Faria, Schwartz Make the Most of Home Track Advantage

COSTA MESA — The home track proved to be an advantage for Apple Valley’s Mike Faria and Costa Mesa’s Bobby Schwartz Saturday in the American Speedway Final.

The two riders, who compete weekly at the Orange County Fairgrounds’ one-eighth-mile oval, finished 1-2 in the second-most prestigious speedway race in the United States, the Toyota American Speedway Final.

Each rider raced five times, facing each person in the 16-man field once. Tied for the points lead at the end, Faria won a runoff on a bittersweet night for Schwartz in front of 6,514.

In Schwartz’s final heat, against three of six riders who still had a chance to win the title, all four riders went down in the first turn. Schwartz got the worst of it, catching his hand in the front wheel of an adjacent bike. Despite the pain, cuts on the top of his hand and bruising through his forehand, Schwartz raced--and won the heat.

He said the injury hurt him in that race and the closely contested runoff against Faria.

“I couldn’t pull the clutch in properly,” said Schwartz, 40. “[Faria’s] a great competitor--probably the toughest guy around in a match race. I respect Mike a lot--I just wish it could have been me.”

Saturday’s race was a U.S. qualifying race for the Federation Internationale Motocyclists World Championship. Schwartz said he would give his spot to Hesperia’s Chris Manchester, one of four Americans from the British League who were trying to finish among the top four to qualify for the next round, June 22 in Bradford, England.

“I’m really happy to be in it, but I would much rather earn it than have it handed to me,” said Manchester, 23, who finished fifth. “A lot of riders have respect for Bobby and he has a lot of respect for riders--that’s probably why he’s doing this: He’s had his day in the sun.”

In addition to Manchester, two of the four British League riders qualified; San Bernardino’s Charlie Venegas took third place by defeating Sam Ermolenko, a Cypress native and the only former world champion in the field, in a runoff.

The race was being held at the Orange County Fairgrounds for the first time.