Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

John Matherson Cup
September 11, 2010 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans

Sidecar National Champions Joe Jones and Jimmy Olsen and former National Speedway Champion "Flyin" Mike Faria took home victories at the John Matherson Cup at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Jones and Olsen went undefeated in all three of their heats and dominated the Sidecar Main Event to take home their third consecutive John Matherson Cup. Gerard Jackson and Dave German finished second, Dylan Beard and Crystal Laurie were third, and Bryan Motis and Chris Levitt finished fourth.

Faria entered the main event unbeaten in his four previous races. His success allowed him first gate choice and he wisely selected gate one. When the tapes went up the 53 year old was first off the line with Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz contesting him as they entered turn one. Faria locked onto the precious inside line and led his longtime competitor down the back straight. Schwartz slotted in behind the leader and hoped that he could force a mistake. Faria would make nary an error and was first to the checkered flag. Schwartz settled for second, "Mad Dog" Shawn McConnell was third, "Battling" Buck Blair finished fourth, and Tyson Burmeister was fifth.

Burmeister kicked off the heats with a victory over "Nasty" Nate Perkins. John Marquez scored an impressive victory ahead of McConnell in the second heat. Faria beat Blair in event three. "Fast" Eddie Castro passed Schwartz for the lead and the win to end round one.

Castro came right back to beat Robbie Sauer to open round two. Burmeister beat McConnell for his second straight victory. Faria defeated Perkins in the next heat for his second win in a row. Blair held off Gino Manzares to end the second round with a win.

Michael Raines started the final round of heats with perhaps a breakthrough win over Blair. McConnell beat Castro in event 15. Faria handed Burmeister his first defeat and remained undefeated himself in the penultimate heat. Schwartz ended the heats with a victory over Marquez.

Burmeister won the first semi with Schwartz following him into the main event. Faria and McConnell finished one-two in the second semi to transfer to the main. Blair won the Last Chance to book the final spot in the main event.

Ryan Tovatt led all four laps en route to victory in the Support Main Event. Rudy Laurer finished second, Geoff Herkner finished third, and Eloy Medellin was fourth.

C.J. Sanborn continued his success by winning the Support B Main Event for the second consecutive time. Dan Wensloff finished second, Todd Silicato was third, and Norman Graham finished fourth.

Samuel Ramirez was dominant in leading from start to finish and won the Youth 250cc Main Event. Max Ruml finished second, River McDougall was third, and Nicky Reimer finished fourth.

Hayley Perrault and Broc Nicol were side-by-side entering turn one of the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event. Both riders went wide, though, and allowed Kurtis Hamill to slip by on the inside for the lead. Hamill led until the final lap when Nicol charged up the inside to take the lead. Nicol held off his Team Hagon Shocks teammate in the final corner for the victory. Perrault came home third.

Michael Wells was awarded the victory in the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event when, while running second, he laid his machine down after for fallen race leader Maverick Molloy. Chase Sanborn was credited with second, Brian Pintear was third, and Molloy was relegated to fourth.

The John Matherson Cup honors the former sidecar competitor who was also the owner of Mission Motorsports, a longtime sponsor of Costa Mesa Speedway. Matherson was killed in an accident in 2008 while on his way to Costa Mesa Speedway. The event is particularly prestigious to the sidecar competitors because of the camaraderie they shared with Matherson. All the sidecar competitors wore matching shirts over the racing gear.

RESULTS

John Matherson Cup Sidecar Main Event
1 - Joe Jones/Jimmy Olsen
66 - Gerard Jackson/Dave German
5150 - Dylan Beard/Crystal Laurie
2 - Bryan Motis/Chris Levitt

Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event (restarted) (awarded)
214 - Michael Wells
108 - Chase Sanborn
58 - Brian Pintear (fell, remounted)
34 - Maverick Molloy (penalty line) (excluded)

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event
146 - Broc Nicol
104 - Kurtis Hamill
0 - Hayley Perrault

Youth 250cc Main Event
22 - Samuel Ramirez
308 - Max Ruml
5 - River McDougall
41 - Nicky Reimer

Support B Main Event
393 - C.J.Sanborn
169 - Dan Wensloff
282 - Todd Silicato
129 - Norman Graham

Support Last Chance
182 – Rudy Laurer
132 – Justin Hassan
150 – Damon Barry

Support Main Event
389 - Ryan Tovatt
182 - Rudy Laurer
208 - Geoff Herkner
178 - Eloy Medellin

First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T
3 – Gary Hicks 1 - - 1
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 2 3 7
9 – Mike Faria 3 3 3 9
11 – Bobby Schwartz 2 0 3 5
13 – Nate Perkins 2 2 1 5
14 – Eddie Castro 3 3 2 8
17 – Robbie Sauer 1 2 1 4
21 – Brad Sauer 0 0 0 0
24 – Gino Manzares 1 2 1 4
26 – Tyson Burmeister 3 3 2 8
39 – Buck Blair 2 3 2 7
41 – John Marquez 3 1 2 6
48 – Tyson Talkington 1 0 0 1
63 – Michael Raines 0 1 3 4
120 – Doug Greyson 0 1 1 2
141 – Josh Abbott 0 1 0 1

Race Results
1: Burmeister, Perkins, Hicks, Abbott
2: Marquez, McConnell, Manzares, Greyson
3: Faria, Blair, R. Sauer, Raines
4: (restarted) Castro, Schwartz, Talkington, B. Sauer
8: Castro, R. Sauer, Marquez
9: Burmeister, McConnell, Raines, B. Sauer
10: Faria, Perkins, Greyson, Talkington
11: Blair, Manzares, Abbott, Schwartz
14: Raines, Blair, Perkins
15: McConnell, Castro, Manzares, Talkington
16: Faria, Burmeister, R. Sauer, Abbott
17: Schwartz, Marquez, Greyson, B. Sauer
Runoff: Manzares, R. Sauer, Raines
Semi #1: Burmeister, Schwartz, Castro, R. Sauer, Marquez
Semi #2: Faria, McConnell, Manzares, Blair (tape penalty), Perkins (tape penalty)

First Division Last Chance
39 - Buck Blair
14 - Eddie Castro
17 - Robbie Sauer
24 - Gino Manzares

John Matherson Main Event
9 - Mike Faria
11 - Bobby Schwartz
6 - Shawn McConnell
39 - Buck Blair
26 - Tyson Burmeister (fell)