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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, CA
Medieval Times Night
Costa Mesa Speedway
September 21, 2002
By: Ryan Evans
Scott Brant used a great start to take the lead and win the Scratch Main at Costa Mesa on Saturday night.
Brant drew the outside for the main event and it looked to be a bad omen when he and Eddie Castro collided in turn one and brought both riders to the ground. The referee ordered a complete restart. When they lined up again, Castro was antsy and was penalized for moving at the start. On the third attempt Brant trapped the field from the outside to take the lead. He was followed closely by Josh Larsen throughout the four-lap race, but Brant wasn't about to relinquish the lead and he was first to the checkered flag. Larsen finished second, Shawn McConnell was third, Bobby Schwartz was fourth, and Eddie Castro was fifth.
John DeFries began his first Handicap Main at Costa Mesa from the front of the field. DeFries held the lead for one lap before falling inexplicably as he entered turn one. This brought out the red flag and forced a restart. This left last week's winner, 2000 Junior National Champion Bryan Yarrow, at the front of the field. Yarrow was pursued by Dukie Ermolenko, but he wouldn't allow him to get within striking distance. Yarrow kept a comfortable lead for all seven laps and cruised to his third Costa Mesa Handicap Main victory of the year. Ermolenko held on to second, McConnell was third, Larsen was fourth, and Brant was fifth.
The most entertainment of the night was found in the Support Main, although a lot of the entertainment wasn't during the race. On the first start, David Lynch and John Stunkard, who are battling for the season points title, entered turn one together, made contact, and Stunkard went down. Lynch was ruled the cause of the restart and was penalized. Lynch vehemently pleaded his case, but had to take his place on the penalty line.
The second attempt ended when Rudy Laurer went down, which forced Stunkard to take evasive action and he went down in turn two in the process. At first, it appeared as though the referee Bryan Galvin was going to penalize Stunkard, but upon realizing that Laurer had gone down first, he penalized Laurer. Once Lynch realized that Stunkard wasn't being penalized, he voiced his opinion again. When the argument ended, Lynch decided to throw dirt on the referee by spinning his tire on the infield. The ref then threw Lynch out of the race and all of the fun really began. Lynch immediately jumped off his machine and went to chest-to-chest with Galvin and there was quite a heated exchange. Several people came over to restrain Lynch, but that didn't stop him from attempting to charge into the ref's box. Finally, order was restored and Lynch was escorted off the track.
The third attempt saw Billy Braden get the best start and he held the lead until he got to turn four of the third lap and he went down. At the same time that Braden went down, Stunkard went down in turn three, but it was unrelated to Braden's mishap. This left Rod Lenz to take the lead and he took the win. Stunkard remounted to take second, Braden was credited with third, Laurer was fourth, and Lynch was fifth.
Eloy Medellin put together four smooth laps and was able to outrun last week's winner, Steve Murray, to the finish line. DeWayne Stark was third, Mark Baldwin finished fourth, Steve Dziadus was fifth, and Bryan Baichtal was credited with sixth.
Miles Calvin assumed the lead on the first lap when he passed Jason Ramirez and he ran away with the Junior Main Event victory. Krystal Cramer finished second, Dario Galvin was third, Ramirez was fourth, and Skyler Greyson was fifth.
This Saturday brings the return of the Freestyle Motocross Jumpers to the world famous bullring. The Freestyle Jumpers always attract a standing room only crowd and display all of their innovative tricks. It is strongly suggested that anyone attending get there early.
RESULTS
Support B Consolation
102 - Jim Lavender 10
227 - Mark Robertson 10
Support B Consolation
103 - Brent Smith 20
107 - Monte McKeon 20
176 - Carl Gazafy 10
169 - Dan Wensloff 10
126 - Doug Lupo 20
197 - Kim Stevens 20
Support B Main Event (restarted)
178 - Eloy Medellin 20
214 - Steve Murray 10
244 - DeWayne Stark 10
115 - Mark Baldwin 10
212 - Steve Dziadus 10
112 - Bryan Baichtal 20 (fell)
Support Consolation
161 - Hector Quevedo
296 - Tom Rossano
174 - Tomasz Hampel
Support Consolation
240 - Hideaki Ota
163 - Rohn Zellner
133 - Craig Collier (tape penalty)
118 - Scott Tidwell (fell)
Support Consolation
338 - Dave Delbridge
165 - Randy Kreps
180 - Malcolm Roe
228 - Shane Kump
Support Last Chance (restarted twice)
196 - Rod Lenz
269 - Ed Martinez
106 - Robert Fiesler
293 - Rick Valdez (fell, excluded)
Support Main Event (restarted twice)
196 - Rod Lenz
249 - John Stunkard (fell, remounted)
117 - Billy Braden (fell)
182 - Rudy Laurer (excluded)
131 - David Lynch (excluded)
Junior Main Event
99 - Miles Calvin 10
27 - Krystal Cramer 10
5 - Dario Galvin 10
66 - Jason Ramirez 0
2 - Skyler Greyson 10 (retired)
Handicap Main Event
8n - Bryan Yarrow 20
15 - Dukie Ermolenko 30
6 - Shawn McConnell 40
2 - Josh Larsen 50
10 - Scott Brant 50
14 - Eddie Castro 40
316 - John DeFries 10 (fell, remounted)
166 - Andy Northrup 30 (non starter)
Last Chance
6 - Shawn McConnell
12 - Randy DiFrancesco
15 - Dukie Ermolenko
166 - Andy Northrup (engine failure)
Scratch Main Event
10 - Scott Brant
2 - Josh Larsen
6 - Shawn McConnell
11 - Bobby Schwartz
14 - Eddie Castro (tape penalty) (fell, remounted)
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