Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Former National Champion "Flyin" Mike Faria won the Scratch Main in front of a standing room only crowd at Costa Mesa on Saturday.

Faria was lined up on the pole for the main. Scott Brant was in gate two, Bryan Yarrow, in his first career Costa Mesa Scratch Main, was in gate three, with Dukie Ermolenko in gate four and Andy Northrup on the outside. When the tapes went up Faria was first to turn one and Brant quickly tucked in behind. Brant shadowed Faria's inside line for two laps before making an attempt to pass on the outside on the third lap. When the outside didn't yield the necessary traction, Brant settled in behind Faria who went on to the victory. Yarrow finished third, Northrup was fourth, and Ermolenko finished fifth.

The format was the same as what was used in the Olympique and the Fair Derby. Three rounds of five-man preliminary heats with the first round being scratch racing. Rounds two and three use an earned-handicap format in which the rider is handicapped 10 yards for every rider he beat in the previous round. The top ten point scorers transferred to the two five-man semis which reverted back to the scratch format. The top two finishers in each semi transferred to the Scratch Main Event with third and fourth transferring to the Last Chance. The winner of the Last Chance completed the field for the five-man Scratch Main Event.

The evening began with Shaun Harmatiuk getting the gate, but giving up the lead to Gary Hicks after drifting wide in turn two. After being pressured for two laps Hicks was passed by Brant who led the rest of the way. Faria was an easy winner in race two. Yarrow used a great start to get the win in race three. Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz, one day shy of his 47th birthday, closed out the round with a win.

Round two began with Brant giving an excellent effort to win from the 40 yard line. Justin Boyle started at the front of race 13 and remained there to get the win ahead of Bobby Krips. Jim Estes began at the tapes and, despite a lot of pressure and a ferocious battle behind him, was first to the checkered flag. Doug Greyson kept the string of zero yard winners alive by starting in the front and staying there to win the final race of round two.

Eddie Castro started round three with a win. Shawn McConnell, after struggling in the first two rounds, won race 20. Faria regained his winning form in race 21. Krips closed out the preliminary heats by passing Hicks on the final lap to snatch the four points and the victory.

The first semi was decided in turn one as Faria bolted to the front at the start and cruised to the win with Yarrow taking second. Brant used the pole to his advantage by getting the start and running away with the win in the second semi and Ermolenko getting second. The first attempt at the Last Chance ended in turn one when Castro and Schwartz came together in turn one. Castro was penalized for being the cause of the crash. On the restart, Northrup held off Harmatiuk to get the win and the final spot in the main.

Doug Benjamin won his heat, his semi, and then made it look easy in the Support Main by getting a great start and increasing his lead with every lap for a decisive win in the Support Main. Chris Metoyer finished second, Dave Delbridge was third, Steve Murray finished fourth, and Randy Kreps was credited with fifth.

In the Support B Main, Michael Novratil led for the first lap, but Tony Bracy went by on the inside as they entered turn one. Novratil fought hard to regain his lead and kept the pressure on Bracy. Bracy didn't cave in to Novratil's assault, though, and held on for the win. Rich Brock finished third, Mark Baldwin was fourth, Steve Dziadus finished fifth, and Joel Kath was sixth.

The return of speedway to the world famous bullring was welcomed with the largest crowd of the season. The crowd was big in size and energy which provided a great atmosphere. The riders responded by providing some entertaining racing. The performance of the Freestyle Jumpers was capped by one of them performing the first backflip completed at the venue. One notable attendee was Harry Oxley, who brought speedway to Costa Mesa along with 1937 World Champion Jack Milne, and had to be pleased with what he saw.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation
244 - DeWayne Stark		10
198 - Mike Boyle                10
227 - Mark Robertson             0
136 - Kim Stevens               20
107 - Monte McKeon              20   (fell)
188 - Nathan Smelser            10   (fell)

Support B Main Event
194 - Tony Bracy                10
181 - Michael Novratil           0
138 - Rich Brock                20
115 - Mark Baldwin              10
212 - Steve Dziadus             10   (fell, remounted)
184 - Joel Kath                  0   (fell)

Support Consolation
389 - Nate Perkins
228 - Shane Kump
161 - Hector Quevedo
117 - Billy Braden     (fell)

Support Last Chance
214 - Steve Murray
180 - Malcolm Roe
164 - Rusty Hall
178 - Eloy Medellin   (fell)

Support Main Event
128 - Doug Benjamin
148 - Chris Metoyer
338 - Dave Delbridge
214 - Steve Murray
165 - Randy Kreps

First Division Scoring            1    2    3           T
  3 - Gary Hicks                  3    1    3           7
  6 - Shawn McConnell             1    1    4           6
  8n - Bryan Yarrow               4    3    3          10
  9 - Mike Faria                  4    2    4          10
 10 - Scott Brant                 4    4    2          10
 11 - Bobby Schwartz              4    2    1           7
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco           1    1    2           4
 14 - Eddie Castro                3    2    4           9
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko             3    1    3           7
 24 - Bobby Krips                 2    3    4           9
 29 - George Fox                  2    F    0           2
 29n - Matt Browne                0    2    1           3
 56 - Jim Estes                   F    4    2           6
 64 - Paul Colston                2    0    1           3
 89 - Danny Perkins               1    0    1           2
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk             2    3    3           8
166 - Andy Northrup               3    3    2           8
197 - Justin Boyle                F    4    0           4
230 - Doug Greyson                0    4    0           4
293 - Rick Valdez                 1    0    F           1

Race Results
 1: Brant, Hicks, Harmatiuk, Valdez (fell, remounted), Boyle (fell)
 2: Faria, Northrup, Colston, McConnell (fell, remounted), Estes (fell)
 3: Yarrow, Castro, Fox, DiFrancesco, Greyson
 4: Schwartz, Ermolenko, Krips, Perkins, Browne (fell, remounted)
12: Brant [40], Yarrow [40], Browne [0], Ermolenko [30], Colston [20]
13: Boyle [0], Krips [20], Faria [40], Hicks [30], Fox [20] (fell)
14: Estes [0], Harmatiuk [20], Castro [30], McConnell [10], Perkins [10]
15: Greyson [0], Northrup [30], Schwartz [40], DiFrancesco [10], Valdez [0] (fell, remounted)
19: Castro [20], Harmatiuk [30], Brant [40], Browne [20], Fox [0] (fell, remounted)
20: McConnell [10], Ermolenko [10], Northrup [30], Perkins [0], Boyle [0] (fell, remounted)
21: Faria [20], Yarrow [30], Estes [40], Schwartz [20] (retired), Valdez [0] (fell)
22: Krips [30], Hicks [10], DiFrancesco [10], Colston [0], Greyson [0] (fell, remounted)
Semi #1: Faria, Yarrow, Northrup, Harmatiuk, Hicks
Semi #2: Brant, Ermolenko, Castro, Schwartz, Krips
Last Chance:(restarted) Northrup, Harmatiuk, Castro (penalty line), Schwartz

Scratch Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria
 10 - Scott Brant
  8n - Bryan Yarrow
166 - Andy Northrup
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko