
SCFTA - Round 4
April 20th, 2013
Photos by Janice Blunt
Article by Jamey Blunt

Entering turn one is where #17r
Nick Gil made his move
on #43 (Pro Class Champion) AJ Hateley. Hateley led the first 3/4 of the
twenty lap final, but Gil watched and studied Hateley then pounced and
went on
for his first pro victory...

That's all folks! Nick Gil the K&N pilot on his first
pro victory lap....

The Bomber main event, though minus a few players
still had a stacked field. #89 Danny Perkins, #6 Joe Steffen, #82e
Travis Petton Jr., #69 Richard Fox, #26 Steele Friedrich, #50 Dan
Kane and #33 Keith Bradford...

After a single file re-start, which left three laps remaining
Travis Petton #82e really put his head down to take the lead with two
laps
to go. Early leader #89 Danny Perkins has engine trouble at this point
and #6
Joe Steffen watches on from third.

The start of the Classic Vintage main saw everyone pretty even
off the line #2 Joe Pape, #28d Ron Lessley, #95 Tom Ferguson, #58y Jim
Ottele,
#4r Lenny Rodriguez, #14 James Kohls and #97 Jeremy Berger....

#28d Ron Lessley on the Bultaco Bandito emerged the fastest of
the class with help from Mike Gonzales.... Lessley's fastest lap on
this brakless
mount was 16.12 seconds!

#3j DeWayne Jones who has spent years campaigning a Cr-500cc
two-stroke switched to the 450cc four-stroke Honda and it all paid off.
Jones won the Super-Senior +60 final.... #22 is David Molitor , #68
is Gary Lane. Jones also turned an impressive 15.83 second lap time.

This is how close Jeff Lessley #12e) stayed to
John Kocinski #47 in the Vintage 250 &360cc Expert Main event.
Lap times were so close as Kocinski just edged Lessley by 2/1000th
of a scond. (15.42 to Lessley's 15.44) Lessley is also only one of two
riders to ever pass Kocinski at Perris....

John Kocinski showed up at Perris without any of his
own motorcycles ready to race. The answer, Mr. Ed put Kocinski
on one of his bikes. In what was the race of the night Kocinski fought
long and hard to keep his undefeated streak alive.

Preston Petty is over seventy years old. Don't ever think
age has made him any less competitive, it hasn't. Petty
hit the deck a few times and was always quick to his feet
and finished fourth in the Premier Senior final. His fastest
lap time was 17.54 seconds. (Note-NO GLOVES!)

#07 Allison Stacey hit the ground
a few times at round four.
This is very unusual for her, however she rebounded to still
capture the Youth 250cc Open main event victory. Her fastest
lap was a 15.89/100...

#26 Steele Fredrich had a rough start to his night
at Perris. He was one of three on the ground in the Bomber final,
but recovered well to take the victory in the Senior 50+
Novice Main event!!!His fastest lap was 15.94 seconds...
The only rider to break into the fifteens!!!

The start of the Open Amateur main
had (from pole) #58y Nick Ottele, #27 Rich Hanson,
#19v Joel Kath, #88 Bill Britt, #22 Jimmy Gillen, #53 Corey Bauman,
#07 Allison Stacey.

#22 Jimmy Gillen came out on top in the
Open Amateur final, he also turned in the fastest lap time
at 15.59 seconds..

The start of the Open Novice final saw # 208 Jeremy Templeman,
#558 Brandon Watters, #17d Danny Manthis, #295 Chad Cooper, #89 Eric
Cleveland,
#62 Derric Porter, (2nd Row) #488 John Gronek and #44 Scott Hanson go
at it with Cooper
topping the field.

#295 Chad Cooper not only won the Open
Novice final, he had the single fastest lap as well at
16.06 seconds!

Jeff Johnson rode Mr.Ed's #47 framer to win the Senior 50+
expert main. #12e Jeff Lessley on the smaller displaced Bultaco
kept him honest as #58y Jim Ottele lost touch as the race wore on.
Johnson's fastest lap time was 14.97 seconds.

Two time Houston TT winner, former National #98 John Hateley
was in the house helping sort out the ZERO electric motorcycle
for Preston Petty and his own son AJ.

