1996 Costa Mesa Speedway
August 16, 1996 Costa Mesa Speedway
From: Gary Roberts
Support class main
1. Paul Binnquist
2. Richard Jones
3. Jon DeVries
4. Ken Hansen
5. Bryan Thompson
6. Kon Baur
Scratch Main
1. Steve"bad boy" Lucero
2. Shawn McConnell
3. Bobby"Boogaloo" Schwartz
4. Gary Hicks
5. John Aden
Handicap Main
1. Steve"bad boy" Lucero
2. Andy "the Enforcer" Northrup
3. John Aden
4. Eddie Castro
5. Jake Zemke
6. Jesse Finch
7. Jason Chism
8. Steve Furman
After my 4 week visit to England it was really good to get back
and watch some non-processional speedway. Oops sorry, didn't mean
to offend anyone. More about my UK visit later.
The track looked terrible for the first few races. More dirt had
been added and was heavily watered. The evening opened with 3
Support class qualifying heats. These must have been the slowest
race times ever at Costa Mesa (they never give race times here)
but some managed to find their way round fast. Others were lapped.
Seeing some of the bikes after the races, many riders have some
heavy duty bike cleaning to do.
Steve Lucero rode brilliantly all evening to win both main events.
The commentator thought he was the first to get the double all
season, but in fact Gary Hicks did it early in the season too.
John Aden who is now a very competitive rider at Costa Mesa,
having not ridden here much, if at all last season, broke the
tapes in the scratch main. I was told he did this more than once
in recent weeks. I strongly believe that once he can avoid this
mistake, he will become a Costa Mesa winner.
The start of the Handicap main was messy. This is always the
last race of the evening and the show is supposed to be over
by 10, so when it runs late, it certainly seems that the referee
is loathe to have too many restarts. However this time, although
running late, he stood for no nonsense and twice put riders back
for trying to jump the start. Steve Furman started on the 30 yard
line with Jake Zemke and Jesse Finch. After the premature starters
had been put back twice, Steve had the 30 yard line to himself,
and many of his competitors had been moved back once or twice,
to give him what should have been an easier crack at victory.
In the event, engine failure stopped him. Eddie Castro who was
penalized twice started back around the 80 yard line and rode
well to finish 4th. Andy Northrup, (an off-duty LA cop) lead
most of the race till the last 50 yards, when he found excess
traction, allowing Steve Lucero to get by.
More information, thanks to Tom Simrak
Handicap Semi #1 - 1st four go to 'Handicap Main'
1st Andy Northrup
2ND JESSE FINCH
3RD JAKE ZEMKE
4TH STEVE FURMAN
5TH BRAD OXLEY
6TH DONNY ODOM (DNS)
Handicap Semi #2 - 1st four go to 'Handicap Main'
1ST STEVE LUCERO
2ND EDDIE CASTO
3RD JOHN "THE ICEMAN"ADEN
4TH 161 JASON CHISM
5TH RICK PEARCE
6TH DAVID TAYLOR
SCRATCH SEMI #1 - 1st two go to Main - 2nd two go to 'Last Chance'
1ST GARY HICKS
2ND JOHN ADEN
3RD JESSE FINCH
4TH JASON CHISM
SCRATCH SEMI #2 - 1st two go to main - 2nd two go to 'last chance'
1ST STEVE LUCERO
2ND SHAWN MCCONNELL
3RD EDDIE CASTRO
4TH BOBBY SCHWARTZ
LAST CHANCE - 1st goes to main
1ST BOBBY SCHWARTZ
2ND EDDIE CASTRO
3RD JESSE FINCH
4TH JASON CHISM
SIDECAR MAIN
1ST LEWIS/MACY
2ND CARMONT/TAILING
3RD "SIDECAR"BOB BRAYTON/WEAVER
4TH MATHERSON/COLE
BECAUSE TONIGHT WAS SPONSORED BY ORANGE COUNTY HARLEY, I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW
THE WINNER OF THE HARLEY MAIN
1ST PLACE...RICHARD JOHNSON
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