Race Report May 7th

16,308 flyers to 33 different schools, two radio interviews and one TV interview coupled with a staff of wonderful volunteers and wa-la, a whopper-opening day at Foothills. With sunny skies and a track that was looking pretty nice after some serious spring clean-up work, the first of 67 motos got under way 25 minutes behind schedule but no one seemed to mind too much as the action was fast and furious right from the start. Nearly 50 new rookie riders were on hand to experience the fun of a big opening day and we don’t feel anyone was disappointed. 267 riders were racing, making this the second biggest opening day in our history. (In 2003 271 riders were there).
Starting with the 58 experts who raced, 8 year old Casey Tanner and Evan Greco traded wins but two of three for Greco gave him the over-all for the day. 9 Ex Zack O’Neil was perfect in his 6 rider class but Dan Delisle sure made him work for it. 10 Ex Nick Perry, sponsored by Prudential Financial, got one practice lap only but that was all he really needed to come out on top even though he only won one of three motos. Josh Thimmish won two of them but a forth in the second round sealed his fate and a second over all. The reigning two-time boys track champion Kyle Block was perfect in 11 Ex. Ryan Campbell, Jacob Fish and D.J. Scott made up the 12 Ex class and D.J. was top gun today. Wearing his Aggro Bikes uniform very proudly was Shaun O’Connor and a perfect was his accomplishment in 13 Ex. Showing why he was selected the most improved boy rider last year, Anthony Del Vento was perfect in 14 Ex. A true battle in 15 Ex with 15 riders vying for the top spot. Perfect in his motos, it was Peak Performances Andrew Christopher winning the main. With 10 riders in 16 Ex things were no easier. Two locals; Pete Balotti, riding under the flag of “The Plant Outlet, and Darrin Merli, the Merli Automotive sponsored rider were dominant in their separate motos but in the main it was all Balotti with Billy Ripley salvaging a second and Zak McCready managing a third. In 17Ex , 18-21 Nov Jimmy St, Germain, B.J. Nadwairski and Dan Bycenski all had a moto win but when the points were tallied it was St. Germain the top dog. 18-21 Experts belong to Matt Markie even with a bum knee. 35 & over Novices and Experts were combined together and “The Pistol” Pete Lorenzo was putting it all together this day with the over-all win. More on him later.

27 girls were rippin it up and in the 6-7 year old class Julionna Olson held off Briana Flechsig and Devin Murphy for the win. Gabrille Roberti was perfect in her 8-9 girls class as was Ali Thimmish in 10-11 Girls action. Dianna Batista Dominated 12-13 girls as did Allie Couch in 14-15 action. In 16 & over Danielle Jolicoeur and Christy Kestler traded paint a few times with Kestler, the three time and current girls track champion coming out with the overall win.

In Cruiser action the winners were Austin Vincent in ( 9 & Under, D.J. Scott in 10-11, 12-13 combined and Mike Vallone in 16-17, 18-21 combined racing, Mike is riding under the sponsorship of Dupras Licquer Mart this year. Joe Gaulin, the voice of Whip City, was haulin and won 22-29 Cruiser. Don Olson, looking like he packed on a little ballast over the winter, was still fast enough to win 30-34 Cruiser. In 35-39 action Randy Greco won the first round and looked like he would ace a perfect but Garrick Yanosky quickly put a stop to those thoughts as he won the next two rounds for the overall win. Greg Fantano edged out Stuart McCready in 40-44 year old competition and Butch Feitel got revenge over Jay Francis in 45-49. Ladies Cruisers saw some close racing between Christy Kestler and Allison Thomas with Christy squeaking out a win in 14-17 action. Amber Kumiega, making an appearance on the track for the first time in a couple of years, Stayed in front of Sarah Shatkyvich for the 18-29 year old cruiser win. Gina Layman was the fastest in 30-39 competition.

Novice winners were Nate Martinsen, Mitch Amen, Alex Moura, Jeff Grantham, Marty Tartaglino, Jeff and Zack Ritchie, Kevin Matthews and Kevin Clark.
The huge Rookie classes saw wins from Dalton Belmonte, Colby Hicky, Tyler Bluestein, Troy Achinson, Alexis Rosario, Chris Pfeffer, Dalton Jacquier,Ryan Shores, Steven Clark, Hiram Martinez, Jeramey Bakunis, Tim Bierce and Nick Fedelli.

Finally, in the always popular 16 – 29 Open Wheels dash for cash Pete Lorenzo was the fastest of the 15 riders who were competing this day. Pete had the lead coming out of turn one and never looked back. Matt Markie was on him but there just was no stopping Pete this day. Pete said after the race that all the hard training over the winter may just be paying off this summer. It sure appears so.
Thanks to all who made this opening day, one for the record books.