Race Report July 11th, 2010

Week #10

One of the things that we battle being a weekend track is that we have to race against Holidays and National events. This week there was an ABA National in nearby Westfield Ma., and an NBL Regional event in nearby New Paltz NY. In an attempt to salvage a decent rider count, and give our regulars a chance to still participate in our program; we scheduled our starting time to be one hour later than normal. This proved to be a good idea as just before we started, a good number of late arrivals arrived at the facility. The final rider count was 165 riding in class plus another 11 in the Money Open for a total of 176.

With two races last week there was the need for two Riders Of The Week to be named. From his results in the Warnicke Scholarship race, 8 yr old Jonathan Todd was honored and he named his brother Justin as his favorite rider. For the July 4th make up race, 7 yr old Matt Webb was given the honor and he named Matt Markie as his favorite rider.

In watching all of the 46 total motos, the most exciting was probably the Money Open where 11 riders were vying for the top prize. The motos were scrambled meaning each round was a different line up. The top 8 would transfer onto the main event. The line-up for the main was impressive. Andrew Cox, Pete Lorenzo, Jason Bush, Allen Currier, Ben Atchison, J.J. Wernicki, Chris Giacomazzo and Justin Markie. When the gate dropped and only 25 feet down the starting hill, Pete Lorenzo from the middle of the gate, Currier from gate 7 and Cox from gate two had a slight edge on the field. At the first turn logo it was Cox by half a wheel, Currier on the outside in second and Lorenzo between the two only half a bike behind in this tight mix. As they hit the second straight double, Cox still had the lead but Currier was on the inside of him and was set up perfectly for turn two. Lorenzo was now one length behind them both with Bush sitting fourth. Into and out of turn two Currier sealed the deal as he moved into the top spot. The order behind him remained the same. Around the tower and up the back stretch the dust was flying and Cox was closing as they entered turn four. Allen must have sensed that Andrew was coming because he hit the rhythm section perfectly and there was no catching him now. At the stripe it was Currier, Cox, Bush, Markie, Lorenzo, Wernicki, Giacomazzo and Atchison.

The first few motos featured some riders who were also in the Money open and, as usual, they saved their energy for a chance to put some cash in their pockets.

In 26 – 34 Experts action, there were three riders and two of the three were in the Open as well. Mike Greco was the only rider who was not in the open. He managed a second place finish between Ben Atchison who won it and third place rider Chris Giacomazzo. I saw Greco in the parking lot after the races and thought he was trying on a new helmet only to realize that he was totally bald.

All the riders in 19-25X were also in the open so their finishes were really unimportant as none were really interested in winning this class. Officially it was Andrew Cox, Justin Markie and J.J. Wernicki the top three.

17-18X / 16N was interesting as Jason Kellogg was again the only Novice ranked rider playing hard ball with the big boys. Jason managed a win in the second round which sealed the deal and he came out with a first overall and also earned expert points along the way. Second was Jon Daversa (Dave’s Auto Detailing) and third was Kyle Strong.

15X / 15N saw some excitement as Austin Cyr won two of three motos as did Jason Palma. The Main event saw 15 Nov Alex Hubbard leading the pack up the second straight. At the Announcer’s Tower Austin Cyr tried to squeeze past on the inside and ran out of track. He and Hubbard went down hard. The top spot was inherited by Jason Chamis with Jason Palma second and Stephen Kallas third. Both Cyr and Hubbard would be a little bruised and battered but okay.

Shawn McAuley aced another perfect in the 14X / 14N class. Chris Pfeffer (George’s Music Center) had his game face on and enjoyed a solid second with Drew Scheinost third.

A full gate was the feature in 13X / 13N action. With Chris Pannullo (Fusco’s Auto Salvage) a little sore from a wreck at the Regional in New York, the usual battle for the top spot did not occur. Dan Delisle had it all his way as he managed a win. Ian Dickinson was second with Wes Reel third.

In 12X / 13N racing Chris Therriault was the top dog with Jon Zeiner second and third went to Trevor Fox (Wild Side tattoo).

Nicole Milton (17 & over Women) was grouped with 14 girls and had little problem staying in front of Autumn Classey and Jayna Roy who finished second and third behind her.

Jess Maher beat Jenn Cote’ in 13 girls action.

The 13 Girls class saw Alexus Doty make it 10 Perfect scores in a row as she again won the class. Isabella Sanchez put in a great effort and certainly made Alexus run flawless laps to maintain her winning streak.

No main event in the 10 yr old girls class this week but it was a full gate of six riders. Kyle Milton won it with three consecutive wins but the second spot was up for grabs. Helen Elizonda, even with two fourth place finishes was second overall. Third went to Chloe Arnold as a sixth place finish in the third round sealed her fate.

Lainie Stroh (K & R Services) edged out Julia Brock for the win in 9 yr old girls.

In 5-7 girls action, Hope Maher was again perfect. Releigh Valliere was a close second with Ashley Jasensky (X-Treme Marine) third.

