|
|
Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California
Week 3
Friday July 24, 1998 - Fast Fridays Speedway
By: Gary Roberts
A bumper crowd, probably the biggest so far this season, saw the annual
North vs. South “Civil War” at Auburn on Friday night. As has been the
pattern for the last 2 years, the North won, this time with a final
score of 86 to 49. This sounds like a bit of a white-wash, but after ten
heats it was tied at 30 apiece, and it looked as if it really could have
gone either way. But after the next 6 heats, which included three
consecutive 5-1s to the north, the score was 56-40. Then came 2 final
bonus heats that, instead of the normal 3, 2, 1, 0 scoring it became 6,
4, 2, 1 and 12, 8, 4, 2 scores respectively, which caused the very
different looking final score.
There were a number of very good races, with positions changing
throughout. As usual, the track held up well.
The North
Jim Sisemore 2 3 3 210 +12
Bart Bast 3 3 2 210 +8
Mike Faria 3 2 2 2 9 +4
Bobby Hedden 2 0 3 2 7 +6
Bob Hicks 2 1 3 1 7
Tommy Hedden 0 2 1 3 6
Billy Janniro 0 0 2 3 5
Pat Linn 1 0 x 1 2
Chad Felicio 0 0
The South
Charlie Venegas 3 1 3 310 +4
Chris Manchester 3 3 0 3 9 +2
Bobby Schwartz 2 2 2 1 7 +1
Josh Larsen 0 3 1 0 1 5 +2
Eddie Castro 1 2 1 0 4
Andy Northrup 1 1 1 1 4
Randy DiFrancesco 1 1 0 2
Robert Curry 0 0
Joe Winston 0 0 0
The +.. scores were from the final 2 bonus heats.
As stated above, the teams were certainly not as unevenly matched as the
score suggests. It could be argued that the North had a home team
advantage, but Venegas, Manchester and DiFrancesco have ridden at Auburn
a number of times this season. The South's main downfall was at the low
end. Had John Aden, Gary Hicks or Brad Oxley been available, the
balance may have been more even.
It would be interesting to see how the score would look if the event
were held at Costa Mesa. The track shapes are totally different, but as
Greg Hancock and Sam Ermolenko have both proved earlier this year, a top
rider can at Auburn with a few laps of practice.
|
