Northeast Regional Update

Northeas REGIONAL UPDATE T

words by Bob Close // photos by Sarah Marie Lane IRISH VALLEY MX, APRIL 25TH

Our first MX event of the season for both the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, I can tell you that for many, many years this event is basically our version of the Jets vs. the Sharks from West Side Story. And 2021 was no different my friends, especially as we emerged from our pandemic cocoons. Lots of smack talk in the pits, made even better by our new Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Team Challenge for 2021. The blood was flowing, and the engines were warming up on a beautiful day that started out chilly (40s!) but reached 60 degrees by the afternoon. Once again, the Krebs family did a fantastic job of preparing their MX facility/track, which features some great elevation changes and challenging features. Imagine a track with not ONE, but TWO of Unadilla’s famous “Screw You” downhill/ uphills with a 180 at the bottom. That be Irish Valley, folks. 100 race entries were recorded for the day with both regions well represented. Our thanks to Merritt Brown and Ed Roman for making sense of it all and organizing nine races to make sure everyone had some fun. And some pretty intense racing as it turns out! In Post Vintage 60+ Intermediate, Bud Schaible (Mai) and Ed Abdo (Hon) exchanged moto wins, but Bud took home the foam board by virtue of winning the second moto. And the same thing happened in Post Vintage 40+ Intermediate between Brett Darrow (Yam) and Dave Royds (Hon), with Brett bringing home the bacon with his second moto win. Hold onto your seats because there were THREE more classes where riders exchanged moto wins on the day. In a GP 125 “Battle of the RMs,” Intermediate Russ Van Norman (Suz) topped Henry Ahnert (Suz), and Greg Barrett (Mai) got the best of Merritt Brown (CZ) in ESS 500 Intermediate. And in Next Gen 250 Intermediate, Stephen Deveney won the first moto, but was beaten out to the blue ribbon/overall by Mark Curran’s second moto win. And here is a bonus fun fact for four of the five races I just described: one of the guys who took a moto win was from the Northeast and one was from the Mid-Atlantic! It just doesn’t get any better than this. I’d also like to mention who won the big “sign-up” classes of the day—which I will define as five or more entries. Mark Curran’s well-earned win in Next Gen 250 Intermediate was over four other guys. In Vintage 60+ Intermediate, Steve Lynch (CZ) earned himself a solid win over four other racers by virtue of his 1-1 finishes. And in Sportsman 250 Intermediate, Devin Trexler (Hon) beat out Bud Schaible (Hon) and three other riders with his 1-1 moto results. Congrats guys! Final recognitions before moving onto our next race event would be a shoutout to our multiple class winners on the day. Ironman Expert Darrell Wassil took home three foam boards with wins in three classes (GP 250 and 500, and Post Vintage 40+). Mark Curran also had three class wins, with his other two class win coming in Ultima 250 Intermediate, and Pre-Modern 250 Intermediate. Finally, Merritt Brown (ESS 500 Intermediate and Historic 500 Intermediate) and Steve Lynch (Sportsman 500 Intermediate and his Vintage 60+ Intermediate mentioned above) get honorable mentions was two class wins apiece.

Ryan Collins (85) at Geer’s Farm XC First PV 200 Int Ryan Coyle (819) on his Yamaha at Geer’s Farm XC

