Fast Finishes Give Hicks a Terrific Start

Gary Hicks couldn’t spin it any other way, and why would he want to?

“You can’t open a season, or even close a season, any better,” said Hicks, who won the scratch main and the handicap main at the Orange County Fairgrounds Saturday in the 31st speedway season opener.

Hicks, of Riverside, charged from behind twice on the one-eighth mile bullring oval.

Bob Brayton of Midway City and Dwayne King of Glendora won the sidecar main.

In the handicap main, Hicks was in third place when Ojai’s Eddie Castro--who won the handicap main at the Spring Classic last month--tangled ever-so-slightly with Charlie Cooley. Their break in momentum was just enough for Hicks to zip past.

“If it wasn’t for Eddie and Charlie hooking up, I don’t think I could have caught them,” said Hicks, who started 50 yards back on the eight-lap race, 10 yards behind Castro and 30 behind Cooley. “They both tangled and it was just wide enough for me to go underneath.”

Hicks finished ahead of San Juan Capistrano’s Brad Oxley and Costa Mesa’s Bobby Schwartz.

The victory came on the third restart, after Hicks rode up the back of a fallen Gary Ackroyd, who was disqualified for causing the three-man crash that included Charlie Venegas. “It was pretty spectacular,” Hicks said, “but there was nowhere for me to go.”

The scratch main event was missing two of the three biggest names in speedway. Auburn’s Bart Bast, who won the national championship on this track last year, and Oxley (last year’s series champion) failed to qualify.

Hicks came from third place to finish ahead of second-place Andy Northrup of Ontario and third-place Schwartz in the scratch main.

“I came out of the start third or fourth, and I didn’t think it was going to happen for me,” Hicks said. “I got some outrageous drive in the backstretch and came up on Northrup and I had a little more drive than him.”