Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

36th Fair Derby
July 18, 2008 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans

Jimmy “Little Animal” Fishback garnered the biggest title of his professional career by capturing the prestigious Fair Derby Championship in front of a large crowd at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Fishback and defending Fair Derby Champion Ricky Wells both entered the main event undefeated. Wells won the draw on elected to start from the pole and Fishback selected gate two. Gary Hicks, making his first appearance at Costa Mesa in 2008, chose gate five, Buck Blair picked gate three, which left Neil Facchini with gate four.

Wells was out of the traps first with Blair making up ground entering turn one. Wells went past the inside of the corner and into Blair’s line and allowed Fishback cut back under the Under 21 National Champion for the lead. Wells recovered to make an outside assault exiting turn two, but Fishback found too much traction and lifted on the back straight and inadvertently cut Wells off. Fishback got the front wheel down in time to hold his lead ahead of the field. Fishback was the leader at the completion of lap one, but Wells wasn’t about to give up his Fair Derby title without a fight. The sixteen year old battled to within striking distance, but Fishback was not going to succumb to the pressure. Wells parked on the third lap and gave up too much distance to make up. A very jubilant Fishback was first to the checkered flag, Wells had to settle for second, Facchini finished third, Hicks was fourth, and Blair finished fifth.

Blair kicked off the first of three rounds of heats with a win over Hicks.

Facchini led the second heat with Wells chasing him into turn three. Mike “Spiderman” Bloom collided with Wells sending him tumbling in front of the turn four wall. Wells was down for several minutes before collecting himself and getting up on his feet. Wells was ready for the restart, but his bike was a write-off and he would have to race the rest of the program on his spare machine. He showed his champion’s mettle, however, and won the restart ahead with Facchini coming in second.

Five-time Fair Derby Champion Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz cruised to his first win of the evening in the third heat. Fishback finished the first round with a win over Robbie Sauer.

The second round began with Hicks collecting his first win with Facchini getting second again. Wells scored a runaway victory over Blair in the next heat. Schwartz earned his second consecutive win while Randy DiFrancesco, making his 2008 debut, finished second. Fishback ended round two with a win over Greg Ayers.

Hicks started the final round with his second straight win. Wells made it three in a row by defeating Travis Henderson in event 18. Youth National Champion Jason Ramirez beat Blair in the next heat while Schwartz saw his perfect night evaporate with a fourth place finish. Fishback beat Facchini in the final heat to match Wells’s perfect score.

Youngsters Henderson, Ramirez, and J.T. Mabry lined up next to veteran DiFrancesco in a runoff to determine the final three spots in the semis. Ramirez was a convincing winner and was followed by Mabry. DiFrancesco used his experience to hold off the hard-charging Henderson for third.

Wells made it four wins in a row when he blazed to victory in the first semi while Hicks followed him into the main event with a second place finish. Fishback kept his evening perfect with an impressive win in the second semi ahead of Blair. Facchini won the Last Chance to complete the five-rider field in the main event.

Rudy Laurer led all four laps en route to victory in the Support Main Event. Steve Bowen finished second, Bryan Buffington was third, Vince Giamformaggio finished fourth, and Carl Gazafy was fifth.

The annual Fair Derby is held in conjunction with the Orange County Fair because Costa Mesa Speedway is located on the Orange County Fairgrounds. It is an awesome opportunity for speedway to be showcased to new fans, and perhaps some fans who have strayed away from the sport. Costa Mesa’s normal race night is Saturday, but the Orange County Fair Board has scheduled the Fair Derby for Friday night the past several years.

Costa Mesa will next host a speedway meeting on Saturday, August 16 and will also include the third Amateur Afternoon event of 2008. That event will be followed by Orange County Harley Davidson Night on Saturday, August 23.

RESULTS

Support Consolation (awarded)
136 – Kim Stevens
212 – Steve Dziadus
187 – Blake Bowen
150 – Damon Barry		(non starter)

Support Consolation
202 – J.C. Masters
155 – Scott York
102 – Jim Lavender
 32 – Billy Lyons		(fell)

Support Last Chance
176 – Carl Gazafy
172 – Jim Painter
288 – Rick Fritch
153 – Brad Moreau		(fell)

Support Main Event (restarted)
182 – Rudy Laurer
177 – Steve Bowen
 77 – Bryan Buffington
309 – Vince Giamformaggio	(penalty line) (fell)
176 – Carl Gazafy		(non starter)

First Division Scoring	1	2	3	T
  3 – Gary Hicks		3	4	4	11
 11 – Bobby Schwartz		4	4	1	9
 12 – Randy DiFrancesco		1	3	2	6
 17 – Robbie Sauer		3	0	F	3
 19 – Dale Facchini		1	2	1	4
 21 – Brad Sauer		1	0	3	4
 22 – Mike Bloom		0	2	1	3
 25 – Jimmy Fishback		4	4	4	12
 39 – Buck Blair		4	3	3	10
 55 – Travis Henderson		2	1	3	6
 66 – Jason Ramirez		F	2	4	6
 86 – Neil Facchini		3	3	3	9
 93 – J.T. Mabry		2	2	2	6
 99 – Greg Ayers		2	3	2	7
120 – Doug Greyson		0	1	0	1
142 – Ricky Wells		4	4	4	12
163 – Rohn Zellner		0	0	1	1
178 – Eloy Medellin		1	1	0	2
232 – Allen Doss		3	0	T	3
321 – Russell Green		2	1	2	5

Race Results
 1: Blair, Hicks, Ayers, B.Sauer, Greyson
 2: (restarted) Wells, N.Facchini, Mabry, DiFrancesco, Bloom (penalty line)
 3: (restarted) Schwartz, Doss, Green, D.Facchini (penalty line), Ramirez (fell)
 4: Fishback, R.Sauer, Henderson, Medellin, Zellner
 9: Hicks, N.Facchini, Ramirez (tape penalty), Medellin, Zellner
10: Wells, Blair, D.Facchini, Greyson, R.Sauer
11: Schwartz, DiFrancesco, Bloom, Henderson, B.Sauer (fell, remounted)
12: Fishback, Ayers, Mabry, Green, Doss
17: Hicks, B.Sauer, Green, D.Facchini, Doss (tape exclusion)
18: Wells, Henderson, Mabry, Zellner, Medellin
19: Ramirez, Blair, Ayers, Schwartz, Greyson (fell, remounted)
20: Fishback, N.Facchini, DiFrancesco (tape penalty), Bloom, R.Sauer (fell)
Runoff: Ramirez, Mabry, DiFrancesco, Henderson
Semi #1: Wells, Hicks, N.Facchini, Ayers, DiFrancesco (retired)
Semi #2: Fishback, Blair, Ramirez, Mabry, Schwartz

Last Chance
 86 – Neil Facchini
 93 – J.T. Mabry
 66 – Jason Ramirez
 99 – Greg Ayers		(fell)

Fair Derby Main Event
 25 – Jimmy Fishback
142 – Ricky Wells
 86 – Neil Facchini
  3 – Gary Hicks
 39 – Buck Blair

Past Winners
1970 - Bill Cody                        
1971 - Sonny Nutter                       
1972 - Rick Woods                        
1973 - not contested                       
1974 - not contested                       
1975 - Mike Curoso                        
1976 - Bruce Penhall                    
1977 - not contested                       
1978 - Bobby Schwartz                        
1979 - Alan Christian                    
1980 - Mike Muntean (handicap race)            
1981 - Lance King                              
1982 - Mike Bast                           
1983 - Kelly Moran                         
1984 - John Sandona                            
1985 - Robert Pfetzing                  
1986 - Mike Faria                          
1987 - Mike Faria
1988 - Shawn McConnell
1989 - Steve Lucero
1990 - Bobby Schwartz
1991 - Phil Collins
1992 - Mike Faria
1993 - Bobby Schwartz
1994 - Bobby Schwartz
1995 - Steve Lucero
1996 - Robert Pfetzing
1997 - Shawn McConnell
1998 - Bobby Schwartz
1999 - Mike Faria
2000 - Charlie Venegas
2001 - Josh Larsen
2002 - Mike Faria
2003 - Mike Faria
2004 - Mike Faria
2005 - Mike Faria
2006 - Bryan Yarrow
2007 - Ricky Wells