Story by J&W Racing - Photos by Stewart Barber and Diana Peebles
Saturday June 18, 2022 saw the 29th running of the Lodi
Motorcycle Club's 100cc TT National event. This year's race was
sponsored by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys and was also the Toby
Jorgensen Memorial race in memory of that fine young rider whom we lost
in 1999.
The 100 TT National event is unique for 3
reasons. First, it is limited to 150cc maximum air-cooled 4-stroke
motorcycles and second, because it is run on the Lodi Cycle Bowl blue
groove TT track, famous for it's speed and challenging layout. What
really makes the 100 National so challenging, however, is that it is a
25-lap race, placing a high premium on not only a fast rider/bike combo
but also upon that combination staying fast and staying together for 25
long and tough laps. More than one bike has prematurely ended this race
with smoke billowing and oil dripping and even more riders have pulled
off with tongues dragging and sore arms unable to hold on any longer.
The very first 100 National was run in 1992
and was won by none other than TT Prince Chris Carr. The race has run
every year since then except for the 2020 Covid blackout season. In the
years since, some pretty fast riders have taken home the #1 plate
including Billy Arbogast, Mark Key, Dominic Colindres, Cole Crowley,
Mikey Martin, Stevie Bonsey, Michael Inderbitzen, Tarren Santero and of
course, Toby Jorgensen.
To that list Mr. Dominic Monaco has now
indelibly added his name. Riding a unique bike that has a history that
includes Kenny Roberts and Engines Only, Dominic utterly owned the
event this year, getting off the line in 1st place and leading every
lap from 1 through 25. Multi-time winner Cole Crowley did worry Monaco
for the first 5 laps but Monaco steadily pulled ahead and remained on
rails and on fire. The race ended Monaco, Crowley, David Jorgensen,
Blake Ash and Dominic Dias in 1st through 5th, with the remaining 13
riders all having had a great time and all at least 1 lap down on the
winner. In the Junior National, Dean Rabideau lead all 15 laps but
Ethan Salmon kept Dean honest and made him work hard for his victory.
In short, a good time was indeed had by all.
Open A TT races are always entertaining and
this one was no exception. Christian Spurgeon got the holeshot and lead
the first couple of laps but Andrew Luker was on a mission and in the
left hander leading to the jump, Spurgeon drifted a little wide and
that's all Luker needed. Luker lead the rest of the race with Spurgeon
in 2nd until the last lap when Spurgeon again ran just a little wide in
that same corner and BP1 Tony Meiring made a clean pass that
stuck to the end. Big bikes on technical TT tracks are always
entertaining!
The 50cc race was also a Luker show. This race
was run with the "fast 50s" starting on the front row and the PW50s and
XR50s starting on row 2. Young Wyatt Luker quickly realized the gearing
on Bryce Botelho's KTM was low enough that his Yamaha PW50 could just
about run with the KTM, so Wyatt passed, was repassed, passed again and
ended the race a nose ahead of the KTM. Wyatt told his dad Andrew after
the race that "Dad, I want one of THOSE!"
The LMC is taking a break until 7/23 when
we'll be running a ST event, but the Cycle Bowl will be hosting an
AHRMA National event on 7/9 and 7/10. For details, go to www.lodicyclebowl.com
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