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INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY ROUND 2 – HANDICAP & SCRATCH MAINS – By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Jun. 3 – Round two of the 15 event 2015 Industry Speedway season Wednesday was an all racing divisions event. It featured those wild, crazy sidecars and double-dipping expert riders racing both handicap and scratch races. About 1,000 spectators watched 44 races from 7:30 to 10:20 pm at the indoor Grand Arena of the Industry Hills Expo Center overlooking the eastern San Gabriel Valley.
Division I 500cc experts raced both handicap and scratch heats, semi-finals and main events. Winners were Dillon Ruml, 16, of Huntington Beach, in a 6-lap handicap main (event 37). The rookie expert was one of three riders who started from the 20-yard line. Russell Green started from the 30, and two riders (Aaron Fox and Billy “the Bullet” Hamill) launched 50-yards from the starting gate tapes.
Veteran coach Hamill reached P. 2 by lap 2 and pressed his pupil Ruml closely. As they raced out of turn four to receive the white flag waved by starter Tom Fox on lap 5, outside-running Hamill's back tire flattened suddenly. He barely remained upright next to the plywood front straight crash-wall. All other riders passed safely to his left before he pulled into the infield—a DNF. P. 2-5 finishers were: 500cc rookie Gage Geist, 15, Fox, Rocco Scopellite and Green.
Hamill, 45, won the first scratch semi-final (event 32) over Scopellite to earn a spot in the scratch main. Buck Blair, 37, won the other scratch semi (event 33) over Charlie Venegas to earn the other two scratch main (event 44) berths. Riders drew balls numbered 1 through 4 to determine scratch main starting lanes. The draw gave Scopellite lane one with Venegas and Blair in lanes two and three. Hamill drew the outside lane four next to the crash-wall.
When the gate lifted, Hamill shot across the track from outside to inside and had the lead exiting turn one. He led the first lap over Blair, Scopellite and Venegas, who took P. 3 on lap 2. Scopellite recaptured third on lap 3 and that's how they finished. Hamill won by ten yards over runner-up Blair, who had 20-yards over Scopellite. Venegas was fourth, five yards back on a bike he borrowed from D-2 rider Mike Wiley. Venegas' No. 43 GM experienced recurring loss of his chain at Costa Mesa Saturday and again at Industry. His chain came off at the start of his first heat.
SIDECARS: An all-time Industry track-record ten 1,000cc sidecar teams raced for points during five heat races (events 11, 12, 23, 24 and 31) to determine the four teams that raced in the consolation race (event 41) and the sidecar feature (event 42). Gerard Jackson/Dave German won the consy. The 2014 sidecar championship team of paraplegic driver Bryan Motis and swing-man Josh Bennett started from the inside lane and led all four laps. Joe Jones and his new swing-man Tom Summers ran a pressing second. Dual Anderson/Vinny Madagan placed third. The new No. 74 Suzuki GSX team of driver James Kinne, 67, and swinger Johnny Glover placed second and first in their heats. However, they dropped out to the infield while running third in the main.
DIVISION II: The 500cc intermediate skill level D-2 support division had a solid field of 14 veterans. They raced two rounds of heats for points to set the D-2 feature field. Rudy Lauer led all four laps over Joe Donaldson, Nathan Siegel and Bentley Barrett.
Ten Division III newer riders turned out and ran two heat race rounds and feature. Lawrence McNutt, a 52-year old technology firm CEO in his third speedway season, journeyed south from his Auburn home to race at Industry for the first time. He led every lap he ran in his heat, the semi-final (event 16) and in the D-3 main (event 34). He rode his No. 275n Jawa to a convincing triumph over Steve Brown, Kevin Fife and George Willis, who fell and DNF.
JUNIORS: Sebastian Palmese, 11, led laps 4-5 for his Juniors 250cc victory over laps 1-3 leader Jake Isaac. P. 3 went to the only other rider, James Blair, 14-year old nephew of Buck Blair. He came from his Grand Junction, CO. home to stay with uncle Buck in Huntington Beach and learn speedway. Buck put him on one of his No. 39 Jawa bikes and borrowed a 250cc engine from Michael Wells. Two 250cc riders were sidelined by a serious-looking three rider heat race crash on lap 2 in turn two. Leader Sara Cords, 14, went down and Michael Wells also fell at the wall. Both walked away but did not return.
