Race Report August 15th, 2010
Week #16
For the last time
this year we had to go up against another National
event. This time it was in Bethel. We scheduled our
starting time one hour later and I guess it proved
to be the right decision as some of our “regulars”
participated in both events. But the conflict plus
a changing weather forecast which now predicted late
day showers seems to have had an influence on the
rider count. None-the-less, 143 riders and 41 motos
is definitely not a bad turnout considering all the
issues.
Last week we named Ethan Russell Ward as our Rider
of the Week for the race on August 1st but he was
not here so we saved the trophy for him and interviewed
him Sunday. He named Derek Fantano as his favorite
rider. Not a bad choice considering Derek who won
the Regional Championship on Saturday in Bethel.
12 yr old Rookie rider Austin Andrews was named our
Rider of the Week for his efforts last week and he
named his home-town hero Wesley Reel as his favorite
rider.
With a real mixed bag of riders in the four riders
in four classes the lineup was Paul Maher (17-18X);
Mike Greco (26-34X); Scott Merenda (35-40X) and Jon
Daversa (17-18N). Maher easily won the grouping with
Merenda second and Greco third.
Talk about evenly matched, there 12 yr old Experts
were competing and all three won a moto. The most
consistent was Josh Blankquart with a 1st and two
2nds which were good enough for the overall win. Robbie
DesMarais, who finally nailed the jumping technique
required to clear the big step-down, was second with
Dougy Cable third.
In 11X / 11N action it was the same finishing order
in all three rounds with Dave Moody, Jake DesMarais
and Jake Layman as the official order.
Nicole Milton (17 & over women) battled hard with
track champion Katie moody (14 girls) and come out
as the top lady in this one.
The winning ways returned for Alexus Doty and she
was nailed down a perfect score in the 12-13 girls
group. Jess Maher was second with Carlie Arnold finishing
third.
After a really tough crash in practice, Isabella Sanchez
was able to re-group and get the job done again the
11 yr old Girls class by beating Mackenzie Atchison
and Helen Elizondo.
Five riders made up the 10 yr old Girls class and
Kyly Milton was again the dominant rider however,
Chloe Arnold is getting very close now and enjoyed
a close second place finish. Chloe Bourgoin, also
showing significant improvement was third.
In 8-9 Girls action Hannah Blankquart got the best
of Hope Maher for the win will third went to Lanie
Stroh (K & R Services).
In 5-7 Girls Rileigh Valliere made the long ride from
Merrimac Ma. worth it as she aced a “perfect”.
The second spot went to Chloe Lee (Mirror Polishing
and Plating) as she just edged out Azra Milton.
In 15X / 16N action Austin Cyr (Plow plus Maintenance)
also was unbeatable as he put all three rounds in
the win column. Roberto Elizondo was second with the
third spot going to Alex Hubbard (16N).
Craziness in the 14X / 15N class as the first moto
went to Autumn Classey! Yes, Autumn Classey beat the
boys. Revenge for the boys came in the next two rounds
as Kevin Ralvin won then Dave Lamb turned the deed
in the third round. So how did it add up? 1st was
Dave Lamb, Autumn was second and Ralvin was third.
John Orlando seemed to be throwing out the sand bags
again.
As the only 13x competing Dan Delisle had little trouble
beating 14 novice riders Dylan Vadney and Drew Scheinost.
In 13 Novice racing Lakeville’s Wes Reel was
the Real-Deal as he nailed three wins. Second overall
went to Matt Bovat with the third position earned
by Aaron Kowalski.
After blasting his way through the Rookie class this
year, Connor Arnold appears poised to do the same
in the Novice class as he won everything in the 12
yr old Novice class. Bryan Basile was second and Erik
Dugan a close third.
A full gate of six riders were competing in the 9X
/ 10N class and Jon Moura held on by a nose for the
overall win just edging out Steve Hull and Brandon
Galeski (Gold Seal Roofing).
There were three different proficiencies in the 8X
/ 8N / 9N grouping with one 8x (Alex Kuehn) and 1
8N (Derek Eisenbach) and three 9 yr old Novices. Because
of the one expert all riders receive expert points.
Two of the 9 Novs finished 1-2 with Jagur Layman and
Zach Ferris (Tactical Arms) finishing ahead of third
place finisher Alex Kuehn.
In 6X / 7N Fin Milton continued his win streak with
another “perfect” by topping the efforts
of Evan Kowalski and Matt (spider-mite) Webb.
