North rises in grand final to win 34th annual Challenge at Fast Fridays

It was an epic night of team racing, one of the best North vs. South Challenge meetings ever staged in 34 years of the event at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway. After one of the closest contests in memory, the North was victorious for the second year in a row 69-66. The North now leads the all-time series 22-12. Tied 60-60 going into the grand final, it came down to one final race, four quick laps. The matchup was near perfect, bringing some of the best riders from Northern California and Southern California to Auburn's tricky dirt oval at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. The North consisted of 11-time AMA National Speedway Champion Billy Janniro, current AMA National Speedway Champion Broc Nicol, Bryan Yarrow, Timmy Dion, Darren Armbruster and Danny Faria. The South featured three-time AMA National Speedway Champion Max Ruml, Slater Lightcap, Alex Martin, Chris Kerr, Wilbur Hancock and Greg Moore, some of the best in the sport. The program consisted of 18 scratch races with riders scoring three points for a win, two points for a second-place finish and one point for third. At the end of the heat races, each team selected two riders for a final and grand final, in which the points increased. The South led 22-20 after seven heats then took the biggest lead of the night to that point, 27-21, with first- and second-place finishes by Lightcap and Kerr. The North bounced back in heat nine with first and second finishes by Nicol and Dion, as this trend would continue for most of the evening. The North now trailed 28-26. Faria and Armbruster combined for four points for the North, and the score was again tied 36-36. Strong finishes by Ruml and Martin, and Kerr and Lightcap gave the South the largest lead of the meeting 46-38 through 14 heats. The rules allow a team down more than six points to use the Joker rule and substitute one time a rider in the next heat whose points are doubled. The North substituted Nicol in place of Yarrow in heat 15, and Nicol won to earn six points, pulling the North within 49-44. The South increased its lead to 57-48 after heat 17 and still led 58-53 going into the bonus heats. In the final, the scoring increased to four, three and two points, and in the grand final, the scoring increased to six, five and four. Janniro and Yarrow went to the start line for the North against Martin and Kerr. Yarrow pulled off a great win, followed by Janniro and combined for seven points, tying the score 60-60 going into the grand final. Coming out for the North were Nicol and Dion, and for the South were Ruml and Lightcap. Dion had lane one, Lightcap was in two, Nicol in three and far out sat Ruml in lane four. All the riders got good gates with Lightcap a step better in turn one. Bunched real tight for the entire race, Lightcap held a small lead with Nicol just inches from him and Dion right behind them. It was one of the best races seen by many and certainly the highlight of the evening. Lightcap held on for first and six points for the South, Nicol was second for five points for the North and Dion scored another four for his third place for the North. The North scored nine and the South scored six with Lightcap's win leaving the final score North 69, South 66. Nicol was the high scorer for the North with 26 points and Ruml led the South with 16. There was also a full Youth 250cc and Youth 150cc program and of course the Pee Wees. In Youth 150cc Division 1, Mason Howell was first, Liam Falcon was second and Brady Wills was third. In the Youth 150cc D2, Gavin Evans Seeley was first, Leeann Emerson was second and Ryder Faria was third. In the Youth 150cc D3, William Bruce was first, Zeva Schroeder was second and Chance Farrow was third. In the Youth 250cc D1 main event, Brady Landon picked up another win, Wesley Rearick was second and Riley Rearick was third. In Youth 250cc D2, Baylee Evans Seeley was first, Caden Cavrikas was second and Justin Gist was third. Congrats to the Seeleys, Gavin and Baylee, for taking top honors in their divisions. This week, the season-long grudge match renews with the fifth round of the Team Challenge, where the Law Tigers lead Team IFC in another tight contest 37-35. It's the last round before the final championship round on Aug. 8.