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Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series Final Round: Perris Auto Speedway lLeft! Mart< Corsetti celebrated a dominant Open Pro victory at Perris Auto Speedway during the final round of the 2002 Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series. miss him. Robby D [Rob Damron]. this one's for you." The biggest benefactor of the season-long battles was Pro Beauty/ motomd.com/Saddlemen Racingbacked Kevin Bricker, who never won a race but displayed the necessary consistency to net him his first West Coast Flat Track Series title. It was BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY DOUG ALLEN PERRIS, CA, SEPT. 21 he curtain fell on the fifth season of racing for Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series, and this edition, just as the previous two, showcased a battle for the West Coast number-one plate that came down to the wire. On a wide-grooved half mile the likes of which motorcycle racers at Perris had never seen before, Wood Rotax/Corsetti Family Racing-backed Mark Corsetti finished the 16-lap Open Pro A main event exactly the same way that he had started off the 10-race season at the Hanford TT back in May - on top of the victory podium. Corsetti effectively won the race on a holeshot, outpacing CCM/Banke Performance's Jesse Sanchez and Rod Man Designs/A&A Racing/Cycle Gear's Danny Casey early before setting down and clicking off smooth laps on the way to his second win of the season, tying Sanchez for most wins in a closely contested series that saw eight different winners in 10 rounds of racing. "I love Perris," said Corsetti, who has won at the facility before. "I want to thank Gene Romero for putting on such a wonderful series for us year in and year out, and I want to thank all the fans for coming out. I want to say that I lost a really good friend out here last year. He was my traveling buddy, and 1 really T 32 OCTOBER 9, 2002' cue I no cakewalk for Bricker, though, who came into the final round at Perris just 10 points ahead of CCM/Souza Racing's Tony Souza, the latter carrying the momentum of a win and a runner-up in two of the three rounds prior to the Perris finale. But both riders struggled with sour-running equipment for much of the night at Perris, Souza still managing to transfer directly into the main event while Bricker had to gain entry through a semi. More on that later. The Harley-Davidson Dealers of Southern California Open Vintage race looked much like it had for most of the season, Saddlemen Racing/ A&A Racing/Dodge Brothers-backed Rick Hocking - just weeks shy of his 50th birthday - celebrated his coronation as the new class champion by sweeping to victory in the eight-lap Open Vintage A main, while flying cousins Chris Canepa and Bradley Spencer once again duked it out for supremacy in the Suzuki Novice 250cc A main event. In a race that came down to the last corner, Spencer crossed the line first to win the battle. By virtue of his making the main event, however, Canepa locked up the war, earning his second West Coast 250cc title in as many attempts. Corsetti bolted from the front row to lead the field into turn one when the Open Pro A main got under way. Sanchez and Casey ran two-three, with Bricker coming from the back row to run fourth, just ahead of Souza, who needed to make his way to the front and then hope that there were at least a few riders between himself and Bricker in order to have a shot at overcoming the points deficit. But the wheels started coming off of Souza's championship drive immediately, as he appeared to be off the lead pace. "It didn't work out the way we wanted it to," Souza said later. "We had some bike problems, so Bob Swanson of CCM helped us out by giving us a bike. It was running good, but I just wasn't comfortable on it. I was trying the best I could for just hopping on it. It was tough. I gave it my all. Next year I'm just going to concentrate on building more points sooner so that I don't have to catch up at the end." To add insult to injury, Souza was passed in tum one lap two by Hocking, who was guesting aboard a Souza CCM in the hope that he might assist Souza if the opportunity presented itself. Hocking looked back at Souza, almost as if to see if he would pick up the pace and follow, but Souza continued to fade, so Hocking picked up the pace and ran down Bricker. Hocking passed Bricker for fourth place on the front straightaway at the halfway point. Kevin Bricker peft! survived a rough night to secure the 2002 West Coast Flat Track Series title. Bricker finished seventh In the main event. e n e _ •