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Costa Mesa SpeedwayOrange County Fairgrounds John Matherson Cup 2018 John Matherson Cup - September 29, 2018 James “Smylie” Kinne and Josh Bustos scored the biggest victory in their career by winning the John Matherson Cup at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway. Defending champions Joe Jones and Tom Summers brought out the red flag on the first attempt to run the Final and were banished to the penalty line for the restart. Kinne and Bustos made were off the line first in the restart. They held the lead while Dillon Osborne and Ashley Gibbons tried to chase them down. Kinne and Bustos didn’t turn a wheel wrong and led to the finish. Osborne and Gibbons finished second, Jones and Summers were third, and Robert Curry and Laurie Curry finished fourth. Jeff Rowe and Josh Bennett kicked off the evening by beating Bryan Motis and Chuck Heider. Jones and Summers beat Kinne and Bustos in event two. Curry and Curry ended round one by beating Stuart Glass and Jack Straw. Round two started with Osborne and Gibbons beating Rowe and Bennett. The Curry's beat Motis and Heider for their second straight win. Jones and Summers finished the second round by beating Glass and Straw for the their second win in a row. Curry and Curry began the last round of heats by beating Rowe and Bennett and Jones and Summers to be the last undefeated team standing. Kinne and Bustos beat Osborne and Gibbons in the next event. Motis and Heider closed out the heats with a victory ahead of Glass and Straw. The first semi took three attempts to complete and that only occurred when Jones and Summers were awarded the victory after the red flag came out yet again. Osborne and Gibbons overcame a start from the penalty line to get second. Kinne and Bustos ended the Curry's undefeated evening by winning the second semi but the Curry's would still join them in the Final. The First Division field suffered numerous losses due to a conflicting event being held. This left a makeshift division with a wide range in skill level. In an attempt to balance that, the heats were conducted using the earned-handicap format. This meant the first round of heats would be the scratch format, but rounds two and three would see the racers handicapped based on their finish in the previous round. The first heat was won by Sammy Ramirez ahead of Shawn “Mad Dog” McConnell. Former National Champion Chris “The Kid” Manchester won event two by defeating Randy DiFrancesco who was making his first appearance in several years. Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz ended the first round with a win over Tyson Talkington. McConnell overcame a 20-yard handicap to win the first race of the second round. DiFrancesco shrewdly cut through the field to win the next heat. Manchester started on the 30 yard line but stormed past his competitors to end round two with his second straight win. McConnell started round three with a victory from the 30 yard line. DiFrancesco scored his second straight win despite starting from the 30. Ramirez completed the heats by beating Schwartz. Manchester was victorious in the first semi with DiFrancesco following him into the main event. The crafty veterans, McConnell and Schwartz, finished one-two in the second semi and transferred to the main. McConnell had first gate choice in the Scratch Main Event and picked gate one. That didn’t deter Manchester as he made gate two work well enough to lead the pack through turns one and two. McConnell gave chase with Schwartz and McConnell in tow. The three-time National Champion wasn’t going to be denied though. Manchester was first to the checkered flag for his first main event victory in over a decade. McConnell held on to second, Schwartz was third, and DiFrancesco finished fourth. Harold Hartke overcame his disappointment from the previous week and led all four laps en route to victory in the Support Main Event. Blake Cronkrite was second, Brad Moreau finished third, and Charles Pearson came home fourth. RESULTS John Matherson Cup Final (restarted) Scratch Main Event (restarted) Support Main Event Sidecar Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T Sidecar Heat Results First Division Heat Scoring 1 2 3 T First Division Heat Results
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