Hamill Returns for Win at Industry Speedway
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Industry, CA., Aug. 19 – Billy “the Bullet” Hamill made a triumphant return to speedway bike racing Wednesday at Industry Speedway in the Industry Hills Expo Center. He returned after recuperating following a crash at Industry on June 24. His racing this week was to prepare for the 40th annual AMA California State Speedway Championship event at Industry on Wednesday, August 26. He proved he is ready and back to 100%. About 1,050 persons attended on the annual “Speedway Legends and Heroes Night”; 31 retired speedway riders signed autographs in the front courtyard for an hour before racing started at 7:30.
The 45-year old 1996 Speedway World Champion, missed eight weeks following his hard fall and crash into the front straight plywood crash-wall during a six-rider handicapped semi-final. He remained on the ground several minutes, but limped back to the pits and remained at the track. Leg and hip soreness kept him off the track, but he told well-wishers Wednesday he felt good.
Hamill is the five-time AMA US National Champion (1999 to 2012) and four-time US National Champion (2002 to 2013), The San Marcos resident rode his Monster Energy/Hagon Shocks/Joker Machine No. 104 to a perfect night. He scored a perfect nine points by winning his three heat races. Then he won his semi-final and the four-lap main event and led every lap of his five races. It was his second Industry feature triumph this season. He also won the scratch main during week two on June 3.
Hamill started his GM (Giuseppe Marsotti) speedway bike from the pole and beat lane two starter/August 12 feature winner Max Ruml. 18, into the first turn. He maintained a five length lead all four laps. Max finished second, five lengths back and 30-yards in front of his younger brother Dillon, 16. Buck Blair was fourth on the first lap when he slid to the track. He pushed his Jawa to the infield and placed fourth.
The scratch D-1 consolation race had only two of four scheduled riders. Industry 2015 feature winners Aaron Fox and Broc Nicol scratched following earlier crashes. Austin Novratil started from the outside lane and led all the way over pole starter Tyson Talkington.
Rick Richards started from pole position and led every lap of the 500cc D-2 main. It was his first Industry feature victory this season. Nathan Siegel, Bentley Barrett and two-time winner Rudy Laurer followed. Wade “the Reverend” Whitcomb, from Anaheim, led every lap en-route to his second 500cc D-3 feature this season at Industry. George Yates was a pressuring second place all four laps. Two-time winner Steve Brown and Thomas Rishton finished third and fourth.
JUNIORS: The three-rider Junior 250cc main event went to 50-yard line starter Sebastian “Big Daddy” Palmese, 11. He led laps 3-5. One feature winner Jake Isaac, 13, led the first two laps after starting from the 20. Three-time 2015 winner Michael Wells, 14, started at the 30-yard stripe and finished third.
A six-rider Mini 150cc feature field started from the 0, 10, 20 and 50-yard lines. Dakota Shockley, 10, started at the 10 and led all five laps easily over Sam Hagon and Keelan Venegas. It was his second victory this season. Four-time winner Slater Lightcap, 9, came from the 50-yard line and finished fourth. Glenn Geist and Luke Whitcomb, 9, followed in official scoring.
Second place Whitcomb, who started at the 20, was racing fast in the outside groove and closing on leader Shockley on the final lap when he fell hard in the third turn. Third place Hagon's bike hit Whitcomb's downed No. 27 bike and he also fell hard. Shockley received the red flag instead of the expected checkered flag. Both youngsters remained on the ground several minutes. “Lightning” Luke had a sore elbow and Londoner Sam a sore foot and toe. Both returned to the pit, Luke on his own feet and Sam carried by one man. The race finish reverted to the running order on the last green flag lap, excluding Whitcomb. The final order behind winner Shockley was: Hagon, Venegas, Lightcap, Geist and Whitcomb.
Six pee-wee riders from age 5 to 8 ran another fan-pleasing race that had spectators cheering. In an earlier heat race, Travis Horn, 7, raced his Honda 50cc from third position to win in a closing dash in the final turn on the last lap. This time Horn made another inside pass from turn four to the start/finish line, but he did it on lap 3. He defeated laps 1-2 leader Levi Leutz, 6, three-time winner Jose Navarette, Richard Stephens, two-time winner Cole Ayers and Conner Salazar.