In 35-40X / 41 & over N, Mike Siegrist, Fred Roy and Scott Merenda were going really hard with reckless abandon. Mike won the first two rounds then left the facility to go to work and still had low score for the overall win. Scotty Merenda was second and Fred (Short memory) Roy was third.

10X / 11N should be listed as just the opposite as the mix included six of the eight riders being Novices. The two experts would prevail as Justin Boissonneault and Nick Cote’ would finish 1-2. The first novice would be Bryan Basile.

Combining Experts and Novices would continue with the 10N / 9X mix. The two experts would again prevail here with Lane Maher, in his first race back after breaking his arm in Virginia earlier this year, winning the class with Sky Domain second. The first novice rider across the stripe was Jon Moura.

Hunter Zeiner, the only 7 yr old expert in the house was combined with 8 and 9 yr old novices. Hunter would finish third in the six rider class which saw Jagur Layman winning it and Zach Ferris (Tactical Arms) second.

The youngest expert in the state, at least I believe, is Derek Fantano. He was matched with two 7 novices and managed a second place finish between Finny Milton and James Cox.

From young riders to older riders next up was 50 & over cruisers with four of them in the house and the combined ages were 224 or an average age of 56! Neil Schaefer was the winner with George Cox second and 60 yr old Gary Eschner third. Len Ferris was so far behind he was scored first in the next moto. (Just kidding)

In 40-44 Cruiser action Greg Fantano, breathing a sign of relief that Meredith Lidstone did not race beat out “Your American Idol” David Cook for the win.

Gina Dutil-Layman beat Therese Campbell in 35-39 / 45 & over woman’s cruiser action.

Greg Sloan and Garrick Yanosky battled hard in 30-34 / 35-39 cruisers with Garrick winning two of three.

In 13-14 Cruisers Dan Delisle was perfect with a nice effort from Ian Dickinson with a second and third went to Drew Scheinost.
Jayna Roy and Hope Maher were together again in the combined class of 12 & under cruisers and 13-14 cruisers. Jayna would be the winner of the grouping.

R.J. Miville was top gun in 11-12 cruisers but this day was about a brand new rider in the class making his presence known. Chris Rudnick, in his first race ever, managed a second and looked very impressive. Pete Franolich was third.

In 9-10 Cruiser action Nick Cote’ was unbeatable. Sky Domain certainly knew this as he had to settle for second and Lane Maher was third. Evan Merenda as the only 8 & under cruiser in the house was 5th in the mixed group.

The usual big turnout of Rookie riders were present and were 71 riders strong. Garrett Gracie, on a uniquely painted bike won the 16 & over class. David Foster, looking slim and trim was second while Matt Delisle was third.

In 15 Rookie action it was the same order all day long with Mike Castle, Sherwin Harris and Brenden Aleia going 1-2-3.

It was pretty much the same deal in the 14 Rookie class as Darren Zimmerman (David J. Mahoney Painting), Luke Dengler and Kyle Brock would also finish 1-2-3.

In 13 Rookie action there was a nice mix of five riders and although Alejandro Robles would win every moto for the overall win, the second and third sports would take an effort to earn. When the dust settled Chris Michaelides and Nick Faber would finish second and third.

Justin Michaelman and Connor Arnold both aced perfect in their 12 Rookie motos. The showdown in the main event saw Connor complete the sweep with Mark Tully finishing just ahead of Michaelman for the second spot.

In the 11 Rookie class Ty Bourgoin was perfect in his motos and looked like a shoe-in for the main win. However Julien Roberge was determined and he edged out Nick Bates for the main event win with Bourgoin settling for a third place award.

William Guido (Big Johnsons Guitars) aced a sweet perfect right through the 10 Rookie main event. Brandon Galeski (Gold Seal Roofing) was second and Dustin Petosa third. It was great to see the return from North Carolina of Homer Hodge. “Bubba” managed a fourth in his first race at Foothills this year.

Garrett Fosbrook, Wes Keating and Nick Piper would finish 1-2-3 in all three rounds in the 9 Rookie class.

In 8 Rookie action there was a rider who talked his dad into letting him ride with clips. Dan Osanitsch had never enjoyed a perfect day but he sure did on this one. Winning every moto plus the main event made a believer out of a lot of people Dustin Sousa and Evan Merenda were second and third. Way to go Danny!

Five riders strong in the 7 Rookie class which saw our reigning Rider-Of-The-Week, Matt (Spider-mite) Webb the winner, Carter Stroh (A & S Construction) second and Ian Fosbrook third.

Brady Valliere, Austin Reid and Ian Hayes would finish 1-2-3 in the 6 yr old Rookie class and finally, in 5 & under Rookie action, Aman Egan (Indian Mountain Mower Service) was the winner. Kraig Geissler was second and Anthony Starr-Bennett was third.

That’s it for this week. Don’t forget the big one, Triple Points next week. See you there, if you dare! So long.

For complete finish report