A six-rider 150cc field raced heats and a 6-lap main with a handicapped start. Slater Lightcap, 9, led the final five laps over lap 1 leader “Lightning” Luke Whitcomb, 9. High school sophomore Skylar Schnakenberg, 16, finished third. She said next season she will skip 250cc juniors and race a 500cc in D-3. Keelan Venegas,11, Dakota Shockley, 9, and second year rider Rachel Schnakenberg, 9, finished on the lead lap in that order.
The pee-wee class had a strong field of six pint-size riders on bikes such as 50cc Hondas. They all started at the gate and raced a pair of 4-lap heats and a six-rider main. La Verne resident Travis Horn, 7, led every lap over Levi Leutz, 6, and Glenn Geist, 7. P 4-6 were: Connor Salazar, 5, Gavin Gryfka and Jose Navarette, who fell while leading lap 1.
The nastiest crash occurred in event 21, ironically called a D-1 elimination heat. Leader Dryden Gayle, 17, from Yucaipa, was leading lap 1 at turn three when his bike bobbled and almost threw him. P. 2 Rick Valdez brushed the struggling lead bike and his No. 293 shot at speed into and through the plywood crash-wall near the fourth turn tech/media building. A loud bang accompanied his rapid exit from sight. The impact left Valdez stunned and ripped off two fingernails. He was able to walk from the scene in ten minutes. It took track workers another ten minutes to rebuild the broken crash-wall section before racing could resume.
PIT NOTES: Missing in action were two of the D-1 500cc young guns—Max Ruml, 18, and Broc Nicol, 17. They flew to England Tuesday, June 2 to race for Team USA in the FIM World Team Cup. Their first race is June 8 at Kings Lynn, Great Britain. People may follow their results at Speedwaygp.com. World Team Cup captain is Billy Hamill, who flew from LA to England on Friday, June 5. He said the number of races the US team runs depends upon race results. Billy said they would fly home Sunday, June 14, so Max and Broc will miss two Wednesday races at Industry.
Also MIA June 3 was popular D-1 500cc rider Jason Ramirez, who was injured after a hard crash on the backstretch at the Industry season opening race on May 27. His bike sustained major damage and he also missed the Costa Mesa May 30 race.
The Industry Speedway 50/50 ticket drawing June 3 had a total collection of $870. So $435 each went to the riders and the fan holding the winning ticket. ... Junior rider Courtney Crone, 14, was absent for the second week. Friend and past motorcycle racing speedway and flat track legend Sammy Tanner, now 76, said she is concentrating this year on racing midgets and sprint cars. Her last speedway race was in January. Her dad Jack sold her two speedway bikes.
Industry Speedway received the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) 2014 Track Racing Organizer of the Year Award at the annual AMA awards banquet in Ohio. Industry Hills Expo Center management, Industry Speedway racing officials led by Racing Director Kelly Inman, racers and fans all deserve credit for this prestigious honor and the continuing growth of speedway racing at the Grand Arena.
The wild New Zealand sidecars strong turnout of ten sidecars teams included up top five rigs built by local sidecar driver/leader Joe Jones. Ten teams competed June 3 at Industry and there was a back-up No. 81 Honda 1,000 in the pits. ... The ten competing rigs at Industry by number were: No. 2-Yamaha R1; 7-Yamaha R1; 33-Suzuki GSRX; 44-Honda VTR; 66-Suzuki GSRX; 74-Suzuki GSRX, 101-Suzuki GSRX; 911-Ducati 1,000; 007-Kawasaki KZ, and 1965-Suzuki GSRX.
Sidecars were part of the Costa Mesa Speedway season opener on May 16. During the sidecar consy the No. 21 of Heather Rowe and her rider Heather Gledhill collided with another sidecar and flipped on the backstretch. Tall Heather Rowe (of the purple/pink dyed hair) seemed to be OK, but she later sought medical attention. She had received a sprained right shoulder. Her right arm was in a sling June 3 in the Industry pits. Heather's husband Jeff Rowe drives the No. 1965 (for his birth year) 1,000cc Suzuki with new sidecar rider Ashley Gibbons. Heather Rowe started as a sidecar rider for her husband but wanted to drive her own rig. She did so and is now a sidecar veteran and half of the only all-female sidecar team.
The traveling sidecar group has 30-35 races booked in 2015. Industry has six, Costa Mesa has five, with Auburn, Ventura, Victorville, and the Perris flat track sharing the balance of the busy schedule. The Sidecar National last year at Costa Mesa had 14 rigs in competition. That event will be Saturday, September 12 on the third of three Harley Nights at Costa Mesa Speedway, now racing in its 47th consecutive season.
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