Exciting D-1 semi-final races went to Max Ruml over brother Dillon with Nicol and Novratil following. The second semi-final race went to Hamill. Aaron Fox was in second place on the opening lap when he fell in the third turn. Buck Blair and Tyson Talkington both slid their bikes to the ground to avoid Fox. Fox was excluded from the restart for causing the red flag. Blair and Talkington finished second and third.
The multi-use Grand Arena facility recently hosted a rodeo and the dirt track seemed to be slicker and rougher this week. A rare hole developed in the first turn by main event time after the final track maintenance grading. The first nasty crash of the evening was in the first D-3 heat race for newer 500cc riders. Alex Martino flipped out of the starting gate and injured a knee. After medical attention, several men carried him back to the pits. He remained at the track.
The most scary crash occurred in the final round of D-1 heats. On lap 3 entering the first turn, P. 2 Nicol's bike shot suddenly into the back wheel of leader Max Ruml. Both riders fell hard as their bikes flipped Ruml remained on the ground near the wall. Nicol rose momentarily. Both riders walked away after several minutes of concern. Nicol was excluded and placed fourth in the race that was called complete with 50% of the laps run. Victory went to Ruml over Talkington. Visiting rider Dave Clark, from Binghampton, N.Y., fell on the opening lap in turn three. He lost a lap but continued and received third. He earned four points for the night.
MIDGETS: Following race 30 of the 40 race program, two USAC Midgets ran ten laps at speed on the small, for them, eighth-mile dirt track. Former Junior 250cc speedway rider Courtney Crone, 14, drove the Wally Pankratz-owned No. 98 Ford Focus-powered car. Speedway legend Sonny Nutter drove Jet Davison's No. 59. Crone started half a lap behind Nutter and closed gradually on him. Crone passed Nutter on the inside entering the first turn and pulled away to the “victory”. Nutter bounced off the backstretch wall and continued slower to the checkered flag.
PIT NOTES: The FREE 16-page program given to spectators as they entered the front gate (and also to pit pass purchasers at the pit gate) had photos of all the speedway legend riders. Many spectators had legends autograph programs on their photos. Spectators paraded in front of the tables that were positioned in a U-shape in the IHEC restaurant courtyard/outdoor dining area.
It was interesting to watch junior riders Sam Hagon, Sebastian Palmese and Courtney Crone get autographs and talk to the legends of their sport. They helped speedway progress from the 1960s to where it is today and it is still growing in popularity. With many fans working on Wednesdays and unable to get to the City of Industry on clogged So Cal freeways, they are still able to watch racing action from Industry live on the Internet.
The 31 legends who signed autographs and reminisced with spectators about the “good old days” (in alphabetical order) were: Brian Alderdice, Jan Ballard, Danny Becker, Pam Bennett, Randy Blevins, Barry Briggs, Tommy Burba, Terry Clanton, Bill Cody, Mike Dwyer, Stu Egli, Bryce Eikelberger, Mike Faria, Dub Ferrell, Bruce Flanders, Dave Galvin, Tim Gewecke, Steve Gresham, Bobby Hardison, Steve Lucero, Billy Meister, Rob Morrison, Doug Nicol, Sonny Nutter, Bruce Penhall, Preston Petty, Bobby Schwartz, Scott Sivadge, Sammy Tanner, Bobby Tocco, and Tumbleweed Walton. In addition, active riders Billy Hamill and Charlie Venegas were in the pits preparing to race Wednesday evening.
Interestingly, Pam Bennett, who raced in the 500cc D-2 in the 1980s, raced Wednesday in 500cc D-3, on her No. 351 Jawa. The “racing grandma” is the mother of five and grandmother of six. ... Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell, 58, planned to attend Legends Night but he reportedly had a bad headache and remained home to watch the event on the Internet. He received serious injuries in the August 1 Eddie Castro Testimonial event at Perris Raceway that will sideline the popular racer until 2016.