Feature: The last lap?

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - Nearly every Saturday, fans start to gather at the

Orange County Fairgrounds around 6 p.m. The first motorbike race at the

weekly Costa Mesa Speedway is still more than an hour away. But people

start forming a line slowly, with the anticipation growing at the same

pace.

When the gate opens at 6:30, the fans start streaming in steadily to

take a seat in one of the rickety old bleachers. Meanwhile, the kids

immediately run through the box seats seats and rush to the retaining

wall to greet their favorite riders before the event.

This has been a tradition for thousands of fans all over Southern

California. The Costa Mesa Speedway has been a weekly ritual first on

Fridays, then Saturdays since 1969. It has built a devoted following with

small, lightweight motorbikes zipping around an extremely tight track.

Spectators take in a heavy whiff of exhaust and get pelted by loose dirt

as their favorite riders whiz by. And they can’t seem to get enough.

But all good things must come to an eventual end and this year could

be it for the Costa Mesa Speedway. The Speedway and the Orange County

Fairgrounds are currently embroiled in a lease dispute. If both sides

can’t reach an agreement, then the Costa Mesa Speedway will find itself

without a home, and that will leave a void in the hearts of fans, riders,

and organizers alike.

“When I wake up on Saturdays and realize that we’re on week eight of

20 races, it’s a bummer,” Brad Oxley, whose family has run the track for

all 32 years, said. “It’s really sad. At the same time, there’s nothing

we can do.”

Oxley puts the odds of the Costa Mesa Speedway coming back to the

Fairgrounds next year at around 20%. There is hope, though faint, that

things will be worked out. But the odds are, Speedway will have to find a

new home.

“It’ll be sad if it goes under,” Edward Jacques, a lifelong Costa Mesa

resident and speedway regular since its inception, said. “This place has

been good to Costa Mesa.”

*

The Costa Mesa Speedway was the idea of Brad’s father, Harry Oxley.

With financial backing from motorbike racer Harry Miln of Pasadena, Oxley

found a bull ring at the Orange County Fairgrounds to build his race

track. He settled his family in San Clemente and opened his Speedway in

1969. It was a hit from the start.

An overflow crowd came to the first race and witnessed what was a

strange sport at the time. A bunch of seemingly crazy guys on powerful

motorbikes, zipping one-tenth of a mile around an oval at more than 100

mph.

The Costa Mesa Speedway grew from there, drawing up to reportedly

7,500 fans in the mid ‘70s.

Races were held five nights a week in those days. The success at Mesa

was indicative of the sport’s growing popularity. Other tracks, like

Ventura, San Bernardino and Irwindale, were also drawing well.

“Over 32 years, we built a legacy,” Brad Oxley said. “That’s what

makes Speedway special. Not what we draw here on one given night, but the

history of it.”

As the seasons went on, Harry slowly withdrew from everyday

operations. His son, Brad, and three daughters slowly assumed its

day-to-day operation.

With his sisters helping, Brad was able to continue his racing career,

He won two U.S. national championships (1987 and 1999). He is one of the

most popular riders at Costa Mesa, where all the riders are recognizable

by fans, even though they wear helmets that hide their faces.

Unlike athletes in some sports, the riders make an effort to be

accessible to fans. After the races, fans can come to the pit area and

hang out with the riders. This led to devoted followings for riders like

national champions Bruce Penhall, a Newport Harbor High graduate, Shawn

Moran, Oxley and Costa Mesa’s Bobby “Boogaloo” Schwartz.

“Fans are here because it’s a real accessible sport,” Oxley said.

“They feel they can make a difference out here.”

*

The fans are the main reason Schwartz, 44, still races at Costa Mesa.

“There’s still a lot of fun atmosphere here,” Schwartz said. “With the

crowd so close, it gets the adrenaline going. There’s always a buzz to be

here.”

Schwartz, who has resided in Costa Mesa since 1986, has been coming to

the Costa Mesa Speedway for 24 years, even during the 10 years he raced

in Europe.

During half of his stint on the other side of the Atlantic, Schwartz

lived through a grueling schedule, just to race at Costa Mesa.

“I came back each year for four of five years, which drivers normally

won’t do,” he said. “I’d fly back from Europe every Tuesday, race

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, take Saturday off, then fly back on

Sunday. I would race immediately when I got back and it was hard for me

to do that.”

Nevertheless, Schwartz has been a regular at the Costa Mesa Speedway

and he is one of its most successful riders.

Schwartz won U.S. national championships in 1986 and 1989, was second in 1995, and was the captain of the national team from 1983-89.

