Sejnowski. Burnside got back in to th e
hunt, d isposing o f Sej n owsk i and clo sin g up on Sc arboroug h .
The 125 cc , 250cc and 6 00 cc Prem i er
classes were run as a separate race , while the
other cla sses were run as part of the regular
program . After heavy rai ns had caused th e
At halfw ay , Burn sid e m ad e th e
cancellation of the Trail -Way short -track qual -
pass fo r th ird al ong the b a ck st raig h t
part of the day , making for a miserab ly cold,
damp race day . In the regular portion of the
race, Mees also rode his Mic hael's H·D Clas-
going over th e se con d t abletop ; h ow ever , he fe ll during the penu l t imate
la p. Brian Lee , of U.S. I Powersports ,
moved into fifth. Lee passed for fourth
at the beg inning o f the last lap and
then closed the gap qu ickl y to th ird
going down the back straight. H a lfwa y
through the l a st l a p , Burnside rej o in ed
th e ba ttle , r ail ing the o uts ide of t h e
la st c o rner for third . Sca rboro ugh , Lee
and Sejnow sk i fo ll o w e d .
Stud st ill g rab bed th e m o t a -tw o
holeshot, f o ll o w e d b y Bu rn s id e , Lee ,
Ken Hansen a nd S ym ons . B y t he e nd
of lap o ne , Bu rnside h a d t he l e a d .
T he top four ride rs stayed close until
the ha lfway mark, with onl y five sec o nds separating th em . Then Studstill
started to challenge for the lead. With
Studstill puttin g the p ressure on ,
ifier the nig ht before, the ra in stuck arou nd fo r
sics-sponsore d machines to wins in the 250cc
and 600cc A classes. Bob Sweeten conq uered
the Sportsman class, and Roy Miller took the
750cc vic tory. Jim Haas held off team mate
Jo hn Bower for the 500cc A Two-Valve win,
and Do n Prevos t won the Ove r 4 0 co ntest.
In the Am ateu r portion, Jason Isennoc k
again won the 250 cc and 600cc B classes, while
Zacn Calcutt topped the 125s. Bailey Spence
was the win ner of th e SO Oil-Injected class.
cc
Patrick Jacobson took the 50cc (4-6) win. Jesse
Long won the 50cc (7·8) contest. John Lewis, as
usual, was the 85cc (7-1 1) winner.
In the l 25cc Premier class, Mees grabbed
the lead from Bryan Douglas and Shawn Baer
and pulled away. Baer's Yamaha seized on the
thi rd lap, while Dougla s stayed fairly close to
Mees.
T he 600cc co nte st wa s no co n test , as
M ee s ran off and h id fr om K enn eth Shaffer
and James Lil es.
750 "' : J. Roy Mill~ (Suz ); 2. Tom McGrane (Hon); 3. Jotm Win ·
4 . Jadl, Wagner (Tn ): 5. Jrif SosMmaIl (BSA.J .
SPTSMN: 1. Bob SWf'fll!'O (Rtx ); 2. Sha~ UVlllg$l. O (Rb:); 3.
O
J~ ZydlrW.y (Rtx); 4. JGson Sp4!'
Gfln (Rtx); 5. M.icha~1 Loun sbu ry
IOU).
40 . ; I. Don Prrvost (ATK); 2. lIlIrry Wms (Yam ): 3. lIlIrry Burk ~ (Hon ); 4. Tom Norton (Rtx).
65 PREM: I. MoDtt W~idman (Kaw) : 2. Joh n Long (Kaw); 3 . ~
On th e restart . Ven eg a s ag a in led the
group into th e fi rst tu ms , th is time with Castro
~ Jr. (H·D) ;
Long
and Bast right behind him . Bast moved up
behind Venegas, but Venegas held the lead for
his first wi n of the year. Bast m aintained sec ond, Castro swerved his way to a third -place
finish, and an obv ious ly downcast Faria ended
(tIT ",); 4. ft\ictI&to Wagner (Ka w): 5 . ft'Ii cMt'I Radley (Kaw).
l
PREM: 1. Devin .kuop (Hon); 2. Cory long (Hon);
his night off the pace in fourth.
