Fort Mojave Speedway
Mojave Crossings Event Center
Fort Mojave, Arizona

Avi Invitational
October 13, 2007 - Ft Mojave
By: Ryan Evans

Ryan Fisher endured some challenging conditions to win five of his six races, including the Main Event, in front of a large crowd at the Avi Invitational on the grounds of the Avi Casino in Fort Mohave.

Buck Blair led all scorers with 14 points in the heats and picked the pole with the first selection. Fisher then chose gate two. Scott Brant took gate three which left Ricky Wells with gate four. When the tapes went up it was Fisher who shot into the lead with Blair and Brant trailing. Fisher opened up a comfortable lead, but Blair and Brant waged a side-by-side battle for second. Blair's inside line helped him to secure second, but he had no challenge for the leader. Fisher was first to the checkered flag, Blair was second, Brant finished third, and Wells was fourth.

The heats began with Blair opening a commanding lead and cruising to his first win of the night.

Charlie Venegas trapped from the outside and led race two before drifting wide in turn three and allowing the field to go by. Venegas tried to recover, but experienced bike problems and was forced to pull off the track. Brant took advantage and led Jimmy Fishback to the finish for the victory.

Fisher was an easy winner in race three ahead of Wells.

Bobby Schwartz led race four for three laps, but John Marquez fought from last to second and challenged for the lead on the last lap. Marquez used the outside on the back straight and went around Schwartz to take the win. The second round began with Brant and McConnell battling for a lap before Brant's outside line pushed him to the lead and the win. Blair jumped to the front in the next race and led Fishback the entire way for his second win.

Fisher matched the perfect scores of Brant and Blair with his second win in race
seven.

Venegas led race eight for two laps, but went wide and allowed Wells to close in on him. Wells slipped by on the inside on the third lap and pulled away for his first win of the night.

Round three started with Fisher trapping from the outside and running away with his third straight win, but Fishback drew the biggest cheer by spinning completely around on the third lap and still holding on to second place.

Blair and Brant met in race 12 and battled each other down the back straight.
The riders barrelled into turn three using different lines. Both riders went down, but independent of each other, and brought out the red flag. A full restart was ordered since half the field went down on the first lap. Blair got the best gate on the restart and led comfortably for three laps. Brant made a desperate charge on the final lap and nearly overtook Blair entering turn three. The Colorado native was cool under the pressure, though, and held on for the win.

Venegas scored his first win by defeating Dale Facchini and Rick Valdez. Travis Henderson closed out the third round with an impressive victory.

At intermission, Fisher and Blair were tied with perfect nine point scores;

Brant had eight points; Fishback and Wells each had six; and McConnell, Venegas, Henderson, and Mabry each with five.

Mabry led the opening race of the fourth round before McConnell used a cutback move to take the lead in turn four. Wells passed both riders on the second lap and pulled away for his second win.

Blair and Fisher met in a battle of unbeatens in race 17, but Venegas stole the show with a resounding victory with Blair finishing second and Fisher in third. Henderson led race 18 for three laps, but Brant stalked him and made a last-second charge off the final corner to steal the win at the line. Fishback ended round four with his first win.

Entering the final round Blair and Brant both had eleven points; Fisher had ten points; Fishback and Wells each had nine points; and Venegas had eight. Venegas started the final round with a victory, but would have to wait to see if eleven points was enough to make the main. Blair won race 23 and his fourteen points put him atop the scorechart.

Wells and Fishback met in the penultimate heat race and each needed a win to make the main event. Wells took the lead, but Fishback didn't give up the fight. Fishback's persistence paid off when he passed Wells entering turn one the third time. Wells got back on Fishback's tail and pressured him relentlessly before finally taking advantage of a mistake on the final corner and taking the win.

Fisher defeated Brant in the final heat to gain the second gate choice in the main event.