Lucas Oil always has a big presence at Perris.
This was the display inside Gary Lane's pit area
showing the variety of products.

The start of the Vet 35+ class had 12e Paul Ott
on pole. To his right were, #42o Will Ott, #19r Brad Rudy,
#19v Joel Kath, #295 Chris Cooper, #62 Derrick Porter, and
#89 Eric Cleveland.

#12e Paul Ott had the fastest lap time of the
Vet 35+ class at 15.34 seconds. He easily took the victory,
not that Will Ott didn't try hard to stop him. But Will's
smaller displaced machine could only manage a respectful
15.60 second lap time.

Sometimes it's nice to see the face under the helmet.
This is Clayton Williams, he won the 85-100cc 2-stk
Novice main event and turned a 15.82 second lap in
the process...

Porterville's Grant Holmes 7x, topped the
Youth 65-70cc 2-stk novice final. Holmes
posted his fastest lap at 16.86 seconds!
S.C.F.T.A. Round #4 Perris Raceway
4-20-2013
Article by Jamey Blunt
Let's dispense with static's up front. At 2:00 P.M. as one rolled through the
front gate
it was ninety one degrees. However with an early riders meeting
scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
and practice to immediately
follow, by race time the temperatures were pleasantly in the seventies.
Even
with races running elsewhere on this Saturday night and the Long Beach
Grand
Prix taking place, the rider count stood at one hundred and five. This
made up
twenty two heat races and the nineteen main events for the evening.
Some of the
notable dignitaries on hand were former national #98 John Hateley,
former national
#11 Jim McMurren, and a true innovator and legend Preston Petty. Both
Petty and
Hateley were at Perris working on a Zero all electric motorcycle
converted to
dirt track set up to be raced both by Petty and John's son AJ. Two
times World
Champion John Kocinski also made the trip to Perris but without his own
stable
of pristine machinery.
The Youth 250cc Open class started the
night's main events.
Justin Hanson launched to the front off the line over Allison Stacey,
Clayton
Williams, James Ott, and Monica Gil. Two laps in saw both Hanson and
Stacey separating themselves
from the rest of the field. Stacey who had a rough start to her
Saturday with crashes in
practice and the heat race had recovered nicely and was closing on
Hanson as
she posted the fastest lap of the race at 15.89 seconds. On the next go
round
Stacey took over at the front as Hanson could not keep her at bay, to
his
credit though Hanson lowered his best lap time to 16.03 seconds. At the
white
flag Stacey and Hanson were still close until Hanson made a mistake
between
turns one and two and gave Stacey a couple bike lengths gap which she
held to
the checkered flag. Hanson came home second followed by Williams, Ott,
and Gil.
James Ott shot from the outside of the front row in the
85-100cc 2-stk Novice class to lead into turn one. Travis Petton the
second ran
up the inside to take over the lead out of turn two with Clayton
Williams and
Grant Holmes also in the mix. As they crossed the stripe for the
completion of
lap one Williams had pulled alongside Ott with Petton out front by less
than a
bike length. With Williams now up to second Petton twisted the throttle
harder
and put in a 16.39 second lap time but Williams was not deterred and
put his
head down turning the fastest lap of the race at 15.82 seconds. On the
exit
from turn four on lap four Petton went wide and left the door open
which
Williams went through to take over the lead. Ott in third and Holmes in
fourth
had dropped from the battle at the front and settled in at their
positions. Williams
would go on for a well deserved victory over Petton by a couple of bike
lengths
in the final two laps.
Worth noting was the switch from a Honda CR-500cc 2-stk
machine to the Honda 450cc mount of DeWayne Jones in the Senior +60
class. The
4-stk bike must agree with Jones as he led from start to finish over
David
Molitor to take his first main event victory in the class. Also worth
mentioning is Billy Katkov in the Men's 4-stk class. The corner speed
this
rider carries is equal or better than most riders at Perris regardless
