SPEEDWAY MOTORCYCLES : Mike Faria Wins First U.S. Championship

Speedway motorcyclist Mike Faria ended 12 years of frustration by winning the 22nd U.S. Championship Saturday night before 8,790 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

The victory for Faria didn’t come easily. He defeated Alan Christian in a four-lap runoff after both riders had tied for first with 13 points following five heat races.

Faria won a coin toss and elected to start on the inside from the second gate with Christian starting from the fourth gate. Faria took the lead on the first turn and never looked back to cap a successful three-week run.

Earlier, Faria won the state championship at San Bernardino and the track championship at Ascot Park, but he had always been labeled as a rider who couldn’t win the big race.

Faria got a big assist from third-place finisher Billy Hamill in the final heat of the night. Hamill defeated Christian to force the runoff, but it took two restarts to do it.

Christian was bidding to win his second national title in his 20-year career but lost in the fourth runoff for the championship in 22 years.

The program ended just the way it started with two runoffs in a very competitive night of racing. In the first heat, defending U.S. champion Bobby Schwartz crashed, restarted and collided with Steve Lucero, then restarted and collided with Josh Larsen.

The program was delayed when a member of a parachute demonstration team landed into the starting tapes.