Scott York got the best start in the Second Division Main Event, but was closely followed by Vince Giamformaggio and Doug Geist. York's lead last for two laps before Giamformaggio took over. The trio battled in tight formation with

Giamformaggio leading and York and Geist narrowly behind battling for second. Giamformaggio was first to the checkered flag, Geist finished second, York was
third, and Eloy Medellin finished in fourth.

Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen dominated the Sidecar Main Event by leading the entire distance and winning by a comfortable margin. Scott Driggers and Shawn Driggers were second, Brian Motis and Loren Thurston were third, and Dale Facchini and Matt Davis finished fourth.

The Avi Invitational was the third promotion venture in Fort Mohave by Nate Perkins. The previous two events were held inside the Mojave Crossing Events Center. This event was held outdoors on the premises of the Avi Casino. In addition to speedway racing, the crowd was treated to a Freestyle Motocross exhibition by members of Metal Mulisha. Perkins has plans to hold another event early in 2008, but hasn't finalized a date.

RESULTS

Sidecar Main Event
15 - Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen
13 - Scott Driggers/Shawn Driggers
4 - Brian Motis/Loren Thurston
19 - Dale Facchini/Matt Davis

Second Division Consolation
126 - Danny Baker
184 - Danny Poli
151 - Cody Nelson
269 - Ed Martinez
391 - Mike Bershee (fell, remounted)

Second Division Semi
309 - Vince Giamformaggio
399 - Doug Geist
132 - Justin Hassan
48 - Chris Metoyer (two-minute exclusion)

Second Division Semi
155 - Scott York
178 - Eloy Medellin
117 - Billy Braden
389 - Ryan Tovatt

Second Division Main Event
309 - Vince Giamformaggio
399 - Doug Geist
155 - Scott York
178 - Eloy Medellin

First Division Scoring 1 2 3 4 5 T
6 - Shawn McConnell 2 2 1 2 1 8
8 - Bryan Yarrow 0 0 - - - 0
10 - Scott Brant 3 3 2 3 2 13
11 - Bobby Schwartz 2 R 0 2 0 4
19 - Dale Facchini 0 1 2 0 1 4
25 - Jimmy Fishback 2 2 2 3 2 11
36 - Ryan Fisher 3 3 3 1 3 13
37 - Denny Scopellite 1 1 1 1 1 5
39 - Buck Blair 3 3 3 2 3 14
43 - Charlie Venegas R 2 3 3 3 11
55 - Travis Henderson 1 1 3 2 2 9
93 - J.T. Mabry 1 2 2 1 1 7
99 - Greg Ayers 0 1 0 - - 1
142 - Ricky Wells 2 3 1 3 3 12
241 - John Marquez 3 0 0 1 2 6
293 - Rick Valdez 1 0 1 0 0 2

Race Results
1: Blair, McConnell, Scopellite, Facchini (fell, remounted)
2: Brant, Fishback, Mabry, Venegas (retired)
3: Fisher, Wells, Henderson, Yarrow
4: Marquez, Schwartz, Valdez, Ayers
5: Brant, McConnell, Ayers, Yarrow
6: Blair, Fishback, Henderson, Valdez
7: Fisher, Mabry, Facchini, Schwartz (retired)
8: Wells, Venegas, Scopellite, Marquez
11: Fisher, Fishback, mcConnel, Marquez
12: (restarted) Blair, Brant, Wells, Schwartz
13: Venegas, Facchini, Valdez
14: Henderson, Mabry, Scopellite, Ayers
16: Wells, McConnell, Mabry, Valdez
17: Venegas, Blair, Fisher
18: (restarted) Brant, Henderson, Marquez, Facchini
19: Fishback, Schwartz, Scopellite (fell, remounted)
22: Venegas, Henderson, McConnell, Schwartz
23: Blair, Marquez, Mabry (fell, remounted)
24: Wells, Fishback, Facchini
25: Fisher, Brant, Scopellite, Valdez

Avi Invitational Main Event
36 - Ryan Fisher
39 - Buck Blair
10 - Scott Brant
142 - Ricky Wells (fell, remounted)