Fairgrounds Raceway
Santa Maria, California

July 12, 1997 - Fairgrounds Raceway
From: Gary Roberts

Rather a disappointing evening all round at Santa Maria Fairgrounds Raceway. The previous week was the county fair and the track was used for a number of non-speedway activities, then returned in a pretty bad shape. Despite a lot of work before the event, the track was far from its normal high standard. All riders put on a good show with what was there, but it was a struggle. Adding to this was the fact that we only had 13 riders at the start of the evening. Jason Montgomery was one of a number of riders to fall but he damaged his knee and was unable to compete further.

Results:

Charlie Powell            14
Mark Maynard              13
Matt King                 13
Jeff Smith                11
Jimmy Collins             10
Chris Campos               8
Tim Appel                  8
Paul Baldwin               8
John VanderMuellen         7
Jason Chabot               6
Kitt Nay                   6
Gerry Duttweiller          1
Jason Montgomery           0

A final:
Powell, Maynard, King, Smith, Campos

B final:
Campos, Chabot, Baldwin, Collins, Appel(n/s)

C final:
Chabot, VanderMuellen, Nay (n/s)

The crowd was also a bit on the small side. It was however supplemented by the attendance of the American Boys and Girls Club. Third place man Matt King gave his trophy to one of the kids. I am sure the kind gesture will be enjoyed by that child for a long time.

No racing at Santa Maria next week, because of the event at Bakersfield. This will allow 2 weeks to get the track back into shape.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com