Race Report June 3rd

Week number 5

What a day in spite of threatening skies all day long. A state series double pointer, throw in a Warrior series race, have the Mayor on site and a huge throng of people and you have the biggest race in Connecticut so far this season. 244 riders racing in class plus another 16 in the Warrior race equaled 260 total riders split into 65 motos, 8 semis and 15 Main events.
The festivities started with a visit from the Mayor Ryan Bingham of Torrington who welcomed everyone to the city and to the racing facility. This was his first “official” visit and only the first of what we hope will be many visits. I can tell you that he was very very impressed.
There were 3 new riders joining the NBL today bringing our grand total so far this year to 67. Click here for a complete listing.
When the racing started it was obvious the usual intensity that always accompanies a state series race was present. With the gate dropping only 8 minutes late, that’s not bad for a huge crowd.
Starting with the second stop on the 5 race Warrior series and great turnout was on hand with 16 riders split into three groups all battling to make the 8 rider main event. As a reminder the main is the only event in the series that awards points. You must make some mains to even have a shot at winning the title of the Ultimate Warrior. After the 3 rounds and the two semis were completed the lineup for the main event was as follows. 16 yr vet amateur Alex Rivera; 16 yr vet pro Chris Keller; 15 yr vet pro and 2006 warrior champ Steve Oldham; 12 yr vet pro and former track champion Pete Lorenzo; 12 yr vet amateur Ty Johnson; 12 yr vet amateur Max Egdorf; 10 yr vet pro Allen Currier and 4 yr vet amateur Billy Ripley. When the gate slammed it was a classic side by side sprint to turn number 1. Currier would take the lead coming out of the big turn and led the charge up the second straight. Egdorf, Keller and Oldham were battling hard for the second spot. This battle continued over the entire course but when they reached the last turn Oldham dove hard to the inside of Currier, a move the is becoming his signature move. When they hit the finish line it would be Currier by half a wheel, Steve second and Max Egdorf hung onto third. The point totals after 2 races has it a four way tie for the title with Ripley, Keller, Egdorf and Currier all with 32 points. Next stop is on June 24th.
One of the many highlights of the race was the 5 & under rookie class where there were so many registered, it would take qualifying through semis to make it to the main event. Through the motos Jagur Layman, Richard Bray and Hunter Zeiner were the dominant riders. In the main event Richard Bray was the winner with Jagur Laymen and Kaine Murphy close behind.
Another class requiring a set of semis to qualify for the main event was the 8 yr old rookie clan. Ethan Lazenby Olshevski was perfect through everything with RJ Milville second and a hard charging “Quick-Nick” Bates third.
The 7 yr old rookie class was the last group that had to battle through a set of semis to reach the main and all 15 riders were great to watch. When the dust settled it would be the Bikers Edge Jake Des marais claiming the win, Jacob Shpur a solid second and Johnny Mackiewicz finished in the third spot.
Other classes that would feature main events to determine the winners were numerous. The 9 novice gang battled until Mike Geurin was declared the winner with Chris Therriault second and Alex Alfano third.
The 9 and 10 girls main was won by Chelsee Kalivas who passed both Katy Moody and Shay Brown in the last turn. Robbie Des Marais was perfect right through the main in 9 yr old rookie racing as he kept Larry Coderre and Saul Garcia behind him. The 10 yr old rookie main featured Ryan McCoy as the winner, Uncle Pats Matt Bovat second and Kenny Grenier third. Gunner Van Steenberger aced a win in the 6 yr old rookie main while Lane Maher managed a second and Collin Penn salvaged a third. The 11 rookie main event saw Jeremy Buck, after finishing second to Gabe Cruz in every moto, beating him for the win in the main. In the main for the 10 yr old novice / 9 yr old expert combined class, expert Evan Greco was the winner with novices Nick Killmer and Fusco’s Auto Salvage’s Chris Pannullo second and third. The 15 yr old rookie main saw Keith Brown and Armando Perez battle hard with Keith earning the win. Shawn Mc Auley dominated the 11 ex / 12 nov main event while The Weight Room’s Austin Vaillencourt scored a second and Nate Martinsen finished third. Austin was the only novice in the top three. Speaking of Novices the 35 & Over novice class was combined with 25 – 29 and 30 –34 novices. Home Sweet Home Cleaning sponsored Fred Roy aced a perfect with Rich Mickelic third. The main event for the 35 – 39 cruisers was won by Randy Greco with Garrick Yanosky and Tommy Kuehn second and third.
