Coyote Run - Mid-Atlantic Regional

AUG 22&23, 2020

Rounds Four-Five: AHRMA Mid-Atlantic Cross-Country

Author: Joshua Schucker / Photography: Lorena Walker & Joe Spayd

To the casual observer looking at the MidAtlantic region’s schedule, Coyote Run may appear to be nothing more than the relative mid-point of the season, or at most, a novelty as the only weekend event on the schedule. What the uninformed fails to understand is that this is not just another event on the schedule. This one is special. This one is at Dave’s house. The “Dave” is Dave Kutskel, the region’s cross country coordinator, and once you have attended a few of his events, you will quickly realize that he has a passion for this sport and a true love of cross country racing and vintage motorcycles (and he’s pretty fast too!). Organizing an entire event series is not for the fainthearted and can be quite a burden on one’s personal time. But Dave’s commitment to the sport and the enjoyment of its participants is unwavering. Ever since he was able to convince his wife, Darlene, that they should hold an annual event at their home near Ebensburg, PA, the event has been more than just another race. Beginning with the first Coyote Run nine years ago, the weekend is intended to be a gathering of vintage motorcycle enthusiasts, a celebration of the shared values and appreciation of the sport, and a thank you to the “family” of participants and volunteers. During any pre-race meeting, Dave can often be heard greeting new racers with the statement, “You will not find a better group of people than those around you today,” and Coyote Run is the physical

manifestation of those words.

Coyote Run uses its weekend format to support the celebratory aspirations. The Kutskels begin welcoming participants to their property on Friday. While tight in some areas, or distant from the hub of activity, there is ample room for parking and camping so no one is discouraged from spending the entire weekend. Certainly, while the complications of COVID-19 created a few modifications to the traditional experience for everyone’s safety, the general template for Coyote Run fun remains M7 Randy Marshall, 23 Jerry Allison, intact. 11C Dave Kutskel, 725 Kyle Warner

Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

A large campfire is set up each night for everyone’s enjoyment and conversation. Delicious food is available most of the weekend through WingNuts, the onsite food vendor. A traditional pig roast is scheduled for Saturday evening with a smorgasbord of wonderful side dishes provided by the guests and leftovers are abundant enough that everyone can get a bite to eat before departing on Sunday afternoon. Saturday night’s campfire was accompanied by singer/guitarist Dennis Hildebrand. And Terry Cunningham made the trip from Tennessee to serve as grand marshal of the event. The fourtime AMA National Enduro champion was a guest speaker at the 2019 series’ awards banquet and graciously accepted Dave’s invitation to join us for the Coyote Run event. Terry was quick to relate himself to everyone in attendance as “just another guy” and regale listeners with stories of his past around the campfire, in the pits, or during a few impromptu speaking engagements during the weekend. He was also the beneficiary of a weekend Cole Racing factory ride as series regular Joe Cole provided a pair of Husqvarnas for TC to ride during the weekend’s races… Oh yeah, there was racing this weekend too!

Coyote Run is named for the dirt road that provides access to the Kutskel property, which is surrounded by four gracious and motorcycle-loving neighbors. In total, Dave has access to approximately 400 acres; enough to prepare separate courses for Saturday and Sunday. Collectively, these properties lie just west of Ebensburg, in the Allegheny Mountains of Cambria County. At one time a virgin forest, the property has been extensively forested over the years. The remnants of past forestry activities have provided some interesting terrain features over the area. Logging roads, small pits where materials were removed to create the roads, a large shale pit with a wonderful hill climb, and tight young growth forest combine with the established remaining forest to provide a plethora of options in creating a unique, fun, and challenging course. Course selection for Coyote Run is an ongoing process as Dave can ride his own property daily, but he still relies on a significant contribution from “go-to” trail boss, Mike Zdybak, to get things laid out and cleared in time for the party. Both days took place on courses nearly five miles in length with a negligible amount of duplicate trail. In general, there are plenty of roots, a moderate amount of rocks, and some nice elevation changes around small creek valleys. Saturday’s course consisted of mostly wider flowing existing paths with a bit of freshly cut single track thrown in. Both days took different routing through an MX-type area near the scoring tent that drew its fair share of spectators. Sunday would be more technical with a significant portion of the course following a section of freshly cut single track through handlebar-width trees. The course also skirted a creek bed for quite a while resulting

C17 Joe Cole Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

419 Ethan Walker Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

733 Emily Reichart, 996 Laci Horvath Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

11C Dave Kutskel Phhoto by: Joe Spayd

in a lot of ascents and descents through the valley. The inclusion of the shale pit hill climb on Sunday was a fan favorite as well. Given that each course existed on the same property, they were remarkably different in feel and exploitation of skills. This variety is another great aspect of Coyote Run weekend.

