Venegas Tops US National Championship Qualifier at Industry Speedway
By noderel:
Industry, CA., Aug. 3 – Round three of four qualifying point races for the speedway motorcycle racing 45th US National Championship (to be held October 5 at Costa Mesa Speedway) was held Saturday at Industry Speedway. The host Industry Hills Expo Center posted a $3,000 purse for competitors at the indoor eighth-mile dirt track in the Grand Arena. About 1,300 spectators watched Charlie “the Edge” Venegas, from San Bernardino, leave with the maximum 25 points available to the winner of the A Final. That race concluded two hours of racing at 9:39 pm. It was the first US National Championship qualifier event ever held at Industry.
Venegas, 46, entered the event fifth in points after two rounds with 25 points. He led all four laps of the A Final on his newly acquired GM bike. Venegas, a two-time California State and US National Champion, is the leader in all-time Industry main event victories in the tenth season of the two-wheel sport at the site. He now is tied for third place at 50 points with Bryan Yarrow, of Citrus Heights. Aaron Fox, from Menifee, is second with 51 points. Billy Janniro, 33, from Rancho Cordova, continues to lead with 69 points. The fourth and final qualifier event will be held Friday night, August 9 at Pirate Speedway in San Bernardino.
Venegas had first lane choice for the feature and opted for his favorite inside lane. With second lane choice, Janniro selected the outside lane. Fox selected third and picked lane two, leaving the less desirable, well-worn lane three in mid-track for Max Ruml, of Huntington Beach. When the starting gate lifted, Venegas got the hole shot and beat the field to the first turn. He held off pressuring Janniro, Fox and Ruml on the initial lap. On lap two Janniro made a strong move for the lead on the outside in the third and fourth turns. Leaving turn four, the left side of Janniro's bike and right rear of Venegas' bike made contact, causing Janniro to tumble to the ground. He remounted quickly and pursued his three rivals, but he trailed by half a lap.
Fox and Ruml ran second and third for the final three laps and earned 22 and 20 points in the four race series. Janniro added 19 points to his 50 points after he won both the two earlier series A Finals on July 6 at Big Time Speedway in Rancho Cordova and on June 8 at Costa Mesa Speedway. Venegas showed the contact point on the right side of his bike and said, “I quickly pulled my right foot onto the peg and avoided going down.” He earned more than $1,000 for his impressive victory. The 50/50 cash drawing total was a new track record $1,226 that delivered $613 to the riders in the A Final.
Twenty-four Division One 500cc riders raced three rounds of four-lap heats with six races per round. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1-0 basis. The four riders with the highest point totals advanced directly to the A Final. The first four finishers in the A Final received 25-22-20-19 points. The fifth through eighth highest riders in heat race points made the B Final where the finishers earned 18-17-16-15 points. Riders ninth through 12th in heat points went to the C Final. Riders 13th-16th made the D Final. Riders who did not qualify for one of the four final races earned five series points. The C Final awarded 14-13-12-11 points to the top four finishers. The D Final awarded 10-9-8-7 points in the four race qualifiers series. Eight riders from Northern California competed in the 24 rider field.
Two riders—Venegas and Janniro—had perfect nine scores after winning all three of their heats. Fox had eight points via two heat wins and a second. Runoff races were necessary to break ties for two of the finals. Five riders tied at seven points and they raced in the second runoff race. Only the winner advanced to the A Final. Ruml, a 16-year old D-1 rookie sensation, passed veteran Mike Faria on the second lap and won over Faria, Tyson Burmeister, Bryan Yarrow and Austin Novratil. The latter four riders comprised the B Final field; Burmeister won over Faria, Yarrow and Novratil.
Four riders tied at five points in heat races. Russell Green, Buck Blair, Chris Kerr, of Auburn, and Eddie Castro ran in the first runoff race. The first three finishers went into the C Final with Gino Manzares, who scored six points in his heat races. Green, Kerr and Castro finished in that order and joined Manzares in the C Final; fourth place Blair went to the D Final. Kerr, 29, led all four laps in the C with Manzares, Castro and Green finishing in that order behind him. Blair won the D Final, leading all four laps over Auburn's Tommy Hedden, Jason Ramirez and Tim Gomez.
Riders with three or less points who competed were: Bryce Starks, Tyson Talkington, Nate Perkins, Jamison Dilkey, Brad Sauer, Danny Faria, Shawn Eldredge and Rocco Scopellite. Scopellite was the first alternate or reserve rider and he joined the 24 rider field when Josh Larsen was unable to attend. Reserves Eloy Medellin and Kayle Leo Grande were not needed and did not race. Billy Hamill, the 2012 US National Champion, was present in the pits. He did not race because he is seeded into the October 5 US National Championship event as the reigning US National Champion.
Thirteen Junior Division riders, in three classes, also raced in two heat races and main events in each class. The 250cc four-lap feature went to Kurtis Hamill, 14, over Dillon Ruml, Dalton Leedy and Michael Wells. Ruml and Hamill won the pair of 250cc heats. In the mini 150cc first division main, Sebastian “Big Daddy” Palmese gave himself a tenth birthday present by leading all four laps. Courtney Crone, Maverick Molloy and Gino Scopellite followed. Palmese won both heat races. The 150cc second division main for less experienced riders went to 11-year old Jake Issac, of Whittier. He led all four circuits over Slater Lightcap, Tristan Britt, Travis Hamilton and Sam Hagon. Britt and Lightcap won the two heat races. A total of 33 races were run for an appreciative, enthusiastic audience.
Jubilant Venegas stopped on his victory lap with the checkered flag and gave his teenage daughter a ride around the track on the back of his GM bike. On the infield three level podium, Venegas posed for photographers on the top step with fellow So Cal riders Fox and Ruml alongside holding their trophies. Then Venegas posed with his wife Anna, daughter Anissa, son Keelan and tuner Eddie Martinez on the steps of the podium. Clearly, it was one of his favorite triumphs at the Industry track.
US National Championship Qualifiers Point Standings (after three of four races):
1 – Billy Janniro (69), 2- Aaron Fox (51), 3- Bryan Yarrow and Charlie Venegas (50), 5- Max Ruml (42), 6- Eddie Castro (41), 7-Tyson Burmeister (38), 8- Chris Kerr (36), 9- Russell Green and Gino Manzares (32), 11- Mike Faria (31), 12-Bryce Starks (28), 13-Buck Blair (25), 14-Tyson Talkington and Austin Novratil (24).
The 14 week Wednesday night schedule at Industry Speedway will resume August 7 with the first race at 7:30 pm. Some of the riders from Northern California may be in the field with the August 9 round four qualifier for the US National Championship race only two nights later in San Bernardino.