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| HICKS WINS SPEEDWAY CYCLE SEASON OPENER AT INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY By Tim Kennedy |
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Industry, CA., May 27 – Gary Hicks, from Ventura, returned to Speedway Cycle racing following a one year absence because of a shoulder injury and won the Speedway Cycle 500cc Division 1 main event Wednesday night. The Grand Arena at Industry Hills Expo Center attracted the largest opening night crowd in the seven years speedway cycle racers have competed at the site. An estimated 1,500 persons were present and watched 46 intense four-lap races held from 7:00 to 9:54 pm for two-wheel riders and the exciting 1,000cc motorcycle/sidecar teams. Hicks, 40, started his JAWA cycle from the second gate in the five rider D-1 feature race. He shot into the lead entering the first turn and led all four laps for “my first feature victory here.” Mike Faria used an inside pass in the second turn during the final lap to take second from Shaun Harmatiuk. Faria, a former Reno resident now living in Corona, trailed Hicks by ten yards at the finish and edged Harmatiuk by one length. Eddie Castro finished fourth. Charlie Venegas, the 2007 track champion and rider with the most Industry victories, dropped out of fifth place on the opening lap after getting high in turn two.. Austin Novratil, a 14-year old from Huntington Beach, stepped up from the 250cc cycle he raced last year as a Junior Division rider to a 500cc cycle. He won the Division 2 main over Brad Pappalardo, 15, and Joey Holt, 14. All three teens skipped the third division (entry) level based upon their demonstrated skill as Junior riders. Bruce Marteney, of San Dimas, won the 500cc Division 3 feature for less experienced speedway riders. Riding a 1,000cc Suzuki GSXR, Joe Jones and his sidecar rider “swing-man” Jimmy Olsen led all four laps to earn the motorcycle/sidecar victory. The four-lap race ran in a clockwise direction on the arena's dirt track. Four of the six teams present competed in the event after earlier racing two heat races to pare the field to four teams. Sammy Ramirez, a 9-year old Orange resident, won the four rider, four-lap Youth Division main for younger youths. Gino Manzares, 15 of Corona, took the Youth main for older youngsters. They both rode 250cc cycles. Nicky Reimer won the 50cc mini-cycle Pee Wee Division two-rider main over a 7-year old competitor. Venegas and Castro won the two semi-main events for the eight highest point riders from a field of 17 D-1 riders. All riders raced in three rounds of four-lap races that awarded points on a 3-2-1-0 basis in each race. Harmatiuk was the top point rider with eight points following two firsts and a second.. Hicks and Harmatiuk finished second in the two semi-mains to secure berths in the feature. Third and fourth place riders in the two semis competed in a last chance race that advanced only the winner to the five rider feature. That race had Neil Facchini, Castro, Shawn McConnell and Jimmy Fishback competing. After two restarts, all four riders finished and Castro won to lock into the feature lineup. Whether it was “opening night jitters” or “rust” from the off-season, there were numerous tumbles and falls during the evening. Two D-1 riders fell during the last chance race. The most serious crash occurred in the D-2 five-rider consolation race. On the first lap the third place rider fell in turn four and fourth place J. C. Masters' cycle rode up the back wheel of the downed cycle and launched high in the air at speed into the retaining wall, which has some give. Masters bailed off his cycle just before it hit near the top of the wall and broke off a piece of the wall. Masters fell onto the track and remained on the ground in pain for about five minutes before he was able to walk to the pits. His injuries were diagnosed as a possible broken wrist and rib injuries that made his breathing difficult. He went to the hospital for treatment. One rider not present was Ricky Wells, a multi-feature winner at Industry last season. The 17-year old Orange County resident is racing speedway cycles in Europe currently, but he will return to California for the national races. On a brighter note, Scott Driggers was present helping in the pits. Last summer he crashed his motorcycle/sidecar into and under the Industry Speedway third turn crash-wall at an estimated 70 mph after the throttle stuck wide open. He was hospitalized for weeks. Jeff Immediato kicked off his second year as Industry Speedway promoter. He ran several 30-second TV commercials during the May 24 Indianapolis 500 telecast on ABC that attracted new spectators to the opener. He has booked 19 consecutive Wednesday nights of Speedway Cycle racing at Industry Speedway through September 30, which will be the annual California State Speedway Championship event. Next Wednesday (June 3) will be Harley-Davidson night and all Harley riders will be able to ride their “hogs” on the Industry racing track by signing a waiver. |
