Victorville Speedway
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
Victorville, California

2010 Eliminapolis 500
May 29,2010 - Victorville
By: Ryan Evans

Colorado native “Battling” Buck Blair used a stunning move to become the first rider to win the Eliminapolis 500 twice at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville.

Charlie “The Edge” Venegas, “Fast” Eddie Castro, Jimmy Fishback, and Blair made up the field for the Final, which uses a last-man-out format. The first start found Castro left behind and an obvious first elimination. The three remaining riders were in tight formation on the second start with Fishback being eliminated by a narrow margin. The final start had Venegas in gate three and Blair in his preferred gate four. Venegas made a better start but Blair was on his rear fender entering turn one. Venegas wisely pushed up the race track in an effort to block the outside. It looked as if the move paid off but Blair squeezed through the tiny gap that Venegas left along the fence and took the lead on the back straight. Venegas tried to regain the lead as they entered turn three but was thwarted by the new leader. Blair held off the former national champion on the final lap to seal the victory.

The heats kicked off with Michael Hull getting the best start before falling in turn one. Fishback avoided Hull and took the lead and his first win. Blair defeated Neil Facchini in the next heat. Venegas finished round one with a victory over Castro.

Round two started with Fishback defeating Austin Novratil for his second straight win. Blair held off Tim Gomez for his second win in a row in event 26. The second round ended with Venegas beating Hull to keep pace with Fishback and Blair’s perfect scores.

The final round opened with Gomez using the outside in the first bend to go around Fishback and on to victory. Venegas beat Blair in the penultimate heat to leave himself as the only undefeated rider. Castro ended the heats with a win over the Sauer Brothers.

Venegas stormed to victory in the first semi with Castro following him into the main. Blair and Fishback finished one-two in the second semi to book their places in the main.

Dylan Black led all four laps to capture the Second Division Main Event. Tim McGrath finished second, Rick Fehrman was third, and Paul Hitchcock finished fourth.

Aaron Fox made his Victorville debut a success by winning the Third Division Main Event. Kevin Johnson was second, Paul Thornton finished third, and Mike Fuson was credited with fourth.

Samuel Ramirez made a beautiful outside pass to take the lead in the Youth First Division Main Event, but had an engine failure which handed the win to Max Ruml.

Dylan Ruml won both his heats and completed his perfect night by winning the Youth Second Division Main Event. Hayley Perrault finished second and Nick Varner was third.

Ally McGrath held off Julie Morrison to win the Pee Wee/Powderpuff Main Event. Summer Fehrman finished third and Dakota Shockley was fourth.

National Sidecar Champions Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen scored a dominant victory in the Sidecar Main Event. Bryan Motis and Brandi McElroy were second, Gerard Jackson and Dave German finished third, and Kevin Brown and Matt Davis were fourth.

The next event at Wheel2Wheel Raceway is Harley Night and will include people racing their street-legal Harleys on the track. The program will feature team racing but will include all divisions of speedway.

RESULTS

Sidecar Consolation
5150 – Dylan Beard/Edwin Soto
 00 – Joe Petraglovic/Mike Moreno
 13 – Scott Driggers/Casey Driggers


Sidecar Main Event 
  1 - Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen 
  2 - Bryan Motis/Brandi McElroy 
 66 - Gerard Jackson/Dave German 
 16 - Kevin Brown/Matt Davis


  Pee Wee/Powderpuff Main Event 
  186 - Ally McGrath 
  11 - Julie Morrison 
  8 - Summer Fehrman 
  34 - Dakota Shockley 
  

  Youth Second Division Main Event 
  111 - Dillon Ruml
  0 – Hayley Perrault 
  333 - Nick Varner 
  

  Youth First Division Main Event 
  308 - Max Ruml 
  22 - Samuel Ramirez 		(engine failure) 
  

  Third Division Main Event 
  146 - Aaron Fox 
  122 - Kevin Johnson 
  124 - Paul Thornton 
  245 - Mike Fuson 		(non starter) 
  

  Second Division Main Event 
  201 - Dylan Black 
  186 - Tim McGrath 
  240 - Rick Fehrman 
  121 - Paul Hitchcock 
  

  First Division Heat Scoring	1	2	3	T
  14 – Eddie Castro		2	1	3	6
  17 – Robbie Sauer		0	0	1	1	
  21 – Brad Sauer		0	1	2	3
  25 – Jimmy Fishback		3	3	2	8
  30 – Tim Gomez			2	2	3	7
  39 – Buck Blair		3	3	2	8
  41 – John Marquez		1	0	0	1
  43 – Charlie Venegas		3	3	3	9
  86 – Neil Facchini		2	1	0	3
  181 – Austin Novratil		1	2	1	4
  220 – Tyson Talkington		1	N	0	1
  320 – Michael Hull		F	2	1	3
  

  Race Results
  16: Fishback, Gomez, Talkington, Hull (fell)
  17: Blair, Facchini, Marquez, R.Sauer
  18: Venegas, Castro, Novratil, B.Sauer
  25: Fishback, Novratil, Facchini, Talkington (non starter)
  26: (restarted) Blair, Gomez, Castro, R.Sauer
  27: Venegas, Hull, B.Sauer, Marquez
  30: Gomez, Fishback, Novratil, Marquez
  31: Venegas, Blair, Hull, Talkington
  32: Castro, B.Sauer, R.Sauer, Facchini
  

  Semi #1: Venegas, Castro, Gomez, B.Sauer
  Semi #2: Blair, Fishback, Hull, Novratil (fell, remounted)
  

  First Division Consolation 
  30 - Tim Gomez 
  320 - Michael Hull 
  21 - Brad Sauer 
  181 - Austin Novratil 		(excluded) 
  

  Eliminapolis 500 Main Event 
  39 - Buck Blair 
  43 - Charlie Venegas 
  25 - Jimmy Fishback 
  14 - Eddie Castro