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FOX OUTRUNS ALL @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY – By Tim Kennedy
Industry, CA., Jul. 8 – Aaron Fox, a 27-year old speedway racer since 2010, outran competitors on his 500cc No. 46 GM/Stuha Wednesday in the Division 1 scratch main at Industry Speedway. The Menifee resident started from the outside lane next to the wall in a four rider field and led all four laps. He won by five lengths in front of about 850 spectators during week seven in the 12th season of motorcycle racing at the Industry Hills Expo Center Grand Arena. Several first-time winners during the evening took victory laps with the checkered flag.
The winner returned to racing after skipping the July 1 Industry event because of a leg injury. He incurred the injury at Ventura Raceway June 27 during round two of the AMA National Championship Series. Fox won a pair of D-1 features June 13 and 20 at Costa Mesa Speedway. His first D-1 victory at Industry added to his three triumphs in San Bernardino (two in 2013 and one in 2011).
Fox spent 2014 racing in Europe as a member of the Edinburgh Monarchs team in the British Racing League. His riding has improved noticeably with the increased competition he faced in Europe. The six-year speedway veteran is a second generation speedway racer. His father Robert raced sidecars from 1988-92.
During heat races, Fox scored eight points with a pair of victories and a second. Max Ruml, 18, won all three of his heats and earned the maximum nine points. Both riders won semi-final races to transfer to the feature. Leading by one point, Ruml had first lane choice and selected the pole. Fox next took lane four. D-1 rookie Dillon Ruml, 16, with seven points had third choice; he took lane two next to his brother. Shawn McConnell, who finished second to M. Ruml in the second semi-final, had the remaining lane three.
When the starting gate lifted at 9:41 pm, M. Ruml and Fox converged at the front from the inside and outside lanes. They rubbed elbows and exited turn two even before outside-running Fox assumed the lead on the backstretch. Max and Dillon waged a close duel a few lengths back all four laps to the checkered flag and finished in that order. McConnell remained close and finished three lengths in back of the Ruml brothers.
Buck Blair, from lane four, also led all four laps of the D-1 consi for third and fourth place finishers in the two semis. Pole starter Broc Nicol and Russell Green finished second and third. Tyson Talkington, who also returned after a week of recuperation, followed. He injured an ankle at Ventura Raceway on June 27.
Seven 1,000cc sidecar teams raced with the four highest teams in points advancing to the feature, which is run in a clockwise direction. Pole starters Joe Jones and his sidecar “swing-man” Tom Summers led all the way. Bryan Motis and his “swinger” Josh Bennett took second on lap 2 and stayed there. Nor Cal's Robert Curry used David Dent in his sidecar for the first heat and then rookie Dana Catone (from the No. 101 sidecar) in the other two races. They finished third. Jeff Rowe and rider Ashley Gibbons dropped out on lap 3. James Kinne and Dent won the three team consi event.
The 500cc Division 2 field had 14 riders, even after three usual D-2 riders (Eloy Medellin, Rick Richards and Rudy Laurer) moved up to D-1 this week to complete the 16 rider D-1 field. Charlie Venegas was entered Wednesday, but he was absent because of an injury Friday.
D-2 riders raced two rounds of heats and scored points. A four-rider run-off was necessary, as added race 30A, to determine who would earn the final two starting spots in the D-2 feature. High-points riders Nathan Siegel and David Lynch awaited the outcome of the run-off. Mike Wiley led the first two laps. Then Robert Curry' s No. 31N made an outside pass exiting the second turn on lap 3 and led the final two laps. On the final lap, P. 3 Rick Valdez made an inside attempt to take second from Wiley. They collided and Wiley fell. Valdez and Harold Hartke crossed the finish line second and third. Referee Steve Lucero quickly excluded Valdez for causing the crash. That put Wiley back in second and in the D-2 finale.
The D-2 feature was a thriller. Lynch led the first three laps. Then Curry (doing double-duty as a sidecar driver) went to the outside on the final lap. He made a “high, wide and handsome” pass in turn four and edged Lynch as they battled for their first Industry Speedway victory trophy. Siegel and Wiley placed third and fourth. No D-3 500cc events were run this week.
