Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

G e n e Romero's West C o a s t Fla t Track S erie s F inal Round : Grizzlies S t a d iu m By M IK E KIB B Y By K EN K A WA SA K I PH OT O S FRESNO, CA. NOV. 15 rn res no 's bea utiful Grizzli es St ad i ho me of the San F ranc isc o Giant s' triple A te am the Fresno Grizzlies , was transfo rmed int o a small , fast d irt oval for the eighth and final ro und of Gene Romero's W est Coast Fl at T rac k seri es . With the Saddlem e n Open Vintag e and th e Hond a Top Gun 450cc ti t les alread y sewn up , a ll eye s were on the Open Pro title chas e. Defending W CFT S Open Pro c hampion Kevi n Bric k e r began th e ni ght w ith a 12 -p oint le ad o ver seri es rival J esse Sanch ez. It went all the wa y to th e wi re, but Bri cker suc cessful l y d efend ed his W est Co ast title in a fran tic Open Pro ma in event. D i a z Ra c i n g /P en insu l a T i r e s' San ch ez m ade the fi rst sta te me nt by cl a iming th e T uff Pl ates Op en Pro Fast T im e number p late, alo ng w ith one valu abl e po in t towa rd the t it le. With only I I points now sepa rating the title contenders, the stage was set an d th e d r am a b eg an t o u nfold. If S an c h e z could win the Wilson 's Motorcycles O pe n Pro ma in event , th en Bric k er would have to fin is h seventh place or better to keep the number -one pl ate. If B r i c k er somehow fai le d t o make t he A m a in , t hen a seventh -or -better finish by San ch ez wo uld be eno ugh to stea l it away . Much to th e delight of the crowd, th e f irs t Op en Pro h eat had bo th San'ch ez and Bricker lined up on the front row. At the flash of green, Brick er hit the turn first, with Sanchez o n t he out si d e . A s t hey hit t he back str aightawa y , San chez took th e poin t and st a rt ed t o pull awa y . Bri ck e r ev entuall y slipped back to fifth place and would be forc ed to run in a sem i. With three laps to go , San ch ez bobbled up fron t an d co u ld n' t hold o n , hittin g the di rt in th e a pex of t u rn s three an d f our. Lo c al rid er Don n i e Harr ell "i n h e r i t e d t he win , w h i l e San ch ez w as fo rced to run t he last - !J" urn , cha nce q ualifi er j ust to earn a spo t in o ne o f th e sem is . Jethr o Ha lb e rt tra veled all the way from the st ate of Washington to win th e second Open Pro heat race , and local rider Jeremy Hannah of Madera c ame home fi rst in the th ird and fi nal heat race . Sa nch ez m ade q uick wo rk of th e LCQ by lead ing from sta rt t o fi nis h . All eye s we re now on th e Op en B main , as B rick er c h o se th e in si d e pol e and San chez would st art in th e fr o n t ro w , fr om the fou rth st arti ng posit ion . With only the top four rid ers transferrin g t o the po in ts -p a y in g A m a in eve nt , it wa s " do or d ie " f or both cha m pionshi p co nte nders. T h e st art w a s a c ar b on c o py of th eir heat rac e, with Brick er down low on th e inside and Sanchez o n th e o ut side as th ey hit th e first turn . As the y powered out of tu rn tw o , Sanchez again took th e lead. Br ic k er los t a little ti me, bu t then he m ad e it back up, as Sa nc he z led Br i ck e r hom e b y about four bikelength s. Th e Open Pro main eve nt was now set , a nd both San chez and Bri cker would hav e t o st art from th e th ird ro w. When th e 16 -lap Wilson ' s Motor· cycles Open A ma in eve nt ca me t o th e line, Halbert fo und himself on th e p ole b y vi rtu e of th e fas test ti med heat race . Wh en th e gree n flashe d, To m my C arriger got the ho l esh o t. Halbert dived under Ca rriger and took the point as the y shot down th e back straight. Wh en th ey cro ssed th e strip e for the firs t t ime, it was Halb ert, Car r i g er , Ha r rell , C h r is Can ep a a n d Gr and N at ion al Series reg u lar J ohn Hlebo III ro unding out the to p fiv e. On lap th ree , as Hlebo dived under Ca ne p a for f ourth , title c o n t e n de r Sanchez was already up to fi fth place - having passed eight ride rs t o do so. Bricker, m ean whil e, g ot a poor start (Above) J ethro Halbert won the fi nal West Coast Fla t Track Se ries main event of the ye ar. the short track at Grizzlies Stadium in Fresno. (Left) Kevin Bricker (Ieftl poses w it h Gene Romero (ce nt er) and Digger Helm (rightl after earning his second consecutive West Coast Flat Track title. 70 JANUARY 7 ,2004' cue I e n e 'IN' S and was c irculating in 14 th place . Carriger got o ut of shape in turn tw o , and Ha rr ell and Hl eb o both went by fo r second and third . As Halb ert started t o g et awa y out front , Sa nc hez pr essured Carr iger f o r fo urth. Sa nch ez then shot un d er both Carrig er and Hlebo and m oved into th ird, putting th e title w ithin his rea ch. The lead er 's bro th er , Sam Halb ert , also got by Carrig er and took over fourth plac e. At th e hal fw ay flag s, Sanchez hit a hole and c ro ssed up, all o wi ng Sam i n to t hi r d . S a n ch ez th en bobbled again , and Nicky Moore took ov er the fourth sp ot . With tw o laps t o go , Sam ca ught Harr ell and got by h im f o r second. Brick er made a pass and was now in 13 t h . It lo oke d l ike Bri cker wou ld k eep th e p lat e, with San chez in fift h , and as the lea ders took th e fi nal che ckered flag of the yea r, San ch ez and Hlebo came together in turn fo ur. Sanchez go t the worst of it and we nt down again . Brick er repeated as West Coast Fla t Track Champ ion. " It was a l ong seaso n , " Bri cker said afterward . "The lay off sort of hurt m e. I had a lot of t h in g s going on : getting m ar ried and ho ney m oon in g. We had to co me b ac k th e last few weeks and lose some w e i g h t an d wor k o ut hard. I ha d a t humb injury th is we ek . I was wo rki ng with corti sone shots and some pain p ill s. I'm a littl e disappo inted with t onight' s perfo rm ance; I wou ld hav e liked to be on the front ro w and give th em a run for the win. We were strugg ling t on ight. I wasn 't physica lly where I needed to

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