Hawley Moves Up a Notch in Speedway Race Lineup

Speedway motorcycle racer Pat Hawley, who last Friday ended a 10-year victory drought by winning the second division main event at the Orange County Fairgrounds, moves up to the first division at 8 tonight at the Fairgrounds.

Hawley, 33, has been a competitive rider since 1980 but had never won a main event on the 190-yard oval at Costa Mesa. He became so discouraged that he sat out the 1986 and ’87 seasons before returning last year.

Hawley, from Newport Beach, also won the second division main event in the season opener Saturday at Victorville, prompting Costa Mesa promoter Harry Oxley to move Hawley to the first division, where he will start on the 20-yard line in his handicap heat race.

Hawley, who works at an auto repair shop in Costa Mesa, credited his recent success to his younger brother, Shane, who competes in the Formula Atlantic race series.

“My brother spent a lot of time with me over the winter getting me to concentrate and think before I make my move during a race,” Hawley said. “In the past, I always felt I was fast, but I never thought about what I was doing. If someone got in my way, I’d try to run them over and usually wound up crashing myself.

“My equipment is good, and now that I’m using my brain, I think I have got a chance to finally make a mark in professional speedway racing.”

Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa won the scratch main event last week, but the defending champion is hoping he doesn’t repeat his pattern of last season, when he won a scratch main in the second week and failed to win another the rest of the season at Costa Mesa. Schwartz won 14 scratch main events at Costa Mesa in 1988.