Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Costa Mesa 43rd Season Opener
May 14, 2011
By: Ryan Evans

YouTube Main Event from the Season Opener

Josh Larsen finished a brilliant evening of racing by capturing the main event at the 43rd Season Opener at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Last week's winner, "Flyin'" Mike Faria entered the main event unbeaten in his nine races at Costa Mesa this season and selected the pole. Larsen started in gate two and launched to the front when the tapes went up. Faria followed him into the first turn, but Larsen found sufficient traction in turn two and opened up his lead on the back straight. Faria chased the leader the entire distance, but was unable to close ground. Larsen was first to the checkered flag, Faria finished second, "Nasty" Nate Perkins was third, "Battling" Buck Blair finished fourth, and Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell was fifth.

The heats opened with a nasty crash in turn three that left Blair and Brad Sauer on the ground for several minutes. Blair was able to restart, but Sauer was unable to continue after suffering a knee injury. Faria beat Tyson Talkington in the restart for his first win.

Larsen was victorious in event two over Jimmy "Little Animal" Fishback. Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz defeated "Spiderman" Mike Bloom in event three. Michael Raines scored an impressive win over Charlie "The Edge" Venegas to end round one.

Round two began with Faria beating McConnell for his second straight win. Venegas defeated Fishback in the next event. Larsen made it two wins in a row by defeating Schwartz. Perkins ended the second round with a victory over Austin Novratil.

Faria started the final round with his third consecutive victory. Fishback beat McConnell in event 18. Schwartz beat Blair for his second victory. Larsen finished the heats by beating Venegas to match Faria's perfect score.

Castro and John Marquez finished one-two in a runoff to fill the final two spots in the semis while Talkington finished third and Bloom finished fourth.

McConnell started the first semi in gate four and was first to turn one, but Faria charged up the inside on the back straight to take the lead. Faria and McConnell held those positions and transferred to the main event.

Blair started the second semi from gate four and also led into turn one. The native of Colorado handed Larsen his only defeat of the evening, but Larsen's revenge would come later.

Perkins beat Fishback, Schwartz, and Venegas in the Last Chance Heat to earn the final spot in the main event.

Dylan Black led from start to finish and won the Support Main Event. Aaron Fox was second, Rich Brock finished third, and Rudy Laurer was fourth.
Chris Jones put together four smooth laps and won the Support B Main Event. Mike Salyer finished second, Norman Graham was third, and Dillon Osborne finished fourth.

Max Ruml led all four laps en route to his second straight victory in the Youth 250cc Main Event. Samuel Ramirez finished second and Dillon Ruml was third.

Dillon Ruml took home the victory in the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event. Kurtis Hamill was second, Doug Nicol finished third, Hayley Perrault was fourth, and Dalton Leedy was credited with fifth.
Sebastian "Big Daddy" Palmese was victorious over Michael Wells, Maverick Molloy, and Gino Scopellite in the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event.

This Saturday's event at Costa Mesa Speedway is the always-popular Harley Night. The evening will include a Harley Parade and the wild street-legal Harley Races. Former World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill will make his first competitive appearance at the bullring oval in three years.

RESULTS

Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event
18 - Sebastian Palmese
214 - Michael Wells
34 - Maverick Molloy
7 - Gino Scopellite

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event
111 - Dillon Ruml
104 - Kurtis Hamill
98 - Broc Nicol
0 - Hayley Perrault
222 - Dalton Leedy (fell)

Youth 250cc Main Event
308 - Max Ruml
22 - Samuel Ramirez
111 - Dillon Ruml (fell)

Support B Semi-Final
116 – Chris Jones
129 – Norman Graham
198 – Mike Boyle
349 – Dan Eddy (fell, remounted)

Support B Semi-Final
164 – Dillon Osborne
333 – Mike Salyer
153 – Brad Moreau
199 – Craig Sprecher

Support B Main Event
116 - Chris Jones
333 - Mike Salyer
129 - Norman Graham
164 - Dillon Osborne

Support Semi-Final
46 – Aaron Fox
201 – Dylan Black
249 – John Stunkard
389 – Ryan Tovatt

Support Semi-Final
182 – Rudy Laurer
138 –Rich Brock
45 – Brad Pappalardo
101 – Mike Wiley

Support Main Event
201 - Dylan Black
46 - Aaron Fox
138 - Rich Brock
182 - Rudy Laurer

First Division Scoring123T
2 – Josh Larsen 44412
6 – Shawn McConnell 3036
9 – Mike Faria 44412
11 – Bobby Schwartz 43411
13 – Nate Perkins 2428
14 – Eddie Castro 1225
17 – Robbie Sauer 1R12
21 – Brad Sauer Nr- - 0
22 – Mike Bloom 3025
23 – Steve Russell 2024
25 – Jimmy Fishback 33410
27 – Austin Novratil F314
39 – Buck Blair 2136
43 – Charlie Venegas 34310
48 – Tyson Talkington 32F5
63 – Michael Raines 4F04
86 – Neil Facchini 22X 4
98 – Doug Nicol 0112
141 – Josh Abbott 1214
321 – Russell Green 0101

Race Results
1: (restarted) Faria, Talkington, Blair, Marquez, Green, B.Sauer (non starter – restart)
2: Larsen, Fishback, Facchini, Castro, Nicol
3: Schwartz, Bloom, Russell (tape penalty), R.Sauer (fell), Novratil (fell)
4: (restarted) Raines, Venegas, Perkins (penalty line), Abbott, McConnell (retired)
9: Faria, McConnell, Abbott, Nicol (fell, remounted), Russell (fell, remounted)
10: Venegas, Fishback, Talkington, Blair, R.Sauer (retired)
11: Larsen, Schwartz, Facchini, Marquez (fell, remounted), Raines (fell)
12: Perkins, Novratil, Castro, Green, Bloom
17: (awarded) Faria, Marquez, Bloom, R.Sauer, Facchini (excluded)
18: Fishback, McConnell, Castro, Novratil, Raines (fell, remounted)
19: Schwartz, Blair, Russell, Abbott, Green (fell, remounted)
20: Larsen, Venegas, Perkins, Nicol, Talkington (fell)
Runoff: Castro, Marquez, Talkington, Bloom
Semi #1: Faria, McConnell, Schwartz, Perkins, Marquez
Semi #2: Blair, Larsen, Fishback, Venegas, Castro

First Division Last Chance
13 - Nate Perkins
25 - Jimmy Fishback
11 - Bobby Schwartz
43 - Charlie Venegas (tape exclusion)

First Division Main Event
2 - Josh Larsen
9 - Mike Faria
13 - Nate Perkins
39 - Buck Blair
6 - Shawn McConnell (retired)