Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California

Experience and youth were the stories as former three-time National Champion Mike Faria and Shaun Harmatiuk won the main events at Costa Mesa Saturday night.

In the Scratch Main, Faria and Scott Brant left the line together and were shoulder-to-shoulder entering turn one. Faria was planted on the inside groove while Brant was forced to use the outside. Faria's line proved to be best as he inched ahead on the back straight. Brant made a valiant effort on the outside, but couldn't find traction and began to drift back. Faria had Shawn McConnell breathing down his neck the next two laps, but as they took the white flag the race came to an abrupt end behind them as Dukie Ermolenko, Andy Northrup, and Brant went down. The referee ruled the race complete with Faria declared the winner and Ermolenko deemed the cause of the crash. McConnell had to settle for second, Brant was third, and Northrup finished fourth.

Harmatiuk and fellow teenager Justin Boyle lined up next to each other on the 20 yard line for the Handicap Main. The two riders battled throughout the first lap with Boyle emerging with the lead coming out of turn four. Harmatiuk didn't go away, though, and remained on Boyle's tail. At the end of lap five Boyle drifted wide coming out of turn four and Harmatiuk slipped underneath him for the lead. When they got to turn four Boyle parked and forced a red flag. The field was ordered to line up in their running order with Harmatiuk in the front and Boyle at the back and three laps to be completed. Boyle was unable to make the restart.

On the restart Harmatiuk had Eddie Castro lined up right behind him, but his presence never fazed the 19 year old as he actually opened a little ground on the pack. Harmatiuk rode a perfect final three laps to capture his first Costa Mesa Handicap Main victory. Castro was second, Ermolenko finished third, Northrup was fourth, and Brant finished fifth.

Jeff Blaydes jumped into the lead in the Support Main Event and was leading comfortably after one lap when the red flag came out. Dave Delbridge found too much traction in turn two and his bike went vertical. Fortunately, Delbridge dismounted before his machine smashed into the back straight wall. Delbridge walked away but didn't participate in the restart.

The restart was all Blaydes as he led from start to finish in dominant fashion for his second main event victory of 2003. Since his father in town from Tennessee for the weekend, Blaydes presented him with the trophy as a special Father's Day gift. Paul Hitchcock finished second, Rusty Hall was third, Scott Tidwell finished fourth, and Delbridge was credited with fifth.

DeWayne Stark took the early lead in the Support B Main Event and was hoping to win for the second straight night. On the second lap, Carl Gazafy caught up to him and began to apply the pressure. Disaster struck one lap later as the two riders tangled and went down on the back straight. The referee ruled that Stark was at fault and awarded the race to Gazafy. Kim Stevens, making her first appearance at Costa Mesa in 2003, was second, Michael Novratil finished third, Phil Harmatiuk was fourth, Nathan Smelser finished fifth, and Stark was relegated to sixth.

The Youth Main Event required three attempts as crashes brought out the red flag twice. The third try began with Dario Galvin and Skyler Greyson battling into the first corner. Both riders went wide and Greyson ended up sliding in to the wall in turn two. Galvin was in the lead on the third lap when Dylan Stark and Jason Ramirez came together in turn two and both riders went down. The race was declared over and Galvin was declared the winner.

Next week is the annual Olympique Championship. This is an earned handicap event in which riders are handicapped in their heats based on their result in the previous round. Mike Faria is the defending champion.

RESULTS
      
Support B Consolation
194 - Tony Bracy            	       	20
102 - Jim Lavender          	       	10
169 - Dan Wensloff         	       	10
203 - Robert Avels          	       	10
111 - Joe Schultz III           	       	10  (penalty line, fell)
198 - Mike Boyle            	       	10  (non starter)

Support B Consolation    (restarted)
185 - Keith Mullally         	       	10
125 - Doug Lupo       	       		20
223 - Fred Schmitthammer          	10
227 - Mark Robertson           	 	20
339 - Sam Stavros          	       	20  (fell)
105 - Michael Hernandez             	20  (non starter - restart)

Support B Main Event
176 - Carl Gazafy                       20
136 - Kim Stevens                      	10
181 - Michael Novratil                  20
100 - Phil Harmatiuk                   	20
188 - Nathan Smelser                 	20
244 - DeWayne Stark                 	20  (excluded)

Support Last Chance
118 - Scott Tidwell
182 - Rudy Laurer
107 - Monte McKeon
214 - Steve Murray   (fell)

Support Main Event  (restarted)
173 - Jeff Blaydes
114 - Paul Hitchcock
164 - Rusty Hall
118 - Scott Tidwell    	(retired)
338 - Dave Delbridge 	(non starter - restart)

Youth Main Event (restarted)  *unofficial - only first place was announced*
145 - Dario Galvin     
 19 - Dylan Stark      	(fell)
 66 - Jason Ramirez  	(fell)
  2 - Skyler Greyson 	(fell)
223 - Tamara Krips   	(non starter)

Handicap Main Event      (restarted)
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk               	20
 14 - Eddie Castro                      40
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko           	40
166 - Andy Northrup                    	40
 10 - Scott Brant                       50
  6 - Shawn McConnell                	40
 11 - Bobby Schwartz            	40
197 - Justin Boyle                      20  (non starter - restart)

Last Chance
  9 - Mike Faria
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
 14 - Eddie Castro
  3 - Gary Hicks

Scratch Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 10 - Scott Brant
166 - Andy Northrup
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko    (fell, excluded)