By: Ryan Evans
Former National Champion Chris Manchester won the Spring Classic in dramatic fashion Saturday at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.
Manchester entered the main event undefeated and had first choice of starting position and selected gate two. Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz picked second and he chose the pole. Defending National Champion Scott Brant then picked gate five, Randy DiFrancesco picked gate three, which left Charlie Venegas with gate four.
Venegas went into the tapes on the first attempt and was sent to the penalty line. On the restart it was Schwartz who jumped into the lead with Manchester and Brant battling behind him for second. Manchester gained control of second and went after Schwartz. Manchester was planted on the leader's back tire when Schwartz drifted off the inside line exiting turn two. This allowed Manchester to put a wheel underneath the former World Pairs Champion. As they took the white flag Manchester went by on the inside and secured the lead entering turn one and led all the way to the checkered flag. Schwartz had to settle for second, Brant finished third, Venegas was fourth, and DiFrancesco finished fifth.
The Spring Classic was an all-scratch format with three rounds of four-man scratch heats that were used to qualify ten riders into two five-man semis. The top two finishers in each semi qualified for the main event with third and fourth transferring to the Last Chance. The winner of the Last Chance completed the field for the five-man main event.
Round one began with "Cowboy" Bobby Krips scoring an impressive win over Shawn McConnell. Brant was dominant in race two with a victory over DiFrancesco. "Fast" Eddie Castro took race three ahead of Venegas. Manchester closed out the first round with a victory over Schwartz.
Forty-seven year old Schwartz earned his first win of the night by beating McConnell to start round two. Brant made it two for two by beating Shaun Harmatiuk in race 10. DiFrancesco was victorious over Krips in the next race. Manchester kept pace with Brant by defeating Castro to end the round.
Castro began the final round with a win. Schwartz handed Brant his first defeat of the night in race 16. Venegas was an easy winner in race 17. Manchester won his third consecutive race in the final heat and the only undefeated rider.
Schwartz exploded from gate five in the first semi and trapped the field in turn one. He then held off all of Brant's challenges to earn the win and a spot in the main event along with Brant. Manchester made it four in a row by winning the second semi and DiFrancesco followed him into the main event by keeping Castro at bay. Venegas won the Last Chance to book the final spot in the main.
Nate Perkins won his heat, his semi, and the Support Main Event to begin his 2004 season in impressive fashion. John Stunkard finished second, Steve Murray was third, 16 year old Dario Galvin was fourth, and Rudy Laurer was fifth.
Brian Starr made an auspicious debut at Costa Mesa by winning his heat race and the Support B Main Event. Carl Gazafy was second, Mike Boyle finished third, DeWayne Stark was fourth, Rohn Zellner finished fifth, and Tommy Kistler was sixth.
Jason Ramirez scored an impressive victory in the First Division Youth Main Event. Ricky Wells finished second, Skyler Greyson was third, and Tamara Krips finished fourth. In the Second Division Youth Main, Gino Manzares won in his Costa Mesa debut. Nathan Galvin was second, Joey Holt finished third, and Ricky Valdez was fourth.
The Spring Classic was originally scheduled for April 17, but was postponed due to rain. Costa Mesa officially begins its 36th season at the world famous oval on May 1 with the 2004 Season Opener.
RESULTS Support B Consolation (restarted) 107 - Monte McKeon 10 144 - Tom Hamilton 20 212 - Steve Dziadus 20 169 - Dan Wensloff 10 193 - Billy Swaim 10 185 - Keith Mullally 20 (fell) Support B Main Event (restarted twice) 248 - Brian Starr 10 176 - Carl Gazafy 20 198 - Mike Boyle 20 244 - DeWayne Stark 10 163 - Rohn Zellner 20 237 - Tommy Kistler 10 Support Consolation 117 - Billy Braden 113 - Mike McCarthy 227 - Mark Robertson 100 - Phil Harmatiuk Support Last Chance 249 - John Stunkard 93n - J.T. Mabry 106 - Robert Fiesler 165 - Randy Kreps Support Main Event 389 - Nate Perkins 249 - John Stunkard 214 - Steve Murray 145 - Dario Galvin 182 - Rudy Laurer (fell) Youth Second Division Main Event 21 - Gino Manzares 134 - Nathan Galvin\ 114 - Joey Holt 5 - Ricky Valdez Youth First Division Main Event 66 - Jason Ramirez 142 - Ricky Wells 2 - Skyler Greyson 223 - Tamara Krips First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T 1 - Scott Brant 3 3 2 8 6 - Shawn McConnell 2 2 1 5 11 - Bobby Schwartz 2 3 3 8 12 - Randy DiFrancesco 2 3 2 7 14 - Eddie Castro 3 2 3 8 18 - Justin Boyle 1 1 0 2 23n - Mark Carrillo 1 1 2 4 24 - Bobby Krips 3 2 2 7 43 - Charlie Venegas 2 1 3 6 89 - Danny Perkins 0 1 1 1 112n - Devin Defreece 1 0 1 2 130 - Chris Manchester 3 3 3 9 139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 1 2 1 4 230 - Doug Greyson 0 0 0 0 239 - Buck Blair F 0 0 0 293 - Rick Valdez 0 1 0 1 Race Results 1: Krips, McConnell, Carrillo, Greyson (fell, remounted) 2: Brant, DiFrancesco, Boyle, Valdez (fell, remounted) 3: Castro, Venegas, Defreece, Blair 4: Manchester, Schwartz, Harmatiuk, Perkins 9: Schwartz, McConnell, Boyle, Defreece 10: Brant, Harmatiuk, Carrillo, Blair 11: DiFrancesco, Krips, Venegas, Perkins 12: Manchester, Castro, Valdez, Greyson (fell, remounted) 15: Castro, Krips, McConnell, Blair 16: Schwartz, Brant, Perkins, Valdez 17: Venegas, Carrillo, Defreece, Greyson 18: Manchester, DiFrancesco, Harmatiuk, Boyle Semi #1: Schwartz, Brant, Venegas, Carrillo, Krips (fell) Semi #2: Manchester, DiFrancesco, Castro, McConnell Last Chance: Venegas, McConnell, Carrillo, Castro (two minutes) Scratch Main Event 130 - Chris Manchester 11 - Bobby Schwartz 1 - Scott Brant 43 - Charlie Venegas 12 - Randy DiFrancesco
