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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Warren Russell Cup
September 18,2004 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans
Former National Champion "Flyin" Mike Faria took home the Warren Russell Cup after winning all five of his races at Costa Mesa on Saturday.
Faria started on the pole and, despite a good start by Chris Manchester in gate three, took the lead on the back straight. Manchester pursued Faria closely, but couldn't get by. As they took the white flag, Manchester shredded his primary chain and ended his race prematurely. Andy Northrup took over second but had nothing for Faria, who raced away with the win. Shawn McConnell was third, Bobby Schwartz, finished fourth, and Manchester was credited with fifth.
Round one of the scratch heats began with Schwartz getting his first victory of the night ahead of McConnell and Bryan Yarrow. Northrup held off Dukie Ermolenko and Randy DiFrancesco to win race two. Manchester was dominant in his race three victory. Faria ended the first round with an easy win over Eddie Castro after the race was restarted twice.
The second round started with Manchester getting his second victory and Northrup taking second. Schwartz made it two for two by beating Buck Blair in the next race. Ermolenko defeated Castro and Nate Perkins to win race 14. Faria closed out round two with his second win.
Billy Hiles held off fellow Northern California rider Chris Kerr to begin the final round of heats. Schwartz kept his score perfect with a victory ahead of Castro. McConnell earned his first win by holding off Manchester in race 21. Faria ended the third round with his third consecutive win.
In the first semi, Schwartz and Manchester got locked together and each rider slowed dramatically. When they untangled, Schwartz secured second. McConnell ran away with the win and Schwartz took the other transfer to the main. Faria was an easy winner in the second semi and Northrup took second. Manchester won the Last Chance easily and booked the final spot in the main event.
Carl Gazafy took the lead at the start of the Support Main, but a crash by Billy Braden forced a restart. On the second try Eloy Medellin went down and brought out the red flag again. On the third attempt, Gazafy jumped into the lead again, but was passed by Steve Lewotsky who was making his first appearance at Costa Mesa in over 20 years. Lewotsky raced in Southern California in the 70's, retired, moved to Northern California, and unretired last year. He was well on his way to victory, but bobbled in the final corner and allowed Hideaki Ota to steal the victory in the final yards before the finish line. Braden was third, Gazafy finished fourth, and Medellin was fifth.
Steve Dziadus was the leader of the Support B Main Event on the first lap, but a crash by Rusty Hall brought out the red flag. Mark Sincavage jumped into the lead on the restart, but Dziadus stalked him before making the pass at the end of the first lap. It was smooth sailing from there as Dziadus took an easy win. Sincavage held on to second, Kim Stevens was third, Jim Lavender finished fourth, Damon Barry was fifth, and Rusty Hall finished sixth.
The Youth Main Event was full of action as initial leader Ricky Valdez was passed by Gino Manzares on the back straight. Valdez didn't give up and took the lead back at the end of the first lap. Jason Ramirez went by Valdez in the fourth corner of the second lap to take the lead. Ramirez could feel the presence of Valdez, but never relinquished the lead and was first to the checkered flag. Manzares was third and Joey Holt finished fourth.
RESULTS
Youth Main Event
66 - Jason Ramirez
5 - Ricky Valdez
21 - Gino Manzares
114 - Joey Holt
Support B Consolation
198 - Mike Boyle 20
206n - Greg Howell 20
100 - Phil Harmatiuk 20
185 - Keith Mullally 20 (fell, remounted)
308 - Hugh Randolph 10 (fell)
223 - Fred Schmitthammer 10 (non starter)
Support B Main Event (restarted)
212 - Steve Dziadus 10
213 - Mark Sincavage 10
136 - Kim Stevens 20
102 - Jim Lavender 10
150 - Damon Barry 10
164 - Rusty Hall 20 (fell, excluded)
Support Consolation
196 - Rod Lenz
248 - Brian Starr
113n - Rachalle Kerr
269 - Ed Martinez
Support Last Chance
117 - Billy Braden
182 - Rudy Laurer
106 - Robert Fiesler
118 - Scott Tidwell
Support Main Event (restarted twice)
240 - Hideaki Ota
190n - Steve Lewotsky
117 - Billy Braden (penalty line)
176 - Carl Gazafy
178 - Eloy Medellin (penalty line)
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
6 - Shawn McConnell 3 1 4 8
8n - Bryan Yarrow 2 2 F 4
9 - Mike Faria 4 4 4 12
11 - Bobby Schwartz 4 4 4 12
12 - Randy DiFrancesco 2 2 1 5
14 - Eddie Castro 3 3 3 9
15 - Dukie Ermolenko 3 4 1 8
18 - Justin Boyle 2 1 2 5
27n - Chris Kerr 3 1 3 7
29 - George Fox 2 0 N 2
37 - Denny Scopellite 0 0 0 0
39 - Buck Blair 1 3 3 7
44n - Billy Hiles 1 2 4 7
130 - Chris Manchester 4 4 3 11
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 1 3 2 6
145 - Dario Galvin 1 1 2 4
166 - Andy Northrup 4 3 2 9
214 - Steve Murray 0 0 0 0
389 - Nate Perkins 0 2 1 3
Race Results
1: Schwartz, McConnell, Yarrow, Harmatiuk
2: Northrup, Ermolenko, DiFrancesco, Hiles, Scopellite
3: Manchester, Kerr, Fox, Galvin, Perkins
4: (restarted twice) Faria, Castro (penalty line), Boyle, Blair (penalty line), Murray
12: Manchester, Northrup, Hiles, Boyle, Murray
13: (restarted) Schwartz, Blair, Yarrow, McConnell (penalty line), Fox
14: Ermolenko, Castro, Perkins, Kerr, Scopellite
15: Faria, Harmatiuk, DiFrancesco, Galvin
19: Hiles, Kerr, Galvin, Fox (non starter)
20: Schwartz, Castro, Boyle, DiFrancesco, Murray
21: McConnell, Manchester, Harmatiuk, Perkins, Yarrow (fell)
22: Faria, Blair, Northrup, Ermolenko, Scopellite
Semi #1: McConnell, Schwartz, Manchester, Kerr, Ermolenko
Semi #2: Faria, Northrup, Blair, Castro, Hiles
Last Chance
130 - Chris Manchester
14 - Eddie Castro
39 - Buck Blair
27n - Chris Kerr
Warren Russell Cup Main Event
9 - Mike Faria
166 - Andy Northrup
6 - Shawn McConnell
11 - Bobby Schwartz
130 - Chris Manchester (engine failure)
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