of the
size of their motorcycle. Katkov took his Honda XR-100 to a blistering
16.26
second lap time that no one in the field could match.
Ron Lessley may have had one of the smallest displaced
machines in the Classic Vintage 500-750cc Class in the form of his
Bultaco El
Bandito with help from Mike Gonzales. But he sure put it to good use as
he
latched on to early leader Joe Pape and his Triumph from the start. Jim
Ottele
on a non vintage classic machine (750cc Yamaha twin) was away in third,
with
Tom Ferguson fourth. On the exit from turn four Ferguson moved his H.D. Sprint past
Ottele
into third as Lessley was studying Pape waiting for the right time to
make his
move. This was made all the more difficult by the large amount of smoke
emitting from Pape's machine making visibility limited. Lessley did
make his
move however as they crossed the stripe on lap three to take over the
lead. By
now Pape appeared to be tiring as he made a mistake the next run
through turn
four that allowed Ferguson
to close in and take over second as they entered turn one. At the front
Lessley
now with clear sailing turned a 16.12 second lap, but it was Ferguson with
the fastest lap of the race at
16.07 seconds. However this was too little too late as time ran out and
Lessley
cruised home to the earned victory over Ferguson,
Pape, James Kohls, and Lenny Rodriguez. (Ottele, it was later stated,
was
deleted from the results and was in this class just getting seat time.)
The Open Unclassified is a run what you brung field. From
smaller displaced bikes to open class bikes, and on this night an all
electric
bike. Jimmy Gillen nailed the start to lead into turn one over Chad
Foster AJ
Hateley, Colt Foster and Allison Stacey. Chad Foster quickly displaced
Gillen
for the lead and started pulling away from the rest of the field.
Hateley at
this point not wanting Chad
to get away was putting Gillen under pressure but was fighting with the
Zero
all electric bike as its suspension looked to be a little off. At the
front Chad
Foster turned the fastest lap of the race at 15.16 seconds as Colt
Foster now
had entered the fight for second with Gillen and Hateley. Then entering
turn
one on lap three Hateley had had enough and took over the second place
position
and quickly picked up his pace putting in a 15.32 second lap time as he
came to
terms with the Zero. As they came to the finish the order was Chad
Foster,
Hateley, Gillen holding off Colt Foster and Stacey.
The Otts sat side by side on the front row of the Vet 35+
main event. It was Paul Ott on the 450cc machine who led into turn one
over
Will Ott on his vintage 250cc 2-stk mount followed by Brad Rudy and
Joel Kath. From
the start Paul Ott looked to be on a mission and stretched his lead
with every
lap, also posting the fastest lap of the race at 15.34 seconds. It was
clear
everyone else would be racing for second, well not if will Ott had
anything to
say about it, as by lap two he started to leave the rest of the field
behind as
well turning a 15.60 second lap time. In third Rudy was under attack
from Kath
and picked up his lap time to 16.00 seconds flat. A full straight away
behind
ran Derrick Porter in fifth with Chris Cooper in sixth, and Eric
Cleveland in
seventh. When the checkered flag emerged Paul Ott held a four and a
half gap
for the victory over Will Ott, with Rudy finishing mistake free in
third holding Kath at by
in fourth.
Joe Steffen had the quickest reaction time in the Bomber
main event and left the line first but Danny Perkins slipped underneath
to lead
the field out of turn two. Steele Fredrich ran in third with Travis
Petton Jr.
in fourth, Dan Kane in fifth, Keith Bradford sixth, and Richard Fox
seventh.
Just after the completion of lap two Petton was up into third and
pressuring
Steffen for second while Perkins had an eighteen bike length gap at the
front. On
the next trip through turn three Petton shot past Steffen to take over
at
second while in turn one and two three riders were down, this being
Bradford,
Fredrich, and Kane bringing out the red flag stopping the race. This
