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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
California Speedway
May 8, 2010 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans
YouTube Main Event
Gary Hicks won four of his five races including the main event to prevent Mike Faria from extending his winning streak at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
Faria, winner of the previous two main events, got the best start in the main event but had Buck Blair trying to go around the outside of him in turns one and two. Faria held a narrow lead on the back straight and into turn three but Blair didn’t give up and Hicks began to pressure the leader from the inside. Hicks and Blair both found more traction than the leader and went by Faria on both sides, Hicks on the inside and Blair on the outside, as they entered turn one. Hicks hugged the pole and took the lead while Faria went wide but recovered to hold second. Once in front Hicks stretched his lead with each lap and cruised to the victory. Faria finished second, “Fast” Eddie Castro was third, Charlie “The Edge” Venegas finished fourth, and Blair drifted back to fifth.
Doug “The Destroyer” Nicol kicked off the heats with a win over Faria. Hicks scored his first win ahead of Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell in the second heat. Bobby “Bologna” Schwartz defeated Blair in the third heat. Castro and Venegas had a great battle in the fourth heat before Venegas experienced mechanical issues that handed the win to Castro.
Faria began round two with a win over Castro. Nicol was leading the next heat but a sputtering bike dropped him to third and Hicks accepted the gift victory. Schwartz won his second straight heat by holding off McConnell. Venegas made an incredible outside sweep around the boards to pass Blair and ran off with the win to end the second round.
The last round of heats started with Blair using the cushion to go around Faria to score an impressive win. Hicks won his third straight heat ahead of Castro. Schwartz matched Hicks’s perfect score with a defeat of Tyson Burmese. The last heat featured a fantastic three-lap side-by-side battle between Venegas and McConnell in which Venegas’s outside line proved superior and propelled him to the win.
Burmese and “Spiderman” Mike Bloom advanced to the semis from a three-rider runoff that saw Ely Medallion’s evening end when he finished third.
Schwartz and Faria left the starting line together in the first semi with Faria’s outside line getting him to the lead at the end of lap one. Venegas went to the outside and passed Schwartz as well to join Faria in the main event.
Hicks and Nicol were running handlebar-to-handlebar at the front of the second semi but behind them Blair and Burmese. clashed in turn three. The contact launched Burmese. toward the turn four wall. Burmese. dismounted just before the bike hit the wall hard. He was down for several minutes before being helped off the track. He eventually went to the hospital with wrist and lower leg injuries. Castro and Hicks finished one-two on the restart to transfer to the main.
Nicol got the best start in the First Division Last Chance with Blair giving chase. Nicol remained on the outside while Blair used the inside line to reel him in. Blair’s persistence paid off when he passed Nicol for the lead on the third lap. Nicol could’t recapture the lead and Blair went on to the main event.
Former youth rider Joey “The Bolt” Holt led all four laps en route to victory in the Support Main Event. Rocco Coprolite, who was placed in Support for the evening because he had no 250cc youth riders to compete with, finished second on his 250. Rudy Laurer was third, Rohn Zellner finished fourth, and Ryan Tovatt was fifth.
Derrick “The Orange Crush” Klein has only raced at Costa Mesa twice, but he captured the Support B Main Event for the second week in a row to maintain his perfect record. Yogi Isgro finished second, Mike Boyle was third, Brandon Leedy finished fourth, and Dan Wensloff was fifth.
Nick Varner withstood the constant pressure of Gino Scopellite to capture the Youth Main Event. Gino Scopellite had to settle for second, Brian Pintear was third, Maverick Molloy finished fourth, and Michael Wells was credited with fifth.
There will not be speedway at Costa Mesa on May 15, but the exciting action be joined by the Freestyle Motocross Jumpers when the racing returns to the Orange County Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 22.
RESULTS
Youth Main Event
333 - Nick Varner
7 - Gino Scopellite
58 - Brian Pintear
34 - Maverick Molloy
214 - Michael Wells (non starter)
Support B Main Event (restarted)
248 - Derrick Klein
236 - Yogi Isgro
198 - Mike Boyle
151 - Brandon Leedy (penalty line)
169 - Dan Wensloff
Support Last Chance
389 – Ryan Tovatt
208 – Geoff Herkner
355 – John Pavia
132 – Justin Hassan
Support Main Event
244 - Joey Holt
9j - Rocco Scopellite
182 - Rudy Laurer
163 - Rohn Zellner
389 - Ryan Tovatt
First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
3 – Gary Hicks 3 3 3 9
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 2 2 6
9 – Mike Faria 2 3 2 7
11 – Bobby Schwartz 3 3 3 9
14 – Eddie Castro 3 2 2 7
22 – Mike Bloom 1 1 1 3
23 – Steve Russell 0 1 1 2
26 – Tyson Burmeister 1 0 2 3
39 – Buck Blair 2 2 3 7
43 – Charlie Venegas E 3 3 6
86 – Neil Facchini 0 1 0 1
98 – Doug Nicol 3 1 1 5
178 – Eloy Medellin 2 0 1 3
220 – Tyson Talkington 0 2 0 2
249 – John Stunkard 1 0 0 1
259 – Michael Raines 1 0 0 1
Race Results
1: Nicol, Faria, Raines, Russell
2: Hicks, McConnell, Bloom, Facchini
3: Schwartz, Blair, Burmeister, Talkington
4: (restarted) Castro, Medellin, Stunkard (penalty line), Venegas (engine failure)
9: (restarted) Faria, Castro, Bloom, Burmeister (penalty line)
10: Hicks, Talkington, Nicol, Stunkard
11: Schwartz, McConnell, Russell, Medellin
12: Venegas, Blair, Facchini, Raines
15: Blair, Faria, Russell, Talkington
16: (restarted) Hicks, Castro, Medellin, Facchini (fell, remounted)
17: Schwartz, Burmeister, Nicol, Raines
18: Venegas, McConnell, Bloom, Stunkard
Runoff: Burmeister, Bloom, Medellin
Semi #1: Faria, Venegas, Schwartz, McConnell, Bloom
Semi #2: (restarted) Castro, Hicks, Blair, Nicol, Burmeister (non starter – restarted)
First Division Last Chance
39 - Buck Blair
98 - Doug Nicol
6 - Shawn McConnell
11 - Bobby Schwartz
First Division Main Event
3 - Gary Hicks
9 - Mike Faria
14 - Eddie Castro
43 - Charlie Venegas
39 - Buck Blair
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