American Speedway
American Speedway: Another win for Venegas at Industry Speedway.
By Admin
Jul 3, 2008, 19:16

It took four tries to get Wednesday night’s Industry Speedway motorcycle main event under way, and when it was over Charlie Venegas was in the winner’s circle again.

Venegas, 41, grabbed the lead on that fourth start and outdueled young Ricky Wells, 16, and veteran Shawn McConnell, 49, for his fourth win in a row and eighth in nine races this year in The Grand arena at the Industry Hills Expo Center.

The first start was aborted when Wells and McConnell made contact and fell in the first turn. The second was waved off when Bobby Schwartz rolled into the starting gate and the third was a washout when the gate didn’t go up, at which point Schwartz rolled into the infield and out of the race.

The four-race win streak matches the Industry Speedway career-best that Venegas established to open the season and gives him 32 wins in 67 races since the start of the 2005 season. 

There was a remarkable sense of déjà vu leading up to the main event, too, with the top two finishers in both semifinals and the last-chance qualifier being repeaters from the week before. Wells beat Buck Blair in the first semi, Venegas held off Schwartz in the second semi and McConnell beat Jason Ramirez in the last-chance heat to grab the fifth and final berth in the field for the main.

Wells had been the top scorer in the three qualifying heats with eight points, three each for his two heat wins and two for a runner-up finish. Schwartz and Neil Facchini, of Riverside, also had two qualifying heat wins on a track that was problematic early in the program. 

The season will continue July 9 with Australian Sidecars joining the speedway motorcycles and an Off-Road Expo augmenting the program.