Article: Round 19
November 3, 2011
Dade City Motocross – 2011 Points Championship Series
October 29th, 2011 – Round 19
Author: Gifford Quast
BOO! Scary in many ways!
If you have never been to Dade City Motocross for the annual Halloween race you owe it to yourself to attend next year’s event. The night is filled with fun and action, and this year’s iteration included a complete track redesign by renowned track builders DreamTrax, a full night of racing featuring the realmotocross.com Sponsor’s Cup, the annual Pumpkin Race and Halloween Costume Contest and a sick freestyle show by a number of Red Bull athletes including Ronnie Renner.
The evening got underway with the practices, as usual, and the featured class at the conclusion of the session is the Sponsor’s Cup. Top riders on 450cc machines try their best to lay down the fastest lap in order to gain the coveted 1st gate pick for moto one, and this week Ricky Renner (younger brother of X-Games Gold Medalist Ronnie) held the title of #1 qualifier. Points leader going into the event, Tyler Livesay, was just a tenth of a second behind Renner and Kyle Keylon was third fastest. Fourth qualifier, Kory Keylon, was followed by Michael Clarke, defending champion (and second in points) Mike Picone and journeyman pro Troy Adams in 7th, quite a stacked field.
When the gate dropped the pack thundered across it and headed towards the tight left hander a number of riders were vying for the lead. Livesay held it on a bit longer and entered the corner just half a wheel ahead of his competitors. Livesay also came out of the corner first, led to and through the next turn and across the stripe to earn the holeshot cash. By the first time the riders crossed the finish line Livesay was already pulling away from second place Rai Trasdini and Troy Adams behind him. Mike Picone held down the fourth spot with the Keylon brothers, Kory ahead of older brother Kyle in 5th and 6th. Top qualifier, Renner, had a horrible start and would come past the finish line way back in the 9th spot, with a lot of work to do to get to the front. On lap two Picone made a huge mistake which took him out of ther fourth spot and back into seventh, with the hard charging Renner right behind him. Renner made quick work of the defending champ, and passed him in less than a lap. The third lap also had some great action between the Keylon brothers, with Kyle eventually taking over the third spot, and setting his sights on second place Trasdini. On lap five Trasdini succumbed to the pressure and gave up the second position to Keylon. At this point Livesay had a pretty good gap, but Keylon was charging hard and was clearly the fastest rider in the Dragon-Back/Whoop section. Keylon caught Livesay quickly, and made a decisive pass to take over the lead on the seventh lap. On laps eight and nine Renner made passes to take over the 4th and 3rd positions, and was closing on the leaders very quickly, but time was running out. On lap ten Keylon went down, and Renner also made the pass on Livesay, which would turn out to be the pass for the lead. Keylon was slow to remount and would therefore finish a distant 7th. Renner won the moto with Livesay 2nd, Kory Keylon 3rd, former champion Michael Clarke 4th and newcomer Trasdini 5th. An off the pace Picone came home in 6th, creating doubts about his ability to be the first repeat champion in Sponsor’s Cup class.
Halftime at the annual Halloween race is a time for everyone to get together, line the fences and relax a little bit while enjoying all of the festivities. The costume contest is always first, with participants ranging from very small children to grandparents, and everyone in between. Numerous awards are handed out for many categories including cutest, sexiest, scariest and many more. Once the costume contest is over the Pumpkin Racing begins, each “team” consists of two riders and one motorcycle, and the race works as follows: One pumpkin racer sits on the bike, while the other has a hand on the bike. At the go signal one rider runs to a pile of pumpkins, grabs one (there are only just enough for the participants and they vary in size) and runs back to the bike their teammate should already have started. The passenger then hops on the back of the bike, holds the pumpkin between the riders and they head off onto the track. Upon completion of one lap the riders must change places on the bike, and make another lap, and as always the first team to cross the finish line (with pumpkin, intact) wins. Classes are offered for Pee Wees, 110’s, 65’s, 85’s and big bikes. The big bike race is always interesting, as some teams always do some of the big jumps to the delight of the fans. This year there was much controversy over the big bike class, as the leaders after one lap, The Mullets, were held in the rider switch area to serve a penalty for holding the pumpkin improperly. During the penalty Ricky Renner and his lovely/fast fiancé Leah Cantrell took over the lead, the racers did a little bar banging, but the Mulletts made it past the Renner Cantrell duo to take the win. I’m still not sure who actually was awarded the coveted squashed pumpkin, as there was talk of disqualification for Team Mullet, but really it doesn’t matter, as everyone had a lot of fun. Finally it was time for the freestyle show, featuring Ronnie Renner and four other talented madmen, including one who was 40 years old. As always it was a great show that you have to see in person to truly appreciate, with a huge gap and riders flying 40 feet high in the air and performing backflip variations. Thanks again to Ronnie and his whole crew for a great performance.
By the time race 11 rolled around the fences were again lined 5 or 6 deep all along the front straight, and the grandstands were packed. For moto 2 Kyle Keylon would not be denied the holeshot, and he had moto 1 winner Renner right on his rear fender. Picone had a poor start, coming around the first lap back in 7th, and his nemesis Livesay had a horrendous start and was way back in 11th. Trasdini was up front again in third, and had the younger Keylon behind him followed by Adams in fifth. On lap 2 Adams took over the fourth spot, and was pushing to catch the leaders. On the fourth lap Picone, hoping to salvage an uncharacteristically bad night had moved into the 5th position, and he would stay there for the remainder of the moto. Up front there was little drama, as each of the front runners had settled into their respective positions. Renner had made a couple of runs at Kyle Keylon, but had been unable to get close enough to really challenge him. Livesay, who was pushing hard to make up for his unusually bad start had gotten into the seventh spot on lap four. By lap seven Livesay was really riding on the edge to attempt to get past Clarke in the 6th spot when he made a huge mistake. At the end of the back-straight there was a Table/Step Down jump, and Livesay somehow overjumped it by a huge amount, without being anywhere near his bike. It was a huge, scary crash and anyone who witnesses it did not think there was any way he would get up. Livesay has proven to be extremely tough over the years, and when he remounted to finish the race he received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance. Livesay hogged up all the drama, leaving none for the finish, and Kyle Keylon took the moto win with Renner 2nd, Trasdini impressing with his 3rd Adams 4th and Picone rounding out the top five. The overall results were pretty bizarre: Renner1-2 for 1st, Kyle Keylon 7-1 2nd, Trasdini 5-3 3rd, Picone 6-5 4th, Livesay gutting out a 2-10 for 5th overall. Livesay’s gutsy performance ensured that he only lost 20 points in the championship hunt, and he would make a trip via ambulance the following day to the hospital when he passed out a number of times. Here’s wishing Livesay a speedy recovery from the badly bruised lungs he received.
At this point the championship is a two man battle between Livesay and Picone. Each rider knows what it takes to get that big check at the banquet, and each will be pushing as hard as they can for each of the final two double points rounds. One of the two will be the first two time winner of the Sponsor’s Cup title. With Picone holding just a 20 point lead, which is one half a finishing position in the double points rounds it will go down to the wire. Make sure you do not miss either of the November rounds (the 5th and the 19th), because the racing will be incredible.
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