Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Orange County Har ley-Davidson/Buell Night Costa Mesa Speedway ha ve fe lt like a tsunami was bearing down on h im , as se ven of the best riders around were at full speed as they h it th e first turn . Thompson held the lead for on e lap before Faria took over, followed by Schwa rtz, Larsen an d M cC onnell. One lap lat er , Sch w art z was fo rced to t he ou ts ide an d La rse n moved t o seco nd, w ith McConn ell third. DiFrancesco m oved t o f o urt h . On the fou rth l ap . Cast ro mad e h is way through traffic as he w o rk e d t h e ou tside , taki ng o ver fo urth . McCon nell dropped to sixt h . Manc hester had taken over fifth bu t McConnell still had some figh t in him . and on the white -flag lap he got by Manchest er. F ar ia scored his second w in of the night. Following him ho me were La r sen , D iFra n c es co , Castro and Mc Connel l. Manchest er, Schwartz and Thompson m ad e up the rest of the field. The J o nes famil y stole the show in th e Sidecar m ain . The fi r st lap was (Left and below) " Flyln'" Mike Faria enjoyed the spoils of vi ctory· and doubly so, as he won both the Sc ra t c h and Ha n d i cap main events at Orange County Hartey-Davidson/Buell Ni ght at Costa Mesa Spe edway In California. led by J o e J on es a nd his g irlfriend Br andi M cE lr o y . Br oth erl y lov e not wi t hsta nding , the team of Da nny and Chris J on es took the lea d as they B y ELA INE J ONES PH OT OS BY MIK E B A SSO COSTA MESA, CA, MAY 19 t was Orange Cou nty H a r l e y D avidson /Bu ell Night at Costa M e sa Speedway , and the Harleys were out in force. " Fly in'" Mike Faria made th e tr ip from Ren o , Nevada , worthwhil e b y w i n n i ng b o th th e Scrat ch and Handic ap m ain events. H arl ey N i g h t is one o f th e r a r e ni gh t s when a lot of very expensive equipm ent gets to play in t he dirt. Mik e Boyl e won the flat-track Harley race, and Mark Ryeman t ook the hon ors on the dresser/chopper side of the program . To get to the Scrat ch m ain , riders fi rst have to m ove up the qualifying l ad der. I n the firs t Scratch semi, Ch arl es " Dukie" Erm ol en k o drew the p o l e , wi t h Far ia i n t w o and J o sh Larsen and Chris "T he K id " Man ch ester in three and fo ur. Ermo lenk o cut the best g at e and t o o k th e lead as th ey hit the first co rne r. Fa ria w as on his rea r fender, and the wa r was on . On th e white-flag lap, Far ia got a wheel under Ermolenko and took th e lead as they headed into the final lap. La rsen had bee n ru nn in g third , and he saw his ch ance and too k it , drop ping Erm ol en k o to th ird . Fa ria an d Larsen came away w ith d irect transfers to the m ain , an d Erm o lenk o and M an ch e s t er headed f o r th e l a s t chance qualifier. ca me around on two. Ja mes Carmont and Rich ard T a il ing moved Joe and (Ri g ht ) There w a s n o keeping u p w ith the Jon eses · b rot h e rs Danny and C h rt s w on the Si d eca r m ain event.. In the second Sc r at c h semi, the po le went to Bobby " Boogaloo" Schwartz. Randy " T h e Rocke tD iFrancesco was in t wo , with " Go rgeous " G a r y H icks i n t h r e e and Shawn "Mad Dog " McConnell in four. H i c k s cut a gre at ga te and was rewa rded with the lead from start to finish in the q uick fo ur-Iapper. Schwartz was n't too sh abby , either; he seems to be getting hi s new bik e dialed in, an d he wa s a ve ry credi ble sec ond . B o th wou ld m ov e t o the m a in , wh i l e M cConne l l and DiFran c esc o would get on e more sho t in the LCQ. McC onn ell d rew th e pol e f o r the LCQ , with Ermole nko in two an d DiFrancesco and Manchester in three and four. Ma nc hes te r was ho pi ng to m ak e it four mai n wi ns in a row , and when the tapes came up he dropped t he hammer on the rest o f the fie ld and the last spot in the Scratch main was h is. Brandi out t o ta k e seco n d as t h e wh ite fla g c ame out, an d they came away w ith second place . Steve Morrow and Chris Ch ap m an were fourth . In th e D en im Do ctor Challenge , DiFrance sco was o ut fir st , followed by McC onnell a n d E r m o l e n k o. It came d own to Mancheste r a n d Schwartz, and it was Ma nc hest er all the way in the very quick two-Ia pper . Faria d rew the po le for the Scratch mai n , wi t h L ar se n i n t w o and Schwart z in t hree . O n t he o utsi de were Hicks and "\ancheste r . "The Ki d" was look ing for anoth er wi n, bu t there were four other g uys who had different ide as. Faria wa s on fire and h e li te rally ex p l ode d off t he l ine. Hic k s gave cha se , wi th Ma nc heste r. out in the dirt, th ird. Schwartz ca me through on th e inside o n th e second l ap a nd moved to th ird . H ic ks w as sti ll tr ying to find a way around Faria, but it j ust wasn't going to happen and he would have to settle fo r se cond. Schwartz came away with the show mon ey . Manc hester a n d Larsen roun ded o ut the field . The lineup fo r th e Handic ap m ain had B ry an Thompson all alo ne o n the 10-ya rd lin e . Th e 4 0 was rat her crow de d. wit h Di F rancesco, McConnell , "Fas t" Ed Ca st ro , F ar ia and Sch wa rtz. Ma ncheste r and Larsen were on the fifty . T h om p so n mu st cycle Rudy L auer topped Pa ul Hi tch cock , G e rr y D u lt w e il e r a nd Se a n Le arn ed to win the Suppo rt Sc ratch m ai n . In Su p p o r t B action, Robert F i e s l er too k t he checke r e d , w ith Sha ne K um p and Rick Val dez sec ond and third. eN Costa Mesa Speedway Costa Mesa , Californ ia Results : May 19, 2001 SRC : I. Mike Faria ( GM ): 2 . Ga'Y Hick s (GM ): 3 . Bobb y Schwartz (J aw); 4 . Chri s Manchester (Ja w) ; 5. J osh Larsen (J aw). HDC P: 1. Mike Faria (GM ); 2 . Josh La rsen (J aw); 3 . Randy DiFran cesco (J aw); 4 . Ed Castro (J aw); 5. Shawn McConnell (GM ). S DCR: I. Danny Jones/ Chr is Jones ( Kew) : 2. J am e s Cer mont /Rl chard Tailing ( He n ) ; 3. Joe J ones/B randi McElroy (Kaw) : 4 . Steve Morrow/ Chris Chapman (Suz). DENIM OR CHAL : 1. Chris Manchester (J aw) ; 2. Bobb y Schw artz (J aw); 3 . Duki e Erm olenk o (J 8W): 4 . Sha wn McConn ell (GM ); 5 . Randy DiFr8 nce sco (J aw) . SOP: 1. Rudy Leu rer (Wes ); 2 . Paul Hitch coc k (J aw): 3. Gerry Duttweiler (J8W) ; 4. Seen l earned (J aw). sap B: 1. Robert Fleeter (Ja w); 2. Shane Kum p (J aw); 3. Rick Valdez (J8 W); 4. Rohn Zellner (J aw): 5 . Tom asz Ham pel (J aw) . n e _ S • J UNE 20. 2001 51

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