SCFTA Round 6
June 22nd, 2013

Photos by Janice and Jamey Blunt

Article by Jamey Blunt

Just five weeks after having a new pace-maker installed Jeff Lessley was back at Perris. He even raced and won the 360cc 2-stk expert class!!!!

At the half way point of the twenty lap pro main this is how close the top three were. #54 Mikey Rush, #44e Nick Armstrong, and #26 Dylan Morin.

About lap fifteen #26 Dylan Morin passed #44 Nick Armstrong for second place entering turn three only to have Armstrong run it up the inside on the next run into turn one to retake second. #54 Mikey Rush led all twenty laps.

This is how close Armstrong #44 got to Rush #54. At the white flag they were almost side by side.

In the end two time Daytona short track winner Mikey Rush prevailed, as experience does. Rush also had the fastest lap of the main event at 15.02 seconds. Here Rush gives Starter Rudy Gil a victory lap ride.....

The Open Novice class had the biggest field of the night with sixteen riders. Here in the A Main at the start are #92 Brandon Waters, #558 William Purgason, #62 Derrick Porter, #208 Jeremy Templemen, #112 Jace Callison, #6 Aaron Guidaean, #16e Greg Powell, #44 Scott Hanson, and #67 Brian Harmon. (Brandon Watters won and had the fastest lap at 15.90 seconds.)

Even though half the field didn't make it to the main event after the crash in the heat race, #82e Travis Petton the 2nd and #6 Joe Steffen put on a show in the Bomber class finishing one - two.

Link to crash sequence in the Bomber heat race captured by Madison Margeson

The Ott's put on a show in the Vet 35+ class. #12 Paul Ott barely squeaked out the victory over #42 Will Ott. This in spite of the fact Will had the overall fastest lap of the race at 15.34 seconds.

The start of the 50+ Novice final had #26 Steele Fredrich, #558 Brandon Waters, #97 Fred Berger, #8 Scott Clark, #58 Mark Hesse, #178 Robert Stettler, # 0 Greg Powell, #51 Rich Barnes, #17d Danny Mathis, #83 Paul Claybaugh, and #189 Wes Zuber all go at it.

#26 Steele Fredrich made the pass on #558 Brandon Waters entering turn one to take the victory in the Senior 50+ Novice Main event.

#84 Colt Foster worked his way forward to just nip #141 Chad Foster for the Open Unclassified victory. #22 Jimmy Gillen was third with #07 Allison Stacey, #112 Jace Callison, #12e Jimmy Steet, and #488 John Gronek rounding out the field.

The Premier 70+ and Super Senior 60+ classes were on the race track at the same time but scored separately. #3j DeWayne Jones won the 60+ race with #0 Preston Petty topping the 70+ filed. Jone's lap time was 16.43 sec. while Petty's was a 17.48 seconds.

#28 Ron Lessley on his Bultaco took the Classic Vintage victory over #95 Tom Ferguson in spite of Ferguson's last ditch efforts in turn one that took them both out.

The start of the 85cc 2-stk Novice Main had #95 Clayton Williams on pole. #12 James Ott, #7x Grant Holmes, #17 Noah Bush, #82 Travis Petton the 4th, #21 Matthew Ott, #98 Evan Harich, and Monica Gil hidden.

At the finish, with loud cheers from the bleachers, #7x Grant Holmes just edged out #95 Clayton Williams for the win in the 85cc 2-stk Novice final.

#98 Evan Harich won both the 85cc 4-stk Beg. and the 85cc 2-stk Beg. classes. Evan's fastest lap was 17.81 seconds. #11 is Reece Watowa, #222 is David Seminaro.

#7x Grant Holmes made the people of Porterville, Ca. proud. He started his night off with the victory in the 65-70cc 2-stk Novice main with a fastest lap time of 17.42 seconds.

#214 Dylan Price of Porterville, Ca. topped the 50cc 2-stk Novice class with a lap time of 21.62 seconds.

#2 Young Cody Morin was fast all night at Perris. His fastest lap time was 21.80 seconds on a 50cc mount! #46 is Colin Petton, a fourth generation racer of dirt track.

#95 Clayton Williams topped the Youth 250 Open field of ten racers. #112 Jace Callison was a strong second place!  Williams fastest lap was 15.62 seconds.

Two time Daytona short track winner Mikey Rush displayed his favorite tool at S.C.F.T.A. round six. Rush was still all smiles after the Pro main as well as he led all twenty laps...

