Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I Speedway Costa Mesa Speedway ORANGE COUNTY FAIRDERBY was over, and the final man in the Fair Derbv main event wo uld be Faria . The po le for the all- important main event we nt to Castr o. Hicks was in tw o, with Faria in three. Schwartz was in four, a nd o n th e o u ts ide it w a s McConnell. Fari a read th e gate to perfection and exploded ou t of three, taking the lead as they hit the first tum. From there on ou t, it was showtime. So su re was Far ia of h is eq ui p m en t th at he wa ved to the crowd on the white-flag lap while going down the back straig ht. Hicks was a d istant seco nd, wi th Cas tro a n d Sch w ar tz third a n d fo u r t h . McConnell we nt do wn in one early, and he was never a factor. The lineup for the Handicap main had Brad Sau er on the 'l O-yard line by himself. Cooley wa s the sa le ow ner of the 30. Castro and DiFrancesco shared the 40, with Northru p and Bra nt on the 50. McConne ll and Ox ley lined up on the 60. McConnell wa s weari ng a helmet ca mera fo r the eve n t, and it g o t io record five s tart attempts before th ey go t a clean go. Cast ro and Oxley were sent to the 7D-yard line, and Castro had to bring out his old bike due to crashes. Wh en they fina lly d id get away clean, it was Sauer leading the way for two laps before ort hru p go t through. Wit h so m any resta r ts, a corner flagma n was holdi ng both a red and yellow flag, and Northru p thou ght they were un der red again and shut off the gas. By the time h e r ea li z ed w ha t ha d happe ned, McConne ll a nd Oxley ha d gott en by , and he was now ru nn ing third . McCo nnell and Oxley ar e pole riders, and once they ar e in p lace they are not moved easi ly. Th is wo uld be the case, as By Elaine Jones Photos by Mike Basso COSTAMESA, CA, JULY 10 or th e fourth time - the most of .an y rider - "Fly in' " Mik e Faria ' s name wi ll go on the bronzed cowboy-hat trop hy do nated by Sonny Nutter as the winner of Costa Mesa Speedwa y' s O ran ge County Fair Derb y. Faria mad e the trip from Reno and took the Scratch main event in front of a p a ck ed h ou s e o f fair go e rs Saturda y night o n the fam ous bullrin g, w hi le Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell took the w in on th e Handicap side of the progra m. The first heat on the Scra tch side of the p ro gram sa w th e ga te go to Andy "The Enfo rce r" Northru p , w ho broke from the third grid and put his [awa in fronta s thev h it the fir st turn . John "Boy " Aden' tried to make the ou tside cus hion wo rk, but all that did was leave the d oor open for d efending cha m pio n Bobby "Booga loo" Schwartz, and he go t th rough on the white-flag lap to tak e the second an d move on, wi th North rup, to th e se m is . Kon Baur and Brian Burch we re fourt h and fifth, respectively. The seco nd heat was all McCo nnell, w ho d rew th e fifth g a te a nd had th e qu ickest reflexes, as he was able to come across th e front of th e field an d drop down low on the pol e, wher e he d oes his best wo rk. "Rad " Brad Oxley was tickling McCon nell' s rear wheel all the wa y in the fast fou r-lapper, bu t the '87 U.S. Nati on al Cham pio n would have to se tt le fo r seco n d , w hich was goo d enou gh to move hi m to the semis . Bry an Tho m pson , Jo hn ny Walker a nd Jason Chism finished ou t the field. Chris "T he Kid " Man ch ester, ba ck from England and ba sed ou t of Ren o, mad e the trip down with Faria, and he was right on track in hea t three as he broke from the pole and led for tw o laps F a> g: ;. N 3' .., 50 (Above) Mike Faria (left) captured his fourth Orange County Fair Derby champ ionship at Costa Mesa Speedw ay. Faria had to come all the way from the last-chance qualifier in orde r to get a shot at the title. (Right) After five resta rts, Shawn McConnell (foreground right) held off Brad Oxley (left) to take the win in the Handicap main. At one point in the night, McConnell knoc ked heads with a photogra pher on the track's infield, though nobody was se rious ly injured. befo re "Fast" Eddie Cas tro made a dar ing pass on the ou tside to take the lead with one lap to go. Gary Hicks took the low line and took over second, assu ring himse lf of a place in th e semis. Hi cks' ride was all the more spec tacu lar as he had been put on th e 20-yard lin e for tou ch in g th e tapes . Fou rth a n d fi fth wen t to Jim Estes and .Charlie Coole y. Faria took the troo ps to school in the final hea t, as he we nt wi re to wire wi th a textb ook rid e. Sco tt Bra n t wa s a so lid s e co n d , wi th Rand y "Th e Ro ck et" DiFra ncesco third , Robbie Sau er fourth 'and Tom Winchell fifth. McCon nell drew the pole for the first semi, wit h No rth ru p in two and Hicks a nd Bran t in three and fou r. They a ll bro ke pretty even, but it was McConnell hugging the pole as he hitthe first tum in the lead . No rthrup was in second , but when they hi t tum three, Hicks put his bike ' right be tween them, m uscled h is way th rou gh ' and managed to move by No rthrup bu t not McConnell. He wo uld take the second , good eno ug h for a spo t in th e mai n, alo ng with McC on n ell. N orthru p and Brant w ou ld ge t o n e more sho t in the last-chan ce. O xley d rew the pole in th e second semi, with Schwart z in tw o and Castro and Fa ria in three and four. The ga te wen t to Castro, and after that it was jus t a matt er of who was going to be second . The battl e was between Schwartz and Oxley, and the nod went to Schwartz by . th e w id th of a ti re . O xley a n d Fa ria mo ved to the last-chance. After one restart, th e gate wen t to Faria in the LCQ, and wit h that the race McConnell held tight, putting his front w heel in the air as he too k the checkered flag fi rst. O xl ey w as seco n d , with Northrup third . DiFrancesco an d Coo ley were fourth an d fifth. Rand y Skin ner led the Suppo rt main fr o m sta r t to fi ni sh , to p pi ng Ke v in Rubio and Mar k Ada ms. CIII Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, California Results: Ju ly 10, 1999 . SC R: 1. Mike Faria (GM); 2. Brad Oxley (Wes); 3. And y No rthr up (Jaw ); 4. Scott Bran t (Jaw) ; 5. Shawn McConneU IGM). Hocr: 1. Shawn McC onnell (GM ); 2. Brad Oxley (wes): 3. Andy Northrup (j aw ); 4. Rand y Dif ra ncesco (Jaw); 5. Cha rlie Coo ley (jaw ); 6. Eddie Cast ro (Jaw); 7. Brad Sauer (jaw ); 8. Scott Brant (jaw ). SU P: 1. Randy Skinner (jaw); 2. Kevin Rubio Qaw); 3. Mark Adams (jaw); 4. Donn ie' Ro binson (Jaw ); S. Tom W incheU ICdn).

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