By: Ryan Evans
A new speedway venue opened its doors and Eddie Castro was victorious in the Scratch Main at the first official event held at Wild West Speedway in Winchester, California on Saturday night.
Castro jumped into the lead on the first attempt and led down the back straight, but top point-scorer Neil Facchini went down and brought out the red flag. The restart began the same way as Castro led the first lap again with Buck Blair following. Facchini went down again but remounted quickly and the race continued. Castro increased his lead with each lap and Blair had to contend with Bobby Krips trying to get second. Castro cruised to the checkered flag and Krips went past Blair to snatch second. Nate Perkins finished fourth and Facchini was credited with fifth.
The evening's format for First Division was three rounds of scratch heats with the top four scorers transferring directly to the Scratch Main. The fifth through ninth scorers transferred to the Last Chance with the winner of the Last Chance taking the final spot in the Scratch Main.
Castro began round one with a victory over Boyle. Blair won race two ahead of George Fox. Facchini beat Rudy Laurer in the third race and Nate Perkins closed out the round by defeating Dario Galvin
Krips opened the second round by beating Doug Greyson. Castro scored his second win with Galvin getting another second place. Blair made it two straight wins himself with a win over Rick Valdez. Facchini kept pace with Castro and Blair with his second win to finish round two.
Boyle opened round three by handing Blair his first defeat of the evening. Doug Benjamin defeated Steve Murray in the next race. Krips earned his second win with Perkins finishing second. The preliminary rounds ended with Facchini keeping his score perfect with a victory over Fox and Castro. Krips won the five-rider Last Chance to book the final place in the Scratch Main.
Fifteen year old Tim Gomez, who is dedicating his 2004 season to Don Sparks, led from the tapes and scored an impressive victory in the Second Division Main Event. Fellow rookie Dale Facchini was second, Eloy Medellin finished third, Rich Brock was fourth, and Monte McKeon was credited with fifth. Gomez, boosted by new sponsor Valley High, was dominant in his two heat races and the main event.
Sam Soltz won both his heats and was first to the checkered flag in the Third Division Main Event. Mark Baldwin finished second, Randy Porsley was third, Greg Vandemore finished fourth, Steve Dziadus was fifth, and Tom Hamilton was credited with sixth.
Krystal Cramer was first from the gate and first to the checkered flag in the Youth First Division Main Event. Jason Ramirez finished second and Dylan Stark was credited with third. Blake Bowen was the initial leader in the Youth Second Division Main, but Gino Manzares went by as they entered turn three. Manzares never looked back and cruised to the victory. Tamara Krips was second, Ricky Valdez finished third, Austin Novratil was fourth, Eddie Conner finished fifth, and Bowen was sixth.
Wild West is the newest speedway facility in Southern California and is located in Riverside County. The track held several practice sessions and races over the winter, but Saturday marked its inaugural regular season event. The 2004 schedule will be conducted on Saturdays with most events not conflicting with Costa Mesa. The next event is Harley Night on May 29.
RESULTS Third Division Consolation 198 - Mike Boyle 0 176 - Carl Gazafy 10 339 - Sam Stavros 10 135 - Kerry Connor 0 218 - Mike Nutting 0 223 - Fred Schmitthammer 10 Third Division Main Event 222 - Sam Soltz 0 115 - Mark Baldwin 10 236 - Randy Porsley 0 209 - Greg Vandemore 10 212 - Steve Dziadus 10 144 - Tom Hamilton 0 Second Division Runoff 178 - Eloy Medellin 240 - Hideaki Ota 208 - Geoff Herkner 248 - Brian Starr Second Division Consolation (restarted) 248 - Brian Starr 240 - Hideaki Ota 244 - DeWayne Stark 269 - Ed Martinez 208 - Geoff Herkner (fell) Second Division Main Event 36 - Tim Gomez 301 - Dale Facchini 178 - Eloy Medellin 138 - Rich Brock 107 - Monte McKeon Youth Second Division Main Event 21 - Gino Manzares 0 223 - Tamara Krips 10 5 - Ricky Valdez 10 (penalty line) 8 - Austin Novratil 10 135 - Eddie Conner 0 69 - Blake Bowen 0 (fell) Youth First Division Main Event 13 - Krystal Cramer 66 - Jason Ramirez 19 - Dylan Stark (non starter) First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T 14 - Eddie Castro 3 3 1 7 18 - Justin Boyle 2 Fx 3 5 24 - Bobby Krips F 3 3 6 29 - George Fox 2 1 2 5 39 - Buck Blair 3 3 2 8 128 - Doug Benjamin 1 1 3 5 139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 1 R N 1 145 - Dario Galvin 2 2 1 5 182 - Rudy Laurer 2 1 0 3 201 - Neil Facchini 3 3 3 9 214 - Steve Murray 0 1 2 3 230 - Doug Greyson 1 2 1 4 249 - John Stunkard F 0 1 1 293 - Rick Valdez 0 2 0 2 389 - Nate Perkins 3 2 2 7 Race Results 1: Castro, Boyle, Greyson (tape penalty), Stunkard (fell) 2: Blair, Fox (tape penalty), Benjamin, Krips (fell) 3: Facchini, Laurer, Harmatiuk (retired) 4: Perkins, Galvin, Murray, Valdez 11: Krips, Greyson, Murray (tape penalty) 12: Castro, Galvin, Fox, Harmatiuk (retired) 13: Blair, Valdez, Laurer (tape penalty), Boyle (fell, excluded) 14: Facchini, Perkins, Benjamin, Stunkard 22: Boyle, Blair, Galvin (fell, remounted) 23: Benjamin, Murray, Stunkard, Harmatiuk (non starter) 24: Krips, Perkins, Greyson, Laurer (fell, remounted) 25: Facchini, Fox, Castro, Valdez Last Chance 24 - Bobby Krips 18 - Justin Boyle 29 - George Fox 128 - Doug Benjamin 145 - Dario Galvin (fell) Scratch Main Event 14 - Eddie Castro 24 - Bobby Krips 39 - Buck Blair 389 - Nate Perkins 201 - Neil Facchini (fell)
