Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Speedway and Team Racing
August 12, 2006 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans

Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz made history by becoming the oldest rider to win a Scratch Main at Costa Mesa with his victory at the world famous oval two days after his 50th birthday.

Schwartz started in gate three and was lightning-quick off the line and first into turn one ahead of Gary Hicks. Hicks immediately went to work on the former National Champion with the hope of forcing a mistake. Schwartz, one week removed from holding off former World Champion Billy Hamill, wasn't about to succumb to any heat the Hicks may create. Schwartz calmly led the entire way for his historic victory. Hicks settled for second, Shawn McConnell finished third, Shaun Harmatiuk was fourth, and Tommy Hedden was fifth.

The first running of the Handicap Main ended with a thud in turn one when Bobby Krips took down Harmatiuk in turn two and forced other riders to take evasive action. Several riders were down for a few minutes, but Krips was the only casualty. Brian Starr led the restart and held a comfortable lead for the first three laps. Exiting turn four on lap four Starr drifted off the groove and allowed the field, led by Dale Facchini, to catch him. Starr and Facchini battled through lap six, but both riders went wide in turn four. McConnell, the savvy veteran, jumped on this opportunity and burst into the lead. McConnell led the rest of the way for the win, Buck Blair was second, Bryan Yarrow finished third, Starr was fourth, and Mark Dwyer finished fifth.

It took three attempts, but Billy Braden took home the Support Main Event. Rohn Zellner finished second, Vince Giamformaggio was third, and Travis Henderson and Mark Baldwin were credited with fourth and fifth, respectively.

Arizona resident Harold Hartke got the best start in the Support B Main, but fell in turn two, handing the lead to Damon Barry. Barry was checked out and on his way to victory when he fell on the second lap. Ed Martinez took over the lead and remained upright to take home his first main of the season. Steve Bowen was second, Barry finished third, and Hartke was fourth.

Joey Holt led from start to finish to take home the Junior Main Event. Rocco Scopellite finished second, Bradlee Pappalardo was third, and Chad Hoyt finished fourth.

RESULTS

Pee Wee Race #1
5 - Garrett Nepi
2 - Ben McConnell
71 - Michael Linn
23 - Justin Hanson
6 - Victoria Mathews

Pee Wee Race #2
1 - Braydan Galvin
198 - Ryan DeLong
999 - Major Davis
77 - Dylan Barchenger
111 - Jesse Nash
17 - Marina Braden

Junior Main Event
114 - Joey Holt
9 - Rocco Scopellite
611 - Bradlee Papplardo
154 - Chad Hoyt

Support B Consolation
198 - Mike Boyle
169 - Dan Wensloff
288 - Rick Fritch
232 - Allen Doss

Support B Main Event
269 - Ed Martinez
177 - Steve Bowen
150 - Damon Barry (fell, remounted)
290 - Harold Hartke

Support Consolation
383 - Randy Skinner
389 - Ryan Tovatt
136 - Kim Stevens
132 - Justin Hassan

Support Consolation
77 - Bryan Buffington
106 - Robert Fiesler
212 - Steve Dziadus
326 - Mark Lane (fell, remounted)

Support Consolation (restarted)
182 - Rudy Laurer
338 - Dave Delbridge
118 - Scott Tidwell
391 - Mike Bershee

Support Main Event (restarted twice)
117 - Billy Braden
163 - Rohn Zellner
309 - Vince Giamformaggio
238 - Travis Henderson (non starter)
115 - Mark Baldwin (non starter)

Handicap Main Event (restarted)
6 - Shawn McConnell 50
39 - Buck Blair 40
8n - Bryan Yarrow 50
248 - Brian Starr 20
145 - Mark Dwyer 30
301 - Dale Facchini 20
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 30 (fell)
24 - Bobby Krips 30 (non starter)

Last Chance
11 - Bobby Schwartz
8n - Bryan Yarrow
43 - Charlie Venegas
13 - Nate Perkins

Scratch Main Event
11 - Bobby Schwartz
3 - Gary Hicks
6 - Shawn McConnell
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
40n - Tommy Hedden