8~ ( 12. 15)
In the Handicap main, Rich Marcucci start-
3. JonaUWIIl Jordan ( Hon).
125 PREft\; 1. Jared~ ( Hon) : 2. Bryan Dougl as (Hen ); 3. &on
Ciliuon (Yam): 4 &onUdow (Hen ); 5. Shawn&rt (Yam ).
250 PREM: I. J ak~ Johnson ( Hon) ; 2. Raun Wood (Hon ): 3.
J 4rN ~ (Suz): 4. Cor ey tiormes (Han) ; 5 . Kenneth Sha.tt~ (Han) .
. 600 PR
EM; 1. JIlf N ""-' (Rb ); 2. K~~h $h8ffll'f I Rtx); 3.
Jamn LMos (Rtx); 4. Billy StiU
-U (KT M); 5. ,M,ike Brab$on (Rtx ).
30. PREM: I. Bdt Bromley (W-R); 2. Dallas &er (Rtx); 3. Jim
Hollist er (Rtx): 4. ..Jato ~y (KTM): 5. Don Prnoost (ATK).
ed from th e 10-yard stripe and led the race
from the start to the checkered /r ed-flag finish,
despite two restarts caused by overanxious
30 -yard starters Robert Curry and Ian Ferris.
Both ride rs wer e res tationed next to Bobby
Hedde n on the 50-ya rd li ne , leavi ng Ryan
Fisher and "Dukie" Ermolenko alo ne on the
30 to arg ue ove r the second- and th ird -p lace
s pots. behin d M ar cu c c i. Er molen ko 's GM
broke on th e final la p, allo wing Fi sher to tak e
ove r t he runn e r -up spot. Hedd en clai med
Fast Fridays S peed w ay
Venegas Takes Fast
Fridays Opener
third , and fourth place went to Curry , who col lided with the slowing Ermol enko and ended
hi s evening in t he fir st -turn du st. Ferri s finished fifth, and Ermolenko was credited wit h
sixt h.
By M , SOBER
AUBURN, CA,MAY 12
The A uburn Harley-Davidson/ Buell -sponsored
Fast Frid ays Speedway 2000 season opened
Res u lts
SCR: I. Charl i ~ V~neglls (J aw ); 2. Bart BaSI (J aw) : 3. Ed d l~
Castro ( Jll W). 4 . Mik~ Fen e (GM)
HDCP 1. Rich Marcucci (J aw) ; 2. Ryan FIsher (J a.... : 3. Bobby
:
)
Heede (J aw): 4. Robert Curry (J aw); 5. Ian Ferris (Ci ).
n
M
0 -2 ; I. lven Sev ert (J aw): 2. Mark Thoma s (J aw) : 3 . Rach~l1 ~
K~rr ( J4W).
0 -3: 1. ft'Iorll. Wood .... rd (Wes); 2.Gino Belhno (Wes); 3. Robert
e
Mdlor (J aw) .
0 - 1 JR; 1. Eric ClI
Johnson (Hon).
w
8
Studstill n e e d e d , a nd h e re too k th e
::>
z
w
l e a d . B urns i d e stayed close for t he
last two laps, but he came up just
Tra il B laze rs
CJ
sh o rt at the finish line while trying to
'"
>
~
make a pass . Lee placed third , fol lowed by Sejnowski and Symons .
Esposito Cages
Nightengale
c.
CN
By S TEPHEN T ICHENOR
Paa Traa
Bunnell. Florida
Res ults: A 9, ZO O[Round 51
pril
O
NIGHTENGALE. NV. MAY 7
It is almost becomin g a joke in th e MRANN
co m m unit y th at whenever the Tr ail Blazers put
on a race, th ey ar e blessed by th e ra in gods
th e da y befor e the ev ent , resul ting in a race
that is absolutely spectac ular for both racer s
and sp ecta to rs. How ev er , eve n with out th e
rain, the Trail Bla zer s provided an exce lle nt,
fast-paced course that was generall y lik ed by
50 ( 4- 6): 1. Jeff Mu lder: 2 . Sk yler Humphrey; 3 .
