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Boyle was second, with Venegas third .
Two-time U.S. Natio nal Champion Bobby
"Boogaloo " Schwartz also had pro blems
and was not off to a good start.
The second heat was also red flagged
early as Jeremy Parsons and "Fast Eddie"
Castro got tangled up. They lined up again,
and it was Fisher out of gate two who
showed the crowd he still remembered
how to ride Costa Mesa. He went wire to
wire, with 1985 U.S. National Champion
Alan "Crazy" Christian second, and Parsons
and Castro third and fourth, respectively.
Bryan Yarrow got the gate in heat
three and held off a hard-charging Janniro
to get his first points of the night. Janniro
told the announcer early in the evening
that Costa Mesa had always been a hard
track for him, so his opening ride was a
good one. Shawn McConnell and fo rme r
U.S. National Champion Bart Bast were
third and fourt h, re spective ly.
The final heat of the roun d was all
Mike Faria, the multi-time U.S. Nat ion al
C ham pion giving early notice tha t he was
going to be in the hunt. Andy N o rt hro p
was also fired up and came away with
second . Randy DiFrancesco and Buck
Blair rounded out the field.
RO UN D T WO
Faria opened up the second round by
running his perfect score to two as he
won heat five. McConnell was second ,
and Schwartz got his first point of the
night by finishing ahead of Christian.
Manchester's poor showing in the first
round got him fired up, and he exploded
out of gate three to literally run away with
the win in heat six. Bast improved with a
second-place finish. DiFrancesco and
Parsons followed him home.
Janniro got his Costa Mesa bearings really quickly, and he came back in heat seven
and socked it to them. Fisher was second,
with Northrop and Venegas third and
fourth, respectively. Blair got the jump on
the field in heat eight and held off a very
hard-charging Castro to take the win.
Ermo lenko and Y
arro w were third and
fourth, respectively.
Afte r tw o roun ds the re was o nly on e
rider on a perfect score, and t hat was
Faria. Janniro and Fisher were each a
point back, but from there o n dow n it
was a scoring nightmare.
ROUND T HREE
Janniro led off the third round w ith a win
in heat nine, and it was really no contest,
as he seemed to have a whole lot of
ponies under him. Blair gave a good
accounting of himself to come up with
second, while Schwartz and Parsons were
third and fourth, respectively.
Heat 10 was all Manchester from start to
finish, as he continued to march toward the
main event. Christian was showing the
younger riders that he hasn't lost his touch
as he put his old bike into seco nd place.
Yarrow was third and Northrop was fourth .
DiFrancesco finally got the gate he was
looking fo r in heat I I and made the most
of it as he went wire to wire and picked up
t hree valuable points. Venegas and Cas tro
followed him home, while McConne ll lost
a motor and was cred ited with fourth.
Faria pulled the hat trick by Winning
the final hea t of t he t hird ro und to remain
perfect . Ermo lenko edge d o ut Bast fo r
t he second spot, and Fishe r came away
w ith a disappo int ing fourt h.
Wit h three rounds in the books, Faria
was still the only rider perfect on t he
night. Janniro was just one point back and
Manchester two points back . The rest of
the field was tightly bunched, and with
two more rounds, the Championship
main-event berths were still up for grabs.
ROUND FOUR
Yarrow got by Fisher on the wh ite flag lap
and came away with the win in heat 13.
Schwartz and DiFrancesco were third and
fourth, respectively.
Heat 14 was the biggest of the night. as
it marked the first meeting between the
to p three points earners: Faria. Janniro
and Manchester. It was a hard-fought fo ur
laps, but Janniro pulled off t he win, with
Manchester beating Faria for seco nd
place. Faria's perfect streak was broken,
and Janniro took over the points lead,
with Faria and Manches ter now on e point
back, tied fo r sec ond .
Venegas showed the fie ld th e way
ho me in heat IS. It was his fro m t he get-
(Left to right) Third-placed Faria, winner Jannira and runne r-up Manchester
b last th e cha m pa g ne on the podium. Jannira may contest the Fall Classic,
but hi s Costa Mesa appearances w ill be scarce ne xt seaso n.
go, as he cut t he best gate an d never
looked back. Yarrow was again a major
player in the race, and he came away with
t he second, while Blair and then C hristian
rounded ou t the field.