would
cause a single file restart eliminating Perkins large gap he had built
at the
front and giving Petton and Steffen a second shot at a victory. Perkins
led the
re-start and looked like he was going to get away but then seemed to
slow, and
this combined with Petton's 14.94 second lap time saw Petton take the
lead away
on the exit from turn four on lap six. Just after the white flag Steffen went past Perkins as well on the exit from
turn two as Perkins appeared to be having problems. The final tally was
Petton,
Steffen, Perkins, Fox, and Kane, with Bradford and Fredrich not making
the
re-start.
The Senior 50+ Novice main event had three riders starting
from the penalty row after jumping the start; they were Greg Powell,
Tim
Watters and Fred Berger. Steele Fredrich making up for his bomber race
led from
the start and appeared to have his mind set on the victory. Paul
Claybaugh ran
in second with Roy Stafford third. By the completion of the first lap
Stafford
was up to second and Watters had worked his way from the penalty line
into
fourth with Powell fifth. Out front Fredrich was the only rider capable
of
running sub sixteen second lap times with his fastest being 15.94
seconds. Claybaugh
went wide against the crash wall in turns one and two on lap three
handing over
third place to Watters. By lap five Fredrich was long gone at the front
as
Berger was making his way forward and would ultimately finish in fifth
behind
Powell as he dropped Claybaugh to sixth. Fredrich would win with over a
five
second gap over Stafford who barely
held off
Watters who was a close third.
Just when you think two or three riders on a race track is
about as exciting as watching paint dry along comes John Kocinski, Jeff
Lessley, and Will Ott to prove this notion wrong. In what was the best
race of
the night, the 250cc-360cc 2-stk Expert class, anticipation was high as
Jeff
Lessley who is only one of two riders to have ever passed Kocinski at
Perris
had the crowd on their feet screaming during their heat race. The field
may
have been small but everyone stood as these three left the line for the
start
of their main event. Lessley reacted quickest but Kocinski was on pole
and shot
up the inside moving Lessley and Ott slightly to the outside as he took
the
lead. Kocinski looked to be fighting the handling of the Mr. Ed's
Yamaha as he
hugged the pole keeping Lessley glued to his back wheel. Ott was a few
bike
lengths back trying different lines waiting for something to happen in
front of
him that might give him an opening. Lessley at 15.44 seconds was a
match to
Kocinski's 15.42 second lap time and appeared the smoother of the two
as he
waited for a mistake that might give him an opportunity to take the
lead.
Remember Kocinski is a world and national champion and mistakes don't
come very
often, unfamiliar bike or not. This race would go the distance with
Kocinski
keeping his undefeated streak in tact in front of Lessley and Ott. On a
side
not Jeff Lessley was admitted to the hospital on Sunday for surgery and
we are
happy to report all went well and he will be home soon. This had
nothing to do
with his race!
Brandon Watters led the Open Novice final with Chad Cooper
in second, Derrick Porter in third and Jeremy Templeman in fourth. At
the front
Watters had opened an eight bike length gap over Cooper who in turn
held a
sixteen bike length gap over Porter in third. Just as things were
getting
strung out Porter went down in turn three stopping the race and closing
everything back up with a single file re-start. Watters led the
re-start with
Scott Hanson shooting from sixth to fourth by turn two. The next run
through
turn one and Watters almost threw it away and looked to be having bike
problems
as Cooper took over the lead. Cooper would finish the lap for the
victory over
Watters with Templeman moving up to third and Hanson staying at fourth
with
Porter climbing back up to fifth from last place on the re-start.
From the start the twenty lap Pro final was class champion
AJ Hateley's to lose. Hateley led off the line with Nick Gil second,
Paul Ott
