Victorville Speedway
Wheel2Wheel Raceway
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds
Victorville, California

Eliminapolis 500
May 23, 2009 - Victorville
By: Ryan Evans

Jimmy “The Little Animal” Fishback celebrated his Memorial Day Weekend in style by winning all of his races to take home the Eliminapolis 500 at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville.

The Eliminapolis 500 Final featured its traditional last-man-out format and the first start brought Fishback, John Marquez, Austin Novratil, and Tyson Burmeister to the tapes. When the tapes went up it was Marquez who was pinned at the back and was the first to be eliminated. Burmeister was eliminated on the second start which left Fishback and Novratil for the final two-lap battle. Fishback got the best start and led the first lap. Novratil made a charge on the back straight and tried a cutback move exiting the final corner in an attempt to blast underneath the leader. Fishback won the drag race but the close finish delighted the appreciative crowd.

Four rounds of heats began with Buck Blair leading before pulling up after two laps and handing the win to Novratil. Blair withdrew from the meeting due to lingering injuries from a crash the week before. Fishback held off Marquez to win the second heat.

Fishback scored his second win by beating Robbie Sauer and Novratil and Shawn McConnell beat Marquez and Burmeister for his first win. Fishback made it three in a row with a win over Sauer while McConnell made it two straight wins by holding off Novratil. Fishback remained perfect by beating Novratil and Burmeister and McConnell ended the heats with his third straight win.

The Bump Race began with Burmeister, Marquez, Sauer, and Novratil. Sauer was eliminated and then McConnell joined the fray. The second start would eliminate a rider while the other three would transfer to the Final. To the surprise of everyone, McConnell went down in turn one and was eliminated while Marquez, Novratil, and Burmeister joined Fishback in the Final.

Rudy Laurer patiently worked through traffic from the 40 yard line to win the Support Handicap Main Event. Tim McGrath was second, Joey Holt finished third, Rod Requejo was fourth, Mike Schultz finished fifth, and Paul Thornton was sixth.

Holt led all four laps en route to victory in the Second Division Main Event. Laurer was second, Schultz finished third, and McGrath was fourth.

McGrath started from the 30 yard line, but that didn’t prevent him from claiming victory in the Third Division Main Event. Schultz finished second, Requejo was third, DeWayne Stark finished fourth, and Thornton was fifth.

Samuel Ramirez led from start to finish and won the Junior Main Event. Dillon Ruml was second and Maxwell Ruml was credited with third.

Amanda Ramirez narrowly edged Cassi Novratil at the finish line to win the Powder Puff Main Event while Ally McGrath came in third.

The next event at Wheel2Wheel Raceway will be Harley Night on Saturday, July 18. The next Steve Evans Promotions event will be the Firecracker Derby on Saturday, July 4 at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds in Ridgecrest.

RESULTS

Pee Wee Main Event 
 34 - Dakota Shockley

Powderpuff Main Event
 78 - Amanda Ramirez 
288 - Cassi Novratil 
186 - Ally McGrath 
 
Junior Main Event 
 22 - Samuel Ramirez 
111 - Dillon Ruml 
356 - Max Ruml 

Support Handicap Main 
182 - Rudy Lauer		40 
186 - Tim McGrath 		30 
244 - Joey Holt 		40	(fell, remounted) 
131 - Rod Requejo 		10 
292 - Mike Schultz 		20 
124 - Paul Thornton 		10 	(fell) 

Third Division Main Event 
186 - Tim McGrath		30 
292 - Mike Schultz 		20
131 - Rod Requejo 		10
268 - DeWayne Stark 		10
124 - Paul Thornton		10 	(fell) 

Second Division Main Event 
244 - Joey Holt 
182 - Rudy Lauer 
292 - Mike Schultz 
186 - Tim McGrath 		(engine failure) 

First Division Points		1	2	3	4	T 
  6 - Shawn McConnell		0	3	3	3 	9 
 8j - Austin Novratil		3	1	2	2 	8 
 17 - Robbie Sauer		2	2	2	1 	7 
 25 - Jimmy Fishback		3	3	3	3	12 
 39 - Buck Blair		R	withdrew 		0
 41 - John Marquez		2	2	1	2 	7 
141 - Josh Abbott		1	withdrew		1 
184 - Tyson Burmeister		1	1	1	1 	4 

Race Results
 5: Novratil, Sauer, Abbott, Blair (retired) 
 6: Fishback, Marquez, Burmeister, McConnell 
12: Fishback, Sauer, Novratil (fell) 
13: McConnell, Marquez, Burmeister 
18: Fishback, Sauer, Marquez 
19: McConnell, Novratil, Burmeister 
26: Fishback, Novratil, Burmeister
27: McConnell, Marquez, Sauer

Eliminapolis 500 Bump Race (top three finishers transfer) 
 41 – John Marquez
184 – Tyson Burmeister
 8j – Austin Novratil
  6 – Shawn McConnell		(fell)
 17 – Robbie Sauer

Eliminapolis 500 Main Event
 25 – Jimmy Fishback
 8j – Austin Novratil
184 – Tyson Burmeister
 41 – John Marquez