Ermolenko outgat ed the field in heat
16 and went on to win, inching closer to a
spot in t he Champi on ship main.
McConnell put in another consistent ride
for second, and Northrop and Parsons
rounded out the field.
ROU ND F I VE
It was do -or-die time as they headed into
the final round. Crowd favorite Castro
finally got the start he was looking for and
came up with the win in heat 17. Bast got
the second in a pho to finish with Northro p,
and Schwartz ended his night with a fourth .
In heat 18, Manchester put the final
touches on his bid for a Championship
main be rt h by beati ng McCo nnell, who
would end the night with a seco nd place
and two mo tors gone. Fisher and Blair
were th ird and fo urt h, res pec tive ly.
Ve negas was on t he pole for heat 19,
and that was all he neede d to get the
jump o n the field and finish wit h a win.
Yarrow was second , with Faria and
Parso ns thir d and fourth .
The final heat race was allJanniro , w ho
seemed to be getting faster as the night
went on . Ermolenko, DiFrancesco and
Christian chased him home.
RUNO F F /B MAIN
With the heat race points tallied, the top
three were to go directly to the
Championship main - or at least that was
the way it was supposed to work. Janniro
was the top dog, and he was in, but there
was a three-way tie for second place in the
points , so there wou ld have to be a runoff.
First and second in the runoff would go
directly to the Championship main, while
third would have to try and transfer from
the B main. The three combatants involved
were Faria, Manchester and Erm ole nko.
They lined up and all cam e off the start
pretty evenly. It appeared that Faria got up
under Ermolenko in tu rn one, wh ich
caused Ermolenko to slide out. Ermolenko
then loo ked to the re feree for a call, but
none came, and the race co ntinued, with
Faria and Manchester going thro ugh to
the Cham pionsh ip main. Despite his argu ments, Ermolenko w ould be forced to
transfer from the B main .
Ermolenko joined Yarrow, Venegas and
Fisher on the line in the B main. They
loaded in, the light went on and the tapes
went up. Venegas got the gate , with Yarrow
in hot pursuit. O ne lap in, Yarrow slipped
off the groove, and Fisher ste pped up to
put pressure on Venegas. But the former
U.S. National Champion was not to be
den ied, and he held on to w in and give himself a shot at a second U.S. National title .
C HAMP I ONS H IP MAI N
It all came down to the Championship
main , as three fo rme r U.S. National
Champions - Faria, Manchester and
Venegas - rolled to the line against one of
t he top American overseas riders,
Janniro , w ho had first pick of t he starting
positions and chose gate two. Manchester
chose the pole, w ith Faria going for four
and Ve negas loading into three .
The first try at a start was halte d after
the referee dee med Manchest er anticipated the gate. Th ey loaded in again, and this
t ime it was all Janniro. Manchester went
after him hard, but Janniro's bike just
seemed to have a lot more power than the
rest. Faria and Venegas bo th tried to make
the outside work, but no one was going to
catch Janniro on this night. Janniro took the
win to land his first career U.S. National
Championship. Manchester was second,
with Faria third and Venegas fourth .
It was a big night for Janniro, and no one
was prouder than his dad, who had a smile
that went from ear to ear. Now everyone
will have to wait until next year to get a
crack at Janniro, as he will spend 2005
competing in England again, taking the U.S.
National title right along with him.
eN
O.ANGE COUNTY FAI.G.O UNDS
COSTA M ESA, CAUFO.N IA
RESULTS: O eroBE. 16 , 20 0 4
O lk I. Ildly Janni'" (Jaw ); 2. Chris Manchester (Jaw ); 1.
Mike Faria (Jaw); ... Charl ie Venegas (j.aw); S. Ryan Fisher
(Jaw); 6. BryanYarrow (Jaw); 7. Dulcie Ennolonko (Jaw); Il.
(TIE)Shawn t1