Race Report July 16th Triple Pointer

Well, the big one is now history and it sure was a monster. The rider count shook out to be an impressive 334, more then last years Connecticut State Championship Race. 78 motos and the hottest Sunday afternoon of the season made this race certainly memorable. Before the race 14 year old Rookie rider Josh Sanford was named the rider of the week for his efforts at the double pointer the week before.
The gate dropped precisely at 1:30 p.m. as advertised and the 4 hour marathon was on. With this being another stop on the popular Weekend Warrior Pro-Am Series, 17 riders were in the house to take their shot at the dash for cash. Through the motos and the semis they battled and when the dust settled the final eight read as follows: Starting in gate 8 was the winner in Meriden on Saturday Chris Keller; In gate 7 it was Allen Currier; In gate 6 was Pete Lorenzo; gate 5 held Steve Oldham; Locked in gate 4 was Matt Markie while in gate 3 was Dan Bycinski; Rounding out the grid was Alex Rivera in gate 2 and on the pole was Marc Sundstrom. Blam! the gate dropped and Lorenzo got the worst start of the group. Sundstrom and Markie where handlebar to handlebar down the front chute with Matt grabbing the Stampede BMX hole shot award by inches over Marc. Out of turn one they roared with Matt stretching the lead by two lengths as Currier got along side of Sundstrom. When they reached turn 2, Oldham dove to the inside of both Sundstrom and Currier and had the second spot for a moment. Behind him Lorenzo passed 3 riders as he dove into the turn. Up the third straight they raced and Markie was clearly not going to be caught. As they hit the third turn it was Markie, Sundstrom and now Lorenzo took the inside line and got into the third spot. In and out of four and the battle was on for the second spot. Lorenzo was flying and really had a head of steam built up for the last turn. With the door slightly open to the inside, Pete tried to edge his bike into the gap. It appeared that Marc sensed he was coming and drifted over ever so slightly and the inevitable contact occurred as Sundstrom went over the handlebars. His bike flew into Lorenzo and Pete virtually stopped and was forced to nearly dismount while Currier and Oldham slammed into Marc as he lay on the track. Keller, who was mired in the sixth spot going into the turn, by-passed the carnage and found himself in second place as he crossed the finish line. Lorenzo stumbled around the outside of the wreck and finished third. Oldham and Currier stopped to try and help Marc and all three never crossed the finish line. Later it was learned that Marc Sundstrom suffered a broken wrist and is out for the remainder of the series.
In expert action the excitement was at the same high level. In 8 ex action Todd Maniscalchi was the only one here and was combined with five 9 yr old novices. Didn’t matter too much as he was perfect and beat them all. In 9 ex Zack O’Neil aced a perfect score for Team Edge. Riding for Team CMR Shawn Mcauley won the 10 ex class. 11 ex Zack Andringa won everything he ran yesterday bringing home some important first place points. In 12 ex Dylan Perez and Zack Pirulli each won all their motos with Dylan winning the main event. 13 ex action saw Aggro Bikes Shawn O’Connor winning another big race as he was unbeatable. 14 ex was wild and whooly as Anthony Del Vento wrecked in the frirst round as did Mike Campbell in the third round. When the score was tallied it was Mike winning the class by one point. The 15 ex main went to Peak Performances Andrew Christopher after he, Dylan Hickey, Jason Bush and Jon Barna all tasted victory at least once in the motos. Jason Bush would visit the hospital after his wreck in the third round and learn he has a busted clavicle. Good luck to Jason and his quest to the grands in Louisville. The mod-squad, 16 ex, was also stacked and The Merli Automotive sponsored Darren Merli was top gun. Dan Bycenski won 17 ex and 18-21 went to Brian Adamaitis with some great efforts by Matt Markie, Marc Sundstrom and Dan Buckner. 35 & over was won by Tom Johnson.
Novice racing was spectacular and great action was observed in all the classes. Ryan Christopher won the 6-7 yr old division. The “Animal” Mike Gurin was the 8 nov champion. Josh Valardi was the fastest 9 yr old and Keith Morsey put one in the books for CMR in 10 nov. Dan Zachilli chilled the 11 nov class with his win. Alex Moura was quickest in 12 nov. 13 novice racing saw Mike Dombrowski make it two of three for the overall win. Logan Mitchell, wearing a white shirt and a bow tie, captured the win in 14 nov. Dan Krouse got another step closer to expert status with a big win in 15 nov. Even with a 6th place finish in the third round, Rob Zuffelato had enough points to win 16 nov. In 17 yr old action Zack Ritchie had fast time. Shane McPherson won 22-29, 35 & over racing.
Rookie winners were Sky Elwood, Colby Hickey, RJ Milville, Austin Lillis, Mike Buonocore, Mike Iurato, Brett Wojtkowski, Ryan Shores, Trevon Clay, JoshSanford, Keven Mottai, Jeramey Bakunis and Tim Bierce. Special Congratulations to 10 yr old Mike Iurato for his 15th win and his promotion to the Novice ranks. The 15 rookie class was marred by the crash of Cody Sheridan. Cody was transported to the hospital but is okay after a couple of stitches.
In girls racing action Devin Murphy edged Mackenzie Achison for the 6-7 girl class win. 8-9 yr old and Jessica Maher put the Video World Superstore sponsored ride in the winner’s circle by winning the main event. 10-11 action saw Amanda Wedge come out on top. The 12-13 yr old division was won by CMR’s Katie Rose Edgar. Allie Couch won the 14-15 girls class. Finally it was Danielle Jolicoeur winning the 16 & over class.
Finishing up with cruisers Zack O’Neil won the 9 & under bracket. Dylan Perez won the combined 10-11, 12-13 group. Pete Balotti aced a win in 14-15, 16-17 combined. 22-29, 30-34 saw Don Olson edge out the competition in this class. Randy Bitinatis edged Mike Savage for the win in 35-39 while Jeff Meyer blew away the comp in 40-44. 45-49 had four riders and the fastest proved to be Butch Feitel. Christy Kestler won 14-17, 18-29 and Gina Layman won 30-39.
Whew, what a long day but another classic for sure. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this race the biggest and one of the smoothest run races in the state this year. Most of all, thanks to all of our customers for your continued support. See you next week.