The Junior Division 250cc field had five riders present. Frequent winner Sebastian Palmese, 11, started 50-yards from the starting gate in all three of his races, two heats and the feature. He won heat two near the end. Sara Cords, from the gate, won the first heat after leading all five laps. The 250cc main had Cords and rookie James Blair at the gate, Jake Isaac and Michael Wells at the ten-yard line, and Palmese 50-yards back. Cords, a 15-year old high school sophomore, led all five laps for her first-ever Industry feature victory. Palmese finished a closing second, with Isaac, Wells and Blair in P 2-5 respectively.
The Junior mini 150cc feature started all six riders, three from the 10-yard line, two (Alex Martin and Slater Lightcap) from the 30 and Sterling Martin from the 40. Two 150cc heats were thrillers with Lightcap passing S. Martin, 10, on the inside at the finish line. In the feature, “Speedway Charlie” Trana, 8, from Folsom, led the first four laps. Then the Lightcap vs. S. Martin close duel caught up to Trana. Lightcap, 9, made an exciting inside pass of Trana at the finish line for the victory. S. Martin was a close third, with Luke Whitcomb, twin Alex Martin and Dakota Shockley in P. 4-6 respectively.
The mini 150cc consi had Skylar Schnakenberg, 16, and her sister Rachel, 9, alongside Andrew Russell. Skylar led all four laps for her first Industry victory. Russell was a close second and Rachel third.
Five pee-wee riders, on 50cc Honda and Yamaha bikes, raced a pair of four lap heats, won by Levi Lentz and Cole Ayers, both age 6. Frequent pee-wee winner Travis Horn, 7, had to start each race 50-yards from the gate. He finished third in both heats. The main event had Ayers out front for two laps, but he fell in turn four without injury while leading on lap. Lentz led lap 3. Horn took the lead on lap 4 and beat Lentz to the finish line. Richard Stephens, 8, and Connor Salazar, 7, followed.
PIT NOTES: Missing at Industry this week were D-1 riders Billy Janniro, Charlie Venegas and Brad Sauer. Brad's son Braden, 18, took a hard fall and tumble on the backstretch in the D-2 feature last Wednesday. He had numbness in both legs, but feeling came back in one leg before he was taken by ambulance to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where he spent two days under the care of a neurologist. He returned home to Bakersfield after two days with numbness still in one leg. He will receive medical treatment in his hometown. Reportedly, he suffered a similar injury last year with leg numbness, but he eventually returned to good health.
Wednesday was the annual Haddick's Towing Classic Car Night at Industry Speedway. Headquartered in Industry on Valley Blvd. and in South Whittier, Haddicks' (since 1928) is an original and continuing Industry Speedway sponsor. Many classic cars and pickup trucks were lined up together inside the front gate in the courtyard. Each had an entry number on the windshield. Voting by spectators determined the best in show top three. Track PA announcer Bruce Flanders announced the top three in voting. Winning car was a 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air in GM chrome-illusion gold, purple and green tinted paint. Carol Tachdjian has owned the classic car for 12 years. Second place went to a 1966 Ford Mustang owned by Ben See. Third place went to a 1967 Corvette owned by Ben Edlund.
It took 5-points to make the D-1 semi-finals this week. Three D-2 riders officials moved up to D-1 races this week all scored points—Laurer, 3, Richards, 2 and Medellin, 1. Scoring no points were Joe Donaldson and Braydan Galvin, who fell in all three of his heat races. ... Among spectators in the grandstand was USAC Midget owner/driver Jerome Rodela, from El Monte, and one of his daughters. Fans from Irwindale Speedway and Perris Auto Speedway also attended the mid-week two-wheel racing action.
Industry Speedway track-preparer Jose Salazar has been off-work on disability for weeks. His relative Ivan Salazar is working on the track each week, driving the tractor and dragging the track surface. Pee-wee rider Connor Salazar, from the City of Industry, is from the same extended family. ... Racing 42 events this week lasted from 7:30 to 9:43 pm, for the earliest finish this season. ... Industry Speedway racing next Wednesday, July 15 will be the annual Laidlaw's (of Baldwin Park) Harley-Davidson Night. All racing divisions will be in action.
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