Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Gary Hicks and Bryan Yarrow were the main event winners in front of a large crowd at Costa Mesa Saturday night.

Bobby Schwartz and Cody Brant were first to turn one in the Scratch Main, but when Brant slid up the race track in turn two Hicks made a beautiful inside move to take the lead on the back straight. Brant tried to regain the lead in turn three, but Hicks was on the precious inside line. Despite Brant's constant pressure, Hicks held on to the lead and was first to the checkered flag. Brant settled for second, Shawn McConnell was third, Schwartz finished fourth, and Dukie Ermolenko was fifth.

The 30 yard line served as the front marker for the eight-man Handicap Main Event with five riders lined across. This made the start crucial as back-yardage riders could potentially pick up several positions in turn one. It was Yarrow, who had spent the previous weekend racing in Indianapolis, who beat everyone to the first corner. From there, the 2000 Junior National Champion left everyone in his wake and ran away with the main event victory. Andy Northrup followed Yarrow the whole way to get second, McConnell was third, Brant finished fourth, and Northern California's Tommy Hedden was fifth.

The first attempt to run the Support Main Event ended in a heap in the middle of turn one. Japan's Hideaki Ota grabbed the initial lead on the restart, but Doug Benjamin took over after a lap. Scott Tidwell pressured Benjamin for two laps and it paid off when he made an inside pass entering turn one the final time. Tidwell was first to the checkered flag, John Stunkard also passed Benjamin and got second, Ota was fourth, and Chris Metoyer finished fifth.

A pair of crashes forced the Support B Main Event to be restarted twice. On the third try it was first-year rider Guy Jessup who emerged victorious after four solid laps. Phil Harmatiuk was second, Mike McCarthy finished third, Nathan Smelser was fourth, Troy McConnell finished fifth, and Tony Bracy was sixth.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation (restarted)
102 - Jim Lavender		10
223 - Fred Schmitthammer    	20
176 - Carl Gazafy           	20
193 - Billy Swaim           	10
105 - Michael Hernandez       	10	(fell, remounted)
107 - Monte McKeon            	20   	(fell, remounted)

Support B Consolation
198 - Mike Boyle            	10
136 - Kim Stevens          	10
212 - Steve Dziadus        	20
185 - Keith Mullally         	20
339 - Sam Stavros          	10
244 - DeWayne Stark             10

Support B Main Event (restarted twice)
190n - Guy Jessup         	20
100 - Phil Harmatiuk       	20
113 - Mike McCarthy            	20
188 - Nathan Smelser           	10  	(penalty line)
131 - Troy McConnell            20  	(retired)
194 - Tony Bracy            	10   	(fell, excluded)

Support Consolation
182 - Rudy Laurer           
161 - Hector Quevedo     
178 - Eloy Medellin
138 - Rich Brock            (fell)

Support Consolation
155n - Vince Bertolucci
117 - Billy Braden
165 - Randy Kreps
164 - Rusty Hall       	(fell)

Support Main Event (restarted)
118 - Scott Tidwell
249 - John Stunkard
128 - Doug Benjamin
240 - Hideaki Ota
148 - Chris Metoyer

Handicap Main Event
  8n - Bryan Yarrow         	30
166 - Andy Northrup        	30
  6 - Shawn McConnell          	40
 10 - Cody Brant             	50
 40n - Tommy Hedden           	30
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco       	30
 11 - Bobby Schwartz           	50
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk         	30

Last Chance
  3 - Gary Hicks
  2n - Alan Christian
166 - Andy Northrup
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco

Scratch Main Event
  3 - Gary Hicks
 10 - Cody Brant
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko