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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Orange County Harley Davidson Night
May 30, 2009 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans
Gary Hicks captured the main event for the second week in a row in front of a packed house on Orange County Harley-Davidson Night at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
The first attempt to complete the Scratch Main Event ended in turn one when Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz and Shaun Harmatiuk tangled with both riders going down hard. Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell, who was trailing the pair, had nowhere to go and plowed into the pile of bikes and bodies. All three riders were shaken up but were all able to make the restart.
The second time the tapes went up Hicks trapped the field from the outside and emerged from turn two with the lead and Schwartz chasing him. Hicks steadily pulled away while McConnell was busy mowing his way through the field. First he shot under Harmatiuk for third and then challenged Schwartz for second. McConnell persistence paid off when he went under the former National Champion for second on lap three. Hicks was first to the checkered flag, McConnell finished second, Schwartz was third, “Fast” Eddie Castro finished fourth, and Harmatiuk was last.
The heats began with Jason Ramirez leading for over three laps before Hicks found enough traction to beat him at the line by inches for the win. McConnell was victorious in the second heat. Tyson Burmeister held off Castro for his first win of the night. Schwartz scored his first win ahead of Neil Facchini to finish round one.
Hicks started the round two by beating Neil Facchini for his second win in a row. Jimmy Fishback beat Burmeister in the next heat. Dale Facchini defeated Nate Perkins to win race 11. Ramirez scored an impressive win over Schwartz to end the second round.
Hicks began the third round with his third consecutive win, this one ahead of McConnell. Harmatiuk was awarded the victory in the next heat after Neil Facchini brought out the red flag when he went down hard on the back straight. Tim Gomez got the best start in event 19, but Schwartz slipped by on the back straight for the lead and his second win. The final heat required three starts before Burmeister earned his second win of the evening. Robbie Sauer defeated Neil Facchini in a runoff for the final spot in the semis.
The first semi had to be restarted after a pileup in turn one. Schwartz made no mistakes on the second start and led all the way with Castro following him into the main. Harmatiuk was leading the second semi before Hicks and Fishback went down in turn four and brought out the red flag. Fishback was penalized for the restart. Harmatiuk won the restart with McConnell finishing second. Hicks won the Last Chance to fill the final spot in the main event field.
Youth National Champion Brad Pappalardo continued his dominance of Costa Mesa’s Support Division by winning his heat, his semi, and then ran away with the Support Main Event for the third time in a row. Rudy Laurer finished second, Vince Giamformaggio was third, Carl Gazafy finished fourth, and Eloy Medellin was fifth.
Mike Schultz led the Support B Main Event before falling and handing the lead to Scott Rousseau. Rousseau was flawless and led the rest of the way. Rick Fritch finished second, Pat Smith came in third, Schultz was fourth, and Tom Bostic was credited with fifth.
Dave Alexander and Matt Davis were victorious in the Sidecar Main Event with Gerard Jackson and Dave German finishing second, and Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen getting third. Stuart Glass and Jack Straw were unable to finish after Straw was knocked off the sidecar in turn two. Straw went down hard but managed to get himself off the track. However, he went to the hospital with what was eventually determined to be a broken clavicle, fractured sternum, five broken ribs, and a punctured lung.
This coming Saturday Costa Mesa Speedway will host round one of the AMA/USA Speedway National Championship Series. In addition to Costa Mesa’s strong contingent of riders, the 22-rider field will include 1997 World Champion Greg Hancock, defending National Champion Billy “The Kid” Janniro, 2-time U.S. Under 21 National Champion Ricky Wells, and former national champions Charlie “The Edge” Venegas, and Bart Bast.
RESULTS
Sidecar Main Event
22 – Dave Alexander/Matt Davis
66 – Gerard Jackson/Dave German
1 – Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen
911 – Stuart Glass/Jack Straw
Support B Consolation (restarted)
124 – Paul Thornton
169 – Dan Wensloff
131 – Rod Requejo (penalty line)
308 – Hugh Randolph
Support B Consolation (restarted)
231 – Gene Stone
226 – Rick Huspek
312 – Charlie Ousley
362 – Ralph Chudy (non starter)
Support B Consolation (restarted)
129 – Norman Graham
158 – Ron Mongenel
101 – Mike Wiley
00 – Toni Hicks (non starter)
Support B Last Chance
222 – Tom Bostic
242 – Bruce Marteney
198 – Mike Boyle
363 – Butch Waymire
Support B Main Event
368 – Scott Rousseau
288 – Rick Fritch
247 – Pat Smith
292 – Mike Schultz
222 – Tom Bostic (exclusion)
Support Last Chance
178 – Eloy Medellin
117 – Billy Braden
389 – Ryan Tovatt
274 – Bubba Vazzana
Support Main Event (restarted)
145 – Brad Pappalardo
182 – Rudy Laurer
309 – Vince Giamformaggio
176 – Carl Gazafy
178 – Eloy Medellin
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
3 – Gary Hicks 4 4 4 12
6 – Shawn McConnell 4 1 3 8
11 – Bobby Schwartz 4 3 4 11
13 – Nate Perkins 2 3 Fx 5
14 – Eddie Castro 3 1 3 7
17 – Robbie Sauer 2 2 2 6
19 – Dale Facchini 1 4 2 7
21 – Brad Sauer 2 T 2 4
22 – Mike Bloom 1 1 1 3
25 – Jimmy Fishback F 4 3 7
30 – Tim Gomez 0 1 3 4
66 – Jason Ramirez 3 4 1 8
86 – Neil Facchini 3 3 F 6
120 – Doug Greyson 2 2 1 5
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk 3 2 4 9
147 – Rick Farron 1 0 2 3
149 – Philip Harmatiuk 1 0 N 1
184 – Tyson Burmeister 4 3 4 11
321 – Russell Green 0 2 1 3
Race Results
1: Hicks, Ramirez, Greyson, D.Facchini, Fishback (fell)
2: McConnell, S.Harmatiuk, Perkins, Bloom, Gomez
3: Burmeister, Castro, R.Sauer, P.Harmatiuk
4: Schwartz, N.Facchini, B.Sauer, Farron, Green (fell, remounted)
9: Hicks, N.Faccini, R.Sauer, Gomez, Farron
10: Fishback, Burmeister, Geyson, McConnell (fell), B.Sauer (tape exclusion)
11: D.Facchini, Perkins, Green, Bloom
12: (restarted) Ramirez, Schwartz, Castro (tape penalty), P.Harmatiuk (penalty line)
17: Hicks, McConnell, D.Facchini, Green, P.Harmatiuk (non starter)
18: (restarted) (awarded) S.Harmatiuk, Fishback, Farron (penalty line), Ramirez, N.Facchini (fell)
19: Schwartz, Gomez, R.Sauer, Greyson
20: (restarted twice) Burmeister, Castro (tape penalty), B.Sauer, Bloom, Perkins (penalty line) (fell, excluded)
Runoff: R.Sauer, N.Facchini
Semi #1: (restarted) Schwartz, Castro, Ramirez, R.Sauer, Burmeister (fell)
Semi #2: (restarted) S.Harmatiuk, McConnell, Hicks, Fishback (penalty line), D.Facchini (fell)
First Division Last Chance
3 – Gary Hicks
66 – Jason Ramirez
17 – Robbie Sauer
25 – Jimmy Fishback (retired)
Scratch Main Event (restarted)
3 – Gary Hicks
6 – Shawn McConnell
11 – Bobby Schwartz
14 – Eddie Castro
139 – Shaun Harmatiuk
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