Race Report May 10th, 2009

WEEK #1

After last weeks rainout (194 total riders registered) and this week being Mother’s Day, we had no real idea of how many riders to expect this week. Last years opening day we also had 194 riders so that was in sync with the numbers last week. On Mother’s day last year we had 150 riders. Maybe we would settle somewhere in between? Well surprise surprise! When Registration closed at 12:30 there were 227 total entries and 55 motos!
The Week before it rained just about every day so the track needed some serious attention over the weekend. By 11:00 on Sunday it had been restored to a pretty good race condition and the only thing left for speculation would be how the new first turn would handle wave after wave of nervous racers flying into the new asphalt. There were 35 MPH wind gusts all day long and it was difficult to decide whether to keep your jacket on our take it off. One thing for sure was that the crowd was alive with anticipation including the 35 new riders in attendance who had never raced before.
Promptly at 1:30 the gate dropped and the long winters wait was over.
First up was the Elite Open class with four riders competing. With all being registered in the Open Wheels Money Class, most were just using this moto for gate practice. Officially it would be Pete Lorenzo winning with Will Nadwairski second and Pete Balotti third. It was pretty much the same deal in the 19 - 25 expert / novice combined class. Dan Buckner was perfect in his motos and Zak McCready won two of his three motos. In the Main event, "The Ripper" Billy Ripley would get the job done. Dan Bycenski was second and third went to McCready. Buckner had to settle for a 5th place finish.
Anthony Del Vento, with a strange smile on his face all day, easily won the 17 - 18 Expert / Novice class keeping the Mid Town Auto Parts sponsored Josh Sanford and Colby Lake behind him. Austin Cyr, after a mechanical problem in his first moto, came back to win the next two and was the overall winner in the 13 expert class. Mike Iurato second and George's Music Centers Chris Pfeffer third. Three different moto winner in the 12 Expert class and with only 5 riders registered there would be no Main Event. Zack O'Neil, Ryan McCoy and Fusco's Auto Salvage sponsored Chris Pannullo all enjoyed moto wins but McCoy was the most consistent and grabbed the overall title.
Todd Maniscalchi won the first two motos in 11 Expert but was a no-show in the third round costing him the win. Chris Therriault was declared to winner with Doug Cable third.
Nick Cote' worked hard for the overall win in 9 Experts as he beat Justin Boissoneault two of three. Ryan Ellefsen finished third.
The return of Christy Kestler highlighted the 17 & Over woman’s class and she easily won all three rounds. Amber Kumiega was second and Michelle Main was third. 15 yr old Angela Therriault beat 13 yr old Ashley Johnson (Esquire Cleaners) in their combined class. In 12 Girls Katie Moody held of Jess Maher and Kendra Covington for the win. Jen Rossi, in a rare Foothills Appearance was perfect as she beat Jen Cote' in all three rounds of 11 yr old girls action. Kyly Milton and Katie Dengler were the only two 9 yr old girls in the house and it was Milton going home with the first place trophy.
7 yr old Dixie D'Amelio, battled 6 yr old Mark T. Kelley Constructions Hope Maher and 6 yr old Ashley Jasensky (Mom & Dad racing) for the win in 5-7 girls. Hope Maher was really going for in in the first round and flew into turn one way too low and drifted up into the side of Dixie but Dixie held fast and Hope splattered onto the asphalt holding the distinction as the first wreck in the new turn. She was fine.
A full gate of riders in the 26 & over combined expert / Novice class and Garrick Yanosky held of Bill Clinton all three rounds. Jason "Pinky" Davis was third in his Foothills debut all the way from Kingston NY. 15 Ex and 15 Novices joined forces and it turned out to be a two rider battle between Jason Chamis and Sean Perkins with Chamis winning two of three. Perkins was second and third went to Mason Johnson.
Jason Kellogg grabbed the win in 14 Nov with second going to Justin Thompson and third to Anthony Moccia.
13 Nov action saw Brianna Clinton not only racing the boys she beat them every time. Gabe Cruz was fairly close behind her and third was the ride of George Norton.
