AMA/USA Speedway
National Championship Series
Round 1 Results
June 6, 2009
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Greg Hancock began his pursuit of a record eighth U.S. National
Championship with a flawless performance at Round 1 of the AMA
Racing/USA Speedway National Championship Series at the world
famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
The 1997 World Champion's perfect score in the heats not only
earned him a bonus Series point, but it also allowed him first choice
of starting position in the A Final. Hancock wasted no time in
selecting gate one. Defending National Champion Billy "The Kid"
Janniro had second choice and selected gate two. Gary Hicks, who
became just the second Elimination Round rider to make the A Final,
picked gate four, which left Kenny Ingalls with gate three.
When the tapes went up Hancock exploded into the lead and
hugged the inside line in the first bend while Janniro went to the
outside. Ingalls followed Hancock around the low line and was right
behind him as they went down the back straight. Janniro found a lot
of traction on the outside and went past Ingalls for second and set
his sights on the leader. The defending champion went down low on
the second lap but couldn't find a way past Hancock so he went
deep into turn one the third time and tried a cutback move exiting
turn two. It was a wise move, but the seven-time National Champion
was unfazed and didn't give an opening on the back straight.
Janniro tried the same move in turns three and four, but Hancock
was up to the challenge and didn't drift off the pole. As they took the
white flag Janniro decided to try the cushion in an effort to take the
lead on the outside. Hancock still led when they went down the back
straight but Janniro built up a lot of speed as they entered the final
corner. Janniro's momentum wasn't enough to carry him into the
lead, though, and Hancock confidently nodded at the crowd as he
exited turn four and claimed the victory. Janniro had to settle for
second, a very impressive Ingalls finished third, and Hicks was
fourth.
Hancock's victory is his first major step toward breaking his tie with
the legendary Mike Bast for most U.S. National Championships.
Hancock has expressed his respect for Bast and his
accomplishments on numerous occasions and has also made no
secret of his desire to break a record that many had thought to be
unattainable.
Eight riders squared off in the Elimination Round to fill the final two
spots in the 16-rider championship field. Former Youth National
Champion Jason Ramirez had his chances end at the starting line
when he touched the tapes and was excluded. Shawn "Mad Dog"
McConnell handily won Elimination Race 1 to transfer to the crucial
Elimination Race 4. "Spiderman" Mike Bloom suffered the same fate
as Ramirez by getting a tape exclusion himself. Hicks ran away with
the victory to join McConnell in Elimination Race 4. Elimination Race
3 was restarted when Alex Marcucci and Ben Essary collided and
went down in turn three with Essary getting excluded from the
restart. Dale Facchini led the restart from start to finish with Tyson
Burmeister following him into Elimination Race 4. Hicks left no doubt
in Elimination Race 4 as he cruised to the victory and claimed his
spot in the Championship field. Facchini was in second for a lap, but
McConnell used his vast experience to his advantage and squeezed
past Facchini for second on lap two. Facchini went wide into turn
three which allowed Burmeister to get into third. The positions didn't
change after that and it was McConnell taking the final spot in the
Championship field. Burmeister's third place made him the first
reserve and the frustrated Facchini's fourth made him second
reserve.
The first heat of the night received a week's worth of hype after the
draw, which was held publicly at Costa Mesa the previous week,
revealed that the opening heat would feature Jimmy Fishback,
Janniro, Ricky Wells, and Hancock. Hancock threw down the
gauntlet by propelling into the lead from his gate four and leaving
everyone to fight for second with a blisteringly fast victory. Fishback
held off the persistent Janniro for second while Wells ended his race
on his backside when he went over backward on the back straight.
Ingalls was in gate four in event two and used the outside in the first
corner to secure the lead and take his first win of the night. Event
three ended in a heap in the first corner with Bart Bast getting
excluded. Hicks made it three straight heats with gate-four winners
as he led all the way for his first victory. The final heat of the first
round featured a very spirited three-rider battle between Tommy
Hedden, Mike Faria, and McConnell. Hedden secured the lead on
the second lap and pushed Faria wide which allowed McConnell
into second. Hedden led the rest of the way for the win.
