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Industry, CA. - Aug. 4, 2010 - Flyin'” Mike Faria, 53, recorded his first 500cc Division 1 main event victory this season in Wednesday night two-wheel action at Industry Speedway. Round ten of 14 races on Wednesday nights had about 500 spectators in The Grand Arena of the Industry Hills Expo Center. They watched a field of five veteran riders dominate the evening. Four of the five feature riders have passed their 50th birthday. The speedway cycle racing veterans of several decades finished in the top four positions.
Faria, a former Reno resident now living in Bloomington, has raced at 22 speedways in the United States and is a long-time winner at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn. He is a three-time US National Champion (1990-02, 1997), three-time American Final Champion (1997, 1999, 2000), and four-time California State Champion. Faria, from lane two, shot into the lead immediately and led all four laps on his JAWA cycle. Pole starter Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell, 51, challenged Faria every lap and trailed by two lengths at the finish. Ojai welder“Fast” Eddie Castro, 51, was a close third. Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz, 53, took fourth place on the final lap. Youngster Buck Blair, 32, won the last two Industry D-1 mains but slipped to fifth position on the final lap in the final turn.
The five sidecar teams had the father/son team of Scott and Casey Driggers start on the pole and lead the first two laps. Then the the outside front row starting team of Gerard Jackson and sidecar “swinger” Dave German led the third lap. As the two leading teams entered the first turn on the final lap they collided. Both rigs spun to the infield and out of the race. The third place team of paraplegic driver Bryan Motis, of Garden Grove, and sidecar “swinger” Brandi McElroy, of Redlands, inherited the lead and crossed the finish line as the winner for the third consecutive week. It was their fourth feature victory at Industry in ten events this season. Kevin Brown and “swinger” Matt Davis finished second, with Dylan Beard and “swinger” Crystal Laurie third.
The D-1 division had 16 riders in action. The top ten riders in points after three rounds of heat races competed in twin semi-final races. The top two finishers in each semi advanced to the feature and the P. 3-4 riders to the last chance race. Faria and Blair won the semi-finals and Schwartz took the last chance race. Young riders were early evening stars. Austin Novraril, a 15-year old Edison High School student from Huntington Beach, won all three of his heats on his GM cycle. He scored the only perfect score of nine, but then slipped high in the second turn on the opening lap of his semi. His semi-final P. 5 finish did not qualify him for the last chance lineup. Tyson Burmeister and Tyson Talkington enjoyed early success by winning two of their heat races for scores of six. They finished second and third to Schwartz in the last chance race and did not advance to the feature.
In other divisions, the 500cc support division consisted of eight riders from the combined D-2 and D-3 ranks. They raced in two rounds of five-lap heat races (four races) for points that determined the five rider, five-lap support main. Jake Myers, of Highland, took the lead on lap two from Kip McClain and won his first feature at Industry over McClain. Max Ruml, 13, won his second consecutive youth 250cc main over Sammy Ramirez. Ruml's brother Dillon, 11, from Huntington Beach, won a close, four-rider youth 150cc cycle main over Nick Varner, Broc Nicol and Kurtis Hamill. The three-rider, four-lap pee-wee main went to Sebastian Palmese, 7, of Santa Margarita. He started 30-yards behind the starting gate and beat gate starter Alyssa Smith, of Lakewood. The daughter of Tom Smith, a Figure 8 track champion, led the first three laps seeking her first P-W winner's trophy. She trailed Palmese by five yards at the checkered flag and just edged 30-yard line starter Dominic Laney by a few feet.
With four speedway cycle races remaining in the 14-week Industry Speedway season, the August 11 race will be Tom Malloy Trench Shoring Historic Race Car Night. He will bring some of his collection of historic four-wheel racing cars to the small dirt track in The Grand for exhibition laps. Last year he brought a USAC Silver Crown car, and midgets to entertain fans.
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