Perris Raceway – Perris Ca.
October 14th,2011
Round #10
Article by Jamey Blunt
Photos by Janice Blunt


The quote rumored to have been made many years ago by Terry Poovey while he was attending a Super-Cross, when asked what he thought, he replied, "If they took all the bumps out they could go a lot faster". Well that's true enough and the proof is the far back side at Perris Raceway where the old rough scrambles track used to go. All the rocks the racers used to twist, slide and maneuver around are gone with an expertly constructed flat ¼ mile oval in the place where the bumps used to be. Word of mouth is spreading about the Perris facility and Friday night's round ten of the S.C.F.T.A. had there largest crowd to date; with an estimated thousand spectators and a confirmed one hundred forty two entries. Friday night races are not the norm at Perris, rather a tradition they started a few years back holding a race the night before the last national of the year, which this year was held at the Pomona Fairgrounds on the 5/8 mile oval. The whole program had to be started early (3:30 p.m.), the pits expanded, and spectator parking packed tight. So it was that by 5:30 p.m. we were off to the races.  



With a fourteen rider field of Youth 50cc racers the class was split into a Division 1 &2
for the main events. #14x Courtney D'Avignon topped the Div. 1 final.

All Youth classes start off the racing program and on this night there were thirteen riders in the 50cc field. This caused a huge scoring problem due to the great difference is ability of the racers. The youngest of which (Colin Petton) was three years old. Some riders were two laps down by the end of the heat race. A meeting was called of all the parents of the 50cc participants and the decision was to have two 50cc main events, Div.1 and Div.2. In Div.1 Courtney D'Avignon picked up the victory over Jon Miller and brother Toby D'Avignon putting her securely in second position in the points chase. In Div.2 Travis Petton the fourth launched to the front from the line and checked out leaving Sara Cords and Shona Maquire in his wake. Petton was also once again a double class winner as he took the top honors in the 65cc class over Alyssa and Frank Flores. In the Youth 85cc class eleven year old Sean Heeney showed some weakness, but just for a second and only in his heat race. Heeney started from the second row in a field of eight and for the first time in memory was beaten. However come main event time Heeney was fired up and ready to go, his lap time of 16.26 seconds was a little slower than he has recorded in the past but still fast enough for the victory. Allison Stacey and Monica Gil both have picked it up a notch and had their race faces on and stayed much closer to Heeney making him stay on his toes and really earn the win.

#82 Travis Petton the fourth once again took top honors in two classes.



#117 Sean Heeney wasn't unbeatable at round ten, he was beaten in the heat race.
But Heeney came out in the main on a mission to win the Youth 85cc class.
His fastest lap of 16.26 seconds was a little slower than he's gone before.



#4 Vince Graves had to fight with #51 Dennis Kanagae over the victory
in the Super Senior +60 main event. Here Graves takes the lead away
entering turn one and goes on to the win.

Vince Graves had to work a little harder on this night for the victory in the Super Senior +60 class. In the heat race David Molitor showed some new speed and led the field for a while and in the main it looked as though Dennis Kanegae is getting used to his new mount as he led the main for a while. Graves did finally pass Kanegae entering turn one and went on to the victory, however, both Kanegae and Molitor have picked up their pace.



323 250 ex The 250cc-360cc 2-stroke expert class was once again John Kocinski's
sand box. Shown here at the startare #3 Kocinski, #47 Jim Wood, #44r Nick
Armstrong, #13 Daniel Stinson, #35 Don Galloway, and #75 Ryan Gifford.
Kocinski went on to lower his own track record to 14.06 seconds.

The 250-360 2-stroke expert class is a broken record, literally. John Kocinski seems to break the overall track record at every round. That's what it's all about really, isn't it? Always finding a way to improve? Well after last months round nine Kocinski's track record sat at 14.22 seconds and when this night was over it was lowered once again this time to 14.06 seconds, so close to John's goal of being the first class C racer to go under the fourteen second barrier. In the main event Kocinski lead from the start Ryan Gifford went around the outside through turns one and two to settle in at second with Jim Wood right behind in third. Two laps complete saw Wood with his hand in the air with a mechanical as Nick Armstrong advanced to third. Daniel Stinson ran in fourth with Don Galloway fifth. Exiting turn four on the fourth lap Armstrong made the move and passed Gifford for second but would need binoculars to even catch sight of Kocinski at the front. On lap five Stinson and Galloway started swapping paint over the fourth place position which Galloway would win by just a wheel on the run to the checkered flag out of turn four. Kocinski by then had left the track with the victory, Armstrong was second and Gifford third.



#1 Kayl Kolkman won the Classic Vintage 500-750cc class over #37 Brad Baker.
But look at #27 Jeff "Smoke Free" Apple on this single file restart. Apple must hate
the starter and photographer as he went off the race track and almost took both
of them out. #1 is Lenny Rodriguez and #97 is Fred Berger.

