IFC turns up heat to win Team Challenge at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway

Week 13 at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway, and the championship season has begun. The Team Challenge wrapped up its six-round series with the championship round on Aug. 14. Team Law Tigers led Team IFC (Integrated Financial Concepts) 47-46 entering the night. Team Challenge works with two pairs of riders on each team in three heats. The riders work together to accumulate points by finishing order in each heat. Three points are scored for a win, two points for second place and one point for third place. Heat one was a tie. Brady Landon scored a win and three points for Team IFC; Team Law Tigers scored three points also with second- and third-place finishes by Billy Janniro and Darren Armbruster. In heat two, IFC again scored three points behind an outstanding win by Wilbur Hancock. Team Law Tigers also scored three points with Russell Green and Louie Mersaroli finishing second and third. The entire series boiled down to one final race – 18 heats in the series and one race would decide the championship. Rolling to the start line, Team Law Tigers sent Antonio Coffman and Mike Newnham. Team IFC sent out Catherine Moore and Shawn Eldredge. Moore was out of the gate quick but took a hard tumble in turn 1 and ended up on the dirt. Attended to by track officials and EMTs, she slowly got to her feet, a reserve bike was brought out, and she was ready to go in the restart. Eldredge and Moore had complete control of the final heat, finishing first and second for five total points and giving Team IFC a 57-54 victory. Landon picked up another scratch main event win, his fourth of the season. Landon, who just turned 16, is really making an impact in his first season on a 500cc bike. Landon was perfect in the scratch program, also winning his heat race and semifinal. Landon faced Janniro, Mersaroli and Armbruster in the main event. Janniro took the lead in the inside lane out of the gate with Landon out of lane 4 following a couple of bike-lengths back. Landon ended up passing Janniro with a lap to go. Janniro went just a little wide and left the door open for Mersaroli to pass for second place. Armbruster was third and Janniro fourth. The first round of the AMA National Speedway Championship was held Aug. 8 at Industry Hills Speedway in Southern California, and Landon is second with 22 points. Max Ruml leads with 26 points, and current AMA national speedway champion Broc Nicol is third with 20 points. The second and final round will be held at Fast Fridays on Sept. 19. For the second week in a row and third time this season, Timmy Dion put it all together for a win in the handicap main event. Dion stumbled with a fourth-place finish in his heat but recovered to win his semifinal. Moved back 10 yards to the 20-yard line because of his win Aug. 7, Dion had little trouble getting out front and holding his position for the entire main event. Armbruster was a solid second, and Mersaroli was third. It looks like Dion will start on the 30-yard line on Aug. 21. A consistent top-three finisher in Support Division D2, Coffman finally reached the winner's podium in the main event. Coffman placed second in his two heats. On to the main event, Coffman passed Brandon Hendrickson in the last turn on the last lap for a stunning win. Marc Denniston was third. Sean McAndrew swept Support Division D3, winning his two heats and winning his third main event. McAndrew was second for most of the feature, and when Austin Brightwell made a small misstep, McAndrew took advantage and moved in front near the finish line. Brightwell was second and Sebe Denniston was third. Jameson Hutchinson was again the fastest rider in the Youth 250cc D1 program, winning his sixth main event of the season. Hutchinson was perfect on the night. Wesley Rearick was second and Caden Cavrikas was third. Persistence pays off in speedway racing. Baylee Evans-Seeley proved this after hanging in there in the Youth 250cc D2 program all season before finally climbing to the top of the winner's podium with a win in the main event. Leeann Emerson was second and Leala Farrow was third. Mason Howell won the Youth 150cc D1 feature. Howell trailed Logan Kerr for most of the race then passed him near the finish line for the win. Kerr was second and Zander Schroeder was third. Kaiden Boyd-Bews won the Youth 150cc D2 main event. Dexter Orlando was second and Chance Farrow was third. Kinsley Stephenson was first in the Youth 150cc D3 main event, her first win of the season. William Bruce was second and Kaydence Craw was third. Racing continues Aug. 21 at Fast Fridays with the Speedway Best Pairs Championship. Racing moves to Saturdays on Aug. 29 to accommodate school schedules for the rest of the season.