While the courses were amazing, there was one drawback: dust! It had been weeks since the area encountered a good rain event. Often chasing dust, just as a coyote may run after the roadrunner’s dust, the participants made the best of a difficult situation. Many were hoping for an overnight shower to improve visibility on Sunday but were only greeted by overcast skies in the morning. The forecast indicated a chance of a thunderstorm throughout the day, but the rain held off as dust was again a factor throughout Sunday’s event. In true coyote vs. roadrunner irony, a drenching deluge unleashed over the property just after the final award was presented.

Vintage Races:

After settling for the runner-up position in the last two races, Brian Grove was looking to upend the recent dominance of Christian Brumbaugh. Grove jumped to an early lead on his Husqvarna with Brumbaugh’s Yamaha just behind. The two would stay within seconds of each other the entire race with Grove coming out on top of sixty-four riders to capture Saturday’s overall win. Josh Zerance hustled his Can-Am past Harrison Walkama on the last lap to take third overall and the Vintage 200 Expert class win by one second over Harrison’s Honda. Saturday was a competitive day for the novice classes with Geoff Kemp and Daniel Zell each finishing in the top twenty overall as well as capturing the class wins in Early Modern 200 and Post Vintage 200, respectively. Laci Horvath was the top woman finisher each day with top-25 performances as well as both Vintage class wins. Kelly Pearce was only six seconds behind Laci on Saturday for 26th overall and a Women’s Post Vintage Intermediate victory over Emily Reichart. These two would swap positions on their XR200s on Sunday with Reichart taking the win. Mark Schwab can really hustle a Yamaha TY trials bike around a cross country course as evidenced by Saturday’s class topping performance in Vintage 60+ Intermediate action. Dave McIntyre and Rick Hoover would follow him across the line to round out the top three. Schwab and McIntyre would repeat their performances Sunday with Mick Spisak sneaking his Husqvarna into third over Hoover.

Sunday’s overall finish once again showed Brian Grove atop the leader board in a dominating performance. Wyatt Stoup and Harrison Walkama fought their way through the dust to fill the other steps of the podium, each riding a Honda. Harrison claimed redemption by pulling away from the rest of his class for the Vintage 200 Expert victory after throwing away the lead Saturday. Blade Schmidt had a strong finish as the top intermediate with a fifth overall. In doing so he claimed his fourth straight Vintage Open Intermediate class win. After watching the Hodaka of Grant Reichart steal his lead on the last lap Saturday, Josh Horvath’s bad luck continued when he handed the lead over on the last lap, this time to Brian Holley, who went on to take the Vintage 200 Intermediate win as Reichart did the day before. Thankfully for Horvath, he was able to hold on to second place each day on his trick Yamaha MX125. Jerry Golick, on an early ‘80s hybrid Yamaha YZ, captured the checkers in Post Vintage 50+ Novice over Jay Parkins and Saturday’s class winner Rick Klingensmith. While Kurt Kilby was able to make a late race charge to the lead on Saturday for the Post Vintage Open Novice win, Sunday he was forced to watch Erik Smith turn the tables on him and put his name in the record books with a win. Bill Gordon made the best of his long trip from South Carolina by collecting first place plaques both days in Vintage 200 Novice action.

