By: Ryan Evans
Scott Brant's Scratch Main Event victory ended Mike Faria's winning streak at six in front of a large crowd on Harley Night at Costa Mesa Saturday.
Faria's streak ended in the Last Chance Race when he finished second to Brant and failed to qualify for the main. This occurred after a turn one pileup on the first attempt caused Faria to slide into the turn three wall and left the former National Champion feeling dazed.
Brant, who was the last rider to win a Scratch Main before Faria's streak began, made a great start from gate four in the main event and held the lead on the first lap. Gary Hicks gave chase but Brant stretched his lead each lap and won his second Scratch Main of the year. Hicks was second, Dukie Ermolenko finished third, Bobby Schwartz was fourth, and Shawn McConnell finished fifth.
Although one streak came to an end, another continued as Shaun Harmatiuk won his fourth consecutive Handicap Main in an action-packed race that required three starts.
Danny Perkins led the eight-man field for two laps before Justin Boyle went down and brought out the red flag. When the riders lined up again Perkins was caught rolling and was penalized. When the tapes went up again Harmatiuk was at the head of the field with McConnell in hot pursuit. After two laps McConnell made his move for the lead going into turn one. The two rides collided and left Harmatiuk on the ground and Perkins with nowhere to go but into the prone rider and the red flag came out again. The referee ruled that McConnell was at fault. Predictably, McConnell disagreed and made his opinion known before taking his place on the penalty line. The third attempt was all Harmatiuk as the 20 year old cruised the final four laps for his fourth straight victory. Andy Northrup finished second, Eddie Castro was third, McConnell finished fourth, and Brant was fifth.
Rick Valdez jumped into the lead from gate three in the Support Main with Steve Murray hunting him down. Murray patiently waited for his opportunity and found it on the back straight when the wily veteran passed Valdez on the inside. Murray then held off Valdez the rest of the way to get his first victory of 2003. Robert Fiesler was third, John Stunkard finished fourth, and Rich Brock was credited with fifth.
Troy McConnell, Shawn's son, made an auspicious debut by winning both is heat and the Support B Main Event. The second-generation rider led every lap with a smooth style and his proud father and Schwartz were the first to congratulate the 16 year old after his main event victory. Mike McCarthy finished second, Monte McKeon was third, Jim Lavender finished fourth, Mark Baldwin was fifth, and Carl Gazafy finished sixth.
The evening was marred by several crashes, the worst involving the sidecar team of Mike Fontaine and Scott McElroy. The duo hit the pit gate at high speed in a scary-looking accident. Both were down for an extended amount of time and were taken to the hospital.
Next week will busy as many of the riders will be making the trip to Las Vegas on Friday for the Great American Motorcycle Experience at Las Vegas Speedway. The all-scratch event will be held on a 250 yard track inside the 1/2-mile oval. The rider then travel back to Costa Mesa for Saturday's event which will have the Freestyle Motorcycle Jumpers and should bring a large crowd to the world famous bullring oval.
RESULTS Support B Consolation 244 - DeWayne Stark 10 100 - Phil Harmatiuk 20 212 - Steve Dziadus 20 136 - Kim Stevens 10 185 - Keith Mullally 20 198 - Mike Boyle 10 (non starter) Support B Consolation 194 - Tony Bracy 20 193 - Billy Swaim 10 223 - Fred Schmitthammer 10 227 - Mark Robertson 10 169 - Dan Wensloff 10 217 - Jeff Scott 20 (engine failure) Support B Main Event 131 - Troy McConnell 10 113 - Mike McCarthy 20 107 - Monte McKeon 20 102 - Jim Lavender 10 (fell, remounted) 115 - Mark Baldwin 20 (fell) 176 - Carl Gazafy 20 (fell) Support Consolation 200 - Gerry Duttweiler 180 - Malcolm Roe 164 - Rusty Hall 269 - Ed Martinez Suppport Consolation 165 - Randy Kreps 118 - Scott Tidwell 389 - Nate Perkins (fell, remounted) 148 - Chris Metoyer (non starter) Support Last Chance 138 - Rich Brock 117 - Billy Braden 178 - Eloy Medellin 228 - Shane Kump Support Main Event 214 - Steve Murray 293 - Rick Valdez 106 - Robert Fiesler 249 - John Stunkard 138 - Rich Brock (tape exclusion) Handicap Main Event (restarted twice) 139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 30 166 - Andy Northrup 40 14 - Eddie Castro 50 6 - Shawn McConnell 40 (penalty line) 10 - Scott Brant 50 197 - Justin Boyle 20 (penalty line) 89 - Danny Perkins 20 (20 yard penalty) 9 - Mike Faria 50 (non starter) Last Chance (restarted) 10 - Scott Brant 9 - Mike Faria 166 - Andy Northrup 14 - Eddie Castro Scratch Main Event 10 - Scott Brant 3 - Gary Hicks 15 - Dukie Ermolenko 11 - Bobby Schwartz 6 - Shawn McConnell
