Barlow, once again!! Feb 26th 2006

Round 10 – The Family Arena, St Charles, Missouri. As the Series rolled into the Missouri town of St Charles, the night after the St Louis Mardi Gras Parade, the Family Arena at St Charles provided a fitting venue for the Final Meeting of the 2006 Series. Although Anthony “British Bulldog” Barlow had sewn the Series up following his win at Rockford, the chase was on for the minor placing and even though Ronny Kemp in 2nd place was 10 championship points ahead of 3rd placed James Mann, it was still possible for Mann, the Brit now living in nearby Warrenton to bridge the gap and grab a 2nd place in the Series Championship behind his friend and adversary Barlow. A little further down the Leader Board in 4th place was Scott Courtney, 6 points behind Mann with Gary Phelps a further 3 points behind. Heat 1 as always saw the appearance of the Series leading scorers and it was Barlow who made no mistakes in the re-run by taking a win from Mann who was well clear of Ronny Kemp and Scott Courtney. Heat 2 saw so many changes in the race order that anyone looking at the Lap chart would have thought the races were taking place on a quarter mile oval rather than a 709 – yard ice circuit. At the flag however it was Phelps in the lead from Meldrum, Kelley and Dorfmeyer. Heat 3 produced yet another win for Darren Pearson, who knows where he would have finished on the Leader Board had he been able to take his place at the start of the Series instead of competing in just half of the meetings.The first heat of the second group of qualifiers was another excellent race with Barlow just getting the win from David Meldrum who was followed home by Pearson. Ronny Kemp, still nursing a very sore shoulder that he sustained in Lexington, showed steely determination to win the next heat ahead of Phelps, Dorfmeyer and Kemp while the last qualifying race resulted in an easy win for Mann over Courtney, Terchilla and Hathaway. A Last Chance pole position for Darren Pearson was wasted as he slipped back down the field to 4th and as a result gave Scott Courtney, starting on the back row a top 3 finish and a place in the Main Final, albeit on the Back Row.In the first running of the Main Final Phelps struggled to get his bike going in time and just beat the 2-minute time allowance by coming out on Dorfmeyer’s machine. Entering the 3rd turn on the 1st lap Courtney was a little too ambitious and caused a crash which meant he started on the back row. However Phelps was still struggling with his machinery and when the new 2-minute allowance had expired he stayed in the Pits, a very disillusioned Rider as he was chasing Courtney at that stage for a 4th place in the Series. It was not to be however as 5 Riders lined up on 3 rows (Courtney at the back on his own) when Barlow made the gate and held on from Mann for a very pleasing 1st place, with Kemp finishing 3rd , Meldrum in 4th and Courtney unable to make any impression and being gifted 5th place.This AMA sanctioned, FIM inscribed event is now a permanent feature of the US Speedway calendar and it will be interesting to see who signs up for the 2007 Series, which is already being planned. Qualifying Heats: 1. Barlow, Mann, Kemp, Courtney 2. Phelps, Meldrum, Kelley, Dorfmeyer 3. Pearson, Kelley, Hathaway, Terchilla 4. Barlow, Meldrum, Pearson 5. Kemp, Phelps, Dorfmeyer, Kelley 6. Mann, Courtney, Terchilla, Hathaway. Last Chance: Kemp. Meldrum, Courtney, Pearson, Dorfmeyer, Kelley (f) Main: Barlow, Mann, Kemp, Meldrum, Courtney, Phelps (n2) Series Result: Barlow 136pts, Kemp 90, 1, Mann 83, Courtney 69, Phelps 68, Meldrum 56.