Race Report

June 26, 2005 - Week 9

Temperatures in the 90’s, high humidity and a mid afternoon starting time were all the ingredients for a low turnout at Foothills and a high turnout at the beach or the local pool. But the phone in the registration building started ringing early and, by 11:30 there were already 160 riders locked in for the first race of a double header. When the registrations closed at 12:30, it was an impressive 222 riders split into 58 motos. They came from Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York to vie for the Quadruple Regional points and support the Bob Warnicke Scholarship program no matter how oppressive the weather was. Electing to not pass the cost of the Warnicke race onto the riders, we kept the entry fees at the regular prices and donated $5.00 per rider to the fund. This equaled $1110. We are proud to have hosted such a successful event and feel very fortunate to enjoy the weekly high rider counts that allowed us to make such a donation, which we did, on behalf of all the riders who support our efforts at Foothills.

In race one the most exciting class could arguably be the 16-29 Open Wheels class with 16 riders registered and the need to go through semis to get to the “elite eight”. In the main the usual hectic dash to the T/C cycle hole shot line was won again by Steve Oldham with Markie right on his tail. As they rounded the second turn it was a two-rider breakaway with Oldham towing Markie in his draft. They headed for the “Camel Jump” and Markie was coming fast. As they reached the bottom of the jump, Steve was on the inside of the lane leaving about 18” of space between he and the edge of the lane. Matt edged his front wheel between the rear wheel of Steve and the edge of the lane. It looked to this announcer that Steve sensed that Matt was coming on that side and moved over. There was contact and Matt was forced to move off the course and out of the lane. Now he’s only 20 feet from the base of the announcer’s tower and heavy on the binders with no option to veer away from slamming into it. Matt scrubbed a lot of speed skidding across the asphalt in turn five and did hit the tower. Steve wiggled but was able to save his mount and easily went the rest of the way for the win, Alex Rivera was second and Flavio Silvera was third. Steve Oldham, visibly shaken, was one of the first riders to get back to the crash site to check on Matt’s condition. Matt complained of a headache and a sore knee but by the end of the day, would declare himself okay.

In Expert action, perfects went to 7 ex Casey Tanner; 11 ex Jake Enriquez, 12 ex Paul Maher who is sponsored by the Thomas E. Arnold Corp., 14 ex Justin Markie and 16 ex Russ Menz. Other expert winners were Austin Vincent in 8 ex; Nick Perry in 9 ex; Kyle Block in 10 ex; Frank Olish in 13 ex / 14 Nov combined; Allen Currier in 15 ex; Matt Markie in 18-21 ex; Pete Lorenzo in 22-29 ex and Mike Gage in 35 & Over.

Novice winners were 10 yr old Taylor Anderson, 12 yr old Kyle Strong; 13 yr old Allie Couch, sponsored by Staats Bicycles; 15 yr old Aaron Testa, sponsored by The Quiet Zone and 16 yr old Mike Scolaro.

51 Rookies were on hand and the winners were 5 yr old Ralph Amitrano, who held off hard charging 4 yr old Dalton Belmointe and 3 yr old Gavin Roberti; 6 yr old Justin Rivera; 7 yr old Trevor Fox; 8 yr old Will Joyce; 9 yr old Chris Pfeffer sponsored by Georges Music Center; 19 yr old Kody Berg who was named the Rider of the week for last weeks action; 11 yr old Ryan Shores; 12 yr old Jeff Grantham; 13 yr old Keith Brown, sponsored by the Sandy Shore Motel; 14 yr old Martin Brown, sponsored by ERA II; 15 yr old Rob Zuffelato; 16 yr old Josh Brown and 20 yr old Matt Lucas.

The Girl classes were won by Gabrille Roberti in 6-7; Photography by Jenna sponsord Amanda Wedge in 8-9; Katie Rose Edgar in 10-11; Jenn Martinson in 12-13; Christy Kestler in 14-15 and Cassy Scott in 16 & over.

Last but not least the cruisers were out in force also with Austin Vincent winning the battle in 9 & Under; Dylan Perez winning 10-11; Russ Menz winning 14-17; Kevin Clark won 22-34; Greg Fantano won 35-39; Ed Hayes won 40-44 and Butch Feitel did the same in 45-49. Female Cruiser winners were Gracen Hayes, Megan Burke, Amy Rose, Gina Layman and Merriann Hammond.

After a 30 minute intermission it was on to the second race, which was a make-up of the May 22nd rain-out. 143 riders and 45 motos was the count and we ran a two moto system. The whole race was done in one hour and there was some impressive riding although in many classes, the effect of the heat was obvious.

With only three riders registered for the 16-29 Open Wheels class, mercifully, that class was cancelled.

In the expert classes Casey Tanner, Nick Perry, Kyle Block, Paul Maher, Frank Olish, Logan Brunton and Allen Currier were all winners.

Novice winners were Dustin Belmonte, Mitch Aman, Kyle Strong, Justin Layman, Kevin Matthews and Ed Hayes. In the 13 Novice class, Allie Couch, who loves to race the boys, enjoyed her 20th win. This is impressive as, if she were a boy, would have enough wins to turn expert.

Rookie winners were Ralph Amitrano, Jake Olish Trevor Fox, Chris Pfeffer, Kody Berg, sean Blackwell, Anthoney Reilly, Keith Brown, Shayne Tullock, Zach Ritchie, Tim Bierce and Matt Lucas.

Girls Emily Andrews, Amanda Wedge, Alissa Thimmish, Jen Martinsen, Christy Kestler and Gina Layman were all winners.

In cruiser action it was Josh Thimmish, Justin Hellwinkle, Kevin Clark, Ed Hayes, Butch Feitel, Alissa Thimmish, Sarah Shatkavich, Gina Layman, Merriann Hammond and Amanda Wedge winning their classes.