Sidecar side gig: Janniro pilots 3-wheeler to AMA National Championship at Fast Fridays

What a great night of championship racing at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway in Auburn on Aug. 29. If you were at the Gold Country Fairgrounds on Saturday night you were treated to not one or two but three championship programs. Week 16 at Fast Fridays did not disappoint. Up for grabs was the AMA Extreme Sidecar National Championship and the AMA Youth 250cc and Youth 150cc National Championships. The event included more than 50 scratch races total and a $1,700 purse for the sidecar championship. The surprise of the evening was that 11-time AMA National Speedway Champion Billy Janniro, with only limited experience on an 1100cc three-wheeled sidecar, drove himself and rider Johnny Glover to the sidecar championship. It was a crowded field with 12 sidecars, but with the help of Glover, an experienced rider, the pair pulled off a stunning victory. "I have driven a sidecar in a race maybe four or five times but always with a different rider and a different sidecar each time," said Janniro after the race. Janniro is a journeyman racer on any type of motorcycle with two wheels and now three wheels. He now adds a new title to his lengthy racing résumé that began in 1995 at the age of 15. The format was simple: The 12 teams raced 12 heats of four teams each, accumulating points (three points for a win, two points for second place and one point for third). A last-chance qualifier after the heats put the winning team in the final race with the three high-point teams. The team of Emil and Eddie Ovrid made it out of the qualifier to earn a spot in the championship final along with Janniro and Glover, Joe Jones and Tom Summers, and Wade Boyd and Eric Lindauer. As the flag went up, Janniro and Glover led by the first turn and the race was on. Boyd/Lindauer were inside just behind with Jones/Summers outside. The racing was tight with a little bump and go between the teams, but Janniro and Glover held on for the win. Boyd and Lindauer slipped in just ahead of Jones and Summers for second. Emil and Eddie Ovrid were fourth. Jones and Summers have numerous national championships under their belts, including the last two, but ran into trouble in an early heat and had mechanical problems after a crash with another team. Jones and Summers were on borrowed bikes for the remainder of the evening, including the final. Brady Landon, a blaze all season, won the AMA Youth 250cc national championship. Running the same format as the sidecars, Landon would not be denied after finishing second to Darren Armbruster last year. Landon 15, won all his races for a perfect night. In the final, Landon faced Jameson Hutchinson, who came in one point behind with 11, Wesley Rearick (seven points) and Caden Cavrikas, who won the last-chance qualifier. The final was predictable with Landon turning in another flawless race, followed by Hutchinson, Cavrikas and Rearick. Mason Howell 10, in his first year of speedway racing, took home the biggest trophy in the Youth 150cc championship. Joining Howell in the final were Hudson Jones, Zander Schroeder and, with a perfect night and 15 points, defending Youth 150cc champ Riley Rearick. As the tapes went up, Rearick clipped the rear wheel of Howell in turn 1 and both went down. Referee Steve Lucero had to make the hard call and excluded Rearick from the race for causing the mishap. Howell took the lead on the restart and held on for the win over runner-up Schroeder and third-place Jones. Racing continues Saturday, Sept. 13, with the Best Pairs Championship. There will be no racing this weekend during the Gold Country Fair.