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/128614
Costa M esa Speedway th ree . O n the o uts ide were Venegas an d Schwa rtz. Venegas got too a nxious a nd wen t into the ta pes , an d he was sent to the 20- ya rd line. Th e y lined up a ga in, a nd this time Schwartz c ut the be st ga te, but Hic ks wo n th e dr a g race to t he firs t co rne r a nd he too k the le a d a nd never look ed ba ck . Schw a rtz was ru n ni ng a very close second but just couldn't find an o pe n ing . McCo nnell ca m e away with third . Ven egas m a de th e only pa ss of t he race, going around Estes on the second lap for fourth . In th e Handicap main, Castro, Gary Ac kro yd a n d Ra nd y D iFr a n c e s c o were on the 40; Venegas and "Dukie" Etmolenko were on the 50 ; and starting on the 6 0 were McCon nell, Hicks a nd rei gning Nat ional Cham pion Bv E L AI N E J O N ES P HO T O S BV M IK E B A SS O COSTA MESA, CA., APR. 30 t Costa Mesa Speedwa y's season opener, "Go rg e o us" Gary Hicks took th e Scratch ma in-e vent victory and Char lie "T h e Edge " Venegas claimed the first win of the season on the Ha nd ic a p s ide of the program. To get to the ma in e vents , riders have to work their way up the qu a lifying ladder. The first Scratch Sem i had Sha wn "Ma d Dog " McConnell on the pole, with Bobby "Boogaloo " Schwartz in two . Hicks and "F a s t" Ed Ca s tro were in three and four . Everyone was caught rolling on the first try at a go , so no on e was sent to th e penalty line. On th e second try, eve ryone got away clean, with Hicks cutting the be st ga te . McC onnell locked in behind him, an d t hese two wou ld move to the ma in e ve nt , wh ile Sch wartz an d Ca s t ro would get one more s hot in the la stch an ce qu a lifie r. "Fly in' " Rya n Fisher drew the po le in the seco nd Scra tch semi. Ra nd y DiFra ncesco loaded into two , with J im Estes a nd Vene gas in thre e a nd four. Fis her got out of s ha pe on the second 48 M AY 24, 2000ยท I: II I: I S t o k e s . Bill Matherson and Dale Leeder were in two, Bob Brayton and Dwa yn e King we re in three , and on t h e o u ts ide we re t he J o n e s boys , Da nny and Chris . Glas s a nd S tokes pu t the big Duc ati in fron t a nd wer e n ot to b e d eni e d . Ma t h e rs on and Le ed er tr ied to ge t th e d rive o ut of four bu t jus t couldn't out run the b ig Due , Bra yto n a nd King a re st ill tryi ng to work the kinks out of the Godden , a nd a lth ou gh they we re running th ird , t hey fell by the wayside and t he Jones boys too k the show s pot. Da nn y Pe rk ins le ft no do ubt in anyone's mind that he is going for the High Point Support rider. After losing by an eyelash in the semi, he left the rest of the field in his wake and won the S u p port main going away - and " Ra d" Br ad O x le y . D iF ran c e s co exploded off the line a nd wen t to the head of the pa ck. Vene gas was hot on his heels , with Oxle y d ow n low a nd looking fo r raci ng room. Wh e n they came ar ound for lap five , Ven e g as wa s in charg e . No t wa n t in g to le t Ve neg as get too far a way, Oxley a lso p u t a m o v e on DiFr a n c e s c o an d moved int o second with two la ps to go . Venegas was no t about to become on e of Oxle y's finish-line vict im s , and h e k e pt e n o u g h day ligh t b e t we e n the m to co llect 't he gol d . Oxle y was se cond, with Hicks th ird . Ca s tro an d McConnell filled out the top five. The Sid ec a rs were m issing one of the Miss ion Yama ha Teams , a s John Matherso n's sw inger , James Eila nd , became the fat her of a beautiful litt le girl Fr iday night. In th e main , the pole went to S t u a rt Gla s s a n d De ion he did it com ing fro m long ya rda ge . B ill y Lyon s wa s se co n d , w it h "Gn arley" Bill McCarl ey th ird . S upport B hono rs we nt to Ke vin Fereira , with Pa ul Hitchcock se cond. Jason Boyle was th e winner of the Jun ior Speedway event, a nd Krysta l Crame r ca m e a wa y wit h s eco n d . Th ird we nt to Skyle r Grayson , with eN Miles Ga lvin fourth. (A bove) " Gorgeous" Gary Hicks t o ok the first Scratch m ain-event vic t ory of t he season at th e Costa M esa Speedway opener . (right) Charlie " The Edge" Ve negas took c harge of the Han dic ap m ain , passing " Fast" Ed Castro (and others) f or the win . la p a nd went down hard in tum one . T he red flag ca me out , a n d F ish e r he ad ed to th e p its , look ing a litt le wobbly. Th e re st of the field line d up a g a in , and this tim e Es te s ' br illiant st a rt put him in the lead. Venegas was second, but he could find no chink in Estes ' armor and followed him home. Th e y wo uld both move to th e main , whi le DiF ra n c e s c o wo ul d g e t o n e more s hot in the LCQ. DiFra nces co drew the pole for the LCQ, with Fis he r in two. Ca stro was in th ree , a nd S c h wa rtz was o n th e outside. Schwartz c ut a beau t iful gate and gave the field a crash course in S pe edway 10 1. The fina l s po t in the main wa s his . It looked like th e main was go ing to c ome dow n to who could get to th e corner first. Hicks had dra wn th e po le , with Estes in two and McConn ell in n e vv s Costa Mesa Speedway Costa Mesa, California ResuRs: April 30, ZOOO SCR : I. Gary Hic k s (GM) : 2. Bobb y Schwartz (OM) ; 3 . Shawn McConnell (OM); 4. Charlie Venegas (Ja w); 5 . J im Estes (Jaw). HDCP: 1. Cha rlie Venegas (J aw) , 2. Brad Ox ley (GM) ; 3. Gary Hic ks (GM): 4. Ed Castro (Ja w) ; 5. Shawn McConnell (OM). S De R : I. S. Glass / D . St ok es ( D ue); 2. B . Mat hers on/D . Leeder (Ya m) : 3. D. J ones/ C. J ones {Yarn): 4. B. Brayton/D . K;ng (Gdn). SU P: 1. Da nn y Perk in s (Wes ); 2 . Billy Lyons (Ja w) ; 3. Bill McCarl e y (Ja w) ; 4 . Greg S tercevlc (Ja w); 5. Phil Herm etiu k (Ja w). sap B: 1. Kevin Feretre (Jaw); 2. Paul Hitchcock (Jaw) ; 3 . Howard Larson (Ja w); 4. Monte McKeo n (Ja w): 5. EJ Medemn (Wes). oy