Barlow and Ebbing ice the competition at XiiR event in Erie, Pa.

From a press release issued by XiiR…

It was an unusual November night in Erie, Pa. In fact you could say it was an eerie night in Erie for ice racing. 

The new young sensation Russell “Rocket” Green performance’s in Springfield Mass. gave him the first heat in Erie. He drew gate one and was with the big boys.  He was a Rocket off the start, Barlow 2nd, Mann 3rd and Venegas last.  Green was soon out gunned and was passed by Barlow as well as Mann and Venegas.  Barlow took the lead with Venegas charging through in that Charlie “The Edge” style. Barlow managed to keep him at bay and took the win.  Venegas was 2nd, Mann 3rd and Green in 4th.

XiiR’s reigning quad champion and extreme crowd pleaser, Nathan Siegel, took the 1st heat of the quads in his typical “Hippy” fashion. He led from the start, showing the locals the way to the finish line.  Kreis finished 2nd, Hawk 3rd and Heinz 4th.

The 2nd heat of the Speedway bikes didn’t disappoint fans either. “Mad Dog” McConnell in gate 1 and “Krazy” Kerrigan in gate 2 returned and brought their rivalry with them. Mike Buman, Gentlemen Jim Terchila in gates 3 and 4 completed the heat.  McConnell led from the start with Kerrigan in 2nd, Buman 3rd and Terchila 4th. Krazy Kerrigan gave Mad Dog quite a run for his first place finish.

The racers were so well matched and competitive that at the end of the heats there was a 4 way tie in the Speedway division for the front row of the main event. Venegas lost the coin toss and had to ride the last chance qualifier. 

Justin Ebbing, from Quincy, Illinois, gave Hippy and the crowd quite a surprise.  He passed Hippy in Heat 10 this caused Hippy to ride in the Last Chance Qualifier. Hippy had some really strong competition from the locals.
The main event was exciting from the start. Barlow, the “British Bulldog” had the pole position with Mad Dog McConnell, Krazy Kerrigan on the outside.  On the second row was the “Edge” Venegas, “Demolition” Mann, and “Hippy” Siegel. In was obvious that Siegel’s trip to England helped because Hippy has less than a half dozen XiiR Speedway races behind him and has made the finals all ready. Barlow led from the start in the Bulldog way. Venegas came charging through bringing Mann with him. On the last lap the crowd was on its feet, Venegas was on Barlow’s tail but Barlow won by a half wheel length.  

The main event for the quads was a real crowd pleaser too.  Ebbing was in gate 1, Kreis in 2 and Barlow in 3.  It was unusual to see Hippy on the back row. Two locals, Stephenson and Heinz were on the back row with him. Ebbing led from the start impressing not only the other riders but thrilling the crowd.  Kreis came in 2nd, Barlow in 3rd. Barlow rode a tight line keeping the Hippy and the local boys behind him.  This made for a lot of bumping, grinding and cheering.  It is obvious that Ebbing is going to prove to be some extreme competition for Hippy this season.

Friday, November 20, 2009,

Tullio Arena, Erie, PA.

SPEEDWAY

Heat 1.  Gate 1 Russell “Rocket” Green (4th Place); Gate 2 Anthony “British Bulldog” (1st Place); Gate 3 James “Demolition” Mann (3rd Place) and Gate 4 Charlie “The Edge” Venegas (2nd)

Heat 3. Gate 1 Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell (1st Place); Gate 2 Kelly “Krazy” Kerrigan (2nd Place) Gate 3 Mike Buman (3rd Place); Gate 4 Jim “Gentleman” Terchila (4th Place)

Heat 5. Gate 1 Siegel (1st Place); Gate 2 Eddie Martinez (2nd Place); Gate 3 Alan Rush (4th Place); Gate 4 Preston Dorfmeyer (3rd Place)

Heat 7 BATTLE OF THE CHAMPS Gate 1 Anthony Barlow (3rd Place); Gate 2 Shawn McConnell (DNF); Gate 3 James Mann (1st Place); Gate 4 Charlie Venegas (2nd Place)

Heat 9 Gate 1 Charlie Venegas (1st Place); Gate 2 Jim Terchila (3rd Place); Gate 3 Alan Rush (4th Place); Shawn Mc Connell (2nd Place)

Heat 11 Gate 1 Mike Buman (2nd Place); Gate 2 Kelly Kerrigan (3rd Place); Gate 3 Russell Green (3rd Place); Gate 4 Preston Dorfmeyer (4th Place)

Heat 13 Gate 1 Eddie Martinez (3rd Place); Gate 2 James Mann (1st Place); Gate 3 Nathan Siegel (4th Place); Gate 4 Anthony Barlow (2nd Place)

Heat 15 USA vs Great Britain Gate 1 Shawn McConnell (4th Place); Gate 2 James Mann (2nd Place); Gate 3 Charlie Venegas (3rd Place); Gate 4 Anthony Barlow (1st Place)

QUADS

Heat 2. Gate 1. Nathan “Hippy” Siegel (1st Place); Gate 2 Eric Kreis (2nd Place); Gate 3 Matt Heinz (4th Place); Gate 4 Dan Hawk (3rd Place)

Heat 4. Gate 1 Barlow (3rd Place); Gate 2 Tom Bobrowicz (3rd Place); Gate 3 Tim Matczak (4th Place); Gate 4 James Mann (1st Place)

Heat 6. Gate 1 Tom Hall (4th Place); Gate 2 Jason Hindle (3rd Place); Gate 3 Justin Ebbing (1st Place); Gate 4 Darryle Stephenson (2nd Place)

Heat 8 BATTLE OF ERIE Gate 1 Tom Bobrowicz (1st Place); Gate 2 Darryle Stephenson (2nd Place); Gate 3 Tim Matczak (3rd Place); Gate 4 Tom Hall (4th Place)

Heat 10 Gate 1 Nathan Siegel (2nd Place); Gate 2 Justin Ebbing (1st Place); Gate 3 Jason Hindle (2nd Place); Gate 4 Tom Bobrowicz (4th Place)

Heat 12 Gate 1 Tom Hall (4th Place); Gate 2 Matt Heinz (2nd Place); Gate 3 Dan Hawk (3rd Place); Gate 4 Anthony Barlow (1st Place)

Heat 14 Gate 1 Tim Matczak (4th Place); Gate 2 Darryle Stephenson (2nd Place); Gate 3 Eric Kreis (1st Place); Gate 4 James Mann (3rd Place)

Heat 16 TO FOUR Gate 1 Justin Ebbing (3rd Place); Gate 2 James Mann (4th Place); Gate 3 Anthony Barlow (2nd Place); Gate 4 Nathan Siegel (1st Place)