“I’m just happy and proud to be a part of this facility for so many

years,” Schwartz said. “I’ve gotten a little known in this sport. It’s a

good feeling to know that you’ve gained a little notoriety and respect in

this sport so, when I’m done with it, people will never forget me.”

Schwartz is still doing well. He is sixth in Costa Mesa’s overall

point standings this season. It has been such a part of his life that

Schwartz can’t yet comprehend the thought of it not existing.

“I don’t really know what to think about it being the last year,”

Schwartz said. “I’m not really gonna worry about that until the end of

the year.”

Nevertheless, Schwartz knows all too well that the absence of the

Costa Mesa Speedway would leave a sizable hole in his life.

“It would be really sad for me,” he said. “It’s in my own backyard.

“It would be really sad. I wouldn’t know what to do with my Saturday

nights anymore.”

*

Costa Mesa Speedway fans also would be wondering about their

Saturday-night plans if the end does come. For many, the trek to the

fairgrounds have become a weekly ritual. Some of them have only started

coming since the early ‘90s. And for others, they have grown up with the

Speedway.

Jacques, “E.J.” to his friends, has been coming down every week for

the past 32 years. He was 9 years old when he first pedaled his bicycle

down to the fairgrounds to watch the motorbikes.

“As a kid, I used to ride my bicycle down and enjoy the races,”

Jacques said. “It has always been fun.”

The sport quickly hooked Jacques, who tries to make as many races as

he can. He has never missed a U.S. national championship.

“I like motorcycle racing,” Jacques said. “It’s the best bang for the

buck.”

Ever since he was a 9-year-old kid riding his bicycle to the races,

Jacques became familiar with most of the riders. And he grew up with the

junior riders while watching from the bleachers.

“I remember a lot of the riders from when they were starting out,” he

said. “I watched Oxley ever since he was a junior, and I had the pleasure

of seeing him grow into a national champion.”

He has since hooked his daughter on Speedway racing and she

accompanies him on every other Saturday.

“Hopefully it doesn’t go away,” Jacques said. “I’ve met a lot of

people here. Everybody is nice here and the majority of people know each

other.”

The track also has a way of bringing together fans from different

generations.

Anthony Jimenez, a 13-year-old from Whittier, formed an unlikely bond

with Dan Norton, 57, of Huntington Beach. Norton travels in a wheelchair

and is a regular in the Speedway’s wheelchair section. Jimenez is usually

right next to him, sitting in a plastic chair.

They’ve been going to Costa Mesa since Jimenez was 4. Both said they

attend every week for one reason: the races. And, they love how close

they are to the action.

“I remember quite awhile back when Oxley fell and slid right into the

wall in front of me,” Norton said. “Dirt was flying everywhere and it

looked like he was going to slide right into me.”

Jerry Harber of Lake Forest brings his daughter, Natalie, to most of

the races. They have been regulars since Natalie was named Miss Yamaha at

the Costa Mesa Speedway when she was 7. The pageant is one of the happy

memories the Harbers have from the Costa Mesa Speedway, but it meant the

most to them during difficult times.

“One of the things about this place is that it helped us while I was

going through a divorce,” Jerry Harber said. “My daughter was going

through a hard time, but coming here helped us bond as a family.”

There are also a lot of husbands and wives who attend together. Mike

Pool of Huntington Beach has been a fixture at Costa Mesa since 1974.

When he first bought his wife, Joanne, to the track in 1992, she was

instantly hooked. She has not missed a race for more than eight years.

“I’ve created a monster,” Mike Pool said with a laugh. “Ever since I

first took her here, she’s the one who’s dragging me to the races.”

Robert Yucknat of Fountain Valley has been a regular for about 10

years. While he is a fan, his spouse is even more involved. Lori, his

wife, is the track scorekeeper. She is just one of the many “volunteers”

at the track.

“Even though by law we have to pay people,” Oxley said, “We don’t pay

them anything they deserve. Everybody is overqualified for the their

positions. But because of all the help, that’s why I’m allowed to ride my

motorcycle. Everybody’s out here on Saturday. They do it because the

show’s good and they want to be a part of something like that. The show’s

good and they can be proud of it.”

The Oxleys and their employees continue to devote dirt-cheap labor to

the Costa Mesa Speedway, despite the lingering cloud that this is

probably the last season. While that realization lingers over their

heads, Oxley and the rest of the employees won’t think about it too much,

not with a show to put on.

“We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves and not have our best

season ever,” Oxley said. “The most important thing is blowing the roof

off.”

“We want to make it our best season ever. And if it’s our last, we

want to go out with a bang.”