Two national number Pros rode in the Classic Vintage class, fair or not to the rest of the vintage riders Kayl Kolkman and Brad Baker put on a show. Nine riders made up the field with many vintage brands being represented, Indian, Triumph, H.D., and Bultaco for example. Kolkman and Baker shot to the front and had their own battle while the rest of the pack had to fight over who would be third. Initially Lenny Rodriguez held the position with James Kohls fourth, Jeff Apple fifth, and Tom Ferguson in sixth. At two laps complete Kolkman had a fourteen bike length gap over Baker and turned a 15.04 second lap time on a motorcycle three times his age. Apple had at this point secured third putting Rodriguez back to fourth with Kohls fifth. Ferguson on an H.D. Sprint was closing the gap to Kohls and seemed to settle into a rhythm by this time. By lap five Apple running a line down on the pole had caught Baker and was applying pressure. Baker sensing the smoke from Apples Triumph realized if Apple were to get in front of him his vision would be impaired and all would be lost. Then entering turn three on the next lap Apple ran it up under Baker and on the exit from turn four took over second. Baker new he had to react quickly and just after the white flag Johnny McClury was about to go a lap down in turn one, Apple chose poorly and Baker choose wisely as Baker recaptured second. All the while Ferguson slipped quietly past both Rodriguez and Kohls to finish in fourth. Kohls also made a move on Rodriguez making the final finishing order Kolkman, Baker, Apple, Ferguson, Kohls, and Rodriguez.



There were a few single file re-starts on this night. On this one the
Bomber field only had three riders left on the track from a field of seven.
#89 Danny Perkins took the victory over #73 David McNeeley and #82e
Travis Petton the second.

The Bomber class was a little sparse compared to rounds past with only seven entries. Heat race winner Travis Petton the second sat on pole with rival Danny Perkins along side. These two are so evenly matched who wins can come down to who had the extra corn flake for breakfast or who blinked twice instead of once during the race. Petton led off the line with Perkins right beside him on the outside. On the first trip through turn four the two came together with Petton getting out of shape but making one of the best saves of his career. Perkins checked up in good sportsmanship making sure Petton was ok and let Petton keep the lead. David McNeeley ran in third with Keith Bradford fourth who both closed the gap to the leaders while they both regrouped to find their pace. Lap three the red flag came out stopping the race for downed rider in turn one (Bradford) and Nick Gil just pulled off the track. On the single file re-start only three riders lined up, Petton, Perkins and McNeeley. Petton led with Perkins and McNeeley in tow, Perkins looked to be having fun as he rode a very high line, but this in turn left the barn door open for McNeeley who showed Perkins a wheel many times but just couldn't quite make the pass. At the white flag Petton led Perkins and McNeeley only to pull the "Laugh In" tricycle trick tip over in turn one which made the finishing order Perkins, McNeeley, and Petton.



 371 vet - #14 Joe Winston won a hard fought victory in the Vet +35 class. His fastest lap time was a 15.65 seconds. #77v Jason Craven slipped to fifth, with #88 Jim Rosa finishing second and #10e Robert Barbosa third.

A pack of nine thundered through turn one with Jason Craven leading the Vet +35 class. Jim Rosa settled in at second with Joe Winston in third. As they crossed the stripe for the completion of the first lap Winston got a drive out of turn four and shot past both Rosa and Craven to lead. The second trip through turn four Brad Rudy went down bringing out yellow flags as he quickly scurried off the track unhurt. While all this was going on Robert Barbosa working an inside line slipped past both Rosa and Craven into second position. Lap four had the order at Winston, Barbosa, Rosa, Craven, and Rich Hanson working his way forward from a poor start. Winston up front put in a 15.65 second lap time while Rosa fought past Barbosa on the exit from turn four into second on lap five. On the last lap Rosa would close to within two bike lengths of Winston but come up short of the victory. Hanson would also move up one more spot ahead of Craven into fourth making the final order Winston, Rosa, Barbosa, Hanson, and Craven.



337  op nov-#28y Nick Ottele was the fastest of the nine open novices. Ottele
turned a 15.65 second lap on his way to an uncontested victory.

The Open Novice class is becoming the Nick Ottele show. Ottele shot second from pole to lead start to finish. Corey Bauman was away in second with Matt Stoutenburg third, Sean Heeney in fourth, Allison Stacey fifth, and Marc Pape sixth. The second time through turns one and two Heeney moved past Stoutenburg into third as Ottele turned a 15.65 second lap time. At this point Ottele had a half straight lead and Heeney locked his cross hairs in on Bauman for the second place position. On the next run through turn two Bauman went wide and Heeney shot into second but made a big bobble, which he thankfully saved, but allowed Bauman to regain second. The battle was on. Back up front Ottele now had a full four second gap over whoever would get second. Heeney would pass Bauman on the exit of turn two only to have Bauman run it up under Heeney in turn three to take the position back. They repeated this move a few times as lappers came into play. At the white flag Heeney had settled the war and held second securely making Bauman third and Stoutenburg fourth which is how they would finish with Ottele gone in front of them.



