Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

1999
Costa Mesa Speedway
September 18, 1999
From Ryan Evans

Gary Hicks used a great start to run away with an easy victory in the Scratch Main at Costa Mesa Saturday Night. The victory was Hicks' third Scratch Main win of the season and fifth main event win overall. Hicks and National Champion Bart Bast, down from Northern California, both had good starts but Hicks was on the low line and used it to take a lead that he continued to stretch all the way to the finish. Bast went wide and battled Andy Northrup for second but Bast couldn't find any grip and Northrup took second. Eddie Castro was also able to get under Bast and wound up third. Bast settled for fourth and Bobby Schwartz was fifth.

Hicks wasn't as lucky in the Handicap Main as after two laps he broke a chain and crashed hard in turn one. He was able to walk away but was excluded from the restart. On the staggered restart, Billy "The Kid" Janniro, also down from Northern California, started in front and ran away from everyone for his second Handicap Main victory at Costa Mesa this season. Charlie "The Edge" Venegas, seeking his third consecutive Handicap Main win, squeezed past Randy DiFrancesco on the last lap for second place. DiFrancesco finished third and Northrup was fourth.

Randy Skinner continued his dominance of the Support Division by taking the victory in another crash-marred Support Main. Skinner took the lead on the original try and was leading comfortably when Bill McCarley ran into him on turn four and took himself out in the process. Skinner was able to stay upright, but the red flag stopped the race. On the restart, Skinner took the lead and was an easy victor over Tim Tucker and McCarley. Danny Perkins returned after at least a decade away from the sport to take the Support B Main Event. Perkins showed his experience and that he wasn't too rusty by taking easy victories in both his heat and the main event. Dave Delbridge finished second and 16 year old Shawn Harmatiuk was third. Next week marks the season finale at Costa Mesa followed by the National Championships October 2nd.

RESULTS:

Support B Main
189 - Danny Perkins10
338 - Dave Delbridge 20
139 - Shawn Harmatiuk20
114 - Paul Hitchcock 20
178 - Eloy Medellin 10(fell, remounted)
161 - Hector Quevado10(fell, remounted)

Support Last Chance
120 - Bill McCarley
314 - Joe Winston
200 - Gerry Duttweiler
226 - Sean Larned

Support Main
383 - Randy Skinner
215 - Tim Tucker
120 - Bill McCarley (penalty)
152 - Marvin Sonnier
300 - Bentley Barrett (penalty)

Last Chance
14 - Ed Castro
5 - Brad Oxley
14n - Billy Janniro
15 - Dukie Ermolenko

Scratch Main
3 - Gary Hicks
166 - Andy Northrup
14 - Eddie Castro
1 - Bart Bast
11 - Bobby Schwartz

Handicap Main
14n - Billy Janniro 40
43 - Charlie Venegas 60
72 - Randy DiFrancesco 40
166 - Andy Northrup 50
15 - Dukie Ermolenko 40
1 - Bart Bast 50
7 - John Aden 50
3 - Gary Hicks 60(fell, non-starter for restart)