ut of lane fo ur. Yar ro w held off Castro fo r sec on d. B r a n t i n seco n d , w hi l e t h ir d and fou rth wen t to Castro and th e slightly off-fo rm Veneg as. W ith his chances at wi nn ing h i s th i rd straig ht N ational all b ut dried u p, Ha m ill had t o hav e the B F in al win to eve n stay in contention , m ath ematica lly - wh ich is exa ctly what he d id, lea ding t he entire way fr om the pol e , ahe ad of Ba st , Bobby Hedden and Manchester. Just to add insu lt t o inj ury, Ham ill's GM ex p ired afte r th e c heck e red flag, and h e en d e d his night t ang le d with Bo bby Hedd en j ust in sid e th e pit exit g ate. eN Gold Country Fairgrounds Auburn, California Results: September Z6, Z003 [Final Round! A MAIN: t . Greg Hancock; 2. Billy Jannlro; 3. Ryan Fisher; 4 . Mike Faria. 2003 AMA U .S. NATIONA L SPEEDWAY CHAMP IONSHIP FINAL STANDINGS (A ft er 2 of 2 rounds) : 1. Greg Hancock (35): 2. Ryen Fisher (35 ); 3 . Billy Janniro (34 ); 4 . Billy Hamill (33 ); 5. Mike Faria ( 25 ) ; 6 . (T IE ) .Sc ott Bra n t (20) / Ba" Ba st (20) / Bobby Hedden (20 ) ; 9. Chri s Manchester ( 17); 10. Charlie Venegas ( 12) ; 11. Eddie Castro ( 11); 12. Tommy Hedden ( 10) ; 13. Bryan Yarrow (8 ); 14 . Eric Carrill o (6); 15. Bobby Schwartz (5) ; 16. (TIE) Bart Bardeckl (2)/Cam Rafferty (2) . ROUNO F IVE In the op en ing heat, Hancock ensured himself th e high- points heat bo n u s poi nt w hen h e to p pe d F i sh er w it h a nother banzai st a rt from lane tw~. cue I e n D _ S • O C TO B ER 29 , 2003 37

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