Ken Maely's Ranch
Corona, California

Winter Series Round 5
December 28, 2003 - Ken Maely's Ranch
By: Trish Wells

OK...you know when its 32 degrees when you leave home, it's going to be a cold one...by Southern California standards anyway!!! Yes, it was cold, but there was no wind, rain or snow, so we were doing good. We had a great turn out, despite the chaotic holiday season.

Division one saw the start of Tim Gomez's perfect day. Gomez beat Rohn Zellner and Doug Benjamin to begin the day as Gomez meant to carry on. Tony Bracy and Mike Hernandez also won their respective rounds of Division 1, despite tough competition.

Division 2 showed Steve Dziadus, Nate Smelser and Sam Soltz winning their rounds. The cold obviously wasn't affecting them. Carlos Cardona battled the cold weather to compete against the rest of Southern California's finest, including Doug Lupo, Mike Novratil and Jim Lavender.

Then came the Juniors, these young bucks, as usual, proved to those viewing from the sidelines that they best keep their eyes open. Newcomer Joey Holt, who had his first race on the 80cc motorcycle, held his own, and best of all crossed the finish line in every race. Austin Novratil beat the seemingly unbeatable Ricky Wells in the Junior 80cc/200cc class, with ease during the first round. With 8 competitors in the first round of the PW50 class, real estate was tight. Braydan Galvin took the win over Kurtis Hamill (yes, World Champion Billy Hamill's son) with Joe Roberts coming in 3rd. We also had a flat track series, with Larry Specktor beating Ricky Wells, and Matthew Roberts coming in third.

The beginning of the 2nd round saw Tony Bracy (aka "Racy Bracy") looping it off the start line....not a good way to start the round. The race was restarted with Bracy taking 3rd place behind Doug Benjamin and (the unbeatable) Tim Gomez. The Facchini Brothers are really showing their true talent, and ability to work as a team. They took 1st and 2nd places in their 2nd round. Krystal Cramer got the start on Wells and continued on to take the win in the 2nd round of 1st Division Juniors. Doug Lupo, Sam Soltz and Steve Dziadus took wins in 2nd division races. Carlos Cardona appeared to have mechanical problems, which forced him out of the meeting a little earlier than anticipated.

The Juniors were working up to an 80cc (Wells) vs 200cc(Novratil) finish line battle, when Novratil went down on the last lap...no we will never know which bike is quicker. From my viewpoint, the 80cc is faster around the corners, but the 200cc was quicker up the straights...but what do I know???? Once again, the PW50's come around.

Again, competition was tough, but the determination of Braydan Galvin shined through. Galvin won, with Nick Schoonover 2nd, Kurtis Hamill 3rd and Joe Roberts 4th. Wells fell during the flat track race, which left Larry Specktor with the win, Matthew Roberts 2nd, Leo Roberts 3rd, and Wells 4th. Rounds 3 and 4 saw much of the same exciting racing, with Ed Martinez getting a little more traction on the start than he really wanted. But in true speedway rider form, he restarted...and probably will suffer Monday morning.

The race of the day had to go to Krystal Cramer and Ricky Wells, who wowed the crowd with their close side by side racing, and exciting finish. Despite Wells winning the start, Cramer creeped closer with each lap and almost took the race, but Wells' held on to win by about 3/4 of a wheel length...

The track was hooky, and fast, which made for some exciting racing.

RESULTS

Division One
 36 - Tim Gomez		16 points (perfect score)
389 - Nate Perkins 	12 points
201 - Neil Facchini 	11 points - 3rd place after run off
194 - Tony Bracy 	11 points - 4th place after run off
105 - Mike Hernandez 	11 points - 5th after run off

Division Two
111 - Joe Schultz	16 points (perfect score)
126 - Doug Lupo 	15 points
212 - Steve Dziadus 	14 points
181 - Mike Novratil 	13 points
188 - Nate Smelser 	13 points

Division One Juniors
142 - Ricky Wells 	15 points
 27 - Krystal Cramer 	13 points

80cc/100cc Juniors
142 - Ricky Wells 	15 points
    - Joey Holt 	10 points
  8 - Austin Novratil 	 7 points

Flat Track
Larry Speckler 		16 points(perfect score)
Ricky Wells 		10 points
Matthew Roberts 	 8 points
Leo Roberts 		 5 points

PW50
Braydan Galvin 		13 points
Nick Schoonover 	12 points
Kurtis Hamill 		 8 points
Joe Roberts 		 4 points

It was another great day of racing and I'm sure Ken's up there somewhere watching and yelling at everyone to stop throwing rocks!!!...we miss ya Ken. Next round is scheduled for Sunday January 11, 2004...see ya there