1997 Dixon Speedway
Dixon, California

July 26, 1997 - National Qualifier
Dixon Speedway
From: Gary Roberts

On Saturday, July 26 the fourth and final qualifying round took place for the 1997 US National. The location was the two and a half month old Dixon track, in Northern California. The track had a whole bunch of new dirt on it but most riders found it patchy and it later became somewhat bumpy. However compared to the Owego, NY track that I saw last week, it was like a billiard table.

Despite two months of advance practice that the Northern California riders had, many of the Southern California riders did quite well. They certainly looked more comfortable than at Auburn the night before.

Results, in order of grand total from all 4 rounds, with previous total, Dixon score, followed by the grand total:

                  Prev Dx Current
Bobby Schwartz     68  24  92
Mike Faria         62  23  85
Bart Bast          61  21  82
Bobby Hedden       51  20  71
Bob Hicks          39  15  54
John Aden          54   0  53
Eddie Castro       26  18  44
Andy Northrup      31  13  44
Brad Oxley         37   6  43
Shawn McConnell    34   8  42
Louis Kossuth      31  10  41
Chad Felicio       23  14  37
Pat Linn           25  10  35
Matt Becker        25   9  34
Robert Curry       25   9  34
Rick Pearce        26   5  31
Gary Ackroyd       21  10  31
Kelly Bennett      20   5  25
Jerry Black        20   3  23
Randy DiFrancesco  15   8  23
Vance Felicio      17   4  21
Jason Chism        12   5  17
Billy Janniro       5   9  14   reserve 3 rides
Jason Daniels      12   0  12
David Faria         5   4   9
Steve Martynse      0   3   3   reserve 3 rides

Bobby Schwartz, Mike Faria and Bart Bast were all unbeaten in the qualifying heats and along with Bobby Hedden, all won their semi-final heats, so came together in the main event. Schwartz made no mistake from the gate and lead throughout, from Faria, Hedden and Bast. Eddie Castro who was riding his new laydown incredibly fast, won the consolation, from Hicks, Northrup and Felicio.

John Aden and Jason Daniels did not compete, so reserves contested the qualifying heats. Billy Janniro rode well, getting 3 second places. As the reserve, he did not qualify for the semi finals.

Who did differently to what was expected?

Brad Oxley did not look comfortable and only got into the semi finals after winning the run off from Kelly Bennett, Rick Pearce and Jason Chism.

I expected to see Matt Becker score more points. He has been riding well at Auburn and is one of California's most promising looking youngsters. He won his first heat, and was leading his second till a launch from a hole in turn 3 took him from first to last. His second place in his third heat ensured his position in the semi-finals. A bad start left him battling with Chad Felicio for second place, which ended with Felicio going down and being awarded the seed to the consolation event.

Overall, there were several hard fought races, but comparatively little overtaking. Next week is Dixon's last meeting this season, with their track championship.