Race Report July 18th, 2010

Week #11

With this race being the only Triple Points race in the State this season, coupled with a great weather report and with 252 riders at our recent Double Points race, we expected about 350 riders for this one. Well, we certainly are used to surprises and that sure was the case here. 291 riders and 70 motos is impressive, but well short on what we planned for. With that said the day did feature some of the most exciting races in recent memory as the day was filled with tight racing, exciting passes and very close finishes.

In opening ceremonies, 5 yr old Aman Egan was named Rider Of The Week for his efforts the week before. He claimed Wes Reel as his favorite rider.

All the state teams participated in a parade lap and it was quite a site with the magnitude of riders on the track at the same time. Mindy Delisle did a fine job singing the National Anthem.

With 14 riders registered in our money open class the same rules applied that we have been using most of the year by scrambling each moto with 7 riders in each. The top eight point earners transfer onto the 8 rider main event. This has proved to provide the most exciting racing by preventing the rider from really knowing where they stand. Riding hard every moto has become the norm.

After three exciting rounds of motos the points were tallied only to discover that there was a five way tie for the final four spots in the main. This is where the problem and a unfortunate injustice was done. The NBL rules state that the third round of motos should serve as the tie breaker. Dylan Perez Scored a first in round two and a second in round three. He did not show for round one and was given a DNS. By NBL rule, a DNS gets a last place finish plus two extra points so with seven riders Dylan would get a nine for the first round. Add to the 9 the 2 and the 1 and he has 12 points but with solid second in the third round. With four positions open the fifth place finisher in the third round should be the one eliminated instead, Dylan was DQ’d for not making the first round allowing Justin Markie to make the cut. We feel this was a mistake and can only offer our sincere apologies to Dylan for what happened.

The main lineup became Justin Markie, Pete Lorenzo, Pete Balotti, Andrew Cox, Jason Bush, J.J. Wernicki, Jose Catano and Anthony Delvento.

When the gate dropped Lorenzo had Gate 1 but did not get the best start as Balotti and Catano were ahead of him at the first jump. But the driver’s seat is definitely on the inside as you enter turn one and Pete dove into the turn and drifted up slightly but now in front of Jose and Balotti. As they sped out of the turn Cox was working through traffic and now in fourth place. Up the entire second straight the dust was flying behind them. Into the second turn Cox would fade to 5th but only for a moment as he J.J. would trade positions back and forth. Lorenzo had stretched the lead out to about three bike lengths. Over the camel the battle was now for the second spot with Jose riding hard with Balotti right on his rear tire. Cox was in fourth about two full lengths behind Balotti. Around turn three and up the back stretch the rooster tail of dust was in the air. Turn four and Lorenzo was now ahead by 5 lengths. Balotti and Catano were side by side blocking the path for Cox. Out of the turn Balotti had edged ahead of Jose but only slightly. Cox had caught Catano in the rhythm section. The final turn and sprint to the line was Lorenzo, Catano and Balotti 1-2-3.
Sixty two experts were in the house in an impressive array of ages ranging from 7 yrs old to 44. Remember that all multiple point races feature a main event in each class.

The first class off the hill was the 41 & over gang. Cutting Edges Randy Bitinaitis won the first two fairly easily but back off noticeably in the third round allowing Mike Savage to capture a win. Randy came back to win the main with Mike second and Jeff Meyer third.

Six riders strong in the 35-40 expert class and Garrick Yanosky easily won the first two rounds. London Wilmont, maybe getting the track dialed in a rare appearance won the third round. The Main event would belong to London as he held off hot pressure from Garrick all the way around. Third went to Mike Sigrist.

In 26-34 Action Felix (Flash) Pagan aced the first perfect of the day by winning everything. Chris Giacomazzo was second while Renato DaSilva was third.

Tucker Schaefer, in his return after four years, looked as good as ever. He won the 19-25 main event. J.J. Wernick was second and Jason Bush was third.

In 17 – 18 Expert and Nov combined, the big guy from Bethel, Mike Dombroski would save the best for last by winning only one ride all day but it was the main event that put him in the winner’s circle. Anthony DelVento was second with Kyle Strong third.

16 Expert saw Zack Pirulli paired with Jason Kellogg. Although Jason finished second in the main, as the only novice in the group he earned expert points.

The 15 Ex / 15 Nov class saw Roberto Elizondo ace three wins in his motos. Jason Chamis won two of three motos in his group. In the main event the showdown, it would be neither as Austin Cyr won the main, Chamis second and Elizondo third.