National number 54 Mikey Rush ( 2 time Daytona short track winner ) came to Perris to test with National number 37, Jimmy Wood  (on National number 69 Jethro Halbert's bike ) who runs Southland Pro suspension. Wood who only rode practice and the heat race still turned a fifteen second flat lap time and did win his heat race. But opted not to take part in the main event, but rather concentrate his energy on bike set up for Rush prior to heading east in a couple of weeks for some grand national events. Rush who has raced at Perris in the past, but has only finished as high as second in a pro main event at Perris wasted little time as he launched from pole on the front row into the lead and never looked back. However this was no walk in the park for Rush as he was hounded by Nick Armstrong and Dylan Morin the entire twenty laps. On a side note; a big thanks goes out to Ashleigh who saved the entire nights racing when she stepped in to take the place of the two EMT's who were a no-show at Perris. Ashleigh an EMT herself was the best S.C.F.T.A. has ever seen.  Hopefully she can become a fixture at Perris.

Best T-Shirt award goes to Ian Foulds. Guess who's on the front of his shirt???

Spotted in the pits prior to practice were Cody and Dylan Morin. Guess who's who......

June 22nd 2013    S.C.F.T.A.     Round #6

Perris Raceway ¼ Mile Oval

Article by Jamey M. Blunt

Photos by Janice M. Blunt

Jamey61@verizon.net

               "Rush Hammers the Completion, and Nails the Victory"

June at Perris; ninety degrees with a slight wind, for someone living within a mile of the ocean that's hot and right from the start one could tell this was not going to be a normal S.C.F.T.A. event. Some might say the full moon had something to do with it, full it was and the largest moon of the year as it was the closest it would come to the earth in a long time. Whatever the reason right from the start things seemed just a little tilted as riders were signing up in the wrong classes, the EMT's that were thought to be on hand got mixed up and thought the race was on Sunday not Saturday (thankfully Ashleigh, the best EMT Perris has ever had, stepped in and saved the day.) None the less the show must go on; hence the one hundred thirty two entries filled twenty two heat races and eighteen main events. It's great to see that there is now a dirt track core of riders that have kept the entry count at Perris above the one hundred mark for over two years. Some have said dirt track is dead, well perhaps a trip to Perris might shed some light on the fact that it's alive and filled with some of the most talented riders on the planet. On a personal side note, I was approached at intermission by a family who had never attended a short track race, but rather been involved in the motocross side of racing. The father of the family (who raced moto-cross) stated he'd never seen such camaraderie and was very impressed with the whole dirt track scene.

The Main Events

The Youth 250cc class that was established this year has fast become a proving grounds for up and coming hot shoes. This is evident by the lap times some of these kids are turning in spite of hardly being able to touch the ground with their feet, many are lapping the Perris ¼ mile in the fifteen second bracket. Jace Callison nailed the start to lead the field through turns one and two in front of heat race winner Clayton Williams. James Ott dropped in behind in third with Jaycee Jones fourth and Allison Stacey fifth. On the exit from turn four for the third time Williams found traction and got a good drive to take the lead away from Callison on the run up the front straight. Once up front Williams with a clear track turned his fastest lap of 15.62 seconds while Stacey had worked her way past Jones into fourth. When the checkered flag flew Williams had a four second gap over Callison for the victory with Ott a solid third over Stacey, Jones, Monica Gil, Alex Crosby and Evan Harich.

The spectators always go wild for the Youth 50cc classes. These young racers, despite some being four years of age give it their all. Cody Morin topped the 50cc 2-stk beginner field due to his superior corner speed, but can use more horsepower on the straights. In the 50cc 2-stk novice class Dylan Price stood on the top steep. The night's first double class winner was Evan Harich as he captured victory in both the 85cc 4-stk beginner class and the 85cc 2-stk beginner category with a fastest lap time of 17.81 seconds. The next double winner to emerge was Grant Holmes, first in the 65cc 2-stk novice class where he waged war with Travis Petton the 4^th. Then in the highly contested 85cc 2-stk novice final that saw James Ott nail the start to lead into turn one only to have Clayton Williams steel the lead away by the first run down the back straight. Quickly from a fourth place start Grant Holmes shot into second by the completion of the first lap. Also on the move was Travis Petton the 4^th who on the second run through turn one put a wheel under Ott to take over at third. Monica Gil ran in fifth with Noah Bush in sixth. By lap four it was apparent the race was for the win as Williams and Holmes had separated themselves from the rest of the field. Holmes was matching Williams pace looking for an opportunity to pounce. With a lap and a half remaining on the exit from turn two Holmes put his wheel under Williams and got a drive down the back straight and took over the lead going into turn three. Williams seemed rattled just for a split second, but made a mistake between turns three and four which gave Holmes a couple bike lengths breathing room as the took the white flag. From this point Holmes only had to ride mistake free and protect his line, which he did to take his well earned second victory of the night. Williams was a very close second with Petton third, Ott fourth, Gil fifth and Bush sixth.

