By: Ryan Evans
"Gorgeous" Gary Hicks ran away with his third Scratch Main victory of the year Saturday Night as speedway returned to Costa Mesa following the annual break for the Orange County Fair.
Hicks drew the number two gate position and was the first to turn one. Hicks led exiting turn two with Josh Larsen, who had won the 25 Lap Classic and the Fair Derby the two consecutive weeks prior to the break, right behind him. This was the same scenario that occured at the Fair Derby, with Larsen eventually passing Hicks for the victory. Larsen tried to get under Hicks in turn three, but Hicks wasn't about to let lightning strike twice and held Larsen at bay. That would prove to be Larsen's only legitimate shot at the lead as Hicks pulled away for a comfortable victory, his third at Costa Mesa in 2001. Larsen finished second, Shawn McConnell finished third, "Fast" Eddie Castro was fourth, and Randy DiFrancesco finished fifth after suffering an engine failure.
18 year old Shaun Harmatiuk started alone on the 10 yard line with Bryan Thompson behind him on the 20 in the Handicap Main. At the start, Harmatiuk quickly began to open up ground on Thompson, who had to contend with the back-yardage contingent behind him. Harmatiuk was riding smoothly at the front as the rest of the field began to get past Thompson. McConnell was the first one through and he set his sights on Harmatiuk. McConnell caught Harmatiuk at the conclusion of lap four and they were next to each other as they exited turn two when Harmatiuk found traction and lifted going down the back straight. Harmatiuk got the front tire down but brushed the back straight wall before riding straight into the wall in turn three. Harmatiuk was down for a bit, but was able to walk away and participate in the restart. Unfortunately, his bike would not make the restart as the front end was destroyed from the impact. Although Harmatiuk was allowed to restart, he would do so from the penalty line.
McConnell started at the tapes as the field was handicaped according to its running order prior to the red flag and there would be four laps remaining. McConnell took advantage of his starting position and ran away from the field to take his first main event victory of 2001. DiFrancesco finished second, Eddie Castro finished third, Bobby Schwartz finished fourth, and Larsen finished fifth.
Michael Mattocks launched to the front from his gate two starting position in the Support Main Event and opened up a big lead on the first lap. Mattocks continued to stretch his lead all the way to the checkered flag for his first main event victory of the season. Rudy Laurer finished second, Dave Delbridge finished third, Gerry Duttweiler finished fourth, and Rick Valdez finished fifth.
The Support B Main Event took three attempts to complete after crashes ended the first two attempts prematurely. On the first attempt, Rod Lenz went down on the back straight and was placed on the penalty line for causing the restart. On the second try, Jeremiah LeBlanc went down in turn two and Rohn Zellner was collected in the process. LeBlanc was hit hard in the back and was down for a bit before rising to his feet on his own. LeBlanc and Zellner were unable to participate in the restart. The third try had Brent Smith getting to the front quickly and holding the lead for the first three laps. Lenz was in second and closing fast on Smith as they entered the last corner. Smith went wide and Lenz made him pay as he beat him to the line to take the victory. A dejected Smith finished second, Mike Boyle finished third, Kim Stevens was fourth, with Zellner credited with fifth, and LeBlanc credited with sixth.
RESULTS Support B Consolation 269 - Ed Martinez 20 181 - Michael Novratil 10 107 - Monte McKeon 20 310 - K.G. Fairbarn 20 227 - Mark Robertson 10 169 - Dan Wensloff 10 Support B Main Event 196 - Rod Lenz 20 (penalty line) 103 - Brent Smith 20 198 - Mike Boyle 20 197 - Kim Stevens 10 163 - Rohn Zellner 20 (fell) 137 - Jeremiah LeBlanc 10 (fell, excluded) Support Consolation 239 - Philip Williams 10 336 - Bill Green 10 177 - Mark Hitchcock 20 106 - Robert Fiesler 20 147 - Winston Williams 20 112 - Bryan Baichtal 10 Support Consolation 148 - Chris Metoyer 10 165 - Randy Kreps 20 174 - Tomasz Hampel 20 178 - Eloy Medellin 20 161 - Hector Quevedo 10 100 - Phil Harmatiuk 10 Support Main Event 122 - Michael Mattocks 182 - Rudy Laurer 338 - Dave Delbridge 200 - Gerry Duttweiler 293 - Rick Valdez Handicap Main Event 6 - Shawn McConnell 40 12 - Randy DiFrancesco 40 14 - Eddie Castro 40 11 - Bobby Schwartz 50 4 - Josh Larsen 50 15 - Dukie Ermolenko 40 57 - Bryan Thompson 20 139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 10 (penalty line) Scratch Main Event 3 - Gary Hicks 4 - Josh Larsen 6 - Shawn McConnell 14 - Eddie Castro 12 - Randy DiFrancesco (engine failure)
