JANNIRO WINS SPEEDWAY MOTORCYCLE CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP @ INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY AUG. 2011
By noderel:
Industry, CA. Aug. 31, 2011 –Two speedway motorcycle racing superstars named Billy (Janniro and Hamill) met Wednesday night at Industry Speedway for the ultimate showdown in the 36th running of the $5,000 Bruvado California State Championship. The event lured a field of 20 Division 1 riders to see who would emerge with the coveted title. Track officials ran 50 four-lap races in three hours in front of a crowd of about 2,000. The shocking conclusion at 10:00 pm resulted in 2010 Speedway National Champion Janniro, from San Pablo (near San Francisco), winning his second consecutive California State Championship on his No. 1 500cc JAWA. He earned $1,250+ for his stunning victory while lying on the ground after three of the four riders, including leader Janniro and second-place Hamill, crashed and fell to the track. On the final lap in turn three Janniro and Hamill cycles made contact that sent both riders sprawling. Fourth place Tommy Hedden, from Auburn, laid his cycle down to avoid running over the two downed riders. Only third place Jimmy Fishback, the Industry 2011 track champion, made it to the finish line after passing the two fallen riders on the inside.
Ironically, the last time Janniro and Hamill met in a main event (at Costa Mesa Speedway in May, 2011) that feature also ended prematurely after a crash that injured 2006 California State Champion Josh Larsen. Fishback also was in that race. The lap 4 red flag at Industry forced referee Tom Fox to call the race complete per the official rulebook because more than half the race had been completed. Fox used the infield microphone and said per the rulebook the race was over and the finishing order was: Janniro, Fishback, Hedden and Hamill. The large crowd, hoping to see the sensational race run to a four-lap conclusion, booed loudly.
Both Janniro, 31, and Hamill, 41, were perfect in their four heat races. Each rider won all four of his heats for the maximum 12 points based on 3-2-1-0 scoring for each of the 20 D-1 heat races. Every heat had $100 added by heat race sponsors. Janniro and Hamill did not meet in heat racing and started next to each other in the feature. Hedden won three of his four heats and finished second to Janniro in round two of four. (Interestingly, Hedden and Janniro came south together on I-5 in Hedden's truck and returned north immediately after the Industry event. Hedden had to catch 7 am flight out of Sacramento to New York for speedway cycle races in that state.) The top three riders in points went directly into the main event. P 4-7 riders raced in a Last Chance race and the winner of that event earned the final feature berth.
The LC race had Mike Faria and Fishback (10-points each) in lanes one and two, with a pair of 9-point riders—Charlie Venegas and Duke Ermolenko—alongside. Anticipating the start, Venegas' front wheel touched the starting line tape before it lifted. Rules for the state championship event were explained in the riders meeting and called for disqualification for such as infraction instead of just the usual 10-yard penalty. Venegas, the 2007-08 California State Champion, also was disqualified in his first heat race for the same reason and received no points. He won his three remaining heats to qualify for the LC race. Fishback led the LC race all four laps to defeat Ermolenko and Faria.
The main event start had Janniro on the pole with Hamill, Hedden and LC winner Fishback to his right. The starting gate lifted at 9:59 pm and Janniro shot into the lead before the first turn. Hamill, Fishback and Hedden followed closely. The running order remained the same on lap 2, but Janniro went high in the fourth turn as Hamill closed in for the lead. Hamill took the lead on lap 3 on the inside entering the third turn. In a criss-cross move, Janniro reclaimed the point in turn four to barely lead lap 3. On the final lap entering the third turn, Janniro came down a bit as Hamill went for the lead. Hamill's front wheel contacted Janniro's back wheel, causing Hamill to come off his cycle which then flipped into the left rear of Janniro's cycle and his left leg, depositing him onto the track as well. With both riders on the ground, P. 4 Hedden laid his cycle down to miss them. P. 3 Fishback had passed safely to the inside of both downed riders and was the only rider able to complete lap 4, but that lap was eliminated by the red flag. In the pits, Hamill was upset at Janniro “turning left on me.” He said Janniro knew he was there and cut down on him and he couldn't avoid contact. Janniro acknowledged that Hamill was mad at him, but he said his move was not that bad and “was just a racing incident.” No serious injuries resulted.
The exciting sidecar main event included four of the seven 1,000cc sidecars present. Following three rounds of sidecar heat races, the highest teams in points ran a 4-lap main in a clockwise direction. Dylan Beard and his sidecar “swinger” Crystal Laurie, 29, led all four laps and barely edged the closing Joe Jones-Jimmy Olsen team. It was their third ever feature victory at Industry and first since August 11, 2010. The Dan Jones/Brandi McElroy team finished third after winning the last chance race in which they led all four laps after a restart. On the first lap of the original start a collision dumped McElroy onto the track leaving the fourth turn.Two other other divisions also ran three heat races and main events. Nine Division 2 and eight D-3 (rookie) riders raced 500cc cycles and highest in points made the four rider feature fields. Nine youth division riders rode 200cc cycles and four riders raced in the 250cc youth division in three heats that determined high-point rider titles. Seven pee-wees (ages 5-10) rode 50cc mini-cycles in three heat races that also determined the high point champion of the event.
Riverside resident Gabe Price, 16, won the D-2 main in a repeat of his July 27 victory at the track. He is the son of D-2 past winner Rich Valdez, who moved up to D-1 Wednesday to replace absent Austin Novratil. Price started from lane three and took command on lap 3, passing pole starter Eloy Medellin who finished second. Troy McConnell, 24-year old son of D-1 rider Shawn McConnell, placed third. Carl Gazafy, winner of the D-2 runoff race to break a point tie, was fourth. The D-3 main also had two leaders. Lane 1 starter Craig Sprecher led laps 1, 3 and 4. Lap 2 leader Kevin Fife fell in turn 4 while running second on the final lap. Kip McClain finished second and first-time Industry rider Alfonso Marroquin, 27, of Riverside was third. Youth 200cc winners were: Michael Wells, 10, of Huntington Beach, and Broc Nicol, 13, of Lomita. Max Ruml, 14, of Huntington Beach, dominated the four rider Youth 250cc field by winning all three of his heat races decisively.
D-1 riders just outside the all-important top seven point positions after four rounds of heat racing included Eddie Castro and Jason Ramirez (both with 7 points), plus Shawn McConnell and Buck Blair (both with 6 points). Blair, who made the four rider state championship final last year, was racing at Industry Speedway for the first time this season in the 14th and final race of the track's eighth season. Michael Raines, the upset D-1 feature winner last week in the track's point season finale, touched the starting gate before his round one heat race and was disqualified from that race. He later finished in positions 2-3-3 for his four points. Bobby Schwartz, the 1984 and 1991 California State Champion, finished third three times and had a DNF in round three for 3 total points.
The large crowd contributed to a larger than normal fan portion of $602 in the 50/50 fan raffle. Fans received a free 8-page printed program with two pages of racing photos as they entered the track. Racing started shortly before 7 pm at The Grand covered arena on the Industry Hills Expo Center grounds overlooking the East San Gabriel Valley. The traditional rider individual introductions occurred at 7:30, followed by a stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Xian Mikol. The night's grand marshal was blonde Linda Vaughn, the famous Miss Hurst Shifter of the 1960s and a well-known motor-sports fan to this day. Jeff Immediato, Industry Speedway promoter for the last four seasons, thanked fans for attending. The August 31 race concluded eight years of speedway cycle racing at the prime racing facility for speedway cycle racing. Check www.IndustrySpeedway.com for information about the track.