Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128239
U . S . Spe e d w a y N a t iona l Cha mpionshi p C o st a M esa S peedw ay D an ny Perk ins and Bobby "Cowboy" K rips - were not q uite as relaxed, and they kept themselves busy checki ng t heir b i k e s , cl ean in g h elmets and gogg les, and w anderi ng through th e p its in search of so me thing , or something t o do. J erem y Pa r so n s, who m ad e th e trip fro m N ew York , was alo ne wi th his own tho ughts as he got ready to tak e on th e West Coast riders. The odds -makers were speculati ng on th e m aj or p la y ers , a nd it ca me down to Br ant , Larsen and Manch est er , wi th th e pos sibili t y of Schwart z, Co ok and No rt h rup be ing the spo il ers . A s it would tu rn o ut , they we re pretty darn cl ose. Th e pro gr am co nsisted of f ou r round s o f S c r at ch ra cin g . T he t o p three in po ints wo ul d go directly to the m ain eve nt. Fou rth th rough sev enth would q ualify fo r the la st -ch ance q ual i fi er , a nd ei ghth th ro ugh 12 t h would g o t o the semi. On e rid er B y E LA IN E J O N ES P HOT OS BY M IKE B A SSO COSTA MESA, CA, OCT. 11 cott "T he Domin ator" Brant, ba t ,~'~ tl ing a fever, c old and bro nchitis, topped off wh at can o nly be ca lle d an i n c r e di bl e se ason b y w in ni n g t he N ati o n a l Ch am p i onship at Costa Mesa Sp ee dway o n Sa t urd ay n ight, and he d id it w ith a perfect sco re. T he crowd in the pi ts was a study in c o n trast. T h e ve te ra ns appea red ve ry r el ax ed - B o b b y " B oo ga loo" S ch w a rt z , S h a wn "Mad D o g " McC on nell , " Go rgeou s" Gary Hicks, J o sh L a rs en , A nd y " T h e Enfo rc er " N orth rup, Bobby Hedden, " Fast" Ed Castro , A lan C hristi an, J o hn Co ok , Ch ris "T he Kid" Manch ester, T ommy H edd en , Ra n d y " T h e Ro c k et" Di F r an c e s c o , Du ki e Er m o l en k o , Bryan Yarrow and J im Estes. T he rel ati ve n ew c o m e r s on the block Shaun Harm a ti u k , J u st i n B o y l e , ' .. S wo uld trans fer fr om the semi to the LCQ, and the to p two fin ishers in the LCQ would make up the fina l two rid ers in the m ain. ROUND ONE In t h e o pening hea t of t he n i g h t , spon so re d b y Stanl e y 's E xhau s t Tech, Cast ro dropped the hammer on the rest of the field as he c ame off the po le and led the ra c e fro m st a rt t o finish . Connell Chevro let sp o nsored heat two, wh ic h saw the begi nning and th e end of th e ev ening for Northrup . He g ot tangl ed with Parso ns in the first turn and ende d up wi t h a sep ara te d s ho u lde r . Th e fi rs t r e serv e r id er, Perk ins, was called up , and they li ned u p agai n . Pa rso ns, ou t of lan e o ne , got the edge on th e field , bu t Christ ia n took it all away on th e last l ap and cla imed the victory . Brant lined up for his first go in th e MG Rac ing -sponsored t hi rd heat. It Scott "The Dominator" Brant eamed his first career U.S . National Speedway Cha mpionsh ip tiUe when he went wire to wire to win the National main event at Costa Mesa Speedway. Brant was never beaten all night. wa s a ll h i s, as h e ex plo ded ou t of gate four and was gon e. Ma ncheste r took th e win in a wi reto -w ire romp in the fourth heat of the nig ht, bro ugh t to you by A£. D Clean Up Masters . T he f in a l hea t , sponsore d b y Hav en Ins uran c e , saw a not he r k ey p l a y er , L ar s en, t h r o w d own th e ga untl et as he , too, c am e out of gat e four and never look ed back . ROUND TWO T he l ea d -o ff he at of round two had B rant again off o n top and going wire to wire w hile th e Insiders Infiel d Crew, wh o sponsored the heat, had a very close -up loo k. Powell Cell Comm unic ation s picked up th e tab for th e second heat, as Co ok 's 22 -inch rear wh eel thre w dirt all over ever yon e else as he went wire to w ire. La rsen was up aga in in th e Amor Electronic s-b ack ed third heat , and he k e p t h i s p erfe ct sco re goi ng w ith an oth er fla wl ess ride. McCo nnell put the big w heel on his bi k e , a nd i t was a handfu l in t he Lankershim Lo ck £. Key -s pon so re d fourth heat. McConnell is sponso red by Lanker shim , and he d id his backers proud by t aki ng the win . T he five-rider, four-l ap Na t ional Final was th is c lo se from start t o fi nish, with Bra nt (pa rt ia lly hidd en) holding off J osh La rsen (2), Ga ry Hi cks (3), Chris Manchest e r (ba ckgroundl and Jo hn Cook (foreground, right) . 28 N OVEM BER 5 , 2003 ' cue I e n e""s