Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA
2000 Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa Speedway
August 19, 2000
From Ryan Evans
Ryan Fisher Wins The Handicap and Gary Hicks Takes The Main Event!
Gary Hicks showed that he has regained his early season form by winning the
Scratch Main in front of a near-capacity crowd on a controversial night at Costa Mesa. Shawn McConnell, Bobby Schwartz, and Hicks were lined up in gates one through
three. Schwartz was first from the tapes but McConnell made contact with him
sending him wide into turn one. McConnell led exiting turn two with Hicks
giving chase. Hicks put a wheel under McConnell entering turn three and
gently nudged him aside and assumed the lead. McConnell quickly fell off the
pace as Dukie Ermolenko assumed second and Schwartz was third. Ermolenko
tried to catch Hicks but it was to no avail as Hicks took his third Scratch
Main of the year and his first since injuring himself in May.
Hicks missed several weeks of competition due to broken ribs and a broken
collarbone suffered in a crash in May. His road to recovery was lengthened
during a freak incident in which he injured his foot at Ventura. He has steadily gotten himself back into racing condition and he proved it by
winning the Handicap Main last week and the Scratch Main this week.
In the Handicap Main "Dazzling" Danny Perkins led from the 20 yard line but
was quickly put in the cross hairs of 16 year old Ryan Fisher. The former
three-time Junior National Champion quickly closed the gap between himself
and Perkins. At the close of lap two the young star took control and quickly
made it a race for second place. Hicks was able to get into second on the
third lap but Fisher's lead was insurmountable. Fisher cruised to his first
Southern California main event win of the year followed by Hicks. Eddie Castro finished third, Dukie Ermolenko was fourth, and Andy Northrup was
fifth.
Former Southern California rider John DeFries returned from Utah to claim his
second Support Main of the year. Pat Dwyer took the lead from the tapes as
DeFries and Bentley Barrett quickly gave chase. DeFries relieved Dwyer of
the lead on lap two and was pursued by Barrett. DeFries made his trip worth
it by holding off Barrett for the victory, Shaun Harmatiuk was third, and
Dwyer finished fourth.
In the Support B Main, Randy Kreps led from start to finish to earn his first
main event win of his career. John Stunkard finished second, Philip Williams
was third, and Northern California rider Kevin Fereira was fourth.
The most memorable moment of the evening was an incident involving former
National Champion Chris Manchester. In his Scratch Heat, he and Gary Hicks came together in turn one and forced a restart. Hicks was penalized 20 yards
as the cause and after an extended period of time, Manchester took his place
at the tapes. He was then informed that he was being penalized 20 yards for
exceeding the two-minute limit. Manchester pleaded his case and, upon
realizing he wasn't going to persuade the referee to change his mind, rode
through the tapes and circled the track before taking his position at the 20
yard line. He was then informed that he was excluded for his method of
protest. This prompted Manchester to ride through the tapes again on his way
to the pits.
Just when all seemed to be calm, Manchester emerged from the pits and ran
across the track to plead his case. He was then blind sided by a member of
the infield crew prompting a wild scene in which several more infield crew
members, track officials, and even Manchester's father and his girlfriend
became involved.
When all had calmed down, Manchester, his father, and his girlfriend were
escorted from the track. Needless to say, Manchester took no part in the
Handicap Main, for which he had already qualified for.
It was an unfortunate incident for any rider, especially one of Manchester's
caliber, to be involved in. Hopefully, it will not leave a black eye on the
sport, although judging by the crowd reaction it may very well sell more
tickets as the crowd seemed thoroughly entertained by the whole matter.
We'll have to see what kind of penalty or fine will be levied against
Manchester.
Next week is the annual Dan Nay Night. Dan Nay is a very dedicated fan who
pays tribute to the riders one evening each year by paying every heat winner
$100 out of his own pocket in addition to the purse provided by the promoter.
RESULTS
Support B Consolation
211 - Doug Lupo 20
148 - Chris Metoyer 20
174 - Tomasz Hampel 10
168 - Howard Larson 20 (fell)
178 - Eloy Medellin 20 (penalty line)
269 - Ed Martinez 20 (penalty line) (fell, excluded)
Support B Main
165 - Randy Kreps 10
249 - John Stunkard 10
239 - Philip Williams 10
143n - Kevin Fereira 10
132 - David Moore 10 (fell)
125 - Johnny Lupo 10 (fell)
Support Main
316 - John DeFries
300 - Bentley Barrett
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
231 - Pat Dwyer
Handicap Main
36 - Ryan Fisher 40 yard
3 - Gary Hicks 50
14 - Eddie Castro 40
15 - Dukie Ermolenko 50
166 - Andy Northrup 40
6 - Shawn McConnell 50
189 - Danny Perkins 20
130 - Chris Manchester 50
Scratch Main
3 - Gary Hicks
15 - Dukie Ermolenko
11 - Bobby Schwartz
166 - Andy Northrup
6 - Shawn McConnell
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