Serratia Gonzalez; 4 . Ian Holm : 5. Brady Gibso n.
50 MOD ( 4 -6 ) : 1. Mi ch ael Br et zel: 2. Br ad y
Gib son ; 3 . Rob ert. Keirn .
5 0 MOD ( 7 - 9) : I . J o sh Evan s; 2 . Ian
McD ermott .
60 (6- S): I . Devin J ohn son.
60 (9- 1 1): I. Bubba Mon ett: 2 . J im my No rto n;
3 . Jos h Miller ; 4. Jacob Reigart ; 5 . An thony Schmitt .
P/ W 80 (7 - 9 ) : 1. B illy Ha ck ley ; 2 . Jo na t ha n
Sarm ento ; 3 . Devi n Johnson; 4 . Ross Paxle : 5. M ik e
San kowsk i .
P/W 80 ( 10- 12) : I . Jim my Norton; 2 . Jason
Taylor; 3. Jer em y Miller.
all at round three of the MRANN Series.
Th e race began with the fir st w ave o f
Expert s charging down the half mile start, at
the end of wh ich the rid ers wer e for ced to take
a sharp, hlqh -speed, left-hand turn up a dusty
80 ( 9- 1 1): I. C a m de n C ru z ; 2 . Zac h a ry
Hami lt on: 3. J o sh Miller: 4 . Ji m m y Hay s; 5 . Ryan
Collina .
8 0 (12 -15 ): I. Robe rt Butt itta; 2. Camden Cruz;
3 . Zachary Ham ilton; 4 . Greg Race: 5 . Chris Meyer.
125 BEG: 1. Kyle Herring ; 2 . Camden Cruz: 3.
Mike Hugh s: 4 . Ryan Beetieu: 5 . Kevin Maga rgal.
125 B: 1. Ted Weidner; 2. Mike Dagost ino.
125 C: 1. Cole Studs till : 2 . Shannon Fount ain: 3 .
Zek Hanger: 4 . Tim Stirrett: 5 . Brandon Fiveash.
250 BEG: I . Mike Winner; 2. Rich Gaskins: 3 .
Curt Puffer; 4 . Jimmy Herring; 5 . 1Joe Pirtle .
2 5 0 B: I. Gary A llr ed; 2. Jim Chludzi ms ki : 3.
Adem Wellmen : 4 . Art y Coker .
250 C: J. Cole Studstill : 2 . Les Burn side: 3 _ Bri an
Lee; 4 . T.D. Sejnow ski : 5. Wayne Scarborou gh .
OPEN : 1. Mik e Spencer : 2 . William Sym on s: 3.
Robert Buttitta : 4. Brian Lee.
25 +: 1. Gary A llred : 2 . Jim Chludzinski: 3. Craig
Johnson.
35+ : I . Ar mando Carra squillo .
30.: 1. Gary Allred: 2. Craig Jo hnson; 3 . Arty
Cok er.
40 +: 1. Arm ando Carrasquillo.
B loomsburg Fairg ro u nds
Mees da Man a t NE
Regional Q ualifier HM
B y LEN BR EECH
BLOOMSBURG. PA, MAY 21
Add ing to his wins in the Southeast Regional
Cha mpionships du ring the Ama teu r po rtion of
Dayto na Spee d Week, Jared Mees ad ded two
m or e Prem ier-class w ins to his resu me at the
hal f mile qualifie r for his hom e region at th e
Bloom sburg Fairgrounds half mile in Pennsylvani a. Mees too k t he 125cc and 600 cc Prem ier wi ns, whil e J ak e Johnso n held off a very
strong Raun Wood for the 250cc Prem ier win,
with Mees placing th ird . The Ove r 30 Prem ier
vi ct o ry went to Bill Broml ey , who was runni ng
as a Pro Spo rt rid er , over Dall a s Baer. Th e
65cc win went to M att We idman , over John
Long and J esse Lon g , wh il e Dev i n J essop
took the 85cc Premier (12 - 15) laurels.
