Fast Fridays: Rearick's win streak ends in heat, but he claims another main event

Correction: This story was changed at 9:10 a.m. July 15, 2024, to show Billy Janniro finished third in the handicap main event. A weeklong summer heatwave that had Auburn gripped with sweltering temperatures in the 110-degree range kept some Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway fans away from the Gold Country Fairgrounds on July 12. Those diehard fans who braved the heat enjoyed exciting racing. As the sun went behind the tall pines that shade the stands and the temperature cooled a little, a great racing program began. The streak is finally over for Riley Rearick, who had not lost a Youth 150 race all season until Friday night. Rearick, who starts more than halfway around the track, was beaten by Gavin Evans Seeley in the second heat race. Rearick came back with a great race and win in the Youth 150 main event to keep that streak alive. Rearick has all 10 Youth 150 main events under his belt. Seeley was second and Zander Schroeder was third in the main. Billy Janniro won the scratch main event for the second week in a row. This is week 10 of the season and Janniro has qualified for every scratch main event, winning six. Janniro was perfect Friday night, also winning his heat and semifinal. At the start of the main event, Charlie Trana out of lane one took a nasty fall and took a few minutes to get up. He was all right but was unable to restart, leaving Janniro, Bart Bast and Louie Mersaroli to carry on with the finale. Running a great race and making Janniro work for the win, Bast was a close second and charging as Janniro worked the inside line. Bast placed second in a battle with Mersaroli. Making it to the winner's podium for the first time this season, Daniel Faria was all smiles as the Fast Fridays trophy girls handed him his trophy for winning the handicap main event. Faria, who starts on the 10-yard line, also won his handicap heat, was second in his semifinal and won the main in convincing style. Faria was challenged hard by last week's main-event winner Justin Almon, and Janniro. Almon, 18, races in Southern California and has only made three trips to Fast Fridays. Almon rolled in a close second and Janniro finished third. Tisiah Prout Jr. won his third support main event of the season. Prout, who's new to speedway racing, is learning the ropes fast. Larry Staggs was second and Mike Newnham was third. After a two-week absence, 2023 AMA Youth 250 National Champion Darren Armbruster was back on track, winning the main event. Armbruster handicapped on the 60-yard line and took the lead by the third lap of the six-lap race. It was his sixth main-event win of the season. Armbruster won all of the Youth 250 races Friday night. Jameson Hutchinson was second and Caden Cavirkas third. Team racing continued with round four of the Team Challenge. The score going into the night was tied 23-23 between Team IFC Financial and Team Law Tigers. Team Law Tigers scored a fantastic 10 points behind solid rides by Trana and John Peters, who scored three points each with first-place finishes. Antonio Coffman and Russell Green each added two points with second-place finishes. Team IFC managed only two points with third-place finishes by Blake Borello and Catherine Moore. Team Law Tigers now leads Team IFC 33-25 with round five on July 26. In season points, Janniro leads Division I with 1,272, followed by Bast with 1,041 and Trana with 1,032 as of July 5. Catherine Moore leads the Support Class with 460 points, followed by Brian Leventon with 414 and Antonio Coffman with 412. This week, the ever-popular North vs. South Challenge will be staged at Fast Fridays for the 32nd year. The team racing event pits the best riders from Southern California against Northern California in a once-a-season bragging-rights event. The North leads the series with 20 wins to the South's 11.