Charlie "The Edge" Venegas began the second round with a
convincing win in front of Fishback.
McConnell led event six into the first corner, but Janniro challenged
on the outside. The two riders leaned on each other exiting turn two
with Janniro finding enough speed on the back straight to take the
lead entering turn three. Janniro pulled away to his first win and
Bast slipped past McConnell to take second.
Schwartz and Blair battled side-by-side for a lap and a half before
the two-time National Champion took the lead for good. Schwartz
pulled away to the victory and Blair was nudged out of second by
Wells on the next lap.
The final race of round two brought three of round one's race
winners to the tapes as well as Faria. Hancock left everyone in his
wake right from the start by jumping to a big lead. Hicks got ahead
of Ingalls for second, but never threatened the World Speedway
Grand Prix rider. Hancock romped to his second straight win and
was the only undefeated rider after the second round.
Faria seemed to turn his evening around by starting the third round
with a victory over Fishback and Schwartz. Janniro started event 10
in gate four and went straight to the outside line in turn one to take
the lead. Hedden gave chase, but found his hands full with Hicks.
Hicks went under Hedden for second at the end of lap two, but
couldn't catch Janniro who notched his second win. Ingalls survived
a four-lap assault from Wells in event 11 to earn his second win of
the evening. Venegas was excluded from event 12 for touching the
tapes and was replaced by Burmeister. When the riders returned to
the tapes it was all Hancock who made it three for three to remain
perfect after three rounds.
Hicks got back on the winning track by starting round four with his
second victory. Janniro beat Ingalls, Venegas, and Schwartz in
event 14 for his third straight victory. Wells beat Bryan Yarrow, Bast,
and Faria to claim his first victory of the evening. Hancock's victory
train kept rolling as he was dominant en route to his fourth
consecutive victory to end the fourth round.
Entering the final round of heats Hancock sat alone on top with 12
points; Janniro and Hicks were tied with 10 points each; Ingalls was
next with nine points; Fishback had eight points; and Wells had
tallied seven points.
Ingalls began the final round with his third win and his 12 points
secured a spot in the A Final. Janniro made it four straight wins in
event 18 to bring his total to 13 points and guarantee him no worse
than second choice of gate position in the A Final. Hicks got the
drop on Wells in event 19 and he held off the Coventry Bee for his
third win and locked up a spot in the A Final. Hancock revealed no
blemishes in his armor as he roared to victory ahead of Yarrow to
end the heats with a perfect score and first choice of starting
position in the A Final.
Nate Perkins made the best start in the D Final, but went wide in
turn two and opened the door for Blair to take the lead. The
Colorado native made no mistakes and took the win. Hedden
finished second, Faria was third, and Perkins finished fourth.
Venegas was first off the starting line in the C Final and led all four
laps to take the win ahead of McConnell, Schwartz, and Yarrow.
Fishback led the B Final into turn one, but Wells turned back
underneath the defending Costa Mesa Fair Derby Champion to take
the lead on the back straight. The Under 21 Champion never had
his lead challenged from there and claimed the victory. Fishback
finished second, Bast was third, and Castro finished fourth.
This event marked the fourth consecutive year that the AMA/USA
Speedway National Championship Series has kicked off at Costa
Mesa Speedway. The continued support from Brad and Jaleen
Oxley and International Speedway Incorporated has undoubted
elevated the status of the Series in the four years that they have
promoted the opening round. Round 2 of the Series will take place
on Friday, July 10 at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway at the Gold
Country Fairgrounds in Auburn, California.