Costa Mesa Team Race Results - Lunchtime 8/12 - Steve Evans

Victorville Vikings continued their commanding run in team racing with a comfortable win over the Orange County Bees in the Dream Team / WCSL challenge at Costa Mesa on 12 August. The Bees, racing on home dirt for the 1st time, suffered a series of mishaps both before and during the race. Both Chris Metoyer & Michael Hernandez had to pull out with injuries from Wednesday night at the Grand. Bryan Buffington, team sponsor & regular did not make it beyond turn two in his first two races, falling and being excluded. Then, comeback kids Jesse Finch & Trinon Cirello both suffered engine failures as they got back to grips with racing after long absences - each was well on the pace once they got it going

First blood went to the Vikings in heat 2, when the impressive Travis Henderson led home team mate Robert Fiesler for a 5-1 over Eddie Martinez & Steve Bowen, late replacement for Metoyer. An engine failure for Cirello in the next race gave the Vikings a 12-6 lead as Neil Facchini led home Greg Ayers. The Bees pulled 1 point back in heat 6 when Tim Gomez came to grief on the final lap after a thrilling pursuit of Brian Starr. Gomez was ruled out of the rest the meeting, though there are no lasting injuries. Back to back 5-1's in heats 7 & 8 for the Vikings crept the lead up to 15 points. Cirello finally got it wired in heat 12, with an impressive 5-1 with Greg Ayers over Neil Facchini & Billy Lyons. The final heat was another thriller, Brian Starr looking for a way past Dale Facchini for 4 laps. Starr & Ayers were impressive for the Bees with 10 each, but lacked consistent support. The Vikings efforts, led by the Facchini's chipping in 10 points each, was a more well rounded effort.

Team Scores:
ORANGE COUNTY 'BBB RAINGUTTERS" BEES 32
1. Brian Starr 3 3 2 2 10
2. Bryan Buffington FxFx1 0 1
3. Trinon Cirello R M R 2' 2+1
4. Greg Ayers 2 2 3 3 10
5. Jesse Finch 2 EF 2 1' 5+1
6. Steve Bowen F 1 1' 2+1
7. Eddie Martinez 1 1'F 0 2+1

VICTORVILLE 'Schlamans Service' VIKINGS 45
1. Dale Facchini 1'3 3 3 10+1
2. Rohn Zellner 2 1 3 R 6
3. Neil Facchini 3 3 3 1 10
4. Billy Lyons 1 2' 1 0 4+1
5. Tim Gomez 3 Fx - - 3
6. Robert Fiesler 2' 2 1' 0 5+1
7. Travis Henderson 3 0 2' 2 7+1

1; Starr, Zellner, D Facchini, Bffington fell, exc (re run) 3-3, 3-3
2: Henderson, Fiesler, Martinez, Bowen Fell 1-5, 4-8
3: N Facchini, Ayers, Lyons, Cirello ret. 2-4, 6-12
4: Gomez, Finch, Martinez, Hendseron 3-3 9-15
5: D Facchini, Ayers, Zellner, Martinez fell (Cirello 2 mins) 2-4 11-19
6: Starr, Fiesler, Gomez fell exc, Buffington fell exc (Re-run) 3-2, 14-21
7: N Facchini, Lyons, Bowen, Finch engine failure. 1-5 15-26
8: Zellner, Henderson, Buffington, Martinez. 1-5, 16-31
9: Ayers, Henderson, Fiesler, Cirello ret. 3-3 19-34
10: N Facchini, Starr, Lyons, Buffington 2-4 21-38
11: D Facchini, Finch, Bowen, Zellner engine failure (re run all 4) 3-3, 24-41
12: Ayers, Cirello, N Facchini, Lyons 5-1, 29-42
13: D Facchini, Starr, Finch, Fiesler 3-3 32-45

Our thanks to Brad and the team at Costa Mesa for allowing us to run on their busy day schedule. The riders had fun, and I think those in attendence enjoyed themselves. Stay tuned for more West Coast Speedway League news, including the 2006 league dates at Victorville and hopefully elsewhere.