Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2000 Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa Speedway
September 23, 2000
From Ryan Evans

Dukie Ermolenko made a great start and ran away with his second Scratch Main victory in three weeks at Costa Mesa.

Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz was penalized 20 yards for touching the tapes on the first attempt to start the race. The second start saw Ermolenko and Josh Larsen come out of the gate even but Ermolenko got the better of the former Junior National Champion in turn one and took the lead. Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell was hot on Ermolenko's heels at the close of lap one and it looked like the main event was going to be a hotly contested battle. Ermolenko was not about to jeopardize his lead and after the initial lap, he pulled away from McConnell and cruised to the victory. McConnell finished second, Andy Northrup finished third, Schwartz was fourth, and Larsen was fifth.

Chris Manchester returned with a vengeance by easily winning his second Handicap Main of the year. Manchester, returning to Costa Mesa from a suspension after an altercation last month, beat fellow 40 yard riders Brad Oxley, Randy DiFrancesco, and Northrup to turn one, thus making him the initial challenger to Mark Adams who had started from the 20. Manchester turned up the heat immediately and took the lead at the end of lap two. Adams, possibly rattled from being passed, fell down entering turn three forcing Northrup to lay his bike down and bringing out the red flag.

The staggered restart would begin with Manchester at the tapes, DiFrancesco on the 10, McConnell on the 20, and the rest of the field behind them. Northrup was unable to restart due to damage sustained to his bike. With Manchester starting at the front of the field, the end result proved to be purely academic as the former National Champion ran away from DiFrancesco and the rest of the field. DiFrancesco and McConnell finished the same way they began the restart, second and third, respectively, with Ermolenko finishing fourth, and Oxley finishing fifth.

Tim Tucker put in a great ride to win the Support Last Chance and qualify for the Support Main. Tucker's hard work appeared to pay off as he quickly took the lead in the main event. John DeFries, returning from Utah, was in pursuit but after two laps the win appeared to be Tucker's. Tucker went wide in turn for of lap three and DeFries shot up the inside to take the lead at the white flag. Tucker wasn't able to challenge on the last lap and DeFries took his third Support Main of the year despite only competing four times. Tucker was second, Michael Mattocks was third, Paul Hitchcock was fourth, and Sean McDougall was fifth.

Japanese rider Hideaki Ota made a successful speedway debut by easily winning his heat and the Support B Main Event. Ota took the lead right from the start and was never close to being threatened as he put in a solid four laps to earn the victory. Ota received a rousing ovation from the crowd who obviously appreciated his very impressive debut.

RESULTS
Support B Main         yards
240 - Hideaki Ota       0
165 - Randy Kreps       0
148 - Chris Metoyer     0
239 - Philip Williams  10
196 - Randy Kreps       0   (fell)
107 - Monte McKeon      0   (non-starter)

Support Consolation
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk       
198 - Mike Boyle
120 - Bill McCarley
100 - Phil Harmatiuk    (non-starter)

Support Main
316 - John DeFries
215 - Tim Tucker
122 - Michael Mattocks  (penalty line)
114 - Paul Hitchcock    (fell)
243 - Sean McDougall    (fell)

Handicap Main          yards
130 - Chris Manchester  40
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco 40
  6 - Shawn McConnell   50
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko   50
  1 - Brad Oxley        40
 11 - Bobby Schwartz    50
223 - Mark Adams        20  (penalty line)
166 - Andy Northrup     40  (non-starter)

Scratch Main
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko
  6 - Shawn McConnell
166 - Andy Northrup
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
  4 - Josh Larsen