Me Hare and Hound
wash . Right fro m the start, Team Green O pen
rider Sha ne Esposito was out in front and not
Fast Fridays Speedway: In t he Scratch main event at the season opener In Auburn,
California, " Fly in'" Mike Far ia works t he o ut s id e li ne as Char lie " Th e Edge" Venegas
r uns on the pole, Far ia got around Venegas c lean ly , b ut the race was restart ed
due t o starting-line Infracti ons .
Jelling anyt hi ng stand between him and the
overall vic tory . Most of the Open riders had
the advantage at the beginning of th e race due
to its fast pace , whic h requi red 250cc and
125cc ride rs to ride mo re agg ressively in th e
more -techn ical sections of the co u r se. The
be hi nd , waiting fo r a slig ht mi sta ke th at never
came.
Jim Holliste r ha d a victory take n away
from him in the Over 30 Premier class; he had
a straigh taway lead over Dallas Baer and
Bromley when the race was red -flagged when
Bill Reynolds slid hard into the bales. On the
restart, Bromley and Baer got by Hollister and
first 43-mile loop was very fast, yet it forced
away w it h th e vic to ry in t he D ivi si on Two
main , whi le the thi rd -di vis io n tr oph y went to
Mark Woodwa rd . Current Junior Speedway
cham p ion Eric Carrillo ca me fro m the back of
th e field to claim the w in in th e Junior ma in .
seaso n- end ing leg in jury early la st seas on ,
won the Support-class Junior mains.
The Sc ratch main co nt ro vers y actually
seem ed to st em m or e from early -sea son jitters , nervous co nfusion and overall firs t-race day rusti ness than from any specific on-track
held on to th eir positions. Bromley to ok the
win and Baer was runner-up , with Hollister
placing third .
The regular 250c c and 600c c A finals featured some very close action. In the 250cc A
co ntest , Mees he ld off a close-knit pac k con sisting of Jack Wag ner, Harmes, Sweeten and
Joe Zyd insky for the entirety of the race, while
in th e 600cc A race, Mees fough t off Shane
Uvingston and Ricky Winsett for the win .
Results
50 OIL·INJ : 1.
Spffice (Yam ); 2. Dal~ Wakefield ( Yam) :
3 . Patnek Jacobson I Yam) ; 4 Tyler K~I IYam ); 5. Cameron Ty-.,
&il~
(Y4m) .
50 (4 -6); I. Patrick JKObson (Cob) ; 2. Dn-~ H~ (Cob); 3 .
CarTl4"l'Ol'\ TY5OflILf'm ): 4 . 61l1lfoy Speece (I.em ); 5 . Tyler Haas (Pol).
50 ( 7 ·8 ): 1. J~.se Long (Lem ); 2. Bre tt Pugh (Lem): 3 . T yler
Kidw~11 (Cob) ; 4 Mil ch Harval (Act ): 5 . Dale Wak~fi~ld J r. (Hus).
85 (7 · 11): I. J ohn Lewil ( Y4m) ; 2. Mott w etdrn en (Han) ; 3 .
Evtln Beer (Yam ); 4 . J ohn Long (Hon ); 5. Trevor J elSup (Hon ).
125 B: J. U1ch Cetcurt (Hon); 2. Ben Gli sson ( Yam) : 3 . Travis
Sennett (Hon ); 4. John Seeseme n (Yam ): 5. Ben Ludlow (Hon ).
25 0 A : 1. J ered M~ (Suz): 2. J ack Wagner (Han) ; J . Corey
Ha rm es (Han ); 4. Bob Sweeten (Han); 5 . Joe Zydin sky (Han).
25 0 B: l. Jescn lsenn cck ( Han) ; 2. Zac h CalcUli (K/lw) ; 3 .