There were sixteen Open Amatuer riders and #17r Nick Gil was the class of the field!
Shown here off the start the front row is #44 Nick Armstrong, #73 David McNeeley,
#27 Rich Hanson, and # 93l Aaron Colton. Gil's fastest lap was a 15.63 

A large Open Amateur field of sixteen staged three rows deep; with Nick Gil leading the pack off the line into turn one. Entering turn three on the first lap Nick Armstrong took over at the front from Gil with Aaron Colton third and David McNeeley fourth. On lap two Gil returned the favor to Armstrong and recaptured the lead as the field had already strong out except for the leaders. Armstrong posted the fastest lap time of the race at 15.57 seconds to Gil's 15.63 seconds and on lap three McNeeley had a mechanical and was out of the race advancing Rich Hanson and John Perez into fourth and fifth. By lap four the front three were a full straight away ahead as lappers came into play. Lappers or not Gil was not to be denied and handled them well and continued on the victory over Armstrong who was right there should the opportunity arise, with Colton third and Hanson and Perez a distant fourth and fifth.

The final two rounds of the S.C.F.T.A. will be held on Nov. 12th & 13th a double header weekend.


 50cc Youth Div 1
1.    Courtney D’Avignon
2.    Jon Miller
3.    Toby D’Davignon
4.    Ava Bush
5.    Brad Downs
6.    Evan Harich

50cc Div 2
1.    Travis Petton
2.    Sara Cords
3.    Shona Maquire
4.    Aden Walters
5.    Patrick Erdeman
6.    Ethan Walters
7.    Colin Petton

85cc Youth
1.    Sean Heeney
2.    Allison Stacey
3.    Monica Gil
4.    Jimmy Gillen
5.    Travis Petton
6.    Jaycee Jones
7.    Allysa Flores
8.    Frank Flores

Youth 65cc
1.    Travis Petton
2.    Alyssa Flores
3.    Frank Flores
4.    Noah Bush

Super Seniors +60
1.    Vince Graves’
2.    Dennis Kanagae
3.    David Molitor
4.    Dewayne Jones

Vintage 250&360 2 Stk. Expert and Amateur
250cc
1.    John Kocnski
2.    Nick Armstrong
3.    Jim Wood

250 Amateur
1.    Don Galloway
2.    Daniel Stinson

360 Expert
1.    Ryan Gifford

Men’s 4 Stroke
1.    Matt Stoutenburg
2.    Billy Katkov
3.    Mark Cernicky

Premier Senior
1.    Allan Girdler

Classic Vintage
500-750cc
1.    Kalyl Kolkman
2.    Brad Baker
3.    Jeff Apple
4.    Tom Ferguson
5.    Jomes Kohls
6.    Lenny Rodriquez
7.    Joe Pape
8.    Johnny McClury

250cc
1.    Fred Berger

Bomber
1.    Danny Perkins
2.    David McNeeley
3.    Travis Petton
4.    Nick Gil
5.    Keith Bradford

Vets + 35
1.    Joe Winston
2.    Jim Rosa
3.    Robert Barosa
4.    Rich Hanson
5.    Jason Craven
6.    Marc Pape

Senior Novice + 50 years
1.    Corey Bauman
2.    Nearl Hartman
3.    Larkin Wight
4.    Fred Berger
5.    Pat Nellson

Senior Vets 50 years
1.    Jim Ottele
2.    Ryan Gifford
3.    Daniel Stinson
4.    Don Galloway
5.    Akira Kuzuoka

Vintage 250&360 2Stk Novice
250
1.    Steel Freidrich
2.    Michael Fritz
3.    Monty Watowa

360
1.    Gary Lane
2.    Rick Logan

Open Novice
1.    Nick Ottele
2.    Sean Heeney
3.    Corey Bauman
4.    Matt Stoutenburg
5.    Allison Stacey
6.    Marc Pape
7.    Joseph Melton

Vintage 750
1.    Jim ottele
2.    Don Galloway
3.    Shannon Addams
4.    Robert Bush

Open Amatuer
1.    Nick Gil
2.    Nick Armstrong
3.    Aaron Colton
4.    Rich Hanson
5.    John Perez
6.    Jess Florez
7.    Bill Wright
8.    Stevi Smith
9.    Harley Legowski
10.    Karl Gott


SCFTA round #10 Pro Results, Photos and Story.