Shawn McAuley took another major step in winning his seventh state title by winning every round including the main in 14 expert action. Mike Iurato was a major threat all day but could not find a way around McAuley. Colin Rooney had to watch all unfold in front of him from the third spot.

Six riders in 13 expert and three different moto winners. Jake Pirulli in round one. Zack O’Neil in round two and Chris Pannullo in round three. In the main it was Pirulli, O’Neil and Dan Delisle rounding out the top three while Pannullo settled for a fourth.

Chance Terpening aced a perfect in the 12 Ex / 12 nov class with Casey tanner second. The third spot in the main went to Chris Therriault. Evan Greco was perfect through his motos but did not show for the main.

The 11 expert class saw Dave Moody and Luigi Gigliuto battling hard in the motos with each enjoying victories. Waiting in the wings was the Former National Champion Josh Walsh who only one one time but it was the main event. Gigliuto was second and Moody was third.
Only three 10 expert riders were on hand and Justin (Planters) Boissonneault put his bike in the winner’s circle. Nick Cote’, after wrecking hard in practice, rode well for a second place finish and Austin Clinton was third.

Moving onto the girls classes what a nice turnout. With 41 long haired rockets in the house the action was sure fun to watch. Former track champion, Angela Therriault aced a perfect right through the 16 girls / 17 & over women main event. Nicole Milton and Michele main battled very hard for the second spot which eventually went to Nicole.

Five 14 yr olds were here and Brianna Clinton absolutely dominated the class with a perfect. The real battles were for the positions immediately behind her between Autumn Classey and Katie Moody. Classey would place second in the main with Katie third.

Six young ladies were featured in the 13 girls class. Mel Cianciola, Jess Maher and Jenn Cote’ would finish 1-2-3 in their main event.
Alexus Doty again was unbeaten in the two rider 12 girl’s class with Samantha Lumbra a close second.

In 11 girls action Nicole Bitinaitis hit the grand slam by winning every moto plus the main event for the Cutting Edge team. Isabella Sanchez, who is really getting faster every time we see her, enjoyed a solid second with Lauren Asselin (Zero Tolerance) third.

It was 9 riders strong in the 10 girls class. Kyly Milton and Stampedes’s Mackenzie Atchison were perfect in their motos. Kyly went on to win the Main event, just edging out Mackenzie with a great effort from 1st year racer Chloe Arnold.

Ashley Asselin, Dixie D’Amelio and Mariana Gigliuto finished 1-2-3 in 8-9 girls action.

Two racks of 5-7 yr old girls were loaded in the gate for moto 26 and 27. Rileigh Valliere and Hope Maher both aced perfect scores through the motos. There simply was no catching Hope in the main as she put another win in the record books. Rileigh was second and the third spot was earned by Ashley Jasensky.

“Atta-boy” Fred Roy, was the fastest 41 & over novice rider this day and no one came close enough to pass him. Enrik Benazic, riding out of Brooklyn NY was a pretty close second and Jason Gladstone managed a third.

How in the world can you finish in the motos with scores of 5-2-6 and then win the Main event? That’s exactly what Kevin Ralvin did in the 14 Novice class. Josh Santiago must be still scratching his head in wondering the same thing as his scores were 2-1-1. He had to settle for a second place main finish with George Norton V now George Norton 3rd.

Fast Phil Miklovich led the charge all day in 13 novice racing and he led it all the way to the finish line each time. Wes Reel, Aman Egan’s favorite rider was second and the third spot went to Aaron Kawalski.
Bryan Basile was Flyin Bryan again as he won two of three motos and the 11 novice main event. R.J. Miville hung tough and nailed down a second place while the third place trophy went to “The Marshall” Matt Dillon.

In 9x / 10n action Sky Domain beat Lane Maher. Unfortunately for him, it was in the third round of motos only as Lane “Superfly” Maher came back to win the main. Sky was second and it was a great comeback for Jonathan Moura with a nice third.

Jagur Layman was perfect in his motos and looked like a shoe-in to win the 7-8 x main event. When the dust settled, that little speed demon Hunter Zeiner would capture the main for Team Edge while Jagur toughed out a second and Tommy Gladstone managed a third. The big story here was not about who won, but who got injured. In round two John Cox slammed into the gate just before it dropped and flipped over the handle bars just before the gate dropped and slammed his arm. It was a very fluke accident and many thanks to Tom Kuehn and Alex Rivera for quickly lifting the gate off of Johns arm. As of Sunday night, John had been transferred to Children’s hospital in Hartford and may have needed surgery. We wish the best possible outcome to the Cox family.

Finny Milton is nearly unbeatable at Foothills and the 7 Novice title may lie in his ability to get it done at Trumbull in September. This day was his with a perfect. Derek Fantano, the youngest and only 6 yr old expert in the state was second while the third spot went to Derek Eisenbach.