J am!!'1 Donemua (Yam ); 4. Ryan Bebc cck (Yam) : 5 . Ju stin Bey er
(Han).
500 A : 1. J im Hftas (Yam) : 2. J ohn Bower (Yam ); 3 . Dallas Beer
(Y4m ): 4. Bill R ~ynoIds (Yam); 5 . Greg SaS5ll an (Yam) .
m
600 A : 1. .Jered ~ (Rtx); 2. Shan~ UvinlJ!llon (Rtx) : 3 . RICky
Winsett (Rut): 4. Ja son Spearin (Rut); 5. J oe Zydinsk y (Rtx).
600 B; 1. J ason lsennoc k (Rtx): 2. Lester UV~1'fTlOl"e (Yam ); 3 .
Brenl Uvingston I Rtx): 4 Richerd R~yno&ds (Yam ); 5 . Bob Griff in Jr .
IOU).
riders to stay on the ir toes, due to th e fact that
most of the first loo p was up on the mountain
ridges. The dub m anaged to mix thi ngs up
very nicely , with the course go ing from fast
roads to tight, te ch n ical ca nyo ns and then
back up on top of th e m ou ntain ridges .
Com ing i n fr om th e f ir st loop, Espo sito
already had a few minutes over the first 25 0cc
rider, Den nis Belingheri. The second and final
Danny Easley and T.J . Fowler . who suffered a
47 ·mile loop let every rider know exactly how
fast their bike really is, as the trail came down
rider infractions. The first try appeared to get
under way cleanly, wit h " Fast" Eddie Castro
a fla t . 5- mile- long fire road. Esposito took
advantage of his large lead and began finding
on the po le an d ve tera ns Ven e g a s , Bart
"Stmps on r Bast and " F l y i n ' " Mi ke Faria
fanned o ut to h is right in lanes two through
four. Ve negas a nd Faria led the qua rte t
throug h the fi rst set of tu ms. Venegas stayed
on the ins ide , and Faria cha racteristically went
to wo rk o n the outside li ne a nd was in th e
process of passing Ve negas as the group
began lap two. J ust as t he ra ce passed the
new ae rodyna mic wa ys to lay down o n h is
bik e to redu ce w ind resistance
"My KX500 vibrates on the fast roads, so I
decided to lay flat on my bike , with my feet
hang ing out past th e rear fenders! " Esposito
ex claimed . " I was really hoping som eone
could have seen my new riding sty le."
Riding the fast. fun road , however. quickly
turned into a very scary situation fo r most of
the top riders. as an imbecilic jeep club had
halfway point, t he red fl ag m y st er io usl y
appeared, br in g ing the nig ht's fin al ra ce to
what appeared to be an untimely hal t.
" I saw several rider s m ov in g o n the lin e
right before the sta rt ing tapes went up ," refer-
decided that they would use the same ultra -
ee Jo hn Grant said later, explaining his call.
" The tapes pr ob abl y sho uldn 't have been
released , but t hey were, and by t he tim e I
j eep clu b some very friendly hand gestures
that includ ed the extension of the midd le fin -
decided to stop the race , th e guys were past
m e and start ing into th e second lap."
Faria was naturall y the m ost ada ma nt that
the race should never hav e been stopped.
"M an, I just co uldn 't believ e it when I saw
the red fl ag, " Far ia exclai med. "I was go nna
win th at th in g!"
of 100 mph . Luckil y , however, nobody was
c
u
e
'
e
fas t road - in th e o ppo site d irecti o n . despite
th e strenu ous advi ce of those a t the stopchec k. Ma ny rid ers gave the me mbers of the
ger as th ey flew pas t the m at speeds in excess
injured , and Esp osito was abl e to fini sh fi rst
overall with seve ral m in utes ove r the " Desert
Fox: Belin gheri, who placed second overall
and was foll owed by Open rider Greg Searle,
O pen ride r Sam Ke y , and Ove r 30 rider Ke vin
Bro w n.
n
eVIls
J UN E 21 , 2000
61