The Classic Vintage, or brakeless class had fewer entries this night but wasn't short on talent or action. Ron Lessley on his Bultaco El Bandito led Triumph mounted Joe Pape, H.D. pilot Tom Ferguson, Bultaco veteran Fred Berger and Triumph jockey James Kohls into turn one. Exiting turn two Ferguson quickly disposed of Pape for second and set off after Lessley. Ferguson pulled out all the stops and appeared more desperate than usual as he stayed within one to two bike lengths of Lessley. But Lessley been in this game a long time and isn't rattled by a little pressure and stayed mistake free at the front. As the laps wound down the front two separated themselves from the rest of the field while Kohls found a way past Berger for fourth. Then entering turn one with two laps remaining Ferguson made a desperate move hoping to make something happen, which did. Ferguson took himself and Lessley both out of the race and put them both on the ground bringing out the red flag stopping the contest. Lessley was quickly to his feet but Ferguson was laying on the race track being attended to. After a short time Ferguson too was on his feet and thankfully not seriously hurt. The race was called and the victory awarded to Lessley and rightfully so.

The Premier Senior +70 and Super Senior +60 classes were combined but scored separately. Thanks to his good starting ability Preston Petty aboard the all electric Zero motorcycle was fighting with DeWayne Jones in the +60 field from the start. But since Jones has switched from his CR-500cc 2-stk mount of past, he has yet to be beat aboard his trusty new 450cc 4-stk ride. None the less Petty's performance as he captured the victory in the +70 class was impressive, more work is needed on the Zero but with every race the bike appears better. As for Jones, he handily won the +60 class over regular David Molitor who seemed to be having an off night.

Chad Foster led Jimmy Gillen and Colt Foster into turn one in the Open Unclassified main event. Giving chase in fourth and fifth were Allison Stacey and Jace Callison. By lap three Stacey was loosing touch with the leaders as Chad Foster turned the fastest lap of the race at 15.33 seconds. On the exit from turn two on lap four Colt Foster pushed Gillen wide to move into second, which made apparent that this was going to be a three way battle until the end for the victory. All while Callison was applying pressure on Stacey for her fourth place position. At the white flag Chad Foster still led with Colt Foster second and Gillen third. Then through turn three both Fosters were side by side with Colt having the better position by virtue of being on the inside. On the run to the checkered, Colt squeaked out the win over Chad by feet with Gillen watching this unfold from third as Stacey held off Callison for fourth.

Thirteen riders made up the Senior +50 class where Tim Watters led the pack into turn one. Steele Fredrich running in second was about to make a move when on the second run through turn one his foot got hung up in the dirt and about pulled him off the bike costing him a few bike lengths. New comer to dirt track Scott Clark (running a 21" front wheel) ran in third with Robert Stettler fourth. Then on the third trip through turn one just as he had planned previously Fredrich made his move on Watters and took over at the front. Once up front Fredrich put his head down and turned a 16.55 second lap time as Clark was closing in on Watters for second. On the next go round Fredrich appeared to bounce slightly off the crash wall going up the front straight which cost him some real estate as Watters and Clark closed the gap. On the exit from turn four to the white flag Fredrich went wide which left the door open for Watters who closed the gap and made a move to the inside entering turn one attempting to slip under Fredrich for the lead. But Watters was carrying a lot of speed and in the attempt to hold his inside line the front wheel lost its grip sending Watters to the ground. Fredrich went on to the victory over Clark, Stettler, Berger and Mark Hesse who all advanced a position with Watters departure.

Brad Rudy is usually always found at or near the front in the vet +35 class and tonight was no exception as he nailed the start to lead into turn one. Will Ott settled in at second with Paul Ott quickly up to third from a third row penalty starting position. Sean Lambert was away in fourth with Joel Kath mid-pack in fifth. On the second lap exit from turn four Will Ott got a drive to take the lead away from Rudy as they crossed the stripe. About this same time Kath made contact with Lambert knocking him out of the way between turns three and four to take over at fourth. Up front Will Ott turned the fastest lap of the race at 15.34 seconds as Paul Ott found his way around Rudy to move up to second. Then a bobble and some lost traction and Will and Paul Ott were side by side fighting for the win. With two laps remaining Paul dove inside Will entering turn one to steal the lead. As they headed down the back straight less than a bike length apart it was anyone's race. Paul was first to take the white flag but by less than a bike length as he protected his inside line. For the final lap all Paul needed to do was keep Will to the outside of him and ride mistake free, which he did, to claim the victory. Will was a very close second as Rudy had faded somewhat in third with Kath secure over Lambert in fourth and Eric Cleveland in sixth as Derrick Porter faded at the end.

