Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2001 Freestyle Motorcycle Jumping
Costa Mesa Speedway
September 8, 2001
From Ryan Evans

Three-time National Champion "Flyin'" Mike Faria captured the Scratch Main and the Denim Doctor Challenge in front of an overflow crowd at Costa Mesa Saturday Night.

Faria started from the pole in the Scratch Main, got a good start, and was on the inside line when the field exited turn two the first time. Shawn McConnell put the pressure on Faria on the back straight but couldn't get underneath entering turn three. McConnell kept the pressure on Faria throughout the race but Faria was not going to move off the inside line. Faria held McConnell back to win his sixth Scratch Main, Northern California's Bart Bast was third, Bobby Schwartz finished fourth, and Ryan Fisher was fifth.

After Eddie Castro, Josh Larsen, and Randy DiFrancesco were eliminated, Faria and McConnell were two remaining riders in the Denim Doctor Challenge. Two weeks ago, they were the final two and McConnell emerged victorious. Faria wasn't about to let that happen again. Faria used a great start to get the early advantage and turned the tables on McConnell by earning the victory.

Jim Estes, starting from the 20 yard line, was at the front of the field in the Handicap Main. Scott Brant started right behind Estes on the 30. Estes led the first two laps despite pressure from Brant. On the third lap Brant began feeling pressure himself from Fisher. Fisher's pressure on Brant allowed Estes to build an insurmountable lead. Estes cruised the rest of the way for a wire-to-wire victory, his first at Costa Mesa in 2001. Brant was able to hold on to second, Fisher was third, Bast finished fourth, and Dukie Ermolenko was fifth.

The Support Main was dominated by John DeFries who got the jump on the field at the start and ran away with his second main event of the year. Michael Mattocks fought his way through traffic to finish second, David Lynch finished third, Polish visitor Maciek Czyzowski was fourth, Scott Tidwell was fifth, and Robert Fiesler was sixth.

Rick Valdez showed great patience going through traffic on the first lap to take the lead in the Support B Main. The main had to be restarted after a crash involving Jeremiah LeBlanc and Shane Kump brought out the red flag. Valdez put together four smooth laps to take the victory. David Moore was second, Kim Stevens finished third, Mark Robertson was fourth, LeBlanc was credited with fifth after a hard tumble forced him out of the restart, and Kump was credited with sixth after being deemed the cause of the crash.

The second Freestyle Motocross Jump Night of the year proved to be the usual success. As has been the case with every jump night the past several years, there was a standing room only crowd, and not a seat to be found, at the world famous oval. The freestyle motocross jumpers put on a great show during intermission with their wide variety of aerial tricks.

RESULTS

Support B Main Event
293 - Rick Valdez            20
132 - David Moore              10
197 - Kim Stevens            20
227 - Mark Robertson         10
137 - Jeremiah LeBlanc         10  (non starter)
228 - >Shane Kump             20  (fell, excluded)

Support Main Event
316 - John DeFries   
122 - Michael Mattocks
131 - David Lynch
    - Maciek Czyzowski         10
118 - Scott Tidwell
106 - Robert Fiesler           10

Denim Doctor Challenge
  9 - Mike Faria
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco
  4 - Josh Larsen
 14 - Eddie Castro

Handicap Main Event
 56 - Jim Estes              20
 10 - Scott Brant              30
 36 - Ryan Fisher              40
 87n - Bart Bast               40
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko          50
 11 - Bobby Schwartz           50
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco        40  (penalty line)
  9 - Mike Faria               40

Last Chance
 87n - Bart Bast
  4 - Josh Larsen
 10 - Scott Brant
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko

Scratch Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 87n - Bart Bast
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
 36 - Ryan Fisher