Well Folks Tomahawk part 2 is in the books, and for all of you who were there, I am sure that you will agree that it was one fine day of racing. Rain the night before had us all thinking that this might be a real soaker, but by the morning, all was good, and by moto one it was fantastic! Our plan to have a pre-sign up worked well, and things went off on time. (Ok the ambulance was 15 minutes late.)
First at the gate was the Cross Country gang. Larry M laid out another great track, and the entries keep growing. The rain from the night before kept things interesting, but all who braved the Tomahawk soil had a great time. Our next XC race will be at Summersville, WV!
This event was shared with round three of Tim Titcomb’s Master’s of Motocross Series, and despite the growing numbers, it appears that the ongoing tweaking has born fruit, as the intermingling of modern and vintage moto’s went off without a hitch.
An observation before I get started with the race wrap up;
Since when did every racer who shows up, start bringing generators that are louder than Brian O’s unmuffled Duc? These things are running all night, and keeping folks awake. Pretty good rule of thumb should be, that if you are using a construction generator, and it’s past 10:00PM, how ‘bout shutting it down? For those that can’t take a hint, I think that we should have Bultaco Bill set off an air horn beside the offender’s trailer, every hour until they shut the thing off. Used to be that I was getting hate mail about moto orders, modern bikes, schedules, and how Luke’s race gear didn’t match his eyes. But now mail is 5 to 1 complaining about generators! Let’s turn ‘em off.
The first moto got under way on time with Steve Paulk putting his fresh from the cross country Jawa ahead of Neil and Mike Hickman, and recently released from domestic duties, Mid-Atlantic’s Webmeister Al Conte. My personal battle with Harvey Double Jump seemed like a duplication of Tomahawk one, with the 900 Suzuki taking a tight win over the Bultaco of “ole Harv himself in moto one. Moto two would have Harvey violating West Virginia airspace by launching the fragile Pursang off of the finish line doubles and building precious seconds with each jump. With the white flag out, Harvey threw caution to the wind and came up short on the second of the 2 doubles, tearing his quadracep from the bone, and effectively ending his season. I can’t find the words to express my disappointment! I am going to miss the Bultaco handlebars jabbing me in my ribs everylap.
Moto three featured Bill Boram winning the Historic Thumper Expert Class, and Paul D doing the same in the GP Class. In the ladies class, Noel Turner bested Debbie Lasure for the overall. Charles Reuben made the long trip from North Carolina to win the Classic 125 Sandbaggers beating John Stackus and Lewis Mayer.
In race 5, Leon Turner put back to back moto wins together to finish ahead of Don Broxson and Ed “the Crooner” Day! Bill Boram managed to finish ahead of Thor in the GP 250 Expert Class. Bill had to ride extra hard to put off the charging Thor who seemed to ride better than he ever has this weekend!
Luke Loy found his game in the 7 th moto, beating 8 other riders to take the win in the most heavily contested class of the day. Leon Turner carded a 3 and 2 for second, while Glen Grahe put a 4 th and 3 rd in for 3 rd overall. Of note was that Michael Bolton was able to limp away from a sub orbital leap on the pit row table top. MB not only cleared the table top, but landed flat 6 feet passed the jump base. After some attention from the medical folks on the scene, MB sat out a few minutes in wife’s fold up chair. Harvey would have been proud. One of the best races of the day had Thor and William Speleos going head to head and turn to turn, in the PV +40 Expert class. Folks lined the fences as these two got to know each other better. Thor came out ahead winning both motos but these two are going to have some fine battles at Mountaineer!
Also in moto 7, the +50 PV Intermediates, and back from the abyss, Chris Love kept Bultaco Bill honest finishing second to our tender hero.
The 250 Sportsman Novice class had Al Conte besting Mike Baidauf despite his endless sniveling that his works Maico was not running correctly. Clearly Al has been hanging around with Ackerman. In the second largest class of the day, John Pagans finishing ahead of Charles Reuben and Mathew Payne in the Sportsman 250 Intermediates.
Race 10 was the Pot Pori class of the day, featuring Brial Brillon finishing ahead of the charging Ed Day in the GP 125 Intermediates, while in the GP 250 Novices, Earl Robinson put two moto wins to finish ahead of Iron Man, Jay Crandall. Thor looked like a man possessed by the spirit of McGrath in his dominance of the GP250 Experts.
All in all a great day of racing! In two weeks we will be heading to Mountaineer for Father’s Day! This will be an all Vintage weekend and we are looking forward to lots of track time! See you at the gate!
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