AUBURN, CA

Quietly, Charlie Venegas (above) has been gaining momentum each week at Fast Fridays, just as he said he would back during week one of the 2009 Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway season. Last week, Venegas was the fastest man on the track, winning the Scratch main event, and on September 11, Venegas took the checkered flag in a big way at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, winning the 2009 Fast Fridays Track Championship. The event is one of the biggest championships of the season, and this was his fourth consecutive Fast Fridays Track Championship.

Sixteen of the highest scorers of the season lined up in a very exciting Division One Scratch format that pitted each racer against each other racer at least once and from each starting-gate position racing for points. The rules were simple: The racer with the most points after five heats at the end of the night is the track champion. The Red Line Oil-sponsored Venegas, a seasoned veteran of speedway racing, won four of his five heat races, scoring 14 of a possible 15; he was beaten only once, by 2008 USA National Champion Billy Janniro in heat two.

"I've been leading up to this all year, and I'm happy with this win," Venegas said. "At 42 years old - not too many riders win a track championship at my age."

Janniro, who ended the night with 13 points, tied with Bart Bast and Tommy Hedden and took second in the championship after winning an exciting run-off against Bast and Hedden. Janniro had some unfortunate luck in heat one and finished third - his only misstep of the night. Bast, who was the top points getter of the 2009 regular season, finished second in the run-off, behind Janniro, and took third in the championship, just ahead of Hedden, who finished third in the run-off and fourth overall.

Also staged on the exciting Fast Fridays program on Friday night was the 2009 AMA/USA Speedway Youth National Championship, pitting the best up-and-coming speedway riders the sport has to offer racers 16 years and younger against one another for the National Championship in Scratch-format points racing. Fourteen-year-old Austin Novratil (above) of Huntington Beach, California, had a perfect night, winning all of his heat races and scoring 15 points. Novratil had some strong competition from area rider Amber Felicio, who finished second with 13 points after winning three of her heats races and finishing second in two. Auburn-area resident Thomas Reich finished third with 12 points. Novratil joins an elite group of riders to win the Youth championship, many of whom have gone on to compete professionally in the sport.

Daniel Faria - the son of speedway legend Mike Faria, who raced at Fast Fridays for many years - took the Division Two track championship. The eight top points holders of the season raced against one another in Division Two and Division Three for those respective track championships. Daniel has been steadily improving his riding style and winning consistently at Fast Fridays. Danny Turner was second and Charles Haines was third in the Division Two championship. The Division Three track championship was won by Dustin Berdolt; Kjell Lovlien was second and Billy Vaughn was third.

Results

D-1 TRACK C'SHIP: 1. Charlie Venegas; 2. Billy Janniro; 3. Bart Bast; 4. Tommy Hedden; 5. Bryan Yarrow; 6. Kelly Kerrigan; 7. Chad Felicio; 8. Matt Becker; 9. Mark Carrillo; 10. Greg Hooten; 11. Bryce Starks; 12. Shawn Eldrdege; 13. Alex Marcucci; 14. Ben Essary; 15. Devin Defreece; 16. Steve Lewotsky.

YTH NAT'L C'SHIP: 1. Austin Novratil; 2. Amber Felicio; 3. Thomas Reich; 4. Cody Cicciarelli; 5. Rocco Scopellite; 6. P.J. Byrne; 7. Tanner Kane; 8. Maxwell Ruml; 9. Jamison Dilkey; 10. Tyler Warren; 11. Kevin Black.

D-2 TRACK C'SHIP: 1. Daniel Faria; 2. Danny Turner; 3. Charles Haines.

D-3 TRACK C'SHIP: 1. Dustin Berdolt; 2. Kjell Lovlien; 3. Billy Vaughn.