Fast Fridays, Auburn, California USA - September 2, 2005

AMA National Championship Round 1

Last night Fast Fridays hosted the first of three rounds of the AMA National Championship series. The weather was perfect, the track was the best its been all season and for the most part, the outcome was as predicted.

The format for the past few years has been a regular 20 heat 16 man championship followed by A, B, C and D finals.

Unofficial results:

Greg Hancock     3 3 3 3 3  15
Billy Hamill     2 2 3 3 3  13
Charlie Venegas  3 0 3 3 3  12
Ryan Fisher      3 0 2 2 3  10
Mike Faria       3 3 0 2 0   8
Bart Bast        1 3 1 1 2   8
Nate Perkins     2 2 2 1 1   8
Eddie Castro     0 1 3 1 2   7
Buck Blair       0 1 2 2 2   7
Shawn Harmatiuk  1 2 0 3 1   7
Bobby Schwartz   1 1 2 1 2   7
Tommy Hedden     0 3 1 2 0   6
Chris Kerr       2 0 1 0 1   4
Jimmy Fishback   1 2 0 0 0   3
Bryan Yarrow     2 0 1 0 0   3
Billy Hiles      0 1 0 0 1   2

A Final: Hancock, Hamill, Venegas, Fisher
B Final: Faria, Bast, Perkins, Castro
C Final: Blair, Harmatiuk, Schwartz, Hedden
D Final: Yarrow, Fishback, Kerr, Hiles

Greg Hancock was the undisputed winner taking 21 points to the next round. He outgated everyone all night, then pulled out enormous leads. I asked him his thoughts ont he track and he said it was perfect. When I told that the Auburn regulars thought it was the best track this season his comment was "Good, that puts them on an unfamiliar track".

Billy Hamill had to work a bit harder. He started in gate 4 in his first race and got taken out wide and by the time he was aiming down the back straight he found himself in 4th place, 50 yards behind third. He did well to climb back 2 places to finish second behind Ryan Fisher. In his second race Greg beat him.

Charlie Venegas rode outstandingly and deserved third place. At the other end of the list, Chris Kerr and Bryan Yarrow both surprised me. I had greater hopes for them both, but in a field this strong, someone has to be at the bottom.

Nate Perkins, Buck Blair and Shawn Harmatiuk all took advantage of the experience they gained with their visits to Auburn throughout the season. Jimmy Fisherback did very well, considering it was his first visit.

Tonight its down to The Grand, in LA's City of Industry for round 2.

Gary Roberts groberts@iee.org