Landon Richard seems to like the tight racing at Foothills as he was not passed all day long in the 6 novice class. Kyle Kuehn was second and “Beemers” Brad Wohler’s was third for Zero Tolerance.

Moving on to the Geritol gang (50 & over cruiser) Butch Feitel put it all together and remained unbeatable for the day. Neil Schaefer, in his first race in about four years at Foothills was second and rounding out the top three was Len Ferris.

John McDowell won every moto in the two rider 45-49 Cruiser class but failed to show up for the main. By default, Dan Scully was the winner.

Cutting Edge’s Randy Bitinaitis beat the living legend, Mike Savage, in the 40-44 Cruiser class. Jeff Meyer was third.

Marge Boissonneault and Therese Campbell represented all women racers approximately the age of 39. Hey is all relative to what you compare it to. Marge was today’s winner.

In 35-39 Cruiser action, Garrick Yanosky beat Tommy Kuehn and Erik Maher in every moto. He simply could not keep it going in the Main and Tommy eked out the win. Garrick was second with Erik third.
Greg Sloan topped Alex Rivera in the 30-34 Cruiser class.

Eight riders on the big wheels going for the 13-14 Cruiser glory saw Dan Delisle simply take no prisoners as he won every round including the main event. Zack O’Neil settled into the two spot with Jake Pirulli finishing third.

14 yr old Jayna Roy got the best of 7 yr old Hope Maher in 12 & under / 13-14 girls cruiser.

It Goes and it Glows, Casey Tanner, known as “The Fluorescent Flyer” nabbed a perfect in the 11-12 cruiser class. Joshua Walsh, whom we simply don’t see enough of, was second while R.J. Miville was claiming the third spot.

In 9-10 cruiser action Nick Cote’, probably sore from the practice fall, sure looked good in 9-10 cruiser. Never looking at the back of anyone’s jersey, Nick was perfect. Lane maher was a solid second while Sky Domain was finishing third.

In the legend of doom (17 & over rookie) Ted Faulise and Matt Bennett had the closest finish of the day. (http://foothillsbmx.com/Photos/2010/July-18/who_won.JPG). Faulise was declared the winner with Bennett by a mosquitoes’ whisker second and Garrett Gracie third.

Matt Banazic won the 16 rookie class. Charley Crook stole second and Trevor Simmons finished third.

In 15 Rookie racing Mike Castle was crowned king of the hill. Second went to Liam Stone and third was Brenden Aleia.

Darren Zimmerman had little problem dealing with the other three riders in his 14 Rookie motos. But in the main Dave Lamb, Samir Licul and Ryan Baldino would finish just in front of him.

13 rookie racing and Alejandro Robles was undefeated, at least for this day. Jose Estrella salvaged a second and “Hammerin” Cameron Johnston was third.

In 12 rookie racing Connor Arnold’s magical season continued with yet another perfect as he closes in on the novice class. Mike Wasilonsky was second and the third spot went to Jeff Vadney.

Big class in 11 rookie and this one was very unpredictable. Julien Roberge, our main event winner, never won a moto but crossed the stripe first in the main. Nick Bates, who was perfect in the motos, but bailed hard in the main (http://foothillsbmx.com/Photos/2010/July-18/Bates_Wreck.jpg) and Mike Schlesinger, who was perfect in his motos also bailed in the main. Second overall was Ty Bourgoin with Jeremy Estrella third.

Brandon Galeski, won his last main as a rookie and is now a novice with this big victory. Dustin Petosa, after winning all of his motos, finished 2nd in the main while Dale Doty was third.

9 yr old rookie Garrett Fosbrook ruined the perfect day for Ethan Russell-Ward by winning the main after Ward won every moto. (That’s racin boys). Wes Keating was third.

Only one group of eight yr old rookies and Jon Todd had no problem crossing the stripe first every time out. Seth Norton was second all day and third in the main went to Dustin Souza.

Matt (Spider-mite) Webb and Torin Ellis represented the six moto wins in 7 rookie action. In the main event showdown, Webb had it all wrapped up. Ellis second and Ian Fosbrook third.

Former Rider Of The Week Brady Valliere easily won the 6 rookie class keeping reigning Rider Of The Week Aman Egan behind him with Austen Reid finishing third.

Finally the 5 & under rookie class saw Sam DeGrange again the top dog. Robbie (Spider-might) Webb was second while Anthony Starr-Bennett was third.

Don’t forget we start at 2:30 next Sunday. See you at the National in Trumbull.

For complete finish report