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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
2010 Warren Russell Cup
May 1, 2010 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans
YouTube Main Event Video
Former National Champion “Flying” Mike Faria took home top honors for the second consecutive week by winning the Warren Russell Cup on a night full of spectacular racing at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
The first time the tapes went up in the main event the five riders were called back due to an unsatisfactory start. The second time they staged Charlie “The Edge” Venegas, who entered the main as the only undefeated rider, got into the tapes and was penalized. When the tapes rose again Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz launched into the lead entering turn one and hugged the inside line while Faria went to the ample supply of dirt on the outside. The two-time World Pairs Champion exited turn two with a slight lead, but Faria found plenty of grip along the boards and took the lead on the back straight. Schwartz then found himself under fire from Buck Blair. The Colorado native attacked Schwartz on the outside and they battled handlebar-to-handlebar over the final half of the race. The battle for second allowed Faria to stretch his lead which he held to the checkered flag. The fierce battle for second ended with Schwartz narrowly edging Blair for the runner-up spot, Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell was fourth, and Venegas finished fifth.
Venegas kicked off the heats with a blistering victory over “Fast” Eddie Castro. Gary Hicks defeated Doug “The Destroyer” Nicol in the second heat. Schwartz beat McConnell in the third heat. Faria led the fourth heat, but Blair showed why he is the defending Warren Russell Cup champion by using the outside to make a great pass on the leader for the win to end round one.
Round two began with Venegas beating Blair for his second straight win. Tyson Burmeister led the next heat before Hicks used his savvy to make a splendid cutback move on lap three to take the lead and his second win. The third attempt to run event 11 saw Schwartz take the lead but Northern California’s John Houston went to the cushion and made a very impressive outside pass for the lead and the win.
Event 12 ended unceremoniously in turn two with a crash that had Josh Abbott leave the track with a very bloody face. A trip to the hospital revealed that his nose was broken in six places and will require surgery later in the week to repair the septum. As ugly as the crash was, the restart of the race was scintillating. McConnell, Nicol, and Faria completed the entire first lap in a three-wide formation. Nicol surged ahead as they entered turn one and then pulled away for the victory.
Venegas opened the final round by defeating McConnell for his third straight win. Nicol was well on his way to winning event 16 before having a very expensive engine failure which handed Hicks his third consecutive victory.
Schwartz was leading the next event but the battle for second netted calamitous results. Burmeister held second with Jason Ramirez charging hard behind him. The second time down the back straight the former Youth National Champion attacked from the outside and was next to Burmeister entering turn three. The two youngsters made contact which sent Ramirez hard into the turn four wall. Ramirez was transported to a hospital with what was later diagnosed as broken bones in his back, fractures in both feet, and a broken nose.
Schwartz won the restart with Castro passing Burmeister for second. Faria completed the heats by defeating Houston.
A three-rider runoff for the final two spots in the semis began with Burmeister leading Steve Russell, but Castro thrilled the crowd when he roared from the back to pass both riders on the second lap and took the win. Burmeister held on to second to also make the semis.
Schwartz got the best start in the first semi, but Venegas wasn’t satisfied with settling for second. The plentiful supply of outside dirt was too tempting and the multi-time world ice champion found sufficient traction to make a sublime outside pass on the third lap for the lead and the win. Schwartz took second to also transfer to the main.
The second semi got to turn three before Nicol and Hicks clashed and went down with Castro quickly laying his machine down to avoid further damage. Nicol’s bike was destroyed, his second mechanical casualty of the evening, and wouldn’t participate in the restart. Blair and McConnell finished one-two on the restart to transfer to the main. Faria won the Last Chance to complete the five-rider field for the main event.
A three-rider pileup in turn three forced a restart in the Support B Main Event. Tyson Talkington led the second attempt before Ryan Tovatt charged up the inside entering turn three. Tovatt took the lead but both riders drifted wide into turn four and Joey Holt slipped by on the inside to take the lead. Tovatt didn’t give up and stalked the teenager the entire race. Holt didn’t fold under the pressure, though, and held on for the win. Tovatt settled for second, Talkington finished third, Rudy Laurer was fourth, and Michael Raines was fifth.
Derrick Klein made an auspicious debut at Costa Mesa by winning the Support B Main Event. Todd Silicato finished second, Mike Boyle was third, Rod Requejo finished fourth, and Charlie Ousley was fifth.
Rocco Scopellite won the Youth First Division Main Event for the third consecutive race meeting with Maxwell Ruml finishing second, Nicky Reimer finishing third, Gabe Price getting fourth, and Samuel Ramirez coming in fifth.
