Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Freestyle Jumpers
September 25, 2004 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans
Former World Champion Billy Hamill returned to Costa Mesa and was victorious in both main events.
Chris Manchester went into the tapes the first time the riders lined up in the Scratch Main and was penalized 20 yards on the restart. When the tapes finally went up, Hamill exploded into the lead from gate two and left everyone in his wake in the first corner. Hamill showed no mercy on his competitors and raced away with a convincing win in his first appearance at the world famous bullring oval in over a year. Dukie Ermolenko was second, Bryan Yarrow finished third, Bobby Schwartz was fourth, and Manchester finished fifth.
Nate Perkins was able to beat fellow 10 yard rider Denny Scopellite into turn one and set off to extend his lead at the start of the Handicap Main Event. Perkins led comfortably for several laps, but Buck Blair caught him at the end of the fifth lap and made his move on the leader entering turn one. Blair went to the inside of Perkins, but made contact and brought him down. This brought a stop to the race and the referee ruled that Blair was at fault and banished him to the penalty line.
The staggered restart put Perkins at the front, Justin Boyle 10 yards behind, and Hamill 20 yards behind the leader and within striking distance with three laps remaining. Perkins led for a lap, but Boyle tried an inside pass in turn one and went by on the exit of turn two, but made contact with Perkins. This gave Hamill the opportunity he was looking for and he beat Boyle to the inside line in turn three. Boyle went down as Hamill secured the lead and cruised the final lap to complete his main event double. Perkins held on for an impressive second place finish, Andy Northrup was third, Blair finished fourth, and Randy DiFrancesco was fifth.
The Support Main Event was all John Stunkard as he jumped into the lead at the start and ran away with an easy victory. Hideaki Ota was second, Billy Braden finished third, Eloy Medellin was fourth, and Rudy Laurer.
Five riders lined up on the 10 yard line in the Support B Main Event with Keith Mullally as the only rider on the 20. Kim Stevens was first to turn one, but Mullally fought through the traffic and into second. He chased Stevens before falling on the second lap in turn four. Stevens was never challenged after that and she took home her first main event victory of the season.
There will not be speedway at Costa Mesa the next two Saturdays. The next event is the 36th annual U.S. National Championship on Saturday, October 16. In addition to the regular Costa Mesa riders, the field will include European-based Americans Ryan Fisher and Billy Janniro as well as former National Champions Bart Bast and Alan Christian traveling from the north, and New York State Champion Jeremy Parsons. This year's field will include a total of six former national champions.
RESULTS
Support B Main Event
136 - Kim Stevens 10
213 - Mark Sincavage 10
169 - Dan Wensloff 10
102 - Jim Lavender 10
150 - Damon Barry 10 (fell, remounted)
185 - Keith Mullally 20 (fell)
Support Consolation
198 - Mike Boyle
165 - Randy Kreps
269 - Ed Martinez
106 - Robert Fiesler (non starter)
Support Last Chance
117 - Billy Braden
118 - Scott Tidwell
248 - Brian Starr
176 - Carl Gazafy
Support Main Event
249 - John Stunkard
240 - Hideaki Ota
117 - Billy Braden
178 - Eloy Medellin
182 - Rudy Laurer (fell)
Handicap Main Event (restarted)
104 - Billy Hamill 50
389 - Nate Perkins 10
166 - Andy Northrup 40
39 - Buck Blair 20 (penalty line)
12 - Randy DiFrancesco 30
18 - Justin Boyle 20 (fell)
37 - Denny Scopellite 10 (retired)
6 - Shawn McConnell 40 (retired)
Scratch Main Event
104 - Billy Hamill
15 - Dukie Ermolenko
8n - Bryan Yarrow
11 - Bobby Schwartz
130 - Chris Manchester (tape penalty) | 