Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa Speedway
Bobby Schwartz Night
June 11, 2022 - Costa Mesa
Photo and results by Ryan Evans
The Costa Mesa Scratch Main Event took three starts to complete again.
(inside - outside): Billy Janniro, Jimmy Fishback, Aaron Fox, Austin Novratil.
The finish was Novratil, Fox, Janniro (fell, excluded), and Fishback (fell, excluded)
Bobby Schwartz Night - Costa Mesa, CA, USA - June 11
“All Throttle” Austin Novratil won the main event for the second straight week on Bobby Schwartz Night at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.
Novratil had first choice of starting position in the main and surprised many by picking gate four. Aaron Fox then made another unconventional choice by selecting gate three. National Champion “The Kid” Billy Janniro quickly chose gate one and that left “Little Animal” Jimmy Fishback with gate two.
Janniro was first from the tapes and it was Fishback, competing in his first speedway meeting in four years, right on his tail. They remained that way through lap one but as they exited turn two the second time Fishback found some traction and ran into Janniro’s back wheel and went down. He was down for a couple minutes and had some blood from a cut, but as die hard fans know, Fishback always gets up and he did on this occasion as well. However, he was excluded from the restart.
The second time the tapes went up it was Fox who led into turn one and had Janniro snapping at his back tire. Fox led through the first lap but Janniro was overzealous in his pursuit of the leader and slid off in turn one. The red flag came out again and Janniro was excluded from the restart.
For the third time in three events, the main event would require three starts. What transpired was an epic match race. Fox made the start again and led through turns one and two. Novratil didn’t give up and charged down the back straight and under Fox as they entered turn three. They were handlebar-to-handlebar as they exited turn four. Novratil drifted up the track but Fox bravely stayed on the throttle despite only having inches of separation from the wall. Novratil inched ahead as they went through turns one and two the second time and secured the lead on the back straight. Fox was clamped to the leader’s rear fender but couldn’t find a way past. Novratil took the checkered flag and received a huge ovation from the crowd and Fox had to settle for second.
Former Under 21 National Champion Gino Manzares kicked off the heats with a win ahead of “Fast” Eddie Castro. Fishback, riding a bike supplied by Fox, re-acclimated himself from his layoff quickly by beating “Mad Dog” Shawn McConnell in the second heat. Fox defeated Janniro in event three. 16-year-old Slater Lightcap ended the round with a victory over Novratil.
Novratil opened the second round by beating Fishback. Event 11 had to be restarted after Lightcap found too much grip and crashed into Manzares. McConnell won the restart ahead of Manzares, but the latter withdrew from the rest of the meeting due to the lingering effects of the crash. Janniro beat fellow Northern California native Rees Todd for his first victory. Fox finished round two by beating Michael Wells.
The final round of heats started with Fox in front but then mechanical issues handed the victory to Castro. Novratil beat McConnell for his second win. Janniro made it two wins in a row by beating Wells. Fishback held off Lightcap to end the heats with this second victory.
Novratil and Fishback finished one-two in the first semi and transferred to the main event. Fox used fate four to make the start and led the second semi all the way. Janniro finished second to join him in the main event.
McConnell and Lightcap engaged in an inside-outside, old veteran-versus-teenager battle for two laps that thrilled the crowd. The sensational battle ended early on lap three when Lightcap entered the corner a little too hot and went down. The victory was awarded to McConnell, with Castro declared second, and Wells third.
The Second Division Main Event required two starts. Mark Fillebrown led the restart into turn one but Jonathan Oakden charged up the inside and took the lead. Fillebrown followed Oakden and hoped for a mistake but it never happened. Oakden was first to the checkered flag, Fillebrown was second, Kevin Fiore finished third, and Eloy Medellin was fourth.
Third Division was a battle of attrition all night and it left just two racers at the tapes for their main event. Jim Sanders was victorious and, following the theme of the night for their division, Alan Bernklau was unable to finish the race.
Northern California’s “Speedway” Charlie Trana led all four laps en route to victory in the Junior 250 Main Event. Levi Leutz finished second and Jose Navarrete was third.