Hayley Perrault held off Dillon Ruml to win the Youth Second Division Main Event for the second straight week.
Michael Wells led all four laps to win the Youth Third Division Main Event. Nick Varner fought through traffic from the penalty line to finish second, Brian Pintear was third, Gino Scopellite finished fourth, and Maverick Molloy was fifth.
RESULTS
Youth Third Division Main Event
214 - Michael Wells
333 - Nick Varner (tape penalty)
58 - Brian Pintear
7 - Gino Scopellite
34 - Maverick Molloy
Youth Second Division Main Event
0 - Hayley Perrault
111 - Dillon Ruml
Youth First Division Main Event
9 - Rocco Scopellite
356 - Maxwell Ruml
41 - Nicky Reimer
13 - Gabe Price
22 - Samuel Ramirez
Support B Main Event
248 - Derrick Klein
282 - Todd Silicato
198 - Mike Boyle
131 - Rod Requejo
312 - Charlie Ousley
Support Last Chance (restarted)
259 – Michael Raines
132 – Justin Hassan
163 – Rohn Zellner (penalty line)
288 – Rick Fritch
Support Main Event (restarted)
244 - Joey Holt
389 - Ryan Tovatt
220 - Tyson Talkington (fell, remounted)
182 - Rudy Laurer
259 - Michael Raines (retired)
First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
3 – Gary Hicks 4 4 4 12
6 – Shawn McConnell 3 3 3 9
9 – Mike Faria 3 2 4 9
11 – Bobby Schwartz 4 3 4 11
11n – John Houston 0 4 3 7
14 – Eddie Castro 3 F 3 6
22 – Mike Bloom 1 2 2 5
23 – Steve Russell 2 2 2 6
26 – Tyson Burmeister 1 3 2 6
39 – Buck Blair 4 3 3 10
41 – John Marquez 2 0 2 4
43 – Charlie Venegas 4 4 4 12
66 – Jason Ramirez 1 2 Nr 3
86 – Neil Facchini 2 1 0 3
98 – Doug Nicol 3 4 E 7
120 – Doug Greyson 0 1 1 2
141 – Josh Abbott 2 Nr N 2
145 – Brad Pappalardo F Nr 1 1
178 – Eloy Medellin 1 1 1 3
181 – Austin Novratil M Nr N 0
Race Results
1: Venegas, Castro, Abbott, Medellin, Novratil (two-minute exclusion)
2: Hicks, Nicol, Marquez, Burmeister, Houston
3: Schwartz, McConnell, Russell, Ramirez, Pappalardo (fell)
4: Blair, Faria, Facchini, Bloom, Greyson
9: Venegas, Blair, Ramirez, Medellin, Marquez
10: Hicks, Burmeister, Russell, Facchini, Castro (fell)
11: (restarted twice) Houston, Schwartz, Bloom, Pappalardo (non starter – restart), Novratil (non starter –restart)
12: (restarted) Nicol, McConnell, Faria, Greyson, Abbott (non starter – restart)
15: Venegas, McConnell, Russell, Greyson, Novratil (non starter)
16: Hicks, Blair, Bloom, Medellin, Nicol (engine failure)
17: (restarted) Schwartz, Castro (tape penalty), Burmeister, Ramirez (non starter – restart), Abbott (non starter)
18: (restarted) Faria, Houston, Marquez, Pappalardo, Facchini (penalty line)
Semi #1: Venegas, Schwartz, Burmeister, Faria, Houston
Semi #2: (restarted) Blair, McConnell, Castro, Hicks (retired), Nicol (non starter – restart)
First Division Last Chance
9 - Mike Faria
14 - Eddie Castro
26 - Tyson Burmeister
3 - Gary Hicks (non starter)
Warren Russell Cup Main Event
9 - Mike Faria
11 - Bobby Schwartz
39 - Buck Blair
6 - Shawn McConnell
43 - Charlie Venegas (tape penalty)
Past Warren Russell Cup Winners
1989 - Bobby Schwartz
1990 - Mike Faria
1991 - Mike Faria
1992 - Chris Manchester
1993 - Sam Ermolenko
1994 - Sam Ermolenko
1995 - Greg Hancock
1996 - Steve Lucero
1997 - Mike Faria
1998 - Bart Bast
1999 - Brad Oxley
2000 - Charlie Venegas
2001 - Josh Larsen
2002 - Josh Larsen
2003 - Scott Brant
2004 - Mike Faria
2005 - Chris Manchester
2006 - Charlie Venegas
2007 – Mike Faria
2008 – Bobby Schwartz
2009 – Buck Blair
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