Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, CA

Father's Day/Kids Night
Costa Mesa Speedway
June 15, 2002
From Ryan Evans

Scott Brant captured the Scratch Main for the second week in a row and added the Handicap Main to complete a double main event sweep on Saturday night at Costa Mesa Speedway.

Brant got a tremendous start and trapped the field from the outside gate to take the lead in the Scratch Main Event. National Champion Chris Manchester followed Brant exiting turn two and chased him down the back straight. Brant didn't allow Manchester to get his hopes up as he steadily pulled away to take the win by a comfortable margin. Shawn McConnell finished third, Josh Larsen was fourth, and Randy DiFrancesco was fifth.

The eight-man Handicap Main proved to be a wild affair that featured two restarts. On the first attempt, DiFrancesco took the lead, but "Fast" Eddie Castro and Andy "The Enforcer" Northrup went down in turn one behind him and brought out the red flag. Both riders were sent to the penalty line for causing the restart.

On the restart, DiFrancesco took the lead again and held it throughout the first lap. Entering turn three the second time Brant and Larsen came together and both went down. Brant was up immediately, but Larsen, who had gone over the high-side, was down for several minutes. The current points leader made it to his feet, but indicated that he wasn't going to participate in the restart. However, in an effort to protect his points lead, Larsen remounted for the restart and took his place on the penalty line after being deemed the cause of the accident.

The third attempt got physical in turn one as Former Junior National Champion Bryan Yarrow and DiFrancesco clashed in turn one, which forced both off the pole. Brant was in perfect position to take advantage and he blasted under both riders to take the lead. Manchester also went by to take second. Just as he did in the Scratch Main, Brant pulled away from Manchester to take the win. Shawn McConnell finished third, Northrup was fourth, and Larsen managed to finish fifth on a bike that, after further inspection after the race, had suffered a broken frame in his crash with Brant.

In the Support Main Event, the first attempt got no further than turn one as several riders came together and left Rod Lenz on the ground. The referee ruled that it was turn one bunching and there would be a full restart. On the restart, David Lynch was first to turn one, but as he was exiting turn two he had a challenge to his lead. John Stunkard, who had started in gate five, made a run around the outside and was alongside Lynch on the back straight. Stunkard stayed wide entering turn three, but he went down in turn four. From there, Lynch was uncontested as he cruised to his third consecutive main event victory. Dave Delbridge finished second, Hideaki Ota was third, Lenz was fourth, and Stunkard was fifth.

The Support B Main Event was a battle for two laps between Mike Hernandez and Michael Novratil. On the third lap, Novratil took control of the lead and never let go as he went on to his third victory of the year. Hernandez held on to second, Kim Stevens, making her first appearance of the year, finished third, Craig Collier was fourth, Dan Wensloff finished fifth, and Monte McKeon was credited with sixth.
In Junior Division, it was Miles Calvin who went home victorious after a race-long battle with Skyler Greyson. Krystal Cramer finished third.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation
155 - Kevin Templeton         10
176 - Carl Gazafy             20
102 - Jim Lavender            20
164 - Rusty Hall              20
212 - Steve Dziadus           10
105 - Michael Hernandez       20

Support B Main Event
181 - Michael Novratil        10
108 - Mike Hernandez          10
197 - Kim Stevens             10
133 - Craig Collier           20
169 - Dan Wensloff            20
107 - Monte McKeon            10   (non starter)

Support Consolation
293 - Rick Valdez             10
165 - Randy Kreps             20
161 - Hector Quevedo          10
178 - Eloy Medellin           20
144 - Tom Hamilton            20
163 - Rohn Zellner            10
103 - Brent Smith             20
312 - Jimmy Steet             10   (non starter)

Support Last Chance
240 - Hideaki Ota
332 - Brian Hunt
118 - Scott Tidwell   (fell)
106 - Robert Fiesler  (non starter)

Support Main Event  (restarted)
131 - David Lynch
338 - Dave Delbridge
240 - Hideaki Ota
196 - Rod Lenz
249 - John Stunkard   (fell)

Junior Speedway
 99 - Miles Calvin
  2 - Skyler Greyson
 27 - Krystal Cramer

Handicap Main Event      (restarted)
 10 - Scott Brant             40
  1 - Chris Manchester        50
  6 - Shawn McConnell         50  *started on the 60
166 - Andy Northrup           40  (penalty line - 60)
  2 - Josh Larsen             50  (penalty line - 70)
  8n - Bryan Yarrow           30
 14 - Eddie Castro            40  (penalty line - 60)
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco       30

Last Chance
  6 - Shawn McConnell
166 - Andy Northrup
  8n - Bryan Yarrow
 14 - Eddie Castro

Scratch Main Event
 10 - Scott Brant
  1 - Chris Manchester
  6 - Shawn McConnell
  2 - Josh Larsen
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco