STTA RS/M oto-Connectlo n Southwest Series
Kevi n Schwantx (34) crashed hard w ith Mark Cernicky oH the di rt jump in a
heat race but still came back to capture third in the 450 cc main.
has the option to grid him at the back in
the main; thus , Bagnis started in 29th,
from the ninth row.
The green flag flew at 3:45 p.m., and
Troy Lee's Chris Fillmore got up front ,
followed by teammate Jeff Ward , SCR's
Burkhart , Sidi's Yarrow, Fasst Co 's Trachy,
and Michelin's Schwantz. The front thr ee
were in a class by themselves, disappearing from the rest of the field.
O n the third trip through the dirt,
Ward literally jumped into the lead over
the doubles. Burkhart followed Ward and
too k over second. Fillmore , stunned, was
trying to recover.
Lap four saw Schwantz go down and
re- join the race a lap down. Last year 's
defending champion , Ward, put his head
down and, on lap six, while trying to get
away, turned the fastest lap, at 51.54 seconds.
By lap eight, the leaders were encoun te ring lappers, and C hisum and KTM's
Micky Dymond had their own war going
on over fourth place. On lap 12, Burkhart
stalled ent ering the dirt , and Fillmore got
by for second. Burkhart had enou gh of a
gap to restart and maintain third.
Meanwhile, charging through the pack
was Michelin's Bagnis, who would end up
fifth. Another performance of note came
from No Fear/FMF's Marty Moates ; fast
all weekend, he wou ld finish in sixth.
After 20 laps, Ward de fended his title
over Fillmore, Burkhart and Chisum.
"I was having fun," Ward said after the
race. "It was a good tra ck, a fun track, and
last year was the first race we ever did. I
plan to do the series again this year, and
maybe get an Indy 500 ride, too ."
The next op portunity to see Ward,
McGrat h, Drew, Schwantz, and the like in
action is April 30 thro ugh May 2, whe n
Canet stages a four-race exhibition at
Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California,
in conjunction with the AMA Superbike
National.
'eN
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
RESULTS: APRIL 3-4, 2004 (ROUND 1)
BEG : I. RkMd o Bubosa (KTM); 2. Ja O'Oelt (Su, );
ck
3. Man uel Gas per (Yam).
NOV: I. C had Foster (Yam); 2. And re Barbosa (KTM);
3. Eddie Tafoya (Yam).
M
INIMOTO 6S: I. Ben M""" (Kaw) ; 2. lMry Smith
III (!ris Fm"""" (Hon); 3.
Marl< Burldun (Yam) .
SPTSMN: I. Kevm V
ossen (KTM); 2. Dunn VOY"'
(Hon); 3. Mk:hael Moser (Hus).
VET: I. Don Btava (Hon); 2. Juan Benavide, (Hon); 3.
Rk:k Pearce (Hon).
UPCOMING ROUNDS
R 2 -April 17-18, Apple Volley, California
ound
Round 3 - May 23, las Vegas, Nevada