Post Vintage Races:

A remarkable eighty-two riders made their way to the starting area for Saturday’s event making for tight quarters and a short run to the first turn. The short start worked well for Ethan Waddell as he grabbed the early lead on his 1987 Yamaha YZ250. He was unable to hold the lead as Christian Brumbaugh forced his IT200 by on lap two. Terry Cunningham would pull in right behind Waddell and set the stage for a race long battle between the two for the overall

9K Kevin Marshall, 32 Mark Schwab, 51Z Richard Colahan, 13 Fred Walker Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

17B Larry Warner, 4X Terry Cunningham, 299 Sanford Quickel Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

627 Joshua Schucker, 93 Keith Ciaramella, 237 Josh Horvath Phhoto by: Lorena Walker

runner-up to Brumbaugh. TC would ultimately win that battle with Waddell settling for a strong third. With Brumbaugh’s winning ways dominating much of the conversation in the Post Vintage 200 Expert class, it’s easy to overlook the success and speed of Rylin Pacella who placed second in class each day and locked down solid top-ten overall finishes on his 1983 Honda CR125. Dane Brownawell has been decimating the Post Vintage Open Intermediate competition for the better part of the last two seasons, but he jumped to the Post Vintage 200 class to scratch an itch to race his recently restored 1983 YZ125. He wasted no time in putting himself in front of that class as well by leading a pack of young guns to the checkers. Logan Holley and Joey Spayd II would round out the top three. Brownawell would follow up Saturday’s success with a return to his normal class and another first place. Post Vintage 50+ Expert boasted nine riders and Steve Bowman took his familiar place in the lead early on. But he was given the honor of being passed by 4X Terry Cunningham and settling for second on his IT200. John Fischer Jr, another awfully fast rider, rounded out the top three. While Brian Grove was busy winning the Post Vintage Open Expert class, his father, Howard, was looking for a similar result in Post Vintage 60+ Intermediate action with his XR200 solidly in the lead through the first two laps. Dave McIntyre would spoil the celebration however as he slid by on lap three for the win. Howard was able to stay in front of third place Jim Stanley and maintain second place. Howard wouldn’t make the same mistake Sunday though, as he took the lead again early and powered through the remaining laps to pull away from McIntyre for Sunday’s class triumph.

After Ethan Waddell’s early taste of the overall lead on Saturday, he was ready to try it again. Josh Zerance grabbed the early lead in this one, but Brumbaugh and Waddell were able to push their Yamahas past on lap two. According to recent history, with Brumbaugh in the lead he often stays there, but Ethan wasn’t afraid to challenge history Sunday. He hung right on Christian’s rear tire for several laps before making a last lap dash past the blue Yamaha and firing across the line just seconds ahead for the overall victory. Christian held on for an oh-so-close second place with Brian Grove, Wyatt Stoup, and Craig Shenigo rounding out the top five. Waddell’s win led a strong group of Early Modern Experts and Intermediates as this class is continually growing. Kawasaki rider, Brett Reichart, was runner-up in the expert class followed by the WR250 of Jack Petrilla and Brian Schwein’s YZ250. Cameron Pennington took the checkers on his CR250 in the intermediate class over another CR of Joe Wagaman in second and Timothy Brendlinger’s RMX250 third. Tommy Tippett’s Can-Am is a familiar sight running at the front of Post Vintage 50+ Intermediate, and this weekend was no different as he passed Doug Kurz on the last lap Sunday to take his second win is as many days. Other double winners for the weekend were Rick Huth, who dominated the Post Vintage 70+ Intermediate competition, and our gracious host Dave Kutskel in Historic Open Expert on his 1977 YZ400.

Apart from the dust, this was another amazing experience at Coyote Run. As is expected each year, the event is truly a celebration of the Mid-Atlantic racing family. The racing was fantastic, and turnout was spectacular. The courses are great, the food is great, and the people are great. In fact, it just keeps getting better with musical entertainment, celebrity guests, and snow cones. I don’t know what Dave has up his sleeve for next year, but one thing is for sure, if we all show up it will be a good time, regardless. A huge thank you to everyone who makes this series possible: Dave Kutskel, wife Darlene, and children Emily and Brock; Trail boss extraordinaire Mike Zdybak; sign-up and scoring – Jessica Reichart, Connie Zdybak, Lisa Grove, Joe Cole; logistics – Randy and Kevin Marshall; Steve Bowman, Jim and Jamie Reitz, Richard Colahan; Brian Holley for roasting the pig. The participants wish you much love and appreciation. Thank you to the sponsors that support the regional events; Potomac Vintage Riders, Preston Petty Products, Stainless Cycle, Vee Rubber, Grove Printing, KMI Printing, Horizon Homes, and Works Enduro Riders. The complete results from this event and the upcoming schedule can be found at https://www.ahrma.org/ahrma-mid-atlantic-region. Follow the series’ Facebook page @ AHRMA Mid Atlantic Cross Country for updates.