GEER’S FARM XC AND MX, MAY 1ST AND 2ND

Well, guess what? Upstate New York property saw a lot of rain leading up their event weekend? And here is a bonus question. What upstate New York motocross event saw an absolutely crazy cloudburst/rainstorm near the end of the first set of motos that resulted in cancellation of the second motos? If you guessed the 600 acres Geer’s Farm as the answer to both questions you would be absolutely correct! So, tell you what, let’s start out talking about Saturday’s cross country race and finish up with a short story about Sunday’s abbreviated event. Once again, Pete Komarek, John Manly—and a few other volunteers whose names I do not have handy—set up a great four mile+ course through hill and dale that proved challenging to the 32 rider entries who were recorded for the event. How challenging. Well, mid-week they had to build a bridge over a heretofore unknown stream on the property to keep riders from drowning. And there was one more “challenge,” a half-dozen riders in the Vintage race took a wrong turn on the first lap but eventually found their way back to the course! All was forgiven and intense racing ensued with Mike Ferguson bringing home the Expert Overall on his Penton 250 Hare Scrambler and Rick Ketcham leading the Intermediates home on his Bennett Brothers Honda 125 XLsinore, while also beating Dave Salmen (Yam) out for the 200 Sportsman Intermediate win. I typed “125” so all of Rick’s fellow competitors would get a good chuckle by the way. It was great to see Jay Lane shaking off the dust (actually mud) and winning the Vintage 60+ Intermediate class on his immaculate high-piped CZ 250. With no rain on the day, the course got even better and the racing was faster in Post Vintage. Once again, expert Mike Ferguson led all challengers home, this time on his Honda XR200 (also winning Post Vintage 200 Expert). Experts Jay Danek (Post Vintage 60+ Expert), John Frackelton (Next Gen 200 Expert), and Mike Sciocchetti (Post Vintage 50+ Expert) also recorded class wins. Eric Roof (Kaw) was first overall Intermediate and also finished first of four riders in the 97-99 Two-stroke Open Intermediate class, with Trevor Badgely’s Suzuki finishing second. Another four-rider signup was found in Post Vintage 200 Intermediate, with Ryan Coyle’s Yamaha IT beating Keith Vanderwalker’s Kawasaki KDX for the win. Tony Yannitelli topped Joe Chodnicki (Hus) and Rick Ketcham (Hon) for the 50+ Intermediate win. Honorable mention to Dave Salmen for racing both Vintage and Post Vintage races, and having enough energy left to win Historic Open Intermediate on his Suzuki PE250. Sunday’s motocross event got off to a great start and went all downhill from there. Feedback from riders after last year’s race in October resulted in some course changes and additions by Pete Komarek that drew praise from the riders during practice. 66 courageous entries were farmed out into eight scheduled races by Merritt Brown and races were underway by 10 AM. The rain began—lightly at first—

Mike Ferguson (52b) focuses on getting PV First Overall Expert at Geer’s Farm on his trusty XR200.

about race three or four. The one-mile-plus course—which utilizes a Geer’s Farm crop field (on hiatus…) and some trail/routing adjacent to a former gravel pit—was mostly clay and we all know what happens when you add lots of water to clay. One of my favorite characterizations of the racers who carried on in the increasingly deteriorating conditions was the “Mudders of Invention.” AHRMA Northeast race leadership had to stop the event after race eight first moto when a long, heavy cloudburst struck the area. It was decided that all racers would be scored for their second moto the same as their result in the first moto. Finally, it would not be right if I didn’t mention that Alex Moroz—longtime AHRMA member AND founder of the Legends of Motocross exhibits now seen at all major professional motocross event—has returned to race with us! Congrats on your Vintage 70+ Expert win, my friend! Thanks again to the Geer Brothers, Pete Komarek, and all the other volunteers for their help thru the weekend!

Lake Lamoka has to be one of prettiest areas on our schedule to haul your race bikes to, set up your tent or pop-up or whatever, and get ready to race. And this year was no different, with the added bonus of sunny skies and 70s greeting the racers on both days. Let me say up front, that Rynn and Robyn Shepherd once again did a great job of hosting our 2021 event at their facility and we would like to say, “Thank You.” Now, as pretty as it might be on the top of the hill, that ain’t always the case on the bottom of the hill, and this was once again true for this year’s XC racing on Saturday. Your bikes start clean, but they do not EVEN finish clean. Funny thing is that for about three quarters of their four-mile-plus loop, you’re thinking, “Not bad—loamy, fast, great switchbacks.” And then you enter their “swamp,” not a real swamp mind you, but trail conditions that are not far removed. We should mention that the loop also utilizes most of the MX track where, in theory, one has the opportunity to shed the accumulated mud. 35 racers showed up to race Vintage or Post Vintage (or both!) and eagerly plunged into the woods from the dead engine starts in both races. In Vintage, after four laps it was Mike Ferguson’s Penton that came home first for the Experts and Jay Lane and his CZ 250 who won first overall in Intermediate. Jay actually fell off his bike during the parade lap just to instill a false sense of hope amongst the rest of us Intermediates that we might be able to capture that spot. No chance of that, and nice job by Jay, who also led three others home in winning the 60+ Vintage Intermediate. Mike Ferguson’s cousin, Tim (Ferguson), was second overall on the day and first 60+ Vintage Expert on his Can-Am. Rick Ketcham (Hon) and Chris Miller (Ossa) brought home the rest of

Chris Miller (68) leads Colby Shore (92), Merritt Brown (557), and Dennis Foley (717) at Lamoka MX

