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July 28, 2003 – Defending AMA
National Speedway Champion Billy Hamill continued his mastery of the Fast
Fridays Speedway dirt track here on Friday night, winning the opening
round of the AMA National Championship Speedway Series Presented by
Progressive Insurance.
Hamill, 32, is seeking his third consecutive AMA National
Championship and fourth in the past five years. But he had his hands full
on a warm and breezy evening, facing stiff competition from both
European-based and domestic speedway racers.
Hamill and Ryan Fisher — one of his young teammates from
the Coventry Bees of the British Speedway League — were the night's top
performers. Each scored 13 of a possible 15 points in the Qualifying Round
to earn direct transfers to the A Main Event.
Hamill and Fisher were joined in the four-lap A Main
showdown by former World and AMA Champion Greg Hancock and the AMA's 2002
national runner-up Billy Janniro. Hancock and Janniro made their way to
the A Main Event by way of a runoff among four riders who scored 12 points
in the Qualifying Round.
Hancock and Janniro bested Scott Brant and Mike Faria in
the runoff, which sent Brant and Faria to the evening's B Main.
Before the climactic A Main came to the line, former AMA
National Champion Bobby Schwartz won the night's D Main, Chris Manchester
won the C Main and Brant won the B Main.
It took three tries to get the A Main underway due to
lap-one pileups. The third time was a charm for Hamill, who is noted for
his lightning starts. He had lost to Fisher in an exciting Qualifying
Round heat, but this time held off the youngster from Norco, California,
while Janniro and Hancock trailed.
A near capacity crowd was on hand for the opening round of
the two-round AMA National Series Presented by Progressive Insurance. The
final round will be held September 26.
Round One Results: 2003 AMA National Championship Speedway Series,
Presented by Progressive Insurance
July 25, 2003 - Fast Fridays Speedway, Auburn,
California
Elimination Round
Heat 1: Charlie Venegas Bartek Bardecki, J.J. Martynse, Bobby Krips
Heat 2: Eric Carrillo, Jim Estes, Ivan Sevart, Chris Kerr
Heat 3: Kerr, Martynse, Krips (Eliminated), Sevart (Eliminated)
Heat 4: Kerr (Advanced to Qualifying Round), Martynse (Advanced to
Qualifying Round), Krips, Sevart
Heat 5: Kerr (Became 1st Reserve for Qualifying Round), Martynse (Became
2nd Reserve for Qualifying Round), Estes (Eliminated), Bardecki
(Eliminated)
Qualifying Round
(Qualifying Points paid in each heat on 3-2-1-0 basis)
Heat 1: Scott Brant, Venegas, Brian Yarrow, Chris Manchester
Heat 2: Billy Hamill, Bobby Hedden, Cam Rafferty, Bobby Schwartz
Heat 3: Billy Janniro, Bart Bast, Eddie Castro, Carrillo
Heat 4: Mike Faria, Ryan Fisher, Greg Hancock, Tommy Hedden
Heat 5: B. Hedden, Manchester, Bast, T. Hedden
Heat 6: Janniro, Fisher, Yarrow, Schwartz
Heat 7: Hamill, Faria, Carrillo, Venegas
Heat 8: Hancock, Brant, Castro, Rafferty
Heat 9: Hancock, Manchester, Schwartz, Carrillo
Heat 10: Faria, B. Hedden, Castro, Yarrow
Heat 11: Fisher, Bast, Venegas, Rafferty
Heat 12: Brant, Hamill, Janniro, T. Hedden
Heat 13: Fisher, Hamill, Castro, Manchester
Heat 14: T. Hedden, Rafferty, Carrillo, Kerr
Heat 15: Hancock, Janniro, B. Hedden, Venegas
Heat 16: Brant, Faria, Bast, Schwartz
Heat 17: Janniro, Faria, Manchester, Rafferty
Heat 18: Hamill, Hancock, Bast, Kerr
Heat 19: Venegas, Castro, T. Hedden, Schwartz
Heat 20: Fisher, B. Hedden, Brant, Carrillo
Qualifying Round Summary
Rider / Qualifying Points Earned / Total Pts.
Billy Hamill / 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 13
Ryan Fisher / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 13
Billy Janniro / 3 / 3 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 12
Greg Hancock / 1 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 2 / 12
Scott Brant / 3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 1 / 12
Mike Faria / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 12
Bobby Hedden / 2 / 3 / 2 / 1 / 2 / 10
Bart Bast / 2 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 7
Eddie Castro / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 2 / 6
Charlie Venegas / 2 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 3 / 6
Chris Manchester / 0 / 2 / 2 / 0 / 1 / 5
Tommy Hedden / 0 / 0 / 0 / 3 / 1 / 4
Cam Rafferty / 1 / 0 / 0 / 2 / 0 / 3
Eric Carrillo / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 2
Bryan Yarrow / 1 / 1 / 0 / - / - / 2
Bobby Schwartz / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 1
Chris Kerr (reserve) - / - / - / 0 / 0 / 0
Runoff (1-2 to A Main, 3-4 to B Main): Hancock,
Janniro, Brant, Faria
Championship Round
D Main Event: Schwartz, Carrillo, Rafferty, Yarrow (Did Not Start)
C Main Event: Manchester, Venegas, T. Hedden, Castro
B Main Event: Brant, Faria, B. Hedden, Bast
A Main Event: Hamill, Fisher, Janniro, Hancock
AMA National Championship Speedway Point Standings
Billy Hamill, Monrovia, CA: 21
Ryan Fisher, Norco, CA: 19
Billy Janniro, Vallejo, CA: 16
Greg Hancock, Balboa Island, CA: 14
Scott Brant, Riverside, CA: 12
Mike Faria, Reno, NV: 11
Bobby Hedden. Folsom, CA: 10
Bart Bast, Auburn, CA: 9
Chris Manchester, Reno, NV: 8
Charlie Venegas, San Bernardino, CA: 7
Tommy Hedden, Auburn, CA: 6
Eddie Castro, Ojai, CA: 5
Bobby Schwartz, Costa Mesa, CA: 4
Eric Carrillo, Vallejo, CA: 3
Cam Rafferty, Binghamton, NY: 2
Bryan Yarrow, Vacaville, CA: 1
© 2003, American Motorcyclist Association
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Hamill inside a struggling Greg Hancock
Hamill with checkered flag
Runner-up Ryan Fisher (l) and winner Billy Hamill (c) douse 3rd-place
finisher Billy Janniro
Billy Hamill on the inside and Ryan Fisher on the way to the
ground...causing one of 2 restarts of the A Main event.
Hamill in action
Photos by Salter Photography
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