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AUGUST 23, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 58 BY RYAN EVANS INDUSTRY HILLS, CA, JULY 15 J osh Larsen overcame a first-round nightmare by collecting four straight wins en route to his first California State Champi- onship during an exciting and action-packed evening at Industry Hills Speedway. For the first round, the riders were greeted by a deep and tricky racetrack. Bryan Yarrow jumped to the front in race one, while Larsen spun around and was mired in last place on the first lap. Yarrow ran away with the win, but Buck Blair fell, which handed second to Dario Galvin, who was able to hold off a last- second charge from Larsen. Charlie Venegas, who has held the title since the event was last staged back in 1997, easily won his first race. Tommy Hedden scored his first victory, ahead of Shawn McConnell. Mike Faria won the final race of the first round. Venegas began round two with another victory, and Mark Dwyer used the outside to pass Bobby Schwartz for second. Larsen got his evening on the right path with a scorching victory over Faria and Hedden. Yarrow then ran away with his second win. Eddie Castro brought the curtain down on the second round with his first win. Castro made it two in a row with a win over Dale Facchini to start the third round. In the next race, Larsen trapped from the outside and handed Venegas just his second defeat in his last 23 races at Industry Hills. Event 19 was probably the most exciting race of the night, as Yarrow stalked Faria for three laps before passing him on the outside for his third straight victory and earning a standing ovation. Blair defeated Tommy Hedden for his first win of the evening to bring round three to a conclusion. Faria began round four by collecting his second win to remain in the title hunt. Larsen made it three wins in a row by holding off Nate Perkins in event 23. In Event 24, Venegas appeared to be on his way to tying up Yarrow for the overall lead, but he suffered a flat tire on lap two and fell. On the next lap, Yarrow's bike slowed, handing the lead to Hedden, who held on for the win. Castro was second. Yarrow pushed his machine the final half-lap for a very important third place. Blair ended the fourth round with his second straight victory. Entering the final round, Larsen, Yarrow, Faria and Castro were deadlocked at the top with 10 points each. Hedden had nine points, and Blair and Venegas both had eight. Hedden started the last round with an easy win and the hopes for a chance on the podium. Larsen guaranteed himself at least a tie for the overall lead with a great start and the win, while Castro ended up third, behind Harmatiuk. Yarrow was on the pole in the next race and was first off the line, but his bike stopped again. Schwartz took the victory, with Facchini second and Yarrow managing to get third. In the final scheduled race, Faria needed to win to force a runoff for the title. Blair was first off the line, with Venegas in second and Faria running third. Venegas was determined, however, and he went underneath Blair for the lead; Faria followed him past. Faria kept the pressure on Venegas but couldn't force a mistake. Venegas took the win, while Faria would have to come back for a runoff with Hedden for second overall. Faria defeated Hedden in the runoff to secure second place overall. The Industry Invitational featured 12 riders not in the State Championship field. Neil Facchini followed up wins in his heat and semi with a resounding victory in the main event. Mark Adams was second, Rohn Zellner finished third, and George Fox was fourth. CN INDUSTRY HILLS SPEEDWAY INDUSTRY HILLS, CALIFORNIA RESULTS: JULY 15, 2006 CAL STATE C'SHIP: 1. Josh Larsen (13 points); 2. Mike Faria (12); 3. Tommy Hedden (12); 4. (TIE) Bryan Yarrow (11)/Charlie Venegas (11)/Eddie Castro (11); 7. Buck Blair (9); 8. Shaun Harmatiuk (8); 9. Dale Facchini (7); 10. Bobby Schwartz (6); 11. Mark Dwyer (5); 12. (TIE) Shawn McConnell (4)/Dario Galvin (4); 14. (TIE) Nate Perkins (3)/Greg Ayers (3); 16. Bobby Krips (1); 17. George Fox (0). INDUSTRY INV'L: 1. Neil Facchini (GM); 2. Mark Adams (Jaw); 3. Rohn Zellner (Jaw); 4. George Fox (Jaw). California State Championship Industry Hills Speedway Larsen Wins California State Championship Josh Larsen (right) won the California State Championship at Industry Hills Speedway. The event was last staged back in 1997, when it was won by Charlie Venegas (left). (Left to right) Runner-up Mike Faria, trophy girl Allison Pantoja, winner Josh Larsen, promoter Kelly Inman, third-place racer Tommy Hedden, and Industry Invitational winner Neil Facchini celebrate the return of the California State Championship. It was about time. PHOTOS BY MIKE BASSO BY JASON BONSIGNORE BATAVIA, NY, JULY 21 A star-studded field of the top eastern speed- way racers plus two top international rac- ers turned out at Batavia Motor Speedway for the opening round of the U.S. Open Champi- onships, the premier speedway event on the East Coast. World-renowned speedway fans Johnny "Gene The Dancin' Machine" Sauter and Steve Graham were even present and account- ed for! The two special guests were defending champion Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell of Tustin, California, and former British League captain Charles "Dukie" Ermolenko. Former World finalist Josh Larsen was due to ride as well but had to cancel at the last minute due to unexpected work commitments. Round one's format featured four heat rounds, with the top four points scorers taking part in one main event, along with the winner of the last-chance qualifier, which included the fifth- through eighth-place scorers. Points, including the main-event tallies, would carry over to round two. Defending champion McConnell realized early on that he would have his work cut out for him, as he suffered a first-heat loss to George "Lazorbeam" Lazor, who has been one of the top guys at BMS all year. McConnell was second, with Adam Mittl third and Casey Donholt fourth. Ermolenko won his first race of the night - which was also his first race in two months, as he was recovering from breaking his back racing in California. East Coast great Tuff McBride was second, with Jesse Diem third and Pat Cliff fourth. "Mean Gene" Bonsignore was credited with the win in race three after picking himself up off the dirt when Mikey Buman knocked him down for the third time in three weeks. Mike Robinson was second and Andy Crawford was third. Buman was credited with fourth. The next heat-round first-place finishers were McConnell, Bonsignore and Donholt, followed by Lazor, McBride and Donholt, scoring three points each in the third round. The final heat round produced some great r a c i n g , w i t h s e v e r a l e n t e r t a i n i n g p a s s e s . Donholt won his third straight race, while Robinson scored one for the "vintage" riders, and McConnell beat Bonsignore. After this round, the points were tallied up, and a three- way tie existed among McConnell, Bonsignore and Donholt for the top scorer; thus they all earned the right to take part in the final. Lazor would also take part, but the surprise was that Ermolenko would need to go through the last- chance qualifier. T h e L C Q w o u l d b e a t o u g h o n e , b u t Ermolenko was able to squeak it out for some valuable points, ahead of a hard-charging Mittl, who was second. Buman grabbed third, over a tiring McBride, who crashed. The big race of the evening saw McConnell coming off gate one and heading home for the victory, but not far behind was the super- smooth Lazor, who held a nice line for second. Donholt and Bonsignore pushed hard but couldn't make up the ground and took third and fourth, respectively, while Ermolenko did the best he could from the outside to take home the fifth-place points. CN BATAVIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY BATAVIA, NEW YORK RESULTS: JULY 21, 2006 (ROUND 1 OF 2) 50: 1. Mike Mattison. 65: 1. Jon Welles. 80: 1. Matt Zacher. 90 STK: 1. Brooke Lynn Webster. 90 PROD: 1. Cole Stearns. 100: 1. Jeremy Higgins. 250 AM: 1. Jeremy Higgins. OPEN: 1. Jeremy Higgins. EX SHORT TRACK: 1. Guy Hughson. SUP: 1. Corey Brookes; 2. Dee Holden; 3. Mark Bradley. MAIN: 1. Shawn McConnell; 2. George Lazor; 3. Casey Donholt; 4. Gene Bonsignore; 5. Dukie Ermolenko. U.S. OPEN SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIPS OVERALL POINTS STANDINGS (After one round): 1. Shawn McConnell (14); 2. (TIE) George Lazor (12)/Casey Donholt (12); 4. Gene Bonsignore (11); 5. Mike Buman (9); 6. Dukie Ermolenko (8); 7. (TIE) Adam Mittl (7)/Tuff McBride (7); 9. Mike Robinson (5); 10. Jesse Diem (4). U.S. Open Speedway Championships Round 1: Batavia Motor Speedway Mad Dog Bites Hard at U.S. Open Speedway Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell put the bite on the competition at the first round of the U.S. Open Speedway Championships. PHOTO BY BOB HOWLAND