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Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
2003 Spring Classic
Costa Mesa Speedway
April 12, 2003
From Ryan Evans
Speedway returned to the Orange County Fairgrounds for the 35th year and it was Gary Hicks who began his season in grand style by capturing the Scratch Main Event in front of a large crowd Saturday night.
Hicks made a great start from gate two and held the lead ahead of Eddie Castro as the field came off turn two. Castro applied the pressure for a lap, but Hicks pulled comfortably ahead after the first lap. Castro's riding line became increasingly wider and at the end of the third lap "Flyin" Mike Faria snuck by on the inside to assume second, but he couldn't get close to Hicks, who cruised to the win. Faria was second, Scott Brant also passed Castro to get third, Castro settled for fourth, and Bobby Schwartz was fifth.
The Handicap Main had two of America's budding stars on the 20 yard line, Eric Carrillo and Chris Kerr, with another young star, Bryan Yarrow, and veteran Randy DiFrancesco on the 30. Behind them were four riders on the 40 yard line. Carrillo beat Kerr to turn one to assume the lead. Entering turn four Kerr went wide and fell, collecting Yarrow in the process. The race was allowed to continue and DiFrancesco moved in behind Carrillo. DiFrancesco kept the pressure on Carrillo for seven laps, but the 18 year old didn't flinch. Entering the last corner on the last lap, DiFrancesco went for broke and made a desperate inside attempt for the lead, but knocked Carrillo down. The red light went on and the race was declared finished with Carrillo awarded the victory. Shawn McConnell was second, Brant finished third, and Kerr remounted after his first lap crash to finish fourth.
Southern California has been waiting for another young star and many have predicted that 16 year old Justin Boyle is the one to assume that role. He didn't disappoint those prognosticators by winning the Support Main in superb fashion. Boyle was fast out of the gate and ran away with the victory. Steve Murray finished second, Doug Benjamin was third, Dave Delbridge was fourth, and Scott Tidwell finished fifth.
Greg Searle made his Costa Mesa debut and rode four smooth laps to capture the Support B Main Event. Michael Novratil finished second, Guy Jessup was third, Tom Rossano finished fourth, Brian Baichtal was fifth, and Keith Mullally finished sixth.
Although Saturday night marked the beginning of the 35th year of speedway at Costa Mesa, the season doesn't officially begin until May 3rd. There will be no racing the next two Saturdays. Costa Mesa also announced to the large crowd that they would be promoting speedway inside the Orange Show Speedway stock car stadium in San Bernardino, with the first race being held on May 23rd.
RESULTS
Support B Consolation
332 - Brian Hunt 20
198 - Mike Boyle 20
193 - Billy Swaim 10
339 - Sam Stavros 10
169 - Dan Wensloff 20
244 - DeWayne Stark 10 (non starter)
Support B Main Event
189 - Greg Searle 10
181 - Michael Novratil 20
190 - Guy Jessup 10
296 - Tom Rossano 20
112 - Brian Baichtal 20 (fell)
185 - Keith Mullally 10 (fell)
Support Consolation
106 - Robert Fiesler
228 - Shane Kump
107 - Monte McKeon
113n - Rachalle Kerr
Support Consolation
100 - Phil Harmatiuk
117 - Billy Braden
165 - Randy Kreps
180 - Malcolm Roe
Support Last Chance
128 - Doug Benjamin
321n - Richard Christian
293 - Rick Valdez
178 - Eloy Medellin (fell)
Support Main Event
197 - Justin Boyle
214 - Steve Murray
128 - Doug Benjamin
338 - Dave Delbridge
118 - Scott Tidwell
Handicap Main Event
75n - Eric Carrillo 20
6 - Shawn McConnell 40
10 - Scott Brant 40
27n - Chris Kerr 20 (fell, remounted)
12 - Randy DiFrancesco 30 (penalized)
9 - Mike Faria 40 (retired)
3 - Gary Hicks 40
8n - Bryan Yarrow 30 (fell)
Last Chance
3 - Gary Hicks
6 - Shawn McConnell
24 - Bobby Krips
12 - Randy DiFrancesco
Scratch Main Event
3 - Gary Hicks
9 - Mike Faria
10 - Scott Brant
14 - Eddie Castro
11 - Bobby Schwartz
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