Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

sem i, Larsen and D iFrancesco hea ded to the main , with Nelson and Rafferty going to the B final. Nelson won the B final to take the last spot in th e main. Th e l ineup f or th e A f inal h ad L a r s e n i n o ne, S e i s m o r e in t w o , D iFranc esco in three, Sephton in fo ur and Nel son in fiv e. A s the tapes went up, D iFran cesco pull ed th e best gat e from three, only to drift off turn two, letting Larsen ta k e th e lead. Nelson drove dee p in to th e co rne r, sq ua red up and shot up t he in sid e into th ird , catching both Sephton and Seismore b y surprise. At th e st art of lap two , D iFran cesco par k ed , giving N elson enoug h roo m to t ake sec o nd place w h ile Seismore followed f o r t hird . Co m ing in t o turn t hree , Lar sen c on t inu ed to lead, wi t h Ne lso n in second , but Seism ore drove ha r d int o t h e t u rn , t ou ching N els o n 's r ear w heel and se ndi ng Nel son t umbling to the ground . D i Franc esco and Se p h t o n sp ed b y Seismore wh ile Nelso n strug g led to get on hi s feet. T he red lig ht came o n, sto p pi ng th e rac e. A f t e r seve ral mi n ut e s, dur in g which th e referee cli m bed down fr om h is p e rch to r evi ew th e race v ideo , t he an no unceme nt was made tha t, as two l a p s had been co m pl eted, the race wo ul d go to Lar sen . For th e th ird year in a row , it seemed the champ i onshi p woul d be d ecided somewh er e othe r tha n o n the t r ack . Th e o utcry from th e fan s was d ea f enin g . Th ose w ho di d n ot i m me dia tely j u mp t o th eir feet to lea ve g ra bbe d anything wi thin easy reach and hurled it onto the t ra ck . Th e a n no u n c er t r i ed h is best to c a lm t he f an s , bu t n othin g wo r ke d . A f ter s e v era I mo re te nse mom en t s, during w hic h the infield staff beg an t o worry fo r th eir safet y , prom ot er Jason . Bo nsigno re grabbed the mi k e a n d a nno u nce d th at th e race would be re run. T he cr ow d roa red wi th approv al. E v er y on e quickly m a d e t h e ir way b a c k t o t heir seats . The rider s assumed their o ri g ina l starting po si ti ons. When th e tapes went up, Seismore took the lea d from two , but Larsen fought his way past t o take the point posit ion . Ne l so n aga i n sq u are d th e co rn er and came up th e inside to take third. Larsen pull ed o u t to a sl ight lead . with Seismore chasing him all the wa y to th e c hec k er ed flag . T he fi nishi ng order was Larsen, Seism ore, N elson , Di F ran c esc o and Seph t on or so everyone th oug ht. A fter m ost of th e fans had headed hom e th inking th ey had fin a ll y see n th e U .S. O pen decided by th e ac t ual o n- track ac t io n and not a qu est ion ab le interpretati on o f th e AMA rul e bo ok, it turn ed o u t th at the off ici a l f i ni shing o r de r was qu ite d ifferent. Larsen was awarded t he w i n , wi th D iFran c esc o second , Sephton th ird , N el so n fou r th and Seismore fi fth . Seism ore was ru led the c ause of th e o rig inal sto pp age and wa s ex cl uded himself. By the t im e the ' red flag was show n , Larsen had crossed the line to sta rt t he th ird la p . T he finishing order was determ ined by th e second la p . Ma ny t hings ca n b e qu est ioned about th e official outcome of the 2000 U .S . Op en , but no one can q u est io n that J o sh Larsen won the event - twice, in fa ct. T he rest of th e finish ing o rd er will be deba ted long an d hard by benc h rac er s and arm chair refe re es . N o one can qu estion that, overa ll , the 2000 U .S. Open wa s an exciting and successful event. You j u st h av e to wonder what' s in