Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Scott Brant won the main event to take the Jack Milne Cup home for the second year in a row at Costa Mesa Saturday night.

Brant was lined up in the dreaded number four spot, sandwiched in between two-time Milne Cup winner Gary Hicks in gate three and 1998 Milne Cup winner Bobby Schwartz, who was lined up on the outside. Brant got the jump on the field and immmediatly cut to the pole in turn one. A little turn one contact from the riders behind him allowed Brant to get a comfortable lead on the back straight. Hicks emerged from turn two with second place and chased Brant. There was little that Hicks, the grand-nephew of Jack Milne, could do as Brant pulled away for the win. Hicks had to settle for second, Randy DiFrancesco was third, Eddie Castro finished fourth, and Schwartz was fifth.

The Handicap Main had a trio of California's younger riders lined up in the front. Northern California's Matt Browne was lined up at the tapes, having transfered to the main in his first appearance at Costa Mesa, and Bryan Yarrow and Shaun Harmatiuk were lined up on the 20 yard line. Browne led the pack into turn one while Yarrow was able to beat Harmatiuk and grab second. Browne went wide into turn three and Yarrow took over the lead. Harmatiuk was able to pass Browne for second on lap two, but Yarrow, making his first appearance at Costa Mesa since competing at the Under 21 Quarterfinal in Poole, England, was already beginning to pull away. The field began to stack up behind Harmatiuk as he was clinging to second. Meanwhile, Yarrow's margin grew increasingly larger with each lap. Yarrow's lead was a full straightaway as he took the white flag, but DiFrancesco fell while running third and forced several riders to take evasive action, including Brant, who had to lay his bike down. Yarrow raced to the checkered flag followed by a distant Harmatiuk, while the referee had to sort out the finishing places behind them. DiFrancesco was ruled to be the cause of the stoppage and given last. Brant was declared third, Andy Northrup was fourth, and Mike Faria was fifth.

The Support Main Event was full of bumping as the five riders refused to give an inch in the first corner. 2002 Support Points Champion John Stunkard was a casualty as he slid off in turn two. The race continued and Rick Valdez was the first rider down the back straight. Valdez left all the suspense in turn one as he dominated the race and cruised to a convincing win. Scott Tidwell finished second, Rudy Laurer was third, Gerry Duttweiler finished fourth, and Stunkard was credited with fifth.

Nathan Smelser took the lead at the beginning of the Support B Main Event and held it until he fell in turn two on the third lap. This left Tony Bracy and Mike Boyle to battle for the win. Bracy was faster on the straights, but Boyle was smoother in the corners. They battled all the way to the checkered flag with Bracy taking a close victory. Carl Gazafy was third, Keith Mullally finished fourth, John Prosser was fifth, and Smelser was sixth.

In the Youth Division, Skyler Greyson dominated the action all night as he won all three heats and the main event with solid riding. Jason Ramirez finished second in the main event, Tamara Krips was third, Tyler Odom was fourth, Dario Galvin finished fifth, and Dylan Stark was sixth.

In a special match race, Gary Hicks and promoter Brad Oxley competed in a best-of-three match race on JAPs. The first start lasted one corner as they made contact and Oxley went down! Oxley was all smiles and got revenge on the restart by defeating Hicks. After a great battle in the second race, Hicks took the win. The final race lasted a half lap as Oxley's machine began to sputter. The crowd, and the other riders, enjoyed the exhibition as well as the noise from the straight pipes!

The Jack Milne Cup honors the late 1937 World Speedway Champion. Milne was a fixture at the race track and was partly responsible, along with Harry Oxley, for the bringing speedway to the Orange County Fairgrounds in 1969.

RESULTS
   
Support B Main Event
194 - Tony Bracy      		20
198 - Mike Boyle                20
176 - Carl Gazafy           	20
185 - Keith Mullally         	10
235 - John Prosser         	10   (fell, remounted)
188 - Nathan Smelser     	10   (fell)

Support Consolation
269 - Ed Martinez
178 - Eloy Medellin
332 - Brian Hunt
112 - Bryan Baichtal
174 - Tomasz Hampel	(fell)

Support Consolation
228 - Shane Kump
165 - Randy Kreps
164 - Rusty Hall
339 - Sam Stavros

Support Last Chance
249 - John Stunkard
114 - Paul Hitchcock
117 - Billy Braden
389 - Nate Perkins    	(fell)

Support Main Event  (restarted)
293 - Rick Valdez
118 - Scott Tidwell
182 - Rudy Laurer
200 - Gerry Duttweiler	(fell, remounted)
249 - John Stunkard   	(fell)

Youth Main Event
  2 - Skyler Greyson
 66 - Jason Ramirez
223 - Tamara Krips
146 - Tyler Odom
145 - Dario Galvin     	(retired)
 19 - Dylan Stark      	(non starter)

Handicap Main Event
  8n - Bryan Yarrow       	20
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk         	20
 10 - Scott Brant               50
166 - Andy Northrup             30
  9 - Mike Faria                50
 29n - Matt Browne               0
  6 - Shawn McConnell           40
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco         30	(fell)

Last Chance
 14 - Eddie Castro
  6 - Shawn McConnell
  9 - Mike Faria
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko

Jack Milne Cup Final
 10 - Scott Brant
  3 - Gary Hicks
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco
 14 - Eddie Castro
 11 - Bobby Schwartz

Jack Milne Cup Champions
1998 - Bobby Schwartz         2001 - Gary Hicks
1999 - Gary Hicks             2002 - Scott Brant
2000 - Charlie Venegas