Race Report

May 29, 2005 - Week 5

The May 29th Memorial Day race day dawned with sunny skies but a forecast of showers off and on all day. At mid morning the wind picked up and the sky darkened but no rain. By the time 1:30 came around, the threat of any immediate rain had vanished and, under sunny skies, the gate dropped on the first of 49 motos made up of 180 riders.

Even though it was the smallest rider count so far this year, the crowd was enthusiastic and the racing was fast on the hard packed track. Twenty six Cruiser were on hand and split into ten different groups.Austin Vincent, Nick Ferrigno, Pete Balotti, Greg Fantano, Brian Mcinnis, Butch Feitel, Alissa Thimmish, Peak Performances Megan Burke and Lori Markie were all perfect with Jason Moriarty winning two of three in his motos.

Seventeen girls were rippin around the track and all the winners were dominate in their classes. Colleen Campbell, Jessica Maher, Alissa Thimmish, Christy Kestler and Jessica Egdorf won every moto in the five different classes. Colin Vincent was the top 6 yr old expert will his brother Austin was the same in 8 ex. Twisted’s Josh Thimmish and Peak Performances Devin Burke traded wins in the first two motos but Burke won the third round for the overall win in the 9 ex class.

The Current Foothills BMX Male Rider of the Year Kyle Block again proved he is the racer to beat in 10ex as he aced a perfect. Adam Hules won 12 ex again this week while Anthony Delvento was the dominate rider in 13 ex and 14 nov combined. Justin Markie had to rely on some passing to win the very competitive 14 ex class that was stacked with riders like Max Egdorf, Mitch Mahner, Jon Barna, Logan Brunton and Dylan Hickey.

The Casa Mia Restaurant sponsored Peter Balotti held off Santoros Cleaner’s Ty Johnson and Merli Automotive’s Darrin Merli for the win in 15 ex. Mike Scolaro made it two of three in 16 ex.

Riders from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island made up the field in 18-21, 30-34, 35 & Over expert combined class with Dan Buckner riding in the Road-Rash colors winning that class. Lots of combining in the Novice ranks but there still was some pretty good action in various classes. The 11, 12 group had Kyle Strong, Peak Performance’s David Clark and Jeff Croshier all trading moto wins but in the main, Dave Clark held them all off for the win. In 15 Novice action Anthony Strong prevailed as did Onil Vasquez in 18-21 competition.

The usual large number of Rookies was here with fifty eight in attendance. Tactical Arms sponsored Devon Ferris won 6 ex while Trevor Fox captured 7 ex. A former rider of the week Keith Morsey won 8 Rookie and the same with another rider of the week Matt Mitchell in 9 Rookie. In 10 Rookie it was NBBC’s Jose Robles top dog and South Valley Auto’s Jared Marchell won 11 Rookie. With a brand new sponsor, the Candy-Man Anthony Reilly won 12 Rookie for the gang at Schweiger Tile and Flooring. Chris Mann managed a win in 13 Rookie while ERA II’s Martin Brown did the same in the 14 yr old group. The “Z-Man” Rob Zuffelato was perfect right through the main event in 15 Rookie. Josh Broiwn held off Rob Edwards and yesterday’s Birthboy Boy Tim Bierce in 16 Rookie and finally, J.J. Wernicki won the 17 ex title for this day.Ten riders went head to head in the 16-29 Open Wheels action and it was how and heavy. Matt Markie, who has won every week for three in a row had his work cut out for him this week.

In the Main it was 20 year old Expert Steve Oldham with the snap. Down the front shoot they raced heading for the T/C Cycle hole-shot award line. Oldham won the race to the orange stripe and was holding off Markie around the second turn. ATR’s Jeremy Eickelberg was running in third. Heading into the turn behind the tower Markie dove to the inside and got alongside Oldham. Side by side they headed over the big RC Hobbies Step-Down with Markie now set up with the best line going into turn four. As they exited the turn Matt had the lead for the final 100 feet of track. At the finish line it was Markie making it four in a row, Oldham second and Eickelberg third.