RESULTS
Elimination Race #1
21 – Shawn McConnell
17 – Ben Essary
24 – Dale Facchini
20 – Jason Ramirez (tape exclusion)
Elimination Race #2
23 – Gary Hicks
19 – Tyson Burmeister
18 – Alex Marcucci
22 – Mike Bloom (tape exclusion)
Elimination Race #3 (restarted)
24 – Dale Facchini
19 – Tyson Burmeister
18 – Alex Marcucci
17 – Ben Essary (fell, excluded)
Elimination Race #4
23 – Gary Hicks
21 – Shawn McConnell
19 – Tyson Burmeister
24 – Dale Facchini
Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
1 – Billy Janniro 1 3 3 3 3 13
2 – Bart Bast X 2 2 1 2 7
3 – Bryan Yarrow 1 0 0 2 2 5
4 – Mike Faria 0 0 3 0 1 4
5 – Ricky Wells F 2 2 3 2 9
6 – Charlie Venegas 1 3 T 1 1 6
7 – Kenny Ingalls 3 1 3 2 3 12
8 – Tommy Hedden 3 0 1 0 0 4
9 – Jimmy Fishback 2 2 2 2 1 9
10 – Nate Perkins 2 0 0 1 0 3
11 – Buck Blair 0 1 1 R 0 2
13 – Bobby Schwartz 2 3 1 0 0 6
14 – Eddie Castro 1 1 1 2 2 7
15 – Greg Hancock 3 3 3 3 3 15*
21 – Shawn McConnell 2 1 0 1 1 5
23 – Gary Hicks 3 2 2 3 3 13
19 – Tyson Burmeister(R)0 - - - - 0
24 – Dale Facchini(R) - - - - - -
*Greg Hancock earned 1 bonus Series point as top scorer in the
Qualifying Rounds
Race Results
1: Hancock, Fishback, Janniro, Wells (fell)
2: Ingalls, Perkins, Yarrow, Blair
3: (restarted) Hicks, Schwartz, Castro, Bast (excluded)
4: Hedden, McConnell, Venegas, Faria
5: Venegas, Fishback, Castro, Yarrow
6: Janniro, Bast, McConnell, Perkins (fell, remounted)
7: Schwartz, Wells, Blair, Hedden
8: Hancock, Hicks, Ingalls, Faria
9: Faria, Fishback Schwartz, Perkins (fell, remounted)
10: Janniro, Hicks, Hedden, Yarrow
11: Ingalls, Wells, Castro, McConnell
12: Hancock, Bast, Blair, Burmeister, Venegas (tape exclusion)
13: Hicks, Fishback, McConnell, Blair (retired)
14: Janniro, Ingalls, Venegas, Schwartz
15: Wells, Yarrow, Bast, Faria
16: Hancock, Castro, Perkins, Hedden (fell, remounted)
17: Ingalls, Bast, Fishback, Hedden (fell, remounted)
18: Janniro, Castro, Faria, Blair
19: Hicks, Wells, Perkins, Venegas
20: Hancock, Yarrow, McConnell, Schwartz
D Final
11 – Buck Blair
8 – Tommy Hedden
4 – Mike Faria
10 – Nate Perkins
C Final
6 – Charlie Venegas
21 – Shawn McConnell
13 – Bobby Schwartz
3 – Bryan Yarrow
B Final
5 – Ricky Wells
9 – Jimmy Fishback
2 – Bart Bast
14 – Eddie Castro
A Final
15 – Greg Hancock
1 – Billy Janniro
7 – Kenny Ingalls
23 – Gary Hicks
Series Points Standings after Round 1
15 – Greg Hancock 21
1 – Billy Janniro 18
7 – Kenny Ingalls 16
23 – Gary Hicks 14
5 – Ricky Wells 12
9 – Jimmy Fishback 11
2 – Bart Bast 10
14 – Eddie Castro 9
6 – Charlie Venegas 8
21 – Shawn McConnell 7
13 – Bobby Schwartz 6
3 – Bryan Yarrow 5
11 – Buck Blair 4
8 – Tommy Hedden 3
4 – Mike Faria 2
10 – Nate Perkins 1
Ryan Evans