store eN fo r 200 1. been f i ve r ounds of the Challeng e pepp e re d t h r o u g h o u t the seaso n, ea ch p r od uci ng a si n gl e vict or t h at has earned a sp ot to race in the seaso n-endi ng $500 Champion ship pay da y . The un forgi ving c utthroat format of the all -sc ra tc h even t eli mina tes the trai ling rid er after each one -la p dash unt il only two riders remain. T he last two p articipants then go head to he ad fo r two laps to d eterm ine the cham pion . Bart Bast , w ho started on th e ex t re me ou tsi de lan e in the first run , t raile d t he fie ld across the finis h li ne i n l as t p l a ce and w a s e li mi na te d . Ry an F is he r w as th e ne x t r ide r r em ov ed f ro m th e mix . With o n ly three rid ers left - Mik e Fa ria , Hedd en and Cha r li e V e n ega s - t he l att e r apparently decided to take a chanc e on t im ing th e sta rt ing tapes. He erroneou sl y antici pa ted race sta rte r Ma rk Joine r 's cadence and was disqualified f o r shredding t h e starting tapes . Venegas' b lunder set t he stage for a Far ia /Hed de n sh owdown , w h i ch began with a qui ck gate by Faria and ended with a spectacular outside -r idi n g d is play b y H e d d e n that w a s a rg ua b ly as en te rt a in ing as F a ri a ' s winni ng performanc e. Vis it ing Speedway v eter an Chr is " M anny · Manches te r d is p layed so m e o f th e fo rm th at wo n h im t he 1992 U.S . N ation al Champion ship , tak ing t he Hand ic ap m ain win aboa rd his Off Be at / Br uce Po rte r/ A rai / K . D unn igan GM. Th e stylish So uthe rn Californian ri der ra n d own early rac e lead er Er ic Carrillo b y th e co m p let ion of lap fo ur , after di sp osi ng of fe llo w So -C al rid er Ma rk Adams on e lap p rior . On th e final lap, 50 -yarders Fari a and J an n iro m ov ed i n t o se c ond a nd t h ird wh en Carri llo was fo rc ed wide after a se mi frie ndl y n udg e by M an ch es t er , who had no in tentio n of being denied New Champion Speedw ay Owego, New York Results: August 19, 2000 M A I N : 1. J o sh La rsen ( Ja w) ; 2 . Ran d y DiF rancesco (Ja w ): 3. Tom Sephton (J aw) ; 4. Bruce Nelso n (Ja w) ; 5 . Ji m Seismcr e (Jaw). SUP A C' SHIP: I. Rick Sherwood (Jaw) : 2. Joe Heit mann (Jaw); 3 . Dale An derson (J aw ); 4. Ted Fey (Gdn); 5. Joel Pa rson s (J aw). sap B C'SHI?: 1. Chris Strong (J aw) ; 2. A lex Heath ( Ja w); 3 . Da ve Ric h ard s ( Ja w) ; 4 . K en Cha m berlain (J aw); 5 . Ca ssey Casse lbu ry (J aw). JR : 1. C as ey D onh ol t ( H o n ) ; 2 . Shawn Mas hewsk e ( Ho n); 3 . Chip Lengle ( Ho n); 4 . J ordan Greene (Hon) . Speedway Challenge Championship Fast Fridays Speedway Hedden for the Title B y M . S O B ER AU RN CA, AU 25 BU , G. " O f all th e t itles there are to wi n in speed way, righ t now thi s o ne m ean s th e m ost t o m e, " B obby "Th e Blaze " Hedden sa id in t he p its b efore th e 2000 speedway sea so n 's last points race got und er way. " I' ve never seemed to be consistent eno ug h to wi n the points befor e, but it became m y m ain goal at the begi nning of th e season , and now I'm j ust ha pp y to be in t he posit io n to fi nally do it ." T h e longti me Northern Cal ifornia speedway E xpert finall y c ap t ured th e title th at has mana ged to elude him throughout h is stella r c a reer: t he Northern Ca l iforn ia AMA Speedwa y over all points champ ionship. Hedd en en t ered the eve n t with a reas onably co m fo rt able 95 -p o int lead o v er B ill y Jann iro and a 12 8- po in t cushion over per ennial Northern Ca ll fo rnia po in ts c ha m pio n B a rt B a st. H ed d en n eed ed onl y 69 p o int s t o c li nc h th e ti t le , regardless of whether J anniro swep t