Mike Sciocchetti (37) leads the pack at Lamoka MX, including Dave Scheffer (a15), Tim Jackson (10), Ed Abdo (268), and Ed Hewig (88x)

LAKE LAMOKA XC AND MX, MAY 15TH AND 16

Man In Black – Brian Teague (11 ) at Lamoka MX

Jay Danek (581) goes fast at Lamoka XC

the Intermediates, winning the Sportsman 200 Intermediate and Sportsman Open Intermediate classes respectively. In Post Vintage, there was a new sheriff in town—so to speak—as Darrell Wassil and his Yamaha IT200 put a whuppin’ on Mike Ferguson’s XR200R taking home first Overall Expert after five laps, also beating him for the Post Vintage 200 Expert foam board to boot. Bob Frederick (Yam) was fast and furious in winning Post Vintage 50+ Expert, beating Mike Sciocchetti. Leading the Intermediates home was Vince Monks on his Yamaha, and he also beat four riders for the Post Vintage 50+ Intermediate trophy. John Manly led home two other riders to win Post Vintage 60+ Intermediate and Dustin Loss is really liking his new Yamaha IT200 this year, so much so that he beat Ryan Collins to the flag for the Post Vintage 200 Intermediate. By Saturday night, the Shepherd’s “parc ferme” was full of trucks and trailers and RVs and that meant we were gonna have a big crowd of racers and families on Sunday. Ninetyseven (97!) race entries were recorded by Merritt and Ed and ten races were scheduled for the day around Lake Lamoka’s topside and hillside course that is always a challenge and loved by the racing community. Hence, the great sign-up! Remember Darrell Wassil (Mai) from above AND from Irish Valley MX? Well, he continued his winning ways on Sunday, winning Post Vintage 40+ Expert and GP 500 Expert in race one and race ten. Another very fast man in race one was Craig Lane (Yam) in Post Vintage 50+ Expert, who beat three other very talented Experts. Race two was where all the fireworks were at nine Post Vintage 60+ and four Post Vintage 50+ Intermediate racers. Monty Barnes (Hon) scored 1-1 to beat the 60+ crowd, and Jeff Rayeski’s Ossa Phantom won the 50+ class. In race three, it was Mark Curran (Hon) taking the Next Gen 250 Intermediate win over five other racers and Jana Schneider scored her first win on

Bob Frederick (36a) point the day in Next Gen 125 Intermediate. and shoots at Lamoka XC Mark’s second class win came in race eight’s Pre-modern 250 Intermediate and Jana’s second class win came in Post Vintage Women’s Intermediate. Loren Wescott (Hus) beat out Paul Wawrynovic (CZ) in 60+ Expert in race four. They split moto wins but Loren came out on top because of his second moto win. Merritt Brown (CZ) earned his first place Vintage 60+ Intermediate foam board the same way, losing out to Renn Shepherd (Ric) in the first moto, but winning the second moto. But, Renn Shepherd did get a class win on the day, beating four other racers on his beautiful Rickman-Montesa to win Sportsman 250 Intermediate in race seven. Chris Hill was the best of the Vintage 50+ Intermediate class, beating three other riders. Tim Jackson (Hon) and Rob Clare (Hon) were class winners in race five, in Ultima 500 Expert and GP 250 Expert, respectively. And Dustin Loss (Suz) was king of the GP 250 Intermediate class, finishing ahead of four other racers. Consistent with new AHRMA rules, race six was all Novice classes and congrats (and welcome!) are in order for Rich Knepp (CZ/Sportsman 250), Greg Blanchard (Yam/Next Gen 125), Percy Clark (Post Vintage 40+), Jody Curry (Post Vintage 50+), and David Carmen (Post Vintage 60+). A final shoutout to some of our fastest Vintage racers. Mike Robinson (Bul) won Sportsman 250 Expert, Lee Curry in ESS 500 Expert, and Damon Shepherd (Hus) in Sportsman 500 Expert.

THAT’S A WRAP.

Once again, a big thank you to all the race facility owners, our Northeast region leadership (Merritt and Ed), and volunteers. You can go to the AHRMA Northeast link at the bottom of AHRMA’s website to see all the results and flyers for our upcoming events (https://www.ahrma.org/ahrma-northeast-region/). Tight racing at IVMX: Russ Van Norman (168) and Eric Miller (083)

Darrel Wassil (21b) churns the dirt on his way to one of three class wins at IVMX