They range in age from 4 to 10 years old, but their hearts are as courageous as a lion's when it comes to AMA speedway and quad racing.
Carson City Raceway at Fuji Park is a big hit with kids learning sportsmanship and camaraderie on two and four wheels. There were nine young riders at Saturday's speedway event, who nearly stole the show from the advanced riders on two and four wheels.
"It was really fun," said 10-year-old Kyle Hedden from Folsom, Calif., who won the speedway peewee main event. "It was difficult to race the whole track."
"If you didn't race on the inside, somebody would come up real quick inside of you and beat you," added an excited Jacob Estes, 8, from Carson City, who finished second. "It was a lot of fun."
Jacob's twin brother, Jeremy, finished third. Other peewee racers in action were Thomas Redican, 6, of Stagecoach, Todd Sibell, 4, of Carson City, Brett Martin, 9, of Carson City, Jake Dellavedora, 6, of Genoa, and Kaycie Hedden, 6 and Kolby Hedden, 5, also of Folsom.
American Motorcycle Association Division I handicap heat races transfer the top three of each heat to a semi-main event. Those who transferred were Bart Bast, Tommy Hedden, J.T. Mabry, Matt Browne, Bobby Hedden and Jim Estes.
Division II transfers were: Kenny Ingalls, Tyler Hansen, Kelly Kerrigan, Guy Jessop and Bill Hermant. Division III transfers included Kevin Fereira, Cory Barringer, Kjell Lovlien, Tom Ferhman, Greg Lovlien and Tor Lovlien.
Transferring from the Division I semi were Browne, Bobby Hedden, Estes, Tommy Hedden, Bast and Mabry. These six riders made up the handicap main event, which was won by Bast with Estes taking second, Browne third, Bobby Hedden fourth, Mabry fifth and Tommy Hedden sixth.
In the adult speedway scratch division I semi-main transfers were Tommy Hedden, Bast, Estes and Mabry. The scratch race was also won by Bast, who passed Estes on the outside of turn 3 to take the lead and eventual win. Estes finished strong in second with Hedden third and Mabry fourth.
Hedden pulled a wheelie on the start of the race in turn 2 and flipped his motorcycle. He quickly remounted and returned to the race to finish third.
"The track was 1,000 percent better than the first night," Bast said. "I don't know who groomed it, but it was real smooth and I like to race a smooth track. It was a lot better.
"After the first heat Tommy (Hedden) told me he was in trouble because he likes to race a on rough surface. It was a track we could really race on."
Onweiler said the track is groomed by Bob Wilson of Wilson Enterprises and Vuki Wilson.
"I got lots of compliments from the riders who said they have never seen a fairgrounds track in such good condition," Onweiler said. "That makes me real happy."
The fans were pleased with racing as well as the crowd nearly doubled in attendance and gave a resounding cheer when track announcer Eric Breeze asked if they were enjoying themselves. The fast-paced show began at 7:10 p.m. and concluded at 9:49 p.m.
Speedway division II main event was won by Greg Searle with Kenny Ingalls taking second and Shawn Eldredge finishing third. Rounding out the field were Kerrigan, Jessop and Hansen.
Division III was won by Ferhman with Fereira finishing second and Kjell Lovlien third. Rounding out the field were Tori Hubert and Barringer.
The quad classes for adult and peewee made their debut Saturday and have officially been added to the remainder of Carson City Raceway at Fuji Park's schedule.
Getting his first win at Fuji Park was 8-year-old Blaine Plummer of Fallon, followed by brother Gage, 9, in second and Mitchell Menzer, 8, of Gardnerville in third. Brandon Hodson, 12, of Truckee grabbed the fourth spot and Tyler Hodson, 9, also of Truckee, fifth.
Winning the first-ever adult main event was Louis Lazenby of Fallon. Lazenby took off for the lead from the start, positioning most of his body to the inside of the bike with his right foot kicked out for balance. Randy Greenwell of Fallon took second with Ron Furtado of Gardnerville finishing third and Ryan Stoffer of Gardnerville in fourth. Furtado's quad hit a rut and cartwheeled in turn 2 in his heat race, but returned to show in the main event.
"I usually race at Thunderbowl (Mound House) and desert quads," Lazenby said of his experience. "This was a lot of fun and I like the track. It was real nice. I'm definitely coming back."
AMA speedway will return to Carson City Raceway at Fuji Park arena on July 2, when the speedway sidecares make their debut. Sidecar racing is two riders on one bike.
For information, e-mail CarsonCityRaceway@charter.net or call 882-2460.
Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.
