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INDUSTRY, CA., Sept. 9 – Buck Blair, 31, picked the right night to win his first speedway cycle Division 1 feature this season at Industry Speedway in the final Wednesday night race this year. About 750 spectators watched his determined charges all night as he scored victories in all five races he ran on The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center. He scored a perfect nine points on his JAWA for three consecutive heat race triumphs, and a flag-to-flag semi-final victory. Blair then won a coin toss with equally perfect point-rider Charlie Venegas and selected pole position for the D-1 500cc four-lap main event.
Blair shot into an immediate lead and led all four laps for his first Industry Speedway Track Championship Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the track championship race. Tommy Hedden, the Auburn-based rider who won two speedway cycle features over runner-up Shawn McConnell last Friday and Saturday in upstate New York, started from lane four. He ran second all the way and trailed Blair by three lengths. Last Chance Race winner Eddie Castro, a 29-year speedway cycle veteran, finished third, a length behind Hedden. Venegas finished fourth and Gary Hicks was fifth after dropping out on lap 1 with an engine problem.
Kyle Hicks, 17, from Riverside, led the final two laps of the four-rider 500cc Division 2 main event for his third D-2 feature trophy this year. Drew Coats fell in turn four after leading the first two laps. Chris Jones, of Aliso Viejo, won his second consecutive D-3 500cc main in a six-rider field. Paraplegic driver Brian Motis and his sidecar rider, Brandi McElroy, won their second consecutive sidecar main event after leading all four laps in a four team race. The husband/wife team of Sean and Missy Driggers placed second. Sammy Ramirez, 9, of Orange, won both the Junior Speedway and Pee-Wee main events for a rare double trophy performance.
CRASHES: The 7:00 to 9:50 pm evening had 40 races and numerous hard crashes that kept the two on-site EMTs busy. About ten crashes included a pair by D-2 riders Brad Moreau and Tim McGrath. Three riders got solid traction and flipped off the back of their cycles at the starting gate. A two-rider crash in the D-1 second round of heat races sent Tyson Burmeister and Shawn McConnell to the ground in the third turn. Burmeister remained on the ground several minutes before he was able to restart and finish second. McConnell, the 2008 Industry Speedway track champion, walked to the pits, but he did not race in subsequent rounds. Burmeister complained of chest pain, skipped round three and went to a hospital for medical evaluation and MRI to determine the cause.
The most spectacular crash came at the conclusion of the most competitive sidecar heat race this year. Three of the four teams led one of the first three laps with positions changing frequently. All three leading teams charged out of the fourth turn and crossed the finish line in a virtual photo finish. Joe Jones and sidecar rider Jimmy Olsen, closest to the wall, contacted the wall, dumping both men to the track. The middle team of Motis and McElroy also got bumped and pulled to the infield. Sidecar rider McElroy injured her leg, but she walked to the front straight to check on her two fallen competitors. Jones reclined on the ground for several minutes with lower back pain. He was able to limp to the pits and welded his sidecar to make the feature. All four sidecars came out for the main, including Jones and Olsen, but they dropped out on the first lap with equipment failure.
For the first time at Industry Speedway, a USAC-CRA 410 cu. in. 700+ horsepower sprint car, the No. 93 Gardner Racing Chevy, took hot laps on the speedway cycle dirt track. Driver Blake Miller took two quick laps and got out of shape in turn two twice before he reeled off five perfect hot laps at speed. The demonstration run plugged the next USAC-CRA sprint race Saturday, September 19 at Perris Auto Speedway and impressed everyone present based on their enthusiastic applause for Miller's speed and expertise on the small track.
Sixteen of the 19-weeks sixth season of speedways cycle racing at Industry Speedway have been completed. Promoter Jeff Immediato spoke to the crowd and said he has five more years on his contract with the site and speedway cycle racing will return in 2010. The final three races this season—the newly named Winter Series--will take place on three successive Saturday nights, November 28, December 5 and 12. So far in 2009, Industry Speedway has had seven different D-1 feature winners as follows: Gary Hicks (5), Charlie Venegas and Billy Janniro (3 each), Mike Faria (2), and Shawn McConnell, Tommy Hedden and Buck Blair (1 each).
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