Fast Fridays season finale, USA vs. The World. A great night of internationally spirited racing in Auburn Ca.
October 3, 2026
Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway
Auburn Ca.
Michael Kirby Story and Photos
It was a stellar way to end the season with the finale USA vs. The World, a celebration of motorcycle speedway. Though only one rider outside the United States could make the race for The World team due to scheduling racing conflicts overseas, the racing at Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway in Auburn Saturday night was one for the books. Riders from our track and a few riders that have raced in Europe rounded out the World team and the racing was excellent. The outcome was the closest of any USA vs. The World meetings on record. When the dust settled the USA had their hands full coming from behind winning the meeting by one point, 68-67 in the last race.
The World team was led by William Drejer of Denmark an accomplished European speedway rider that made the journey overseas to test his skills in America. Also, on the World team was Wilbur Hancock who began speedway racing at seven-years old and is an skilled rider who has spent some time racing in Europe. Chris Kerr, a professional speedway rider since 2000, also spent some time in Europe racing with several teams and has competed often in USA vs. The World meets. Louie Mersaroli, Fast Friday’s “Iron Man” earned the name by winning the 25-lap main event several times joined the team. Alex Martin, who just returned to the USA only days ago from riding in Poland was enlisted for The World, and finally joining the team after just finishing in third-place in the AMA National Sidecar Championships last week, Rees Todd filled the last spot.
The American team was loaded with talent. Past AMA National Speedway champions Billy Janniro and Broc Nicol led the team. Solid rider Russell Green who races at Fast Fridays each week of the season filled a spot. Danny Faria, Timmy Dion and Darren Armbruster, also weekly riders each week at Fast Fridays, rounded out the team with talent.
After a riders parade where the team members were introduced to the crowd and a coin toss to decide lane positions was conducted, the racing program began with shouts of “USA, USA, USA,” from the full crowd. The riders rode in 18 heat races scoring points for finishing order. Three for first-place, two for second-place, one for third-place and zero for fourth place.
The racing was fairly tight in the heats. In the first three heats Drejer and Mersaroli scored first-place finishes for The World and Janniro notched a first-place finish for the USA. The score after three heats was 11-7 with the World leading. In heats three through six the racing was still very even with Janniro and Nicol scoring three points each with first-place finishes. Hancock scored a first-place finish for The World, the score still just four points apart with The World still leading 20-16.
Heats 9-12 brought the score closer as the USA team scored two first-place finishes from Janniro again and Green. The World got a first-place finish from Kerr but with a couple of second-place finishes from team members the USA pulled to within two points of The World leaving the score 28-26 closer but with The World still leading by a slim two points.
After heats 10-12 the score remained just two points apart The World 37-USA 35 with Janniro and Nicol again combining for three points each. In heats 13-15 The World increased the score and their lead to a four point difference with first-place finishes from Drejer and Kerr.
In heat 13 The World delivered a one-two punch from Drejer and Hancock with first and second-place finishes and five points for The World leaving the score at 52-44. The World now was leading by the widest margin of the evening an eight point difference. This allowed the use of a joker for the USA. Stated in the rules a team down six points or more can use a one-time “Joker” where the score is doubled for that one rider in a race. The USA appointed Nicol the joker, which he made maximum use scoring a win in heat 14 and picking up six points. The score after heats 13-15 stood at 59-52 The World still leading going into the bonus round and the grand final.
In the bonus round the scoring increases to 4 3 2 0 for finishing position and the grand final the scoring increases to 6 5 4 0, for finishing order so the score can drastically change and with the score so close the winner of the meeting could go either way.
The teams could pick the riders to the bonus round and grand final. In the bonus round The World sent Hancock and Mersaroli and the USA sent Green and Dion. Green scored a win and Dion a third-place finish for the USA and six for points. Mersaroli scored a second-place finish for The World and three points. The score going into the final grand race was 62-58 The World still leading.
Going into the grand final the USA had not led once during the evening, always within a few points though. The World sent Martin and Drejer to the start line and the USA sent Janniro and Nicol to try to reverse the score and take the win. Off the line Nicol the 2025 AMA National Speedway Champion had control and finished first, Martin was second, Janniro was third and Drejer was fourth. With the additional scoring the USA picked up 10 points and The World added five points. The final score the USA winning by a slim one point margin, but a win 68-67. The win puts the total for the series with the USA leading The World 14-10. So stay tuned for the last race of the season next year when the international series continues.
Broc Nicol was the high scorer for the USA with 21 points and Alex Martin was the top scorer for The World with 17 points.
There was also a youth program that included the 250cc and 150cc programs and of course the pee-wee’s. Jameson Hutchinson won the Youth 250cc D1 main event and Colton Cooper won the Youth 250cc D2 main event. Liam Falcon won the Youth 150cc D1/D2 main event, Chance Farrow won the Youth 150cc D1/D2 consolation main and Kaydence Craw won the Youth 150cc D3 main event.
It has been a great season at Fast Friday’s Motorcycle Speedway and the staff and crew at the speedway have done another fantastic job of bringing exciting speedway action to the tricky dirt oval at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn Ca.
Results for USA vs. The World 10-3-2026
USA-68:
Broc Nicol 21, Billy Janniro 18, Russell Green 15, Timmy Dion 7, Darren Armbruster 4, Danny Faria 3
The World-67:
Alex Martin (US) 17, William Drejer (Denmark) 14, Louie Mersaroli (US) 14, Chris Kerr (US) 12, Wilbur Hancock 8, Rees Todd (US) 2
Youth 250cc D1:
1-Jameson Hutchinson, 2-Wesley Rearick, 3-Caden Cavrikas
Youth 250cc D2:
1-Colton Cooper, 2-Leeann Emerson, 3-Leala Farrow
Youth 150cc D1:
1-Liam Falcon, 2-Mason Howell, 3-Logan Kerr, 4-Zander Schroeder
Youth 150cc Consolation:
1-Chance Farrow, 2-Dexter Orlando, 3-Hank Hanaway, 4-Gavin Evans-Seeley
Youth 150cc D2:
1-Kaydence Craw, 2-Kinsley Stephenson, 3-Mason Latham,4-William Bruce