hi s rac es o r not . J an niro pu t fo rth a gre at effort, sco ring a re so u nding 146 poin t s and toppi ng o ff h is eve ni ng wi th a vi ct o r y in t he Sc rat ch main, but Hed den was not to be d en ied , scoring 7 I po in t s on t he Scrat c h si d e o f the program a lo ne and finishing with 1 13 po in ts ove rall. The Fast Fridays fai thful also witnessed t he ru nn in g of th e Sp eedway Ch allen ge Ch am pio nsh ip . T here have his first Fast Fridays mai n -e ve nt wi n of the seas on . F aria cl osed th e gap on th e leader in t he fi naI turn bu t settled fo r the runner-up spot, j ust ahe ad of J ann iro . Car ri ll o ad eptly rec overed from Ma nchester's tr adi tion a l Speed w ay g reeting and rolled ac ross the f in ish l ine i n fourth , w ell a head of A d ams . Venegas w as credited with si xth pl ac e. In th e Sc ratch ma in , J anniro drew the pole and li n ed u p in sid e Fa ria , Bast and Hed den, who found himself aga inst the outside w all for th e third co n s e c u t ive S cr atch ra c e . Far i a m ov ed b ef o r e th e t a p e s w e nt up , lun ging d an g e r o u s l y c l o s e to th e tapes, a nd th en go t c aug ht bac k ing o ff j ust as th e t apes ros e. Bast a lso failed t o m ov e promptl y off th e li ne, a p p are n tly unab le t o g ain suffic ie n t sta rt in g t r acti o n o n t he lan e -t hr ee blue groov e. W ith Far ia roll in g in t he wro ng dir ection , Bast spi nn ing off th e line and Hedden m issin g the start on t he o utside. Janniro had a clear path to t u rn one and i m me di ate l y took co m ma nd of th e race . F a r ia r e inse rted h i m s elf into t he fra y and moved up right beh ind Jan n iro, w ith Bast tigh t o n his tail in th ird . Mean while , H edde n we nt i n search of th e f abled outside tr action i n v ai n . Jann iro sp ent all fo ur laps co n sci en t io usly hugging the ins ide line, as Fari a and Bast each st ay ed cl ose . desperate to find the sl ightest in side toehol d that they co uld use to ex t r i ca t e th e yo u n g st e r o u t o f t he fr ont spot. T h e frei g h t t r a i n mai n t ained it s origi nal ru nni ng order to the e n d - w i th th e e xce p t io n of th ir d pl ac e, w hich Hedd en c lai med at th e fini sh lin e afte r a brea t h less outsi d e move in th e fina l be nd. Iv an Se va rt systemati ca lly hun te d down earl y low -yard a ge rider B ill y Hiles to cl aim his third Di v i si on Tw o ma in even t of th e year. Greg Hoot on got his fi rst wi n of the year in t he D ivis i o n T h r e e m a in . Bryan Yarrow , Da nn y Easley a n d C h r i s Smith took convincing w in s in t h e th ree Junior di visions. CN w c:: § z w o i:i 8 !i1 Q. Fast Fr idays Speedw ay Auburn , California Results: August 25, 2000 SCR : 1. B i ll y J ann i r o ( J ~w); 2 . M ik e Far ia ( OM ); 3 . Bobby Hed den (Jaw): 4 . Bart Bast (Jaw). HDCP: 1. Chris Manchester (GM) : 2. M ike Fa ri a (GM ): 3 . B ill y J anni ro ( Ja w); 4 . E ric Ca rri llo (J aw); 5. Mark A dams (Jaw ). 0 -2 : 1. Ivan Se ve rt (J a w); 2. Bill y Hile s (Jaw) ; 3 . C hris Kerr (J aw) . 0 -3 : I . Greg Hooton (J aw); 2. Dav id Baker (Wes); 3 . Mike Achi lles (J aw) . 0 ·1 J R: I . Brya n Ya rro w (J a w); 2 , G r eg Ho o t o n Jr. (Wes): 3. J .J . Marty n,e (We' ). 0 -2 JR : 1. Da nny Easley (We'); 2. T .J . Fowler (wes): 3. J osh Newby (J aw) . Fast Fridays Speedway: Bobby "The Blaze" Hedden clinched the Northern California AMA Speedway overall points championsh ip t itl e in Auburn , Californ ia. cue I e n e _ S 0 ·3 J R : 1. Chri s S mi th (Wes); 2 . J eff Butler ( Ha n) ; 3 . J ay Ricketts (Hen). • OCTOBER 4 , 200 0 43

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