Track point leaders Shawn McConnell and Ricky Wells and defending champion Charlie Venegas head the field of riders entered for the $9,000 AMA Speedway California State Championships Wednesday night (Sept. 17) at Industry Speedway.
The purse, which includes $7,400 in cash and $1,650 in prizes, trophies and products, is the largest in the recent history of the state championships, which will be run for the 33rd time overall and the third time at Industry Speedway.
The nation’s best Speedway Motorcycle venue is in The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center, and it was there last week that the 49-year-old McConnell finished fourth in a main event won by the 17-year-old Wells to claim the regular season championship by 2 points.
Venegas had nine wins this year, boosting his total to 33 in 75 main events since the start of the 2005 season, and a record 11 in 2007, when he capped his year with his second state title. Wells had six wins and McConnell, Buck Blair and Shaun Harmatiuk one apiece this year on Industry Speedway’s 150-yard dirt oval.
Blair, of Huntington Beach, missed the final weeks of the season with a broken left collarbone and will not compete in the State Championships. The 16-rider field won’t lack for competition, though, with veterans Mike Faria and Bobby Schwartz, young stars Neil and Dale Facchini, Russell Green and Jimmy Fishback and Northern California standout Tommy Hedden on hand to compete for the $5,000 in cash and other awards awaiting the First Division winners.
Faria and Hedden, both regulars at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, are among the four riders making the trip south.
The champion will be determined by total points accrued in the heat races. Each rider will compete in five 4-man heats and points will be awarded in the usual 3-2-1-0 manner. Last year Venegas had 14 points on four wins and a second to edge Faria, who had three wins and two seconds for 13 points.
There’s also $1,000 at stake for the Sidecar Champion, which will be determined with the traditional 4-lap main event, and that segment of the competition has drawn eight entries including defending champions Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen.
Another $1,000 will be awarded in the Last of the Mohican Challenge Championship, a series of elimination races that narrows the original 4-man field down to two riders for a 2-lap match race.
The support classes that have provided so much spirited racing and entertainment throughout the season also will be represented. Champion Bryan Buffington heads a field of 12 Second Division (intermediate) riders and points winner Tim McGrath is among the eight Third Division (novice) entries.
The Youth Division that represents the future of the nation’s first extreme sport also will be in action. Recently crowned National Champion Brad Pappalardo, a nephew of the legendary Greg Hancock, tops an eight-rider field that will be split into two divisions, over and under 12.
Entrance gates at The Grand open at 5:30 p.m. and racing gets under way at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, students and military, and $5 for children 6-13.
