Paris Speedway
Paris Fairgrounds
Paris Ontario, Canada

Season Opener
June 13, 1997 Paris Speedway
From: Kim (Do it sideways!) Gregory

The season opened at Paris and Niagara Raceway this weekend with a few surprises. Greg Comstock made the long trip from Wisconsin, and Phil Pederson was back after a season off. Russ Crawford, a new rider, come up from Michigan. Russ said he "raced Expert flat track many years ago in the USA, and was browsing the internet last winter and discovered speedway. I found a bike for $900 and then did some practice laps at a friend's track." We put him in Division Two, thinking it would take a while for him to get used to the small track, and in his first race he looked faster than me! Division One next time! He got shaken up in a crash when he was pushed into the fence by Jan Pawelec. On the restart, the race was rad flaged after a bad start, and Russ ran into the back of Jan Pawelec who slowed suddenly. Russ fell heavily, and was too sore to do any more racing for the rest of the weekend, but says he "will be back"!

Chris Slabon, fresh from his competition in Europe at the Junior Worlds Championship, showed us how the track should be riden! His new laydown, with a fresh dunlop on the rear, took him to a first place finish in his four heats and the Division One final. Second was Andy Harris, Gary Hesmer third, and Chris Hesmer fourth.
The D1 consolation race finished Greg Comstock, Phil Pederson, Kim Gregory.

Between 200 to 300 spectators were there thanks to the vintage rally also at the Paris Fairgrounds. The track conditions were not the best for passing. The gravel on top made it slippery, making most of the races a "follow the leader" show, and got dusty near the end. The event started late, but the heats followed each other quickly thanks to a great track crew. The next event at Paris will be Friday June 27,'97.

Points: 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for third, 0 for fourth
  DIVISION 1
Points  Rider      # Heat 3  4  7  8 12 13 16 17 Cons Final
15 Chris Slabon    # 3       3  3     3        3        3
10 Chris Hesmer    #11       2     3  2     3           0
 9 Greg Comstock   #75    2        1     2     1   3
 8 Gary Hesmer     #37    3     2     0     2           1
 8 Andy Harris     #19    1        2  1        2        2
 6 Phil Pedersen   #27      DNS 1        3     0   2
 3 Kim Gregory     #97    0     0        1  1      1

  DIVISION 2
Points  Rider      # Heat 1  5  10 15 19
 8 Russ Crawford   #11x   3      2  3 DNF
 7 Jan Pawelec     # 9      DNS  3  2  2
 7 Joanne Edwards  #62    2  3      1  1
 4 John Cooper     #14    1  2   1  0
 2 Brian Marshall  #87    0  1   0     1

  DIVISION 3
   Points  Rider   # Heat 2  6  9  14 18
12 Ian March       #47    3     3   3  3
 5 Nicole DeVeau   #29    1  3  1   0
 5 Dave Condon     #20    0  2  2      1
 4 Carrie Temple   #26      DNSDNS  2  2
 3 Tom Marriott    #13    2 DNS     1  0