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It took three attempts, but when the dust cleared former World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill went home victorious from the 44th Season Opener at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway. Charlie "The Edge" Venegas entered the main event perfect and started in gate one. Billy Hamill, starting in gate two, beat him to turn one but Michael Raines appeared to beat both riders to the corner from gate five but spun and went down. The red flag came out and Raines was penalized for the restart. Venegas held a slight advantage on the second attempt but contact entering turn one caused Hamill to spin around. Just as Billy Hamill's bike began to lift out from under him Raines was entering turn one. He began to lay his bike down but not before Billy Hamill lost his grip and the bike hit Raines as he came to a stop. Raines was down for a couple minutes, but rose to his feet to the relief of everyone and the fans gave him a warm applause in appreciation of his toughness. Billy Hamill made the best start on the third attempt and was able to get across Venegas and Jimmy "Little Animal" Fishback entering turn one. Venegas hounded Billy Hamill the entire distance and tried to force a mistake, but the leader was equal to every challenge. Billy Hamill led the entire distance for the victory, Venegas finished second, Fishback was third, Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell finished fourth, and Raines was fifth. Tyson Burmeister kicked off the heats with a win over Tyson Talkington. Fishback defeated Aaron Fox in heat two. Steve Russell led the third heat until McConnell passed him for the lead and win on lap two. Raines beat Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz in heat four. Venegas ended the first round with an impressive victory over Billy Hamill. Raines began the second round with a win over Brad Sauer. Billy Hamill defeated Fishback for his first win of the night. Gino Manzares made a great outside pass around McConnell to win event eight. Talkington led the next race for three laps before a mistake allowed Fox to slip past for the win. Venegas beat Buck Blair to finish round two. Blair started round three by beating "Flyin" Mike Faria. Talkington was victimized on the final lap again as Fishback took the win away from him in event 18. Billy Hamill made it two straight wins by defeating McConnell. Brad Sauer led event 20 until Burmeister went by for the lead and win. Venegas closed out the heats with a win over Manzares. Billy Hamill seemingly had the first semi under control, but Fishback pushed his way into the lead at the end of lap two and held him off for a stunning win. Venegas cruised to victory in the second semi with McConnell following him into the main event. Raines won the Last Chance to complete the main event field. Harold Hartke led the Support Main Event for two laps but was pressured by Eloy Medellin on lap three. Medellin took over the lead entering turn one the final time, but a crash behind him brought out the red flag. The race declared complete and the finishing order reverted back to when the previous lap was completed. That resulted in Hartke being declared the winner and a hard-to-swallow second for Medellin. Joe Donaldson finished third, "Rattlesnake" Steve Bowen was fourth, and Geoff Herkner was credited with fifth. Bruce Marteney led from start to finish and claimed victory in the Support B Main Event. Craig Sprecher finished second, Danny Baker was third, Phill Santolucito finished fourth, and Kip McClain was fifth. Max Ruml won both his heats and completed his perfect evening with a win in the Youth 250cc Main Event. Dillon Ruml was second, Hayley Perrault finished third, and Kurtis Hamill was fourth. Braydan Galvin led all four laps en route to victory in the Youth 200cc Main Event. Maverick Molloy finished second, Michael Wells was third, and Gino Scopellite finished fourth. RESULTS Youth 200cc Main Event Youth 250cc Main Event Support B Main Event (restarted) Support Last Chance (restarted) Support Main Event (restarted) (awarded) First Division Heat Scoring123T Heat Results First Division Last Chance First Division Main Event (restarted twice) |
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