Race Report July 1st 2007

Week number 9

This week is pretty much the half way point of the 2007 season. It’s the forth of July weekend and the same weekend as the Stars and Stripes National event in Pittsburgh. With all the hoopla going on we still managed to draw 170 riders split into 43 motos so all is well at Foothills.
A nice turnout for the 16 & over open wheels class as 11 riders were in the house to vie for the top three positions. In the main event Allen Currier would grab the lead in turn one with Oldham in hot pursuit. This announcer figured that Currier would be nearly impossible to pass once in the lead but Oldham was able to make a power move in turn two. As they sped towards the tower, Currier got nearly alongside Steve and they went in and out of turn 3 side by side. Allen would take the lead for good in turn 4 and Oldam made him work all the way to the stripe. Alex Rivera finish third. Armando Curbelo would bale hard on the second straight but was fine once the holes in his body were all patched up. JRA’s Chris DeAmelio was 4th and Dan Buckner 5th. Enzio Vinci crossed 6th and Hector Gonzalez never did reach the finish line as he stopped to check on Armando.
Five classes had main events and the 17-24 expert class was one of them. Armando Curbelo, who had just baled in the “Open”, jumped back on the horse and nearly won the main but Dan Buckner was just too fast. Shawn Kennedy had a solid third.
The 8 yr old rookie class also had a main and Jake Des Marais and R.J. Miville would enter it both perfect in their motos. The “Snake” had the lead into turn 1 but RJ wasted little time in finding a way around him then stayed in front for the win.
Another main for the 7 yr old rookie class and also another showdown as two riders were perfect going in. Owen Giese and Jacob Shpur were the hot-rods who had won everything so far. When the gate dropped Bubba Hodge, racing in his last race at Foothills before his family moves to North Carolina really put on a show. He was named rider of the week in today’s pre-race ceremonies and really was stoked. Out of turn 1 the group flew and here was Bubba in the lead. All the way up the second straight and into turn 2 and Bubba was still the leader. Jacob Shpur seemed to be sizing him up down the third straight and when the time was right, he passed Bubba for the lead. Jacob would win the class this day but it was Bubba Hodge who won our hearts. A solid second and a tremendous improvement is what he will leave us with. We wish him and his family good fortune in the South and hope he sends an occasional email to our web site letting us know how he’s doing. Owen Giese settled for third.
6 yr old rookies were the next group running a main event and yet another showdown between two riders undefeated for the day. Lane Maher, riding with a brand new sponsor (Hartford County tattoo) and Luke Mc Adams. When the gate dropped Mc Adams had the lead but again, without wasting a lot of time, Lane powered his way past him and eventually won the shoot-out.
The last group to have a main was the rug-rat brigade. (5 & Under rookies). Ryan Sheppard would be the winner of every moto plus this main. Connecticut Flooring’s Hunter Zeiner was second and Conor Guilford was third.
The 16 and 17 & over rookies were combined and Caleb Dubourg would be the fastest in this group. Joshua Sanford put another win in the record books in 15 nov action while Ray Watts did the same in 15 rookie.
Amy Block kept creeping closer to the front in 14 – 15 girls racing but Jennifer Martinsen was still the fastest.
In 14X-14N combined, New York’s Fast Freddy Long won it with Jeff Croshier close behind. Zach Puglisi won the very competitive 14 rookie class and in 13X-13N racing D.J. Scott came out on top even with a wreck in the third round. Only two 13 yr old rookies were in the house and Daryl Schad would get the best of Travis Raymond all day long. Kyle Block and Jay Patterson battled with Nate Martinsen and it would be two of three for Kyle and a first place trophy.
The Weight Room’s Austin Vaillencourt was the champion in the 12 novice class. Austin Cyr battled hard for the win in 12 rookie action and the perfect of Shawn McAuley would earn him another win in 11X racing. Dan Delisle had some heavy comp from new expert Nick Killmer had to give up everything to stay in the lead for the 10X win. George’s Music center’s Chris Pfeffer was also right in the mix.
Nick Hull won the wild and wholly 11 rookie class.
Amanda Wedge kept her perfect season in tact with a win in 11 girls and Danielle Jollicoeur did the exact same thing in the 17 & over girls class.
The fastest 10N-9X today was Uncle Pat sponsored Matt Bovat. Shay Brown edged out Chealsee Brown for the 10 yr old girls win. The 8 and 9 novices were combined and Eagle Electric’s Troy Atchison was the top gun. Robbie Des Marais earned the win in 9 rookie racing with the Pin Shop Hobbies Larry Coderre a close second. Jena Sagendorf was perfect in the 8-9 girls group.
Justin Boissonneault was “Justin-time” to win the 6-7 novice bracket. Alysha Olson beat Emily Batista for the 5-7 girls win. In Cruiser action Butch Feitel won the 40 & over combined group. Not one of the other three riders finished in the same position all three time. It simply was great racing to watch. In 35-39 action Randy Greco, in his 2007 Foothills debut easily handled the competition. Finally, it was Dan Delisle topping Jonathan Zeiner in 9-10 Cruiser.
Next week there is a Nationel Event in Trumbull so we will start 1 hour later then normal. Registration is from 10 to 1:30 with a 2:30 gate drop scheduled. See you all then. Happy Forth of July and stay safe.