Fast Fridays Speedway
Gold Country Fairgrounds
Auburn, California

North vs. South Civil War Challenge
July 18, 2003 - Fast Fridays, Auburn
By Gary Roberts

The annual Civil War, the North verses South took place on a hot Friday evening on a track that is best described as heavy, to start with, but again settled into a smooth even surface. Most of the South riders struggled in their first ride, the North pulled away to an early lead and didn't look back.

The final score this year was 76 to 44, the biggest difference I recall from recent years. There were however some very close individual races. Scott Brant, in particular had some excellent rides. But the North had near invincible youngsters Billy Janniro and Bryan Yarrow, both of whom remained unbeaten all evening, except by Brant.

Unofficial results:

NORTH 76
Bobby Hedden       3 2 1 3   9
Bart Bast          2 3 3 1   9
Mike Faria         2 0 2 -   4
Billy Janniro      3 3 1 3  10
Bryan Yarrow       3 3 3 2  11
Chad Felicio       1 1 0 1   3
Tommy Hedden       3 2 2 3  10
Bart Bardecki      1 0 3 0   4
Chris Kerr (res)   - - - 2   2

SOUTH  44
Scott Brant        0 3 3 3   9
Randy DiFrancesco  1 1 0 0   2
Dukie Ermolenko    0 2 - 1   3
Gary Hicks         1 0 2 2   5
Shawn McConnell    2 1 0 0   3
Bobby Schwartz     0 2 1 2   5
Charlie Venegas    2 1 2 0   5
Jim Estes          0 0 1 1   2
Bobby Krips (res)  - - 0 -   0

1. B. Hedden, Bast, DiFrancesco, Brant
2. Janniro, Faria, Hicks, Ermolenko
3. Yarrow, McConnell Felicio Schwartz
4. T. Hedden, Venegas, Bardecki, Estes
5. Brant. T. Hedden, DiFrancesco, Bardecki
6. Yarrow, Ermolenko, Felicio, Hicks
7. Janniro, Schwartz, McConnell, Faria
8. Bast, B. Hedden, Venegas, Estes
9. Brant, Faria, Janniro, DiFrancesco
10. Bast, Hicks, B. Hedden, Krips
11. Bardecki, T. Hedden, Schwartz, McConnell
12. Yarrow, Venegas, Estes, Felicio
13. Brant, Yarrow, Felicio, DiFrancesco
14. T. Hedden, Hicks, Ermolenko, Bardecki
15. B. Hedden, Schwartz, Bast, McConnell
16. Janniro, Kerr, Estes, Venegas
17. Venegas, B. Hedden, T. Hedden, Ermolenko
18. Janniro, Brant, Yarrow, Hicks

The last two races, with nominated riders had scores of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 5, 4, 3, 2 respectively and are not listed in the individual rider scores above.

Probably the best race of the night was heat 9. For the first and only time of the night, Billy Janniro missed the gate and Mike Faria took the lead from Scott Brant. They rode round side by side for the entire four laps, with Janniro trying and failing to get a wheel around, inside, or between them. The old phrase of throwing a blanket over the three would not apply, it would have to be a newspaper. Coming out of the final turn, just as Faria's win looked in the bag, Brant eased ahead, taking it by inches.

What went wrong for the South? It was difficult to pin point any one thing. A lack of Eddie Castro and Josh Larsen, who did well last year was one thing. Secondly, because San Bernardino has been running Friday nights down south, this was the first time that most of the South team had seen the Auburn track this season. Last year, most team members has ridden a couple of times at Auburn, some every week, so they were quite familiar with the heavy dirt for the first few races. Even Scott Brant fell in his first ride. The Gary Hicks/ Dukie Ermolenko combination was not as successful as in years gone by. But the biggest factor was great riding by Janniro and Yarrow.
Last night history was made, when a Youth North vs. South was interleaved into the regular North vs. South. It actually worked out well, giving everyone a rest between races. The North team won 50 to 21, the South team picked up some valuable experience for next months Youth National Championship.

Youth Unofficial results:
NORTH Youths
TJ Fowler              2 0 3 3    8
Ricky Felicio           1 3 1 2    7
Danny Easley            3 3 3 2   11
Paul Johnson            2 2 1 1    6
JT Mabry               2 1 2 1    6
Alex Marcucci           3 3 3 3   12
Jay Ricketts (res)      - - - -  DNR
SOUTH Youths
Krystal Cramer          0 0 2 2    4
Ricky Wells             3 2 0 0    5
Tim Gomez              0 1 0 3    4
Jason Ramirez           0 2 1 1    4
Dario Galvin            1 0 2 0    3
Dale Facchini           0 1 0 0    1
Mitchell Johnson (res)  - - - 0    0

1. Wells, Fowler, Felicio, Cramer
2. Easley, Johnson. Gomez and Wells DNF.
3. Marcucci, Mabry, Galvin, Facchini
4. Felicio, Ramirez, Gomez, Fowler ef
5. Easley, Johnson, Facchini, Galvin
6. Marcucci, Wells, Mabry, Cramer
7. Fowler, Galvin, Felicio, Facchini
8. Easley, Cramer, Johnson, Wells
9. Marcucci, Mabry, Ramirez, Gomez
10. Gomez, Felicio, Johnson, Facchini
11. Fowler, Cramer, Mabry, Galvin
12. Marcucci, Easley, Ramirez, M. Johnson for Wells

The South started well, with Ricky Wells taking a surprise win over Youth National Champion TJ Fowler. Ricky went on to take second in his next race, but did not finish in his last two. The South lost points due to too many riders falling down and not finishing. It is hoped that the Youth North vs. South will become a regular event.

Next week is the first round of the AMA National Championship. Hancock, Hamill, Janniro and Fisher will be here for Europe, as well as all the top US based riders. If tonight was anything to go by, be prepared for surprises from Scott Brant and Bryan Yarrow.

Gary Roberts - gary_rob@ix.netcom.com