Ryder Schultz won both heats and completed his perfect evening with a victory in the Mini 150 Main Event. Morgan Myers finished second and Brandon Soto was credited with third.
National Champions Joe Jones and Tom Summers continued their dominance by winning their third straight Sidecar Main Event. Kevin Kale and Tracy Gallagher finished second, Ace Kale and Thomas Yergler were third, and Kevin Holman and Weston Farnsworth finished fourth.
The evening honored “Boogaloo” Bobby Schwartz, who began racing speedway in Southern California in 1974. His list of accomplishments is extremely long but they are topped by twice winning the World Pairs Championship, winning the World Team Cup, twice U.S. National Champion, twice California State Champion, and a four-time Fair Derby Champion. He captained the American Team during the 1980s, thus earning the nickname “Captain America.” In addition to his many accomplishments on the race track, he has been an influential figure and provided racing and career advice to many Americans over the years.
Costa Mesa Speedway will now take a backseat for the beginning of the annual Orange County Fair. The next event will be during the Fair itself and will be the Fair Derby on Thursday, August 11 when the racers will compete for the annual bronze hat trophy given to the winner of the event. Janniro is the defending Fair Derby title holder and other former Fair Derby champions who are scheduled to compete are Max Ruml, Fox, Castro, McConnell, and Schwartz.
RESULTS
Scratch Main Event (restarted twice)
7 – Austin Novratil
46 – Aaron Fox
1 – Billy Janniro (fell, excluded)
25 – Jimmy Fishback (fell, excluded)
Scratch Consolation (awarded)
6 – Shawn McConnell
14 – Eddie Castro
214 – Michael Wells
28 – Slater Lightcap (fell)
Second Division Main Event (restarted)
309 – Jonny Oakden
168 – Mark Fillebrown
159 – Kevin Fiore
178 – Eloy Medellin
Second Division Consolation
182 – Rudy Laurer
290 – Harold Hartke
153 – Brad Moreau
106 – Isaiah Canales
Third Division Main Event
138 – Jim Sanders
69e - Alan Bernklau (retired)
113 – Tony Rutledge (non starter)
Sidecar Main Event
1 - Joe Jones/Tom Summers
07 – Kevin Kale/Tracy Gallagher
357 – Ace Kale/Thomas Yergler
11 – Kevin Holman/Weston Farnsworth
First Division Scoring 1 2 3 T
1 – Billy Janniro 2 3 3 8
6 – Shawn McConnell 2 3 2 7
7 – Austin Novratil 2 3 3 8
11 – Bobby Schwartz 0 1 0 1
12 – Randy DiFrancesco 1 1 1 3
14 – Eddie Castro 2 1 3 6
15 – Dukie Ermolenko 1 1 1 3
24 – Gino Manzares 3 2 - 5
25 – Jimmy Fishback 3 2 3 8
28 – Slater Lightcap 3 1 2 6
37 – Joey Donaldson 0 0 1 1
46 – Aaron Fox 3 3 E 6
60 – David Clark 1 0 - 1
173 – Rees Todd 1 2 0 3
214 – Michael Wells 1 2 2 5
249 – John Wilder 0 0 1 1
296 – Andrew Russell 0 0 2 2
Heat Results
1: Manzares, Castro, Wells, Donaldson
2: Fishback, McConnell, DiFrancesco, Wilder
3: Fox, Janniro, Clark, Russell
4: Lightcap, Novratil, Todd, Schwartz
10: Novratil, Fishback, Castro (tape penalty), Clark
11: (restarted) McConnell, Manzares, Lightcap (penalty line), Russell
12: Janniro, Todd, DiFrancesco, Donaldson
13: Fox, Wells, Schwartz, Wilder (fell, remounted)
18: Castro, Russell, Fox (engine failure)
19: Novratil, McConnell, Wilder, Todd (fell, remounted)
20: Janniro, Wells, Donaldson
21: Fishback, Lightcap, DiFrancesco, Schwartz
Semi #1: Novratil, Fishback, Castro, Lightcap
Semi #2: Fox, Janniro, McConnell, Wells
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