Even wrecking in the first round of motos, Pat Burbank still managed to salvage an overall win in the 16 rookie class as the South End Two Guys Pizza sponsored Brandon Milville was second. Chris Nolan would score a “perfect” in the 14 rookie class keeping Cody Dunn behind him in all three rounds. Angel Santiago did the exact same thing in the 13 rookie class as Travis Raymond had to settle for a nice second place finish.
In 12 yr old rookie action, Harwinton’s Austin Cyr scored wins in every moto as Rene Cotto was second. Dave Norris beat out the other two 17 & over rookies for one of the impressive 1st place trophies.
Chris Pfeffer continued his impressive comeback with an overall win in 11 novice racing and CMR’s Mike Iurato was second with Zack Mikelic third. The 17 – 24 novice bunch featured the perfect score of Corey Longfellow with Anthony Strong second and Jeramey Bakunis third. The 6 and 7 yr old novices were combined together and Matt Guerin held off the younger Sky Elwood for the win. Ryan Towle and Dave Moody traded moto wins in the 8 novice group but Moody won the tie-breaking third round for the win. Racing action in the 13 novice motos saw Alex Harris, Ryan Shore and Mason Johnson all win motos. When the dust settled Harris would be the winner, Shores second and the Battiston’s Garmet restoration sponsored Mason Johnson third. Mason would take a trip to the hospital after the races to get his wrist checked out. We hope all is well. The “Candy-Man, Anthony reilly who is sponsored by Joan’s Candy Cupboard, made it look easy in the 14 novice motos as he kept Trevon Clay and William Barna behind him all day.
Zack O’neil handled Dan Delisle and Jake Pirulli in 10 ex competition.
Only three 12 yr old expert were in the house and The “Animal” Zack Andringa put the Aggro Bikes colors out front all day. Jason Chamis and Kyle Block were also right in the mix. 13 ex Zack Pirulli had it all his way in his class as the #32 of Ryan Sambells-Greco could only manage a second. D.J Scott just had one of those days you’d like to forget. Jon Barna, even racing in the Warrior Open competition, managed to easily win the 16 ex class. Anthony Del Vento was the only 15 ex on hand and being combined with three 16 yr old novices proved no problem as he was dominant. Phil Musmacker was the fastest novice in the group.
Video World’s Paul Maher kept his unbeaten streak alive as he cleaned house in 14 ex action. Jesse Edgar had a solid second.
J. P. Maguire & Associates sponsored Ty Johnson won the always competitive 17 – 24 expert class.

Mike Savage, after not racing Foothills since 2005, easily ran up front all day in 35 & over expert action. Mike has been racing BMX and mountain bikes both here and abroad.
In Girls racing, 8 yr old Devin Murphy finished ahead of Nicole Bitinaitis and Emily Daigle for her overall win. 11 yr old Amanda Wedge kept her A1 Self Storage sponsored machine in front of the Stich Painting and Power wash sponsored Jayna Roy. Former track champion 12 yr old Victoria Sunbury beat Carly Curtin for the win. Danielle Jolicoeur topped Cassy Scott in 17 & over girls racing. Katie Edgar won the 13 girls class and Jen Martinsen won the 14 / 15 girls combined class. On a side note it was great to see Allie Couch back in this group.
Finishing up with Cruiser racing it would be Zack Andringa winning the 11 – 12 class. Zack O’Neil getting the best of Dan Delisle in 9 –1 0 action, Zack Pirulli was top dog in 13 – 14 comp., Mike Savage got all he could handle from Todd Zeigher but still managed to win the 40 – 44 class and finally, John McDowell would be the fastest in 45 – 49.
Thanks to everyone who was there and we hope you all had as much fun as we all did watching you.
See ya next week.