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Dade City Motocross – 2011 Points Championship Series

November 5^th, 2011 – Round 20

Author:  Gifford Quast

Fast from the Past.

The penultimate round of the 32^nd annual DCMX points championship series featured an injured title contender, some dominant riders from past years and a few surprising results.  As the first of two double points races the pressure was sure to be on the couple of remaining title contenders who have distanced themselves from the rest of the field.  After a huge crash the previous weekend it was doubtful that 2^nd in points, Tyler Livesay, would even be able to race.  With a few broken ribs, bruised lungs, a broken tailbone and severe bruising in a number of places on his body it would be a miracle if he could even get on the bike, much less be competitive.

The huge crowd, some of them on hand for the Gold Cup race the following day, were in for a treat in the form of the Sponsor’s Cup class.  Practice, which is timed and determines the gate pick for the first moto showcased a blazing fast Kyle Keylon.  Behind Keylon was his long time rival Ricky Renner, and the third qualifier was former champion Michael Clarke.  Mike Picone, looking to be the first repeat winner in the history of the Sponsor’s Cup, got the 4^th gate pick, but was over two seconds off the pace and Jerry Kopoian would start fifth.  In spite of all the injuries Livesay, in obvious pain gutted out a 7^th place qualifying run, but was over 3.3 seconds behind Keylon.  It was obvious Livesay’s mission was to try to reduce the damage as much as possible, and spend the next two weeks recovering for the final round.

Nowhere is the holeshot more important than at DCMX, and in no class is it harder to pass than in the Sponsor’s Cup.  When the gate fell, relative newcomer Rai Trasolimi jumped out ahead of the pack and grabbed the cash.  There was chaos in the first turn just behind the leader and Renner got pushed wide and was unable to make the second corner, it would be interesting to see what would happen later regarding the infraction.  In second behind Trasolimi was the beat-up Livesay, followed by Renner with Picone behind him.  By the time the leaders crossed the finish line the first time Renner had put his bike into the second spot with Livesay third and Pinecone 4^th.  Polesitter Keylon had gotten a poor start, and would have to work his way through the pack if he wanted to finish up front.  On lap three Renner took the lead away from Trasolimi, while Picone also got by Livesay, giving him a little bump in the process.  Livesay retaliated, and in spite of the obvious pain knocked Picone off the track, but it was to no avail.  Trasolimi went down on lap five, while Keylon and Clarke worked their way towards the leaders.  On the sixth lap Keylon took away third from Livesay, and set his sights on Picone in second.  Behind them Kopoian and Clarke were having a battle of their own, with the two of them getting together and Clarke taking the fifth spot on lap seven.  Picone, who appeared to be riding a bit defensively, got passed by Keylon on lap seven as well, but Renner had built up a huge, insurmountable lead.  With just a couple of laps to go Clarke motored past Picone to take over third on the track, and they would cross the checkers in this order; Renner-1^st, Keylon-2^nd, Clarke-3^rd, Picone-4^th, and Livesay -5^th.  It took a while, and after review of films it was determined that Renner would be penalized 2 spots for cutting the track on the second turn, this gave the win to Keylon and put Clarke into second.

All eyes were on the starting line as the Sponsor’s Cup class lined up for moto number two.  This time around Renner took no chances on being shoved wide, by being the first rider into and out of the tight left hander.  He held the lead through the second corner as well, and took home the start cash for moto two.  Keylon, Picone and Clarke all had better starts than they did the first moto, coming out 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th respectively.  Livesay’s worst case scenario was played out on the start, when he and Kopoian got together in the first turn and they both went down.  Both riders remounted and shortly thereafter Kopoian and Livesay got together once again, with Livesay ending up on the ground yet again.  Livesay is one of the toughest riders out there, so he remounted and proceeded to ride the rest of the moto, although at a reduced pace.  Up front both Renner, in the lead, and Keylon, right behind him, were both riding a great race.  Each was pushing hard, and Keylon simply could not close the gap to make a run at Renner.  On lap six Clarke made his way past points leader Picone to take over the third spot, but was too far back to mount any kind of charge to the leaders.  The rest of the moto was pretty uneventful, and Renner held on for the win.  Keylon came home second and Clarke took the bottom rung of the podium.  Picone held on for fourth, Trasolimi fought his way up to fifth and Livesay, in obvious pain the entire moto gutted out a ninth.  The overall results were as follows:  Keylon (1-2) for 1^st, Renner (3-1) 2^nd, Clarke (2-3) 3^rd, Picone (4-4) 4^th Ian Millett (6-6) 5^th, Trasolimi (8-5) 6^th and finally Livesay, scoring some points to stay in the hunt in 7^th by going 5-9.

Picone is now in the driver’s seat with 1280 points, but Livesay is still well within striking distance with his 1200.  In double points rounds 80 points is only 4 finishing positions, and the last round always attracts a lot of racers vying for off season cash.  Although the battle for the win is down to two racers, there is also a heated battle for the final paying position, 3^rd. with Millett and Kyle Keylon tied after round 20.  The final round is always crazy with excitement, championships are to be claimed or lost, everyone is pushing their hardest and both Quad and Bike classes are present.  Don’t miss the excitement, be sure to attend the last round of 2011 on November 19^th.

October 29^th, 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 1^st 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 7^th, 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 5^th and 6^th.  Top qualifier, Renner, had a horrible start and would come past the finish line way back in the 9^th 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 4^th and 3^rd 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 7^th.  Renner won the moto with Livesay 2^nd, Kory Keylon 3^rd,  former champion Michael Clarke 4^th and newcomer Trasdini 5^th.  An off the pace Picone came home in 6^th, 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 7^th, and his nemesis Livesay had a horrendous start and was way back in 11^th.  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 5^th 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 6^th 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 2^nd, Trasdini impressing with his 3^rd Adams 4^th and Picone rounding out the top five.  The overall results were pretty bizarre:  Renner1-2 for 1^st, Kyle Keylon 7-1 2^nd, Trasdini 5-3 3^rd, Picone 6-5 4^th, Livesay gutting out a 2-10 for 5^th 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 5^th and the 19^th), because the racing will be incredible.

October 1^st, 2011 – Round 17

Author:  Gifford Quast

Jump from the past!

In Dade City Florida, as the temperatures begin to finally cool down, the racing heats up.  Round 17 of the 32^nd annual points championship series took place on the first beautiful afternoon and evening of the fall.  Racers and fans alike came out in droves to enjoy both the weather and the racing.

Round 17 featured the Sponsor’s Cup class, for the top 450 riders in the southeast (and frequently many other locations), and as always their practice lap times would be used to determine gate picks.  Kyle Keylon, past master of Dade City, has struggled most of the season with bad starts and less than stellar finishing positions.  However, this round Keylon posted the fastest lap in the qualifying session, which gave him first the all important first gate pick for moto one.  Not far behind Keylon was defending champion Mike Picone, with current points leader Tyler Livesay third fastest.  Journeyman pro rider Troy Adams laid down the fourth fastest time with Ricky Renner completing the top five.

Just a couple of motos before the Sponsor’s Cup were two of the classes where the points battle is heating up as we head into the last few rounds of the season.  The Plus 45 class and the Women’s class are often run together, with the old guys going on the first gate and the women on the second.  Both classes have narrowed the championship to two rider battles, and each was extremely competitive at round 17.  On the first gate drop for Plus 45, Rick Bigalow grabbed the holeshot just ahead of Reggie Ferry and Robert Noa, while behind them (on the second gate) Shelby Quast and Marissa Hampshire went into the corner side-by-side, with Quast on the inside.  Quast held the inside, drifted a bit wide and took the holeshot, with Hampshire in hot pursuit.   By lap two Noa had gotten around Ferry to take over the second spot in Plus 45, and he was chasing down the leader Bagalow.  Lap four was eventfull for both classes, as Noa took the lead away from Bigalow, and in the Women’s class Quast made a mistake in the tight right hander leading into the table-table section.  Hampshire got up beside Quast and held the inside line in the off cambered corner heading onto the back straight.  The two racers headed down the back straight with Hampshire just a wheel ahead of Quast.  Hampshire held the lead and took the inside line in the sweeper, while Quast took the outside, and just pinned the throttle.  The two were just centimeters apart when Quast came around the outside to retake the lead.  Down the long middle straight Quast tried to stretch out her lead, but Hampshire stayed right on her.  Women’s leader, Quast, had to deal with pressure from Hampshire the final lap, but rode flawlessly to take the win over the always hard charging Hampshire, while third went to Alexus Gunther.  Meanwhile, Noa had pulled ahead and took the win over Bigalow and Ferry in the Plus 45 class.

Everyone in attendance always crowds to the fences when the Sponsor’s Cup class takes to the track, and the crowd was out in force for moto one.  Lately Livesay has been on fire, and at the drop of the gate he rocketed into the lead, with Picone, Ian Millett and the finally-back-from-wrist-injury, Kory Keylon in tow.  Livesay put his head down and put in some consistently blazing fast and nearly identical laps to pull a gap on second place Picone.  While the three leaders had settled into their positions behind them the older Keylon brother, Kyle, was working hard to make his way to the front.  On lap four Kory Keylon showed that he was a bit rusty from his time off, by hitting the ground and losing a whole bunch of spots.  The older Keylon, Kyle, after a number of laps applying extreme pressure, finally over-jumped his way past Adams down the long middle straight to take over the fourth spot.  By lap eight Keylon also managed to get around Millet to take over the final podium position.  Livesay led the entire way to take the moto win, and Picone kept him honest and finished second, Millett fourth and Adams fifth.

Moto two for the Plus 45 and Women’s classes was midway through the program.  Once again, Bigalow grabbed the start from his arch rival Noa, and led him for the first lap.  This time around Noa was much closer, and he wasted little time in once again taking the lead.  Once out front Noa took charge, and rode a smart moto to take the win and the overall, with Bigalow doing the same in second and Ferry also taking third overall with his 3-3 scores.  The front runners in the Women’s class swapped the start order from the first moto, with Hampshire getting the better jump and coming out of the first turn ahead.  Quast was in second, and pushing hard to catch the veteran Hampshire.  Early on Hampshire gapped Quast, but lately Quast has been able to run down Hampshire and make a late charge at her.  The front running Women not only have to race one another, but also simultaneously work their way through the slower Plus 45 riders and also lap past some of the other riders in their class.  This adds an additional element that many classes do not encounter, as typically only the first gate class needs to contend with getting past the slower riders.  However, this applies to the front runners alike, so the timing on catching slower riders can work to each rider’s advantage or disadvantage.  As Quast was putting on a charge she got held up for a few corners by one of the Plus riders, this time getting the worse end of the deal, effectively putting an end to her charge.  After the great first moto battle the Women’s second moto was a bit anticlimactic, with Hampshire putting in a great effort, winning the moto and the overall on a borrowed bike she had never ridden before.  This battle will continue all the way to the last round, as both contenders are hungry to win each round and the championship.  Overall results were Hampshire – 1^st, Quast – 2^nd, and Gunther 3^rd.

Livesay made a somewhat unprecedented move a couple of months ago, when he made a change to the all new 2012 KX450F, while in the midst of a winning streak.  The first outing or two were not victories, but Liversay stuck it out and his gamble has thus far payed off.  Once again, at the drop of the gate, Livesay jumped out ahead of all of his competitors.  This time around Adams was in tow, with the resurgent Kyle Keylon close behind in third.  Picone had gotten a poor start, going down in the first corner, but immediately charging hard to be mid-pack again by the end of the first lap.  Out front Livesay was doing his usual job of pulling away, while Adams held off Keylon.  By lap four Keylon had overtaken Adams to secure the second spot, and set his sights on Livesay.  Within a couple of laps Keylon had closed the gap, and was applying all kinds of pressure to Livesay.  Livesay responded to the pressure and stepped up the pace, but Keylon kept charging, over-jumping everything in sight, constantly showing Livesay a wheel.  On lap number eight, as the riders came down the back straight, Keylon again over-jumped the last table, getting close to Livesay as they entered the sweeper.  Through the sweeper Keylon and Livesay both held it on and they came out charging hard.  Keylon jumped the first single, grabbed another gear, soaked up the second single and then just launched the small table, over-jumping it by a good 50 feet.  Keylon had the inside line to the corner, but it appeared that there was no way that he could get the bike slowed down for the corner, much less the inside rut.  Livesay saw what was going on and appeared to slow down, with the intent of diving back inside as Keylon overshot the corner.  However, Keylon braked very hard, threw the bike into the inside rut, and grabbed a handful of throttle.  It was one of the most impressive passes I have ever seen, and from there Keylon immediately pulled away from Livesay.  Within a lap Keylon had already amassed a large gap, and would deservedly win the moto.  Livesay held on for second while Adams came home third to cover the final step on the podium.  The second moto gave us back the Kyle Keylon we used to see every race, fast, fearless and exciting, and if this is any indication the rest of the season will be unbelievable.

In the Plus 45 class Noa has only a 30 point lead over his rival Bigalow, so only three finishing positions separate the two this late in the season.  Both are veteran racers who are highly motivated to win, so it will be a battle all the way to the end.  Hampshire leads Quast by 60 points going into round 18, but anything can still happen in this class as well.  Hampshire, the cagey veteran versus Quast, the young contender; it will be some great racing all the way to the final round here as well.

Sponsor’s Cup overall results were as follows:  Livesay – 1^st with his 1-2 scores, Kyle Keylon – 2^nd (3-1), Picone – 3^rd (2-4), Adams 4^th (5-3), and Millett 5^th with a 4-6.  Ricky Renner had an off night, and could only muster a 7^th overall, and it was good to see Kory Keylon, the early season points leader, back in action, even if he did not have a very good night.  The championship has become a 2 man race, with Livesay holding a 60 point lead over Picone, last year’s champ.  Both have won DCMX Sponsor’s Cup titles, both are talented, hungry , skilled riders, and with only a 60 point lead Livesay needs to keep winning in order to ensure that he becomes the first repeat winner.  Remember, the final two rounds count for double points, so it is still wide open.  Make plans to be at DCMX on October 15^th, and catch the spectacle of the best night racing in the Southeast.

September 17^th, 2011 – Round 16

Author:  Gifford Quast

The DCMX points championship season may be the longest of any organized sport in the world, and as we begin to see a subtle indication that fall may one day appear, the racing really begins to heat up.  Round 16 took place at the storied facility on an all new track design, and the racers were ready for a change.  The track had a lot of long straights and quite a few jumps right out of the corners, horsepower would be a definite advantage here.

Practice got underway promptly at 3pm, as usual, and the final two sessions are used as timed qualifying for the Vortex Lites and the realmotocross.com Sponsor’s Cup classes.  The Lites were the first to take to the new layout, and RJ Hampshire, on a borrowed YZ250 2-Stroke, wasted no time and set the fast lap on his first time around the track.  Jared Jackson, who was Just over half a second behind Hampshire, qualified number two, followed by the ever consistent Austin Diperna in third.  Points leader, Pup Whatley, was able to set the fourth fastest lap and he was followed by the ever improving Cory Huberty in fifth.  Huberty recently made the switch to a YZ250 2-Stroke, and in practice he looked as though he had made some serious improvement on it since the last round.  Infrequent DCMX Lites rider Cody Chisholm was unable to qualify any better than the 7^th spot, almost three seconds off the pace.  Visiting riders usually have a tough time beating the incumbents at DCMX, could Chisholm break this curse?

The end of the AMA Nationals usually means that some of the Florida riders who spent the season on the tour will show up at DCMX to try to get some extra spending money, however, the local boys are not likely to share very well.  Ricky Renner, after a full season in the 250 class, was on hand again to set the fast lap of the session.  Defending champ, and subsequently  the #1 plate holder, was Mike Picone in second, and points leader and 2008 champion Tyler Livesay was third fastest.  With multi time winner Troy Adams, former AMA National winner Matt Goerke and 2009 Sponsor’s Cup Champion Michael Clarke also on hand we were prepared for some exciting racing.

For the first time in quite a while the Lites class had so many entries that anyone who wanted to race the main would have to qualify.  Heat number one featured top qualifier Hampshire, Diperna, Huberty, Chisholm and a host of others.  Although the 4-Strokes outnumber the premixers by a fair margin, the 2-Strokes usually find the first turn before their valved counterparts.  Huberty pulled the holeshot, showing that he is indeed adapting quickly, while Hampshire came around the first turn just behind, apparently requiring no time to adapt to his borrowed two-smoker.  In third Chisholm was followed closely by Ryan Jessip, and Diperna, in spite of a poor jump somehow came out in fifth.  On the second lap Hampshire took the lead from Huberty, but Jessip also pushed his way past Chisholm to take over the third spot.  Once out front Hampshire began to pull away from Huberty, while Huberty gapped the rest of the field.  While the leaders had settled in out front Chisholm was pushing hard to get back the third spot from Jessip.  With a couple of laps to go Chisholm dove inside of Jessip, and in what appeared to be slow motion the two came together with Chisholm going down.  Chisholm would take a long time to get going, which would require him to race the LCQ in order to make the main.  Hampshire won the heat with Huberty in second and Jessip grabbed third.

The second heat featured Jackson, Whatley and DJ MacFarlane.  When the gate dropped Jackson showed that 4-Strokes can get to the first turn quickly as well, as he was alone out front at the stripe.  Behind Jackson was Scott Westbrook (also 2-Stroke mounted), Whatley, Jack Sigismondi and CK Douglas.  Jackson pulled away from the field right away, ensuring that the spectators would have to look further back to see some tight racing, and on lap two Whatley took second from Westbrook.  While this was going on Nicholas Guessford was blitzing his way up through the pack, putting in some great laps in traffic.  As we neared the end Whatley  went down, giving up second and allowing Westbrook back by.  When the checkers waved Jackson had taken the win, Westbrook second and Guessford had put in a great ride to come home third.  Whatley’s mishap vanquished him back to the sixth position and a rather poor gate pick for the main event.

Sponsor’s Cup moto one gave us a chance to see Renner out front for the first time in quite a while.  A few years back Renner had a huge points lead, which evaporated when he broke his wrist at a Gold Cup round.  Close behind Renner off the start were Picone and Livesay, with Ian Millett in fourth and Goerke in fifth.  Renner began to pull away from Picone, who also put a bit of distance between himself and Livesay.  Goerke moved into fourth on lap two, getting past Millett.  The top four spots would remain the same from this point on, and the only racing to watch was taking place further back.  After a poor start Hampshire, still riding the borrowed 250 2-Stroke, was coming through the pack.  Adams ended up fifth with Hampshire getting past Millet with just a lap to go to take over the sixth position.

The LCQ for the Lites class came after moto 18, and was the final race leading into the brief halftime intermission.  Only the top two riders would make the cut for the main event, and right from the start Chisholm had sewn up the top spot.  This left only one final qualifying spot left for five riders to fight over.  On the opening lap Sean Johnson had made a move to take over the second spot from Joseph Gonzalez, but Gonzalez dove into the turn leading onto the front straight hard and hammered Johnson.  Johnson picked up the bike, clearly upset and chased after the pack.  While Chisholm cruised around way out front Gonzalez also pulled a gap on the third place rider, Dakota Gearheart.  Further back Johnson, riding like a man possessed was moving up through the field.  Everyone watched to see if there Johnson would have enough time, and as the white flag waved Johnson had taken over third and was pretty close to Gonzalez.  Gonzalez did not triple the big jump at the end of the front straight, and when Johnson (who had jumped it every lap) got into the throttle we could tell the slight gap would be erased.  Unfortunately, Johnson came up short, and went down handing the final qualifying spot to Gonzalez.  Johnson put in a great come-back ride, and came up just short of his goal, but fortunately he was unhurt and will be back for the penultimate round of the Vortex Lites class next month.

As the gate fell for the Vortex Lites main event the 2-Stroke boys did a great job of putting all of their power down, grabbing 4 of the top 5 spots across the stripe.  Hampshire repeated his Heat race start by edging out KX250 mounted Guessford, Jackson (the lone 4-Stroke) , Huberty and Diperna.  On the third lap Jackson moved past Guessford to take over second, and Chisholm got by Diperna to take over the fifth spot.  On lap five, Jackson, who was pushing hard to catch Hampshire who was out front came up short on the big triple at the end of the front straightaway.  Jackson went down hard in a scary crash and there were medical flags down the front straight for the remainder of the moto.  After jackson’s crash Huberty retook the second spot, with Whatley having worked his way past both Chisholm and Guessford to take over third.  A bit farther back Diperna had some bad luck, as his chain derailed and he coasted to a stop, losing his hard fought seventh spot.  MacFarlane, Noe and Gonzalez joined Diperna and Jackson with DNF’s, far more than in any other round so far this year.  Hampshire was the class of the field, having a perfect night and taking home the victory.  Huberty had his best finish of the year with an excellent second place and Whatley continues to hold the points lead with consistent finishes as he rounded off the podium.  Chisholm could not break the visitor’s curse and rode to a fourth followed in fifth by Guessford, who showed he has the speed to run with the leaders.

The Sponsor’s Cup class came fairly late in the program, running moto 14.  Livesay, who is getting faster all the time on his 2012 KX450F, grabbed the holeshot ahead of Kyle Keylon, Clarke, Goerke and Millett.  Adams, Renner and Hampshire were all on the ground for the start, and each would try to work his way forward from the rear of the pack.  Hampshire pulled off after the first turn pileup with a broken silencer, ending his otherwise awesome night.  Picone, with a midpack start, wasted no time and made a move past Millet on the first lap to move into the fifth spot.  On lap eight Goerke got around Clarke to take over the third position, and from that point on there would be no changes up front.  Renner had the most impressive run up through the pack, getting all the way back up to the sixth spot.  Livesay took the win with Keylon in second, and Goerke completing the podium with his third.  Due to the chaos three riders scored the same, but as always the final moto score counts more.  Overall results were as follows:  1^st – Livesay (3-1), 2^nd – Goerke (4-3), 3^rd – Picone (2-5), 4^th – Renner (1-6),  and 5^th – Clarke (8-4).

Chaos and pandemonium were the words of the night, with a number of riders getting off hard, but as the season winds down the intensity gets cranked up.  The points battles in both classes are far from over, although Whatley has a comfortable lead in the Lites class.  With only two rounds remaining and a 70 point gap on second place Jackson (who is questionable for the next round at this point), Whatley is in the drivers seat.  But remember, his points lead is less than one round, and other riders are within striking distance.

Livesay is on another roll in the Sponsor’s Cup class, having won the last three rounds, but Picone is only 40 points back.  This has become a two man race, with five rounds remaining, so plan to see some great battles ‘till the end.  Be sure to attend each of the last five rounds, you will not want to miss any of the exciting action.