May 15th, 2013
Photos
by Gary
Davis
Article by Dennis Kanegae
#58 Arei James (Yam) whipped the field in the 250/450
Am class aboard her dad-prepped YZ-F. Arei can do it all; TT and short
track and has been seen on her KTM XCW racing off-road events.
#364 Jeff Seehorn (Kaw) got a good start and pulled away from
hole shot winner #70 Nick McConahy (Hon) after some serious dicing to
win the ultra competitive MX Grudge 2 class.
Wyatt McGuire rides this way lap after lap. Joe Kopp does a nice
track prep and has been known to cut a few hot laps himself.
Young local Pro and top AMA Pro Singles racer Wyatt McGuire
(Yam) has been training hard and riding harder, he leads the new
generation of great riders from the great northwest.
#43 Kody Kopp (KTM) dominated the 50cc Advanced and the
65cc classes, his bikes are well-prepared and he rides smooth and fast.
He leads points in both classes and vows to keep it that way until the
end of the season.
2000 AMA Grand National Dirt Champion, Joe Kopp, formally
retired from travelling the AMA GNC circuit two years ago,
understandably, to spend time with his wife and family. Joe has
achieved what few have in racing have done by winning the GNC title,
and, finishing consistently at the top of the standings throughout his
professional racing career. The popular eastern Washington native has
pretty much stayed where he grew up and is giving back to the flat
track racing community by creating a venue where northwest TT and flat
trackers have a place to practice and race. Joe even created a flat
track school so riders can learn from the one of the best in the
business-all this is happening at Spokane Speedway in Airway Heights,
WA.
A good example of what Joe’s “schooling” has produced is local racer
Wyatt McGuire, from Mead, WA. Wyatt is one of the top young pro riders
in the northwest and has been gathering momentum throughout 2012 with
numerous wins locally and notching several podiums last year in the
highly competitive AMA Pro Singles series.
Fresh off his May 11th Stockton Pro Singles half-mile
National runaway victory a few days earlier, Wyatt rolled into the pits
late, skipped practice and proceeded to roll over the competition in
the Open Pro Money main event. In the main, Wyatt battled back from a
mediocre start and proceeded to pick off riders lap after lap to take
the TT win in spectacular fashion. Look for Wyatt McGuire and his18M
Yamaha on this year’s the Pro Singles National podiums.
Other notable wins are was a certain Kody Kopp dominating both 50cc
Advanced and 65cc class aboard his potent KTM SXs. Former AMA Pro Matt
James decided to show the Vintage class how it’s done aboard his fast
and well-prepared Trackmaster TT500, and also brought his daughter,
Arei, out to ride her YZ400F in the two classes. Arei smoked the guys
in the 250/450 Amateur class and left them wondering where she went
after the start. Like her dad, she is super smooth and deceptively fast.
50+ racer Fran Gillhoover had a good night smoking the old
timers and then took the win over the “youngsters” in the 40+ class too!
The biggest and arguably the most fun to watch are the MX
classes. Imagine almost 20 riders, a full two rows of 450F MX machines
going for it like it’s the US Open that pays a million dollar purse.
Joe calls it the “Motocross Grudge Race”, I call it
Motocrossers Gone Wild. One needs to see it to believe it and it’s
easily worth the price of admission just for that one main event. Joe
wants to get more local riders into TT/Flat track so he allows full on
MX machines (with knobbies) to race, in their own class. Former top Pro
Flat Tracker Dustin Pruczinski brought out a MXer and slid around like
he was on a speedway bike, completely pinned and sideways around the
outside, it was total mayhem but a good time was had by all.
Our next race is June 19th, and don't miss out as it is HOOTERS NIGHT!
This race will be a Shorttrack! Gates open at 4pm, practice at 6pm, racing at 7pm.
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