Ricky Wells, one of the rising young stars of Speedway Motorcycle racing, executed a dazzling pass of Buck Blair and got his first main event win of the year Wednesday night at Industry Speedway.

It was the first win ever at The Grand arena for Wells, 16, who had finished second to Charlie Venegas the past two weeks.

Wells, of Yorba Linda, got the lead in the four-lap race when he surprised Blair by diving to the inside of the dirt oval in the final turn on lap three, then opened a comfortable advantage on the final circuit. In the process, he snapped Venegas’ second four-race winning streak of the season.  

Blair, who had earned the final spot in the main event by winning the Last Chance qualifier after being penalized for a foul start in the second semifinal, took  the runner-up spot. Eddie Castro, of Ojai, out of action for the past month with an injury, took third, with Venegas fourth and Shawn McConnell fifth.

McConnell pulled off on the first lap with mechanical problems.

Wells and Blair had been the leading scorers in qualifying, both with eight points  after a pair of wins and a second apiece in the heat races. Wells got his fifth semifinal win and Venegas his eighth.

INDUSTRY SPEEDWAY RESULTS Wednesday, July 9, 2008

FIRST DIVISION

Heat race winners
1. Shawn McConnell, Brea; 2. Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino; 3. Buck Blair, Huntington Beach; 4. Ricky Wells, Yorba Linda; 5. Russell Green, San Bernardino; 6. Neil Facchini, Riverside; 7. Eddie Castro, Ojai; 8. Blair; 9. Wells.

QUALIFYING POINTS
Points are awarded on the basis of 3 for a heat win, 2 for second and 1 for third; the top eight scorers advance to the semifinals:
Wells 8 (2-3-3); Blair 8 (3-2-3); McConnell 7 (3-2-2); Venegas 6 (3-1-2); Castro 6 (2-1-3); Facchini 5 (1-3-1); Brad Sauer, Bakersfield, 4 (1-2-1); Green 3 (0-3-0); Schwartz 3 (1-0-2); Eloy Medillin, Yorba Linda, 2 (0-1-1); Rudy Laurer, Gardena, 2 (2-0-0); Jay Picard, Wolverhampton, England, 0.

Schwartz beat Green in an elimination race for the eighth position.

Last of the Mohicans
1. Venegas; 2. McConnell (could not start final laps; mechanical); 3. Eddie Castro, Ojai; 4. Facchini.

First semifinal
1. Wells; 2. McConnell; 3. Sauer; 4. Facchini.

Second semifinal
1. Venegas; 2. Castro; 3. Blair; 4. Schwartz.

Last Chance qualifier
1. Blair; 2. Schwartz; 3. Sauer; 4. Facchini.

Main event
1. Wells; 2. Blair; 3. Castro; 4. Venegas; 5. McConnell.

OTHER MAIN EVENT WINNERS
Sidecar – Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen (awarded win after accident).
Second Division – Allen Doss, Riverside.
Third Division – Tim McGrath, San Gabriel.
Youth – Austin Novratil; Rocco Scopellite.
PeeWee – Nicky Reimer.