SoCal riders pair up for team victory at Fast Fridays in Auburn

Continuing the championship programs at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway, it was the Best Pairs Championship on Sept. 13 at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn. A unique format, rarely run in American speedway racing but very popular, the staff at Fast Fridays brought six pairs of Division 1 racers for 18 heats of scratch team racing. The teams accumulate points throughout the heats, and the team with the most points after 18 heats wins the championship. In some cases, a rider might give up a chance to win a race to drop back to block and help his partner secure a better finish. The race winner is awarded three points, second place is worth two points, and third place is worth one point. Four riders race in each heat and each in a different starting gate. All riders face each other at least once. The teams consisted of Southern California riders Broc Nicol and Wilbur Hancock, Billy Janniro and Darren Armbruster, brothers Timmy and Anthony Dion, Danny Faria and Greg Moore, Rees Todd and Will "The Thrill" McCloskey, and Tisiah Prout and Sammy Tetrault. It was clear Nicol, who leads the AMA National Speedway Championship series by two points after two meetings, was looking at this as a tune-up for the third round Saturday, Sept. 20, at Fast Fridays. Nicol won all of his heats for a perfect night and 18 points. Teammate Hancock tallied another 10 points to bring their total score to 28 for the championship. Nicol won the pairs championship with partner Charlie Trana last year. Janniro and Armbruster placed second with 24 points. Riding against Nicol and Hancock in the first heat, Janniro took a spill in turn 3 on the first lap and had to roll off into the infield, carding a zero, but Armbruster picked up two points for finishing second. Third place went to Todd and McCloskey with 19 points. They worked together in the last heat with Todd dropping back to block and protect McCloskey so they could pick up first- and second-place points. Faria and Moore finished fourth with 18 points and had a great race in heat five, earning five points using fantastic team racing skills to block and protect each other. The Dion brothers combined for 13 points to finish fifth, and Tetrault and Prout tallied six points to finish sixth overall. Also, newly crowned AMA Youth 150cc national champion Mason Howell won the D1 main event. Liam Falcon was second and Brady Wills was third. Howell also won both his heat races. Hank Hanaway topped the Youth 150cc D2 main event after winning his first heat and placing second in his second heat. Gavin Evan-Seeley was second and Ryder Faria was third. In the Youth 150cc D3 main event, it was Chance Farrow winning the main event. William Bruce was second and Dexter Orlando was third. Jameson Hutchinson cruised to a win in the Youth 250cc main event. Hutchinson was on fire and won all his heat races. Caden Cavrikas was second and Baylee Evan-Seeley was third. The Pee Wees also ran three heats. The season finishes Saturday, Oct. 4, with the USA vs. World finale. Fast Fridays staff is busy lining up some great world talent to cross the oceans to Auburn for the annual international event.