Those left standing in the Bomber class (see crash sequence and explanation) staged for their main event. Travis Petton jr. (the only one from the crash to start the main) led Joe Steffen into turn one from the outside of the front row. Keith Bradford slotted in at third with Jimmy Lundgren fourth. On the first run up the front straight Lundgren wasted no time and shot past Bradford into third. Back up front Steffen was glued to Petton's back side waiting for any opportunity to pass. As the laps wound down Steffen appeared to tire allowing Petton to start and stretch out his lead while Lundgren was now about a full straight back in third. Petton would go to the victory with Steffen far enough ahead of Lundgren not to have any danger of losing his second place position.

The biggest class of the evening was the Open Novice, having sixteen riders and needing both an "A" and "B" main. In the "A" main John Gronek was left sitting on the starting line as the pack thundered into turn one, his race night over before it started. William Purgason was the one who nailed the start to lead over Brandon Watters, Jayce Callison, Jeremy Templemen, and Derrick Porter. Purgason would lead for two laps until the entrance of turn one for the third time when Watters made his move and took over at the front. Once up front Watters wanting to get away turned a 15.90 second lap time, the only rider in the class to go under the sixteen second mark. A lap later Gronek who had joined the race in last went down between turns three and four and was up quickly and off the track. With two laps remaining Callison moved into the second place spot while Templemen lost a spot to Aaron Guidaean giving up fourth. On the white flag lap another rider went down in turn one which thankfully everyone avoided. The final tally was recorded at Watters, Callison, Purgason, Guidaean Templemen, and Porter.

The twenty lap pro final was supposed to have two national numbers squaring off, however heat race winner Jimmy Wood (who was just riding to test suspension settings) elected not to participate in the main event. Sitting on pole, two time Daytona short track winner Mikey Rush had to be the favorite as he led into turn one in front of Nick Armstrong and Dylan Morin. Chad Foster was away in fourth with Paul Ott fifth, and Nick Gil sixth. Within the first two laps Chad Foster was losing touch from the front three while Colt Foster, David Bush and Robert Bush were fighting at the back of the field. Five laps in the record books and it was clear the victory would be between one of the front three as Rush couldn't seem to shake either Armstrong or Morin. Although of the front three Rush looked to be the most relaxed even though this was his first race back after surgery from an injury. On lap nine in turn two Gil tagged the back wheel of Ott as he struggled to find his rhythm and work his way forward. Eleven laps complete saw the front three hold a four second gap over Chad Foster in fourth with the running order being Rush Armstrong, Morin, Chad Foster, Ott, Gil, Cole Croulen, Colt Foster, Robert Bush, and David Bush. Two laps later Morin put a wheel under Armstrong on the exit from turn two and ran down the back straight side by side taking away second on the entrance to turn three. This was short lived though as Armstrong came right back at Morin diving to the inside entering turn one moving Morin high as he regained second. This also served to rejuvenate Armstrong as his pace seemed to pick up just a bit more as he closed in on Rush. With two laps remaining the front three were into lappers as both Armstrong and Morin had closed in on Rush. Gil by this point had also found a way into fourth past Chad Foster which is where he would stay; the best he could do on this night. At the white flag it was anyone's race at the front but the odds were in Rushes favor due to experience and racing history, he's been here before and doesn't make mistakes. However as they took the white flag Armstrong pulled alongside Rush on the outside as they crossed the stripe judging what it might take to steal the victory coming out of the final turn on the last lap. But Rush was not to be denied and went on to the victory and had led all twenty laps, Armstrong was a close second with Morin impressing more every time out third, and Gil fourth in front of Chad Foster and Ott. Catching up with Rush just after he took starter Rudy Gil on a victory lap ride and got his helmet off, he had this to say; " you know I felt the pressure from the guys behind me the whole time. We are here doing some testing, Jimmy Wood and me, trying some new stuff and we found some stuff that works and some stuff that doesn't work but overall I'm happy. We came here and did what we needed to do so we got a win and it's all cool. I've got to thank Southland Pro Suspension and Race-Tech; they helped me out, my hats off to those guys. They help me out so much along with Jimmy Wood and TKB Sports Medicine; they keep me healthy and stuff."

Thus closed a full moon of racing, perhaps at round seven on July 20^th things might return to normal, or as normal as one would want racing to be.