Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2001 Orange County Harley/Buell Motorcycle Blowout!
Costa Mesa Speedway
May 19, 2001
From Ryan Evans

Three-time U.S. National Champion Flyin' Mike Faria took home all of the gold Saturday night as he captured both main events in front of a large crowd at Costa Mesa on Orange County Harley Davidson/Buell Night.

The field for the Scratch Main was very strong. Faria was on the pole, Josh Larsen was in gate two, Bobby Schwartz was in three, Gary Hicks in four, and Chris Manchester, seeking his fourth consecutive Scratch Main victory at Costa Mesa, was on the outside.

The field gated evenly, but coming from the pole gave Faria the advantage in turn one. Larsen spun in turn one eliminating him from contention. Faria held the lead with Manchester on the outside and Hicks and Schwartz challenging down low. Manchester's line was proving fatal to his chances as he couldn't find traction and began drifting backward. Hicks secured second place at the end of lap one and began getting closer to Faria. The efforts of Hicks would prove to be futile as he could never seriously challenge Faria, who took his second Scratch Main Event of the season, with Hicks taking second, Schwartz was third, Manchester was fourth, and Larsen was fifth. Faria wasn't finished though, as he was also in the Handicap Main.

Brian Thompson started from the 10 yard line and led the field into turn one. He immediately felt the pressure as Faria was right behind him at the end of lap one. Faria supplanted Thompson as the leader as they finished the second lap. Josh Larsen followed Faria underneath Thompson to take second. With the lead secured, Faria cruised the final six laps to take a comfortable victory and became the first rider of the season to record double main event victories. Larsen remained in second to the finish, Randy DiFrancesco finished third after starting from the penalty line, Eddie Castro was fourth, and Shawn McConnell was fifth.

The Denim Doctor Challenge came down to Manchester and Schwartz after DiFrancesco, McConnell, and then Dukie Ermolenko had been eliminated in successive of one-lap races. Schwartz was in gate four and Manchester in gate five for the two-lap race. Manchester held a slight advantage into turn one but the two riders exited turn two together. Manchester found just enough traction on the outside to pull ahead of Schwartz at the end of lap one and held him off the take the victory.

Rudy Laurer had a terrific gate and took the early lead in the Support Main Event. Paul Hitchcock moved into second on the second lap and set his sights on Laurer. Hitchcock closed in on Laurer in the final corner, but couldn't quite get him. The victory was Laurer's first of the season. Gerry Duttweiler finished third and Sean Larned was fourth.

Shane Kump was the lone rider from the 10 yard line and used that advantage to take the lead in the Support B Main Event. Robert Fiesler emerged from the pack to take second and become the only challenger to Kump's lead. Kump looked to be on the verge of his first Costa Mesa victory when a slight bobble allowed Fiesler the chance to snatch the victory away. The win was Fiesler's second of the season. Kump held on to second, Rick Valdez was third, Rohn Zellner was fourth, Tomasz Hampel was fifth, and Eloy Medellin was sixth.
Orange County Harley/Buell night is immensely popular as proven by the large crowd Saturday night. One of the reasons that it is so popular are the Harley races. The Harley races feature people racing their Harleys, most of which are street legal, around the legendary Costa Mesa oval. Support B rider Mike Boyle was victorious in one of the Harley main events.

There will be no speedway at Costa Mesa next week due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Racing will resume the following Saturday, June 2 when the freestyle motocross jumpers will be making the first of two appearances at the track.

There will be speedway in Southern California, however, as the Arrowhead Motor Speedway in San Bernardino will make its debut on Thursday night. National Champion Charlie Venegas is the promoter of the new race track. After Opening Night, San Bernardino will continue on Wednesday Nights through August 29.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation
296 - Tom Rossano              10
103 - Brent Smith            20
198 - Mike Boyle             20
142 - Andy Jugan               10
277 - Mike Gannon              10
123 - Chad Newlee            20

Support B Main Event
106 - Robert Fiesler         20
228 - >Shane Kump               10
293 - Rick Valdez            20
163 - Rohn Zellner           20
174 - Tomasz Hampel          20  (fell, remounted)
178 - Eloy Medellin          20  (fell, remounted)

Support Main Event
182 - Rudy Laurer                 
114 - Paul Hitchcock
200 - Gerry Duttweiler
226 - Sean Larned

Denim Doctor Challenge
130 - Chris Manchester
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco

Handicap Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria               40
  4 - Josh Larsen              50
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco        40  (penalty line)
 14 - Eddie Castro             40
  6 - Shawn McConnell          40
130 - Chris Manchester         50
 11 - Bobby Schwartz           40
 57 - Brian Thompson           10

Scratch Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria
  3 - Gary Hicks
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
130 - Chris Manchester
  4 - Josh Larsen            (fell, remounted)