SpeedwayBikes.Com
American Speedway  

2001 West Coast Results Page

All Speedway Race Results

SpeedwayBikes.Com

Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA

Sideways Saturdays Speedway
Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA
Saturday July 28, 2001

Sideways Saturday's penultimate event of the year went off reasonably well, except for missing the curfew finish time of 10.30 again. Several riders complained about the track, but from where I was standing on the center green it looked reasonably flat, very consistent, in fact probably better than it has all year. A photograph in Cycle News a couple of weeks ago showed a top European event, with the rider's back wheel a good 3 inches off the ground. Surely not the billiard table track surface, that some seem to expect at Cal Expo.

Second Division rider, Rachalle Kerr took Mike Rooney's job as announcer for the night and did a great job. For our sport to get more visibility, I believe this could turn into a great opportunity for an attractive lady, with articulate communication skills. Possible future career move here?

Scratch Main
1 Eric Carrillo
2 Bart Bast
3 Chad Felicio
4 Tommy Hedden

Eric Carrillo followed his great form from the previous night with a main event win. He got the gate, and withstood a challenge from Chad Felicio for the first three laps, then when Chad let Bart take over second place, from Bart for the last lap. Well done, Eric!

Scratch Consi
1 Bob Hicks
2 Chris Kerr
3 Bryan Yarrow

A fairly unspectacular race. Jim Sisemore, out for a "one-nighter" qualified for the event, but was a non starter. Bryan Yarrow's bike failed as the tapes went up. Chris Kerr fell, leaving Bob Hicks no option but to take the win.

Handicap Main
1 Bart Bast
2 Eric Carrillo
3 Chad Felicio
4 Scott Olney
5 Paul Orlandi

Again, Jim Sisemore was a non starter

Handicap Consi
1 Glenn Moore
2 Bob Hicks
3 Jon Curry
4. JJ Martynse
5 Bryan Yarrow
6 Tommy Hedden

Glenn Moore is one of the riders who I think of as the back bone of our sport. He shows up every week and rides in the handicap heat at the start of the meeting, when the track is at its worse. Depending on who else shows up on the night, he might get a scratch ride. Last night he held on to take a well deserved win in the Handicap Consi.

Div 2 Main
1 Ron Woodsford
2 David Fonts
3 Robert Mellor
4 Shawn Eldridge
5 Matt Browne
6 Kevin Fereira

Div 2 Consi
1 Bill Warner
2 Johnny O'Connor
3 Harlan Bast Snr
4 Mike Boyle (So. Cal)
5 Bill Dixon
6 Devin DeFreece

Div 3 Main
1 Pucho Bagnis
2 Richard Gutzke
3 Dennis Chandler
4 David Baker
5 Dean Blankenbiller
6 Randy Martin

First time Speedway racer Randy Martin lead this race until the last corner, when he fell, allowing first time Speedway racer Pucho Bagnis to win. Pucho also won the Supermotard event at Cal Expo earlier this year, and has now decided to turn his hand to Speedway. I suspect his future progress will be rapid. In the past he rode World Superbike in Europe in 1994.

Div 3 Consi
1 Dan Chandler
2 Mike Hooten
3 David Quick
4 Bruce Baker
5 Geno Bellino
6 Eric Ryan

Juniors Div 1
1. Justin Boyle
2. Mark Carrillo
3. JT Mabry

Juniors Div 2
1. Bruce Bast
2. Pete King
3. Paul Johnson
4. Amanda English
5. Jay Ricketts

Junior Div 3
1. Ricky Felicio
2. Ricky Adams
3. Mitchell Johnson
4. Hunter Morris
5. Ronny Woodsford

Next weekend will be Sideways Saturdays track championship. It will also be their last event at Cal Expo. Next season they hope to find a track elsewhere. It is unfortunate that Cal Expo did not work out.

Personally, I don't think too many Speedway people will be disappointed. We all object to Cal Expo's $6 parking charge and the prices charged at the concession stands (again managed by Cal Expo, not the promoter) and in particular their warm beer. As a Brit I enjoy room temperature live beer, but dead American beer must be frozen before anyone could be expected to drink the stuff.

I say THANK YOU, to Cher and Dane Besneatte, who have put in a lot of time, effort and their own money to keep Sideways Saturdays going at Cal Expo. I know we all look forward to being part of their success, wherever they are able to find a new home next year.

Gary Roberts - groberts@iee.org

Cal Expo turns 1 and 2 Cal Expo turns 3 and 4

www.speedwaybikes.com - All rights reserved.