Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2001 Mother’s Day Skirt Night
Costa Mesa Speedway
May12 , 2001
From Ryan Evans

Former U.S. National Champion Chris Manchester captured the Scratch Main for the third week in a row at Costa Mesa Saturday Night.
Manchester, starting from the pole, took the lead at the start and was challenged by Josh Larsen. Manchester stayed on the low line as they entered turn three while Larsen tried the outside. It was Manchester who had the faster line as he took command of the lead at the end of lap one with Larsen having to battle Gary Hicks for second. Manchester was never challenged again and maintained a comfortable lead all the way to the checkered flag. Behind him, the battle for second place continued with Larsen holding the position ahead of Hicks. On the last lap Larsen drifted wide in turn two and Hicks shot underneath to take the position away and held it to the finish. Bobby Schwartz finished in fourth and Mike Faria finished in fifth.

The Handicap Main began with only seven riders due to an injury suffered by Bobby Simons during his Scratch Heat. Simons' absence meant that all the participants would start at least 40 yards back with four riders on the 40 yard line and three on the 50. The positions would soon change as 40-yard rider Randy DiFrancesco was banished to the 60 yard line for rolling at the start.
Ryan Fisher led the pack into turn one and held the lead after one lap with Shawn McConnell in tow. As they entered turn one the second time Fisher and McConnell came together leaving both riders on the ground. McConnell was deemed the cause of the crash and was put on the 60 yard line for the restart. On the restart, "Fast" Eddie Castro beat Fisher to turn one and held the lead into turn three. Larsen and Hicks made contact with Hicks going down and forcing the red light to come on again. The blame was assigned to Larsen and he would now start from the back as well.

On the third start, Fisher and Castro entered turn one together, but riding distinctively different lines. Fisher settled down on the pole while Castro went to the dirt on the outside. They stayed even for one lap before Castro found the necessary drive in turn two to pull ahead of the 17 year old former Junior National Champion. Usually, the leader will get to the inside when comfortably ahead, but Castro insisted on riding the outside and continued to make it work, but not enough to completely shake off Fisher. On the seventh lap, Castro finally went low and held the lead the rest of the way for his first main event victory of the season. Fisher was second, Hicks was a distant third, DiFrancesco was fourth, and Larsen was fifth.

David Lynch made a great start to take the lead in the Support Main Event. He was immediately put under pressure by 17 year old Shaun Harmatiuk. Lynch kept leaving room on the inside, but not quite enough for Harmatiuk to take the lead. On the third lap, Lynch left too much room and Harmatiuk blasted underneath to take the lead and then pulled away for the win. Lynch held on to second, John DeFries was third, Gerry Duttweiler was fourth, and Bobby Krips was fifth.

Rod Lenz quickly worked through the traffic to take the lead, and then rode a smooth four laps to earn the victory in the Support B Main Event. Chris Metoyer finished second, last week's winner, Robert Fiesler, finished third, Scott Tidwell was fourth, Bily Braden was fifth, and Bryan Baichtal was sixth.

Skyler Greyson held off Ricky Wells to capture the top honors in junior speedway action. Justin Boyle was third, Krystal Cramer was fourth, and newcomer Destin Cantrell was fifth.

RESULTS

Juniors 
 2 - Skyler Greyson             10 
142 - Ricky Wells               10 
 3 - Justin Boyle               40 
27 - Krystal Cramer           20 
34 - Destin Cantrell             0 

Support B Main Event 
196 - Rod Lenz                20 
148 - Chris Metoyer             10 
106 - Robert Fiesler          20 
118 - Scott Tidwell             10 
117 - Billy Braden              10 
112 - Bryan Baichtal            10 

Support Main Event 
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 
131 - David Lynch 
316 - John DeFries 
200 - Gerry Duttweiler 
223 - Bobby Krips 

Handicap Main Event 
 14 - Eddie Castro              40 
 36 - Ryan Fisher               40 
  3 - Gary Hicks                50 
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco         40  (penalty line) 
  4 - Josh Larsen               50  (penalty line) 
  6 - Shawn McConnell           40  (penalty line) 
130 - Chris Manchester          50 
253 - Bobby Simons              10  (non starter - injury) 

Scratch Main Event 
130 - Chris Manchester 
  3 - Gary Hicks 
  4 - Josh Larsen 
 11 - Bobby Schwartz 
  9 - Mike Faria