American Speedway
American Speedway: Career best for Fishback with Fair Derby title at Costa Mesa.
By Admin
Jul 21, 2008, 09:21

Jimmy Little Animal Fishback garnered the biggest title of his professional career by capturing the prestigious Fair Derby Championship in front of a large crowd at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.

Fishback and defending Fair Derby Champion Ricky Wells both entered the main event undefeated.  Wells won the draw on elected to start from the pole and Fishback selected gate two.  Gary Hicks, making his first appearance at Costa Mesa in 2008, chose gate five, Buck Blair picked gate three, which left Neil Facchini with gate four.

Wells was out of the traps first with Blair making up ground entering turn one.  Wells went past the inside of the corner and into Blair’s line and allowed Fishback cut back under the Under 21 National Champion for the lead.  Wells recovered to make an outside assault exiting turn two, but Fishback found too much traction and lifted on the back straight and inadvertently cut Wells off.  Fishback got the front wheel down in time to hold his lead ahead of the field. 

Fishback was the leader at the completion of lap one, but Wells wasn’t about to give up his Fair Derby title without a fight.  The sixteen year old battled to within striking distance, but Fishback was not going to succumb to the pressure.  Wells parked on the third lap and gave up too much distance to make up.  A very jubilant Fishback was first to the checkered flag, Wells had to settle for second, Facchini finished third, Hicks was fourth, and Blair finished fifth.

Blair kicked off the first of three rounds of heats with a win over Hicks. 

Facchini led the second heat with Wells chasing him into turn three.  Mi ke Spiderman Bloom collided with Wells sending him tumbling in front of the turn four wall.  Wells was down for several minutes before collecting himself and getting up on his feet.  Wells was ready for the restart, but his bike was a write-off and he would have to race the rest of the program on his spare machine.  He showed his champion's mettle, however, and won the restart ahead with Facchini coming in second.

Five-time Fair Derby Champion Bobby Boogaloo Schwartz cruised to his first win of the evening in the third heat.  Fishback finished the first round with a win over Robbie Sauer.

The second round began with Hicks collecting his first win with Facchini getting second again.  Wells scored a runaway victory over Blair in the next heat.  Schwartz earned his second consecutive win while Randy DiFrancesco, making his 2008 debut, finished second.  Fishback ended round two with a win over Greg Ayers.

Hicks started the final round with his second straight win.  Wells made it three in a row by defeating Travis Henderson in event 18.  Youth National Champion Jason Ramirez beat Blair in the next heat while Schwartz saw his perfect night evaporate with a fourth place finish.  Fishback beat Facchini in the final heat to match Wells's perfect score.

Youngsters Henderson, Ramirez, and J.T. Mabry lined up next to veteran DiFrancesco in a runoff to determine the final three spots in the semis.  Ramirez was a convincing winner and was followed by Mabry.  DiFrancesco used his experience to hold off the hard-charging Henderson for third. 

Wells made it four wins in a row when he blazed to victory in the first semi while Hicks followed him into the main event with a second place finish.  Fishback kept his evening perfect with an impressive win in the second semi ahead of Blair.  Facchini won the Last Chance to complete the five-rider field in the main event.

Rudy Laurer led all four laps en route to victory in the Support Main Event.  Steve Bowen finished second, Bryan Buffington was third, Vince Giamformaggio finished fourth, and Carl Gazafy was fifth.

The annual Fair Derby is held in conjunction with the Orange County Fair because Costa Mesa Speedway is located on the Orange County Fairgrounds.  It is an awesome opportunity for speedway to be showcased to new fans, and perhaps some fans who have strayed away from the sport.  Costa Mesa's normal race night is Saturday, but t he Orange County Fair Board has scheduled the Fair Derby for Friday night the past several years. 

Costa Mesa will next host a speedway meeting on Saturday, August 16 and will also include the third Amateur Afternoon event of 2008.  That event will be followed by Orange County Harley Davidson Night on Saturday, August 23.