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HAMILL WINS THIRD FEATURE @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY – By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Aug. 20 - “Bullet” Billy Hamill, 44, shot from pole position Wednesday and led all four laps of the AMA Speedway feature (event 42 of the night) at Industry Speedway in the Industry Hills Expo Center Grand Arena. It was the third Industry main event triumph on his GM this season for the 1996 Speedway World Champion and 1998 World Team Champion. About 850 persons watched the close competition on the penultimate Wednesday night event in the 11th season of motorcycle racing at the indoor dirt track.
Feature riders from pole position to the outside lane were: Hamill's No. 104, Max Ruml's No. 5, Buck Blair's No. 39 and Charlie “the Edge” Venegas' No. 43. When the starting tapes rose quickly after the green light, Hamill outgunned Ruml to the first turn. Outside runner Venegas pulled even with leader Hamill as they exited the second turn two-abreast. Hamill retained the lead by a length after one lap. On lap 2 Hamill had Venegas pressing from his right rear and drove him high in the third and fourth corners. Third place Ruml took advantage of the opening and powered past Venegas on the inside in turn four. Hamill beat Ruml to the finish line by two lengths. Venegas was five lengths back and Blair trailed by ten lengths.
Hamill and Venegas won all three of their heat races and scored the maximum nine points. Ruml had a win and two runner-up finishes for seven points. Blair had three second positions for six points. However, all four high-point riders had to race their way into the feature by finishing first or second in a pair of semi-final races. Ruml beat Venegas in the first and Hamill topped Blair in the second semi.
The third and fourth place riders in each semi-final raced in the consolation race for money only. Tyson Burmeister, Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell, Broc Nicol, 16, and 35+ year veteran Eddie Castro, 55, finished in that order.
Five wild, 1,000cc sidecar teams competed in their busiest week of the season with races Wednesday at Industry, Friday at Pirate Speedway in San Bernardino and Saturday in Costa Mesa. The feature, run in a clockwise direction, had the No. 007 of Dual Anderson and swing-man David Dent launch from lane two and lead the first lap. Then the lane four team of Joe Jones and Johnny Glover made an inside pass entering the first turn on lap 2 and paced the final three laps. It was another feature triumph for the championship sidecar duo. The 007 rig finished a close second.
Jeff Godfrey, a 31-year old from Brisbane, Australia and newcomer to Industry Speedway, subbed for regular No. 1965 driver Jeff Rowe. He and his sidecar swinger Heather (nee Bennett) Gledhill took third place on the final lap and dropped the Bryan Motis/Josh Bennett team to fourth. The Gerald Jackson/Dave German team finished third in the consolation event won by Motis/Bennett over Anderson/Dent. Jones/Glover won two heats and Aussie Godfrey/and his rookie rider Gledhill, who wed a month ago, won the other heat race after leading all four laps.
Ricky Richards, started from pole and led every lap in the 500cc Division 2 main for intermediate skill level riders. It was his second D-2 main victory at Industry this season; he also won a D-3 main for newer riders before being promoted by officials to division two. Harold Hartke, Bruce Marteney and Chris Wiggins followed.
In the 500cc third division feature, Steve “Beach-ball” Brown passed first lap leader Dave Ruby on lap 2 in turn two. Brown's 4-valve Jawa held off pressing George Yates by two lengths for his third victory at Industry this season. Greg Willis, Alex Martino, in his second race, and Ruby trailed. Thomas Rishton fell on lap 2 and pushed his bike to the infield.
Dillon Ruml, a 15-year old from Huntington Beach, won the August 10 Junior Division 2014 Silver Cup Championship at Industry for the 250cc class on his Jawa. He won his sixth Industry 250cc feature by leading all four laps. Kurtis Hamill, Gage Geist, Courtney Crone and Braydan Galvin trailed in second through fifth.
The mini 150cc first division main was a thrilling victory for Huntington Beach resident Slater Lightcap, 8, and his family support group. It was his fourth Industry triumph this year on his 2007 Shupa. He passed his friend Tristan Britt, 11, on the outside during the third lap and won the five lap race impressively over 2013 Junior national champion Sebastian Palmese, Britt, Jake Isaac and England's Sam Hagon.
“Lightning” Luke Whitcomb, 8, from Anaheim, led every lap in a competitive mini 150cc second division main. It was his third 2014 Industry feature P. 1 trophy. Pressing Keelan “Lil' Edge” Venegas, 10, trailed by two lengths all the way. Dakota Shockley took third. Skyler Schnakenberg, 15, a 50cc pee-wee rider from seven years ago, made her first start on a new Hamill-Hagon 150cc bike. Her engine quit when the gate lifted and she pushed it to the infield.
The pee-wee 50cc first division main went to Dustin Staggs, 9, from Fullerton. He passed the Yamaha 50cc of first lap leader Rachel Schnakenberg, 9, and led to the checkers. Travis Horn, from La Verne, came home a close second on his 50cc Honda XR-50. Rookie Rachel placed third with Levi Lentz fourth.
The pee-wee second division feature was the conclusion of a perfect three for three in his races for San Dimas resident Gunner Haggard, 6. He led every lap in his two heats and all four laps in the main. Richard Stephens, 8, ran second in all three races. Connor Salazar, 6, Briana Jones, 8, Jose Navarette, 5, and Hannah Jones, 6, followed. The Jones sisters are the daughters of 500cc D-2 rider and part-time sidecar driver Chris Jones.
PIT NOTES: The two hard-working 50/50 collection girls collected a hefty $1,098 in the pits and grandstands Wednesday. The holder of the winning ticket and 500cc D-1 feature riders shared the pot equally--$549 each. Holder of the winning 50/50 ticket was Scott Talkington, father of 500cc D-1 rider Tyson Talkington (No. 48).
Bruce Penhall, the1981-82 Speedway World Champion, was present in the pits this week. The now 57-year old from Balboa even rode a speedway bike in a demo run at Industry a few years ago. ... Riders said Industry Speedway is a little larger than Costa Mesa Speedway. ... Industry Speedway has had only three 500cc D-1 feature winners this season so far. Billy Janniro has won five times; Venegas and Hamill have won three times each.
Rookie pee-wee rider Travis Horn, 6, rides No. 25 and is very focused. His mom Gina and dad Jeremy made an updated, professional quality, informative two-sided “hero card” for distribution. Travis began racing his 50cc 4-stroke beginner Honda in 2013 and raced four times at the So Cal flat track in Perris. He scored three victories and one second place. This season Travis has raced st Industry with six victories in 12 features. He also has nine firsts in 16 races at Pirate Speedway and one first on Saturday, August 16 in his only race at Costa Mesa. He is a dedicated comer in speedway racing.
Rookie 2014 pee-wee Gunner Haggard, 6, and his older sister have been raised since infancy by their grandfather and grandmother. All were present August 20 and took pride in his second main event victory at Industry.
The final Wednesday night race of season 11 at Industry Speedway will be the annual California State Championship for 20 D-1 500cc riders. They will race in four rounds of heat races. Support 500cc divisions, plus 250 and 150 junior divisions also race. Look for top Nor Cal riders, including Janniro, to come south and join the So Cal regulars. Almost 2,000 persons attended this event last August 28. The feature winner of the one night event adds the 2014 California State Championship to his resume. Sonny Nutter won the first title in 1968.This is the ninth consecutive year the event has been held at Industry. Sixteen different riders have won the 38 prior events. The event was not held from 1998-2005.
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