Massachusetts riders that frequent Foothills all seem
to be front runners and that is certainly the case
with Landon Richard. This 6 yr old novice was dominant
again as he won his class keeping Brady Valliere and
Kyle Kuehn behind him in all three rounds of motos.
With only 17 riders present in the Cruiser classes,
their action was somewhat limited and pretty cut and
dry.
With regular winner Butch Feitel Jr. missing in action
the 50 & over class went to Joey Watley, Second
was 60 yr old Gary Eschner with third going to Jay
Francis.
The 40-44 class saw Bobby DesMarais (Bikers Edge)
toying with Greg Fantano with Fantano crossing the
stripe first. He sends his “Thanks” out
to bobby.
Gina Layman topped Therese Campbell in the mixed class
equally 40 & over woman.
In 35-39 action there were three riders and all experienced
a moto win. Greg Sloan edged out Tom Kuehn in the
first round but then sat out the next two and just
touched the gate. Kuehn won the second round and Erik
Maher the third. The official finishing order was
Kuehn, Maher and Sloan.
New Jersey’s Heather Havens and Torrington’s
Denise Classey made up the small field in 25-29 /
30-35 cruiser and Heather would win two out of three.
Drew Scheinost, Dave Cruz and Pete Franolich was the
order in the mixed class of 11-12 / 13-14 / 15-16
Cruiser.
Evan Merenda was solo on the track in 8 & under
/ 9-10 action as Lane Maher (broken arm) could only
touch the gate.
Our life’s blood are the Rookie classes and
there were 61 riders in the house going for the golden
trophies.
With a Main event required in the 17 & over gang,
this “Legion of Doom” is always exciting.
At least no one wrecked this week although that double
on the second straight, which has given them fits
all year, caused three of them in the main to really
kick up some dust but all stayed on their bike. When
that dust settled it was Matt Bennett winning it with
Sam Colon second and Garrick Gracie third.
16 yr old Alex Molon returned after about a 5 year
absence and showed he still had some skills, at least
in the first two rounds by winning both motos. The
third round saw the rust take over as he self destructed
while winning and had to settle for a second but even
that was still good enough for him to salvage a first
overall. Second place went to Dominique Dolce with
third going to Gian Gonzalez. Alex, please have that
helmet fastened next time out.
Mike castle and Brenden Aleia were the only two 15
yr olds racing and Mike was Sunday’s winner.
In 14 Rookie action Darren Zimmerman (David J. Mahoney
Painting) topped Nick Ingala.
Jose Estrella, Jamie Lamb and Luke Bolton made up
the finishing order in the 13 Rookie class for all
three rounds.
Mike Wasilonsky and Austin Andrews won motos in the
five rider 12 yr old Rookie class with Austin claiming
the overall title. Jeff Vadney would finish third.
With a full gate of riders in the 11 Rookie class
Nick Bates made it look easy as he won every round.
New comer Dan Deertz was a solid second with Jeremy
Estrella finishing in the third spot.
It was the same finishing order all day in the 10
Rookie class with Dale Doty (Connecticut Wells Inc)
first, Connor Calarco second and Frankie Buckley third.
The 9 yr old Rookie class also featured a full gate
of riders and Ethan Russell-Ward would put his ride
in the winner’s circle with a perfect score
of 120 points. Jason Lee (Mirror Polishing and Plating)
enjoyed a solid second place finish while Nick Piper
settled for third.
Dustin Souza, Evan Merenda and Carter Stroh (A &
S Construction) all enjoyed moto wins leading up to
the 8 yr old rookie main event. Carter Stroh would
be today’s champion with Souza claiming the
second place trophy while Chris Guido (Write Way Signs)
went home with a third.
Devon O’Leary edged out Ryan Hayes (wrecked
hard in practice) for the 7 Rookie win. The third
spot went to Jorn Layman.
The five rider 6 yr old class saw Danny DesMarais
(Bikers Edge) get the job done as he was not beaten
this day. Aman Egan (Indian Mountain Mower Service)
was second all day long and the third spot was occupied
by Ian Hayes.
Finally the last main of the day was the always fun
to watch 5 & under class. Sam DeGrange (Bertera
Chrysler and Jeep Inc.) won his motos and the main
event. Robbie Webb (Spider-mite) won all of his motos
and finished second in the main while the third spot
n the main went to Anthony Starr-Bennett.
See you all next week.
For complete finish report