Ian Dickinson aced a perfect in 12 novice racing with Nate Perkins, Wes Reel and Matt Bovat in tow.
Dave Moody (D-Man) was another rider perfect in the 10 ex / 11 nov class. Luigi Gigliuto was second and Robbie DesMarais was right there in third. In 10 nov Justin Rivera was unbeatable and a solid second went to Nick Davis with R.J. Miville third.
Sky Domain won the 8 Ex / 9 Nov combined class with Jake DesMarais pushing his action all the way around. Third went to Austin Clinton.
Sponsored again this year by Hartford County Tattoo, Lane Maher made it look easy in 7-8 Novice action. Colin Penn and Rob Marcantonio each wanted that second spot but it would finally belong to Penn. Always fun to watch the 17 & over Rookie class saw Dan Sears win the final two rounds to edge out Eric Cavallro for the win. Third went to Matt Cerri.
15-16 Rookies had Tactical Arms Jimmy Ferris in the winner’s cirle. Jim has to be getting close to moving on to the Novice class. Nick Landi was second and third went to Benny Ayala.
Justin Hawes and Alex Hubbard (Absolute Masonary and Home Improvement) battled hard for the 14 rookie title. This time it went to Hawes with Hubbard in second and Rob Elizondo third.
Andrew Wright, out of New York, go the job done in the clash of the 13 rookies. Dylan Vadney second and James Austin was third.
Devone Thomas won 13 Rookie racing, Darren Zimmerman (David J. Mahoney Painting) second and Luke Dengler third.
Ken Grenier and Josh Macomber were tied after three rounds so the tie breaker had to be used. The third round is the tie breaker by NBL rules and Grenier was the third round winner in the 12 rookie class. 9 riders were on board in the 11 rookie class and this group would provide the most chilling moment of the day. In the first group Zeller Tires Mike Wasilonsky won two of three but the second group saw Ty Hesterberg and Austin Wagner get tangled in turn two. As Austin went way high to avoid Ty, he ran out of track and fell hard on the asphalt rim. It appeared he whacked his helmet really hard then slid down under the fence. He would take a precautionary ride to the hospital but would be okay. WHEW! The Main event win went to Wasilonsky with Dylan Vadney second. The third spot went to Taylor Yurgalevicz.
10 riders registered in the 10 rookie class. After splitting them into two groups of five only Dakota Austin won all his motos. In the Main he would continue his winning streak and he won it. Second was Scott Thompson and third went to Nick Bates. 12 riders in the 9 rookie class. After Eric Passeck posted a perfect through the motos, When the dust was settled in the Main event, Passeck was again the winner with Willian Guido second and Dusty Petosa third. With 13 riders in the 8 yr old rookie class it would take semis just to determine who would make the main. Lucus Petosa was the winner in all three of his motos while Brandon Jasensky (Vectro Networks) could only manage a couple of seconds in his. But in the main Brandon put it altogether and came out on top. Colin Riggs slid into the second slot with Ed Lentz finishing third. In the 7 rookie class Casey Navin and Tactical Arms Zack Ferris were the dominant riders in their motos but at Main event it was Ethan Russell-Ward who rose to the occasion by the big win. Tanner Storz was second and Casy Navin settled for the third spot. In the 6 rookie Riley Tweedie flew to the top of the group with Ian Fosbrook second and third went to Torin Ellis.
Maybe the highlight of the day was the 5 & under rookie class. A brand new rider, "Dangerous" Danny DesMarais dominated the 5 rider group with a perfect on the first day he ever rode the track. Amazing.
Finally in the 14 rider "Open Wheels" money open they were split into two groups of seven riders each. We dropped three from each group for the 8 rider main event. Dan Bycensky, after obviously spending the winter in the gym, won the main event. Matt Markie was impressive with a solid second and Pete (I love the new turn) Balotti placing third.
Thats it for week number 1. Sorry for the delay in getting the report done. It’s been a busy week. See you next week and remember, keep your eyes out for our stolen Bike rack.

For a complete finish report for this race