third, Colt Foster fourth, and Chad
Foster fifth. Three laps in saw Hateley, Gil, and Ott shake the rest of
the
field as Hateley turned his fastest lap of the race at 14.96 seconds.
By lap
five Ott had slipped back a couple of bike lengths while Gil was
matching
Hateley's pace watching, studying and waiting. A couple of times Gil
even
tapped the back wheel of Hateley testing the water so to speak. Lap
after lap
Gil appeared faster through turns one and two while Hateley was faster
through
turns three and four. Around lap seven Hateley took a long look over
his
shoulder, which isn't a good sign and you could almost feel the smile
from Gil
looking back at him. By the half way point this war was between Hateley
and Gil
as Ott had faded and Hateley held only a three bike length gap at best.
On lap
eleven Hateley had a big bobble in turn two and Gil closed the gap and
even had
to check up. As the laps wound down Chad Foster had caught Ott and was
pressuring for third only to go down between turns one and two. Around
lap
fifteen Hateley went real wide on the exit from turn four and Gil
pulled
alongside as they crossed the stripe. Entering turn one Gil took over
the lead
by virtue of his inside position and Hateley twisted the throttle a
little too
hard loosing traction on the exit from turn two giving Gil a few bike
lengths
breathing room. Gil at the front could be getting his first ever pro
main event
victory as he stayed smooth and mistake free in front of Hateley.
Hateley in
turn matched Gil's pace but couldn't gain any ground with Gil going on
to taste
victory in the Pro ranks for the first time. It's been a couple years
in the
making since Gil moved to the 450cc machines, but this night made all
the hard
work worthwhile. Gil's father Rudy had an ear to ear grin as Nick took
his
victory lap.
Round five of the S.C.F.T.A. is scheduled for May 18th,
another Saturday night race.
Results 4/20/2013
Youth 250 Open
1. Allison
Stacey
2. Justin
Hanson
3. Clayton
Williams
4. James ott
5. Monica Gil
Youth 50cc 2 Stk Novice
1. Colin Petton
Youth 50cc 4 Stk Beginner
1. Zach Gross
Youth 65-70cc 2 Stk Nov
1. Grant Holmes
2. Travis
Petton
Youth 65-70cc 4 Stk Beginner
1. Zach Gross
Youth 85-100cc 4 Stk Beginner
1. Evan Harich
2. Alex Crosby
3. Mathew Ott
4. David
Seminario
5. Reece Watowa
Youth 85-100cc 2 Stk Nov
1. Clayton
Williams
2. Travis
Petton
3. James Ott
4. Grant Holmes
Youth 85-100cc 4 Stk Nov
1. Monica Gil
Youth 85-100cc 2 Stk Beginner
1. Evan Harich
Super Senior + 60
1. DeWayne
Jones
2. David
Molitor
Premier Senior + 70
1. Gary Lane
2. Allan
Girdler
3. Jack Neeley
4. Preston
Petty
Men’s 4 Stroke
1. Billy Katkov
2. Henry Canan
3. Harley
Legowski
Classic Vintage 500-750cc
1. Ron Lessley
2. Tom Ferguson
3. Joe Pape’
4. James Kohls
5. Lenny
Rodroiguez
Classic Vintage 250cc
1. Jeremy
Berger
750cc Vintage
1. James Ottele
Open Unclassified
1. Chad Foster
2. Ajay Hately
3. Jimmy Gillen
4. Colt Foster
5. Allison
Stacey
Senior +50 Amateur
1. Corey Bauman
2. Larkin Wight
3. Daniel
Stinson
4. Bill Wright
Vet’s +35
1. Paul Ott
2. Will Ott
3. Brad Rudy
4. Joel Kath
5. Derrick
Porter
6. Chris Cooper
7. Eric
Cleveland
Bomber
1. Travis
Petton
2. Joe Steffen
3. Danny
Perkins
4. Richard Fox
5. Dan Kane
Senior + 50 Novice
1. Steele
Fredrich
2. Roy Stafford
3. Tim Watters
4. Greg Powell
5. Fred Berger
6. Paul
Claybaugh
7. Rich Barnes
8. Jim Barnes
9. Danny Mathis
Vintage 250 2 Stk Expert
1. John
Kosenski
2. Will Ott
Vintahe 360 2 Stk Expert
1. Jeff Lessley
Vintage 250 2 Stk Novice
1. Brandon
Watters
2. Michael
Fritz
Vintage 360 2 Stk Novice
1. Bryan
Erdeman
2. Gary Lane
3. Tim Watters
Senior + 50 Expert
1. Jeff Johnson
2. Jeff Lessley
3. Jim Ottele
4. Travis
Petton
Open Novice
1. Chad Cooper
2. Brandon
Watters
3. Jeremy
Templeman
4. Scott Hanson
5. Derrick
Porter
6. LJ (John)
Gronek
7. Danny
Matrhis
8. Eric
Cleveland
Open Amateur
1. Jimmy Gillen
2. Nicholas
Ottele
3. Rich Hanson
4. Joel Kath
5. Bill Britt
6. Corey Bauman
7. Allison
Stacey
Pro’s
1. Nick Gil
2. AJ Hately
3. Paul Ott
4. Colt Foster
5. Chad Poster

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