INDUSTRY HILLS, CA

Former National Champion Charlie "The Edge" Venegas used savvy gate selection and a great start to position himself toward victory in the main event at Industry Speedway in California.

After Buck Blair and Jimmy Fishback picked gates one and two, respectively, Venegas defied conventional wisdom and chose gate four instead of gate three. His choice of starting position paid off when, after entering turn one even with Blair, Venegas was on his preferred outside line and he found enough traction to propel himself around Blair and into the lead on the back straight. Blair chased the leader the entire race but couldn't gain any ground. Venegas cruised to the victory, Blair settled for second, Neil Facchini finished third, Mike Faria was fourth, and Fishback finished fifth.

Venegas kicked off the heats with a convincing win, over Tyson Burmeister and Gary Hicks. "Fast Eddie" Castro defeated Faria in the second heat. Blair ended round one with a win, over Fishback.

Castro beat Blair to start round two. Hicks was leading the next heat but suffered an engine failure, which gave the lead and victory to Fishback. Venegas brought an end to the second round by using the outside to pass and defeat Faria.

The final round of heats began with Faria taking the lead, only to have Blair use the outside to pass him and pick up his second win. Burmeister beat Venegas to win event 16. Castro closed out the heats with a win to remain the only undefeated rider.

Blair and Venegas finished one-two in the first semi and would both transfer to the main.

In the second semi, Castro's undefeated streak came to a skidding halt when he fell in the first corner. Fishback won the transfer to the main, while Facchini used a great cutback move to get second and join Fishback in the main.

Faria won the last-chance qualifier to book the final spot in the main.

Tyson Talkington proved that he no longer belongs in Second Division by scoring runaway victories in all his heats and the Second Division main event.

Kevin Wybenga led the Third Division main before falling in turn four. Yogi Isgro plowed into the prone rider and went down hard on his shoulder. Isgro was physically unable to restart, and Wybenga would restart from the penalty line. Norman Graham took advantage of the second chance by leading all four laps of the restart to capture the victory. Wybenga finished second, Kevin Johnson was third, and Isgro was credited with fourth.

Gerard Jackson & Dave German were leading the Sidecar main event, but Brian Motis & Brandi McElroy suffered a mechanical failure that left them stranded on the racetrack and brought out the red flag. On the restart, National Champions Joe Jones & Jimmy Olsen trapped from the outside to get the lead. Jones & Olsen were never threatened and took the win. Jackson & German were second, Scott Driggers & Casey Driggers finished third, and Motis & McElroy were credited with fourth.

Results

SDCR MAIN: 1. Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen; 2. Gerard Jackson/Dave German; 3. Scott Driggers/Casey Driggers; 4. Brian Motis/Brandi McElroy.

P/W MAIN: 1. Matthew Duffy (KTM); 2. Tristan Britt (Suzuki); 3. Alyssa Smith (Honda).

YTH MAIN: 1. Samuel Ramirez (JAWA/CZ); 2. Max Ruml (JAWA/CZ); 3. Dillon Ruml (Honda); 4. Michael Wells (Shu).

D-3 MAIN: 1. Norman Graham (JAWA/CZ); 2. Kevin Wybenga (JAWA/CZ); 3. Kevin Johnson (JAWA/CZ); 4. Yogi Isgro (JAWA/CZ).

D-2 MAIN: 1. Tyson Talkington (JAWA/CZ); 2. Eloy Medellin (JAWA/CZ); 3. Tim McGrath (JAWA/CZ); 4. Bubba Vazzana (JAWA/CZ).

D-1 LCQ: 1. Mike Faria (JAWA/CZ); 2. Tyson Burmeister (GM); 3. Brad Pappalardo (GM); 4. Russell Green (JRM).

D-1 MAIN: 1. Charlie Venegas (JAWA/CZ); 2. Buck Blair (JAWA/CZ); 3. Neil Facchini (GM); 4. Mike Faria (JAWA/CZ); 5. Jimmy Fishback (GM).