Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

2010 Jack Milne Cup
August 21, 2010 - Costa Mesa
By: Ryan Evans

Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell won the Jack Milne Cup for the second straight year as speedway returned from its hiatus at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Former National Champion Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz was off the starting line first when the tapes went up but McConnell was on his left hip as they entered turn one. Schwartz couldn’t quite get across McConnell to the inside line and left an opening that McConnell was able to exploit. McConnell charged to the lead on the back straight while Schwartz got behind him with hopes of forcing a mistake. Schwartz chased McConnell the rest of the way but the leader was unfazed. McConnell was first to the checkered flag, Schwartz settled for second, “Battling” Buck Blair was third, Jimmy “Little Animal” Fishback finished fourth, and “Flyin” Mike Faria was fifth.

Gary Hicks opened the heats with a win over Fishback. Blair defeated McConnell in the second heat. “Fast” Eddie Castro beat former Youth National Champion Brad Pappalardo in the third heat. Tyson Burmeister finished round one with a win over Schwartz.

Round two started with Hicks and Burmeister tangling in turn one and ending up in the wall. Both riders restarted with Hicks getting his second straight victory. McConnell beat Fishback for his first win of the evening. Faria beat two-time Youth National Champion Austin Novratil in the next event. Schwartz ended the second round with his first victory.

Castro began the final round by beating Novratil. McConnell made it two straight victories by beating Gino Manzares. Faria held off Fishback for his second straight win. Schwartz beat Blair to end the heats with his second consecutive win.

Pappalardo beat Joey Holt and Michael Raines in a runoff for the final place in the semis.

Blair and Schwartz finished one-two in the first semi to book their places in the main event. Faria won the second semi with McConnell following him into the main event. Fishback won the Last Chance to fill the final spot in the main.

The Support Main Event required three attempts to complete after red flags halted the first two tries. Aaron Fox led the third start but drifted off the cherished inside line and Ryan Tovatt took the lead. Fox fought back and tried to regain the lead the third time they entered turn three but spun around and went down. His fall brought out the red flag for the third time and the referee awarded the victory to Tovatt. Rudy Laurer was credited with second, Archie Perez was third, Geoff Herkner was fourth, and Fox was credited with fifth.

C.J. Sanborn led the Support B Main Event for two laps before Mike Salyer slipped by on the inside to get to the front. Sanborn never looked back from there and he went on to victory. Sanborn held on to second, Chris Popanz was third, Gene Stone finished fourth, and Jonni Jade was fifth. Rocco Scopellite led all four laps en route to victory in the Youth 250cc Main Event. Max Ruml was second, Samuel Ramirez finished third, River McDougall was fourth, and Nicky Reimer finished fifth.

Broc Nicol put together four smooth laps to win the Youth 200cc First Division Main Event. Kurtis Hamill finished second, Hayley Perrault was third, Dillon Ruml finished fourth, and Nicholas Varner was fifth.

Maverick Molloy scored an impressive victory in the Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event. Michael Wells finished second, Brian Pintear was third, and Chase Sanborn finished fourth.

Kale Fredholm held off his brother, Kole Fredholm, and Margi Hamill to win the Youth 200cc Third Division Main Event.

The Jack Milne Cup honors the 1937 World Speedway Champion who was an integral part of the founding of Costa Mesa Speedway. A Legends Night was held in conjunction with the event and included Harry Oxley, Bruce Penhall, Steve Lucero, Sonny Nutter, and Dubb Ferrell to name a few.

The next event at Costa Mesa is the Harley Night which will include the always popular street-legal Harley Races.

RESULTS

Youth 200cc Third Division Main Event 
88 - Kale Fredholm 
55 - Kole Fredholm 
199 - Margi Hamill 


Youth 200cc Second Division Main Event 
34 - Maverick Molloy 
214 - Michael Wells 
58 - Brian Pintear 
108 - Chase Sanborn 

Youth 200cc First Division Main Event 
146 - Broc Nicol 
104 - Kurtis Hamill 
0 - Hayley Perrault (tape penalty) 
111 - Dillon Ruml 
333 - Nicholas Varner (engine failure) 

Youth 250cc Main Event 
9 - Rocco Scopellite 
308 - Max Ruml 
22 - Samuel Ramirez 
5 - River McDougall 
41 - Nicky Reimer 

Support B Main Event 
333 - Mike Salyer 
393 - C.J. Sanborn 
351n - Chris Popanz 
231 - Gene Stone 
266 - Jonni Jade (fell) 

Support Main Event (restarted twice) (awarded) 
389 - Ryan Tovatt 
182 - Rudy Laurer 
34 - Archie Perez (penalty line) 
208 - Geoff Herkner (penalty line) 
146 - Aaron Fox (fell, excluded) 
 
 First Division Scoring123T
3 – Gary Hicks 44N8
6 – Shawn McConnell344 11
9 – Mike Faria 244 10
11 – Bobby Schwartz344 11
14 – Eddie Castro434 11
17 – Robbie Sauer 2013
24 – Gino ManzaresN134
25 – Jimmy Fishback 3339
26 – Tyson Burmeister 41N5
39 – Buck Blair 4138
41 – John Marquez 1124
48 – Tyson TalkingtonF011
63 – Michael Raines2305
98 – Doug Nicol1T23
120 – Doug Greyson0011
141 – Josh Abbott1214
145 – Brad Pappalardo 3205
149 – Philip Harmatiuk 2226
181 – Austin Novratil 0336
244 – Joey Holt1225
 
 Race Results
1: Hicks, Fishback, Harmatiuk, Abbott, Novratil
2: Blair, McConnell, Raines, Nicol, Manzares (non starter)
3: Castro, Pappalardo, Faria (tape penalty), Marquez, Talkington (fell)
4: Burmeister, Schwartz, Sauer, Holt, Greyson
9: (restarted) Hicks, Raines, Holt, Burmeister (penalty line), Nicol (tape exclusion)
10: McConnell, Fishback, Abbott, Marquez, Sauer
11: Faria, Novratil, Pappalardo, Blair (tape penalty), Greyson
12: Schwartz, Castro, Harmatiuk, Manzares, Talkington (tape penalty)
15: (restarted) Castro, Novratil, Marquez, Talkington (penalty line), Hicks (non starter) 
16: McConnell, Manzares, Holt, Greyson, Burmeister (non starter)
17: Faria, Fishback, Harmatiuk, Abbott, Pappalardo
18: Schwartz, Blair, Nicol, Sauer, Raines
Runoff: Pappalardo, Raines, Holt, Burmeister (non starter)
Semi #1: Blair, Schwartz, Castro, Pappalardo, Hicks (non starter)
Semi #2: Faria, McConnell, Fishback, Harmatiuk

First Division Last Chance 
25 - Jimmy Fishback 
149 - Philip Harmatiuk 
14 - Eddie Castro 
145 - Brad Pappalardo 

Jack Milne Cup Final 
6 - Shawn McConnell 
11 - Bobby Schwartz 
39 - Buck Blair 
25 - Jimmy Fishback 
9 - Mike Faria (retired)

 Past Jack Milne Cup Winners
1998 - Bobby Schwartz
1999 - Gary Hicks
2000 - Charlie Venegas
2001 - Gary Hicks
2002 - Scott Brant
2003 - Scott Brant
2004 - Mike Faria
2005 - Mike Faria
2006 - Charlie Venegas
2007 – Mike Faria
2008 – Bobby Schwartz
2009 – Shawn McConnell