S.C.F.T.A. Round #4 Perris Raceway May 14th,2011 Article by Jamey Blunt Photos by Janice Blunt " "American Alien" Seventy three degree temperatures greeted the eighty-one riders that rolled through the front gate for round four of the S.C.F.T.A. race at Perris Raceway. The mid afternoon weather didn't last through the sixteen heat races, and by the time the first of the fifteen main events staged there was a cold wind caressing the spectators in the bleachers. (Racers aren't supposed to be affected by weather) Freddie Edwards in spite of recent shoulder surgery (last week) still piloted the blade to scrape the racing surface flat and smooth and as the water came back to the racing surface with the sun's setting, the water truck wasn't called to action .Lucas Oil had the crash wall lined with new white flags as well as their banners and once again had products for the class winners. Principals from Today's Cycle Coverage made the trip to Perris with give a ways for fans, riders, and crew members alike, a big hit with the kids. (They love t-shirts and stickers). Travis Petton the fourth is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. Petton pulled triple duty riding all three of the youth classes. In the 50cc main event Petton launched his KTM off the line to lead by over a full second at the completion of the first lap. Courtney D'Arignon ran second with brother Toby in third, but it was the Walters, Aiden and Ethan that drew much of the attention. Riding their Honda 50's with training wheels still attached the crowd cheered every time they entered a corner and put their machines on three wheels. Drake Bondio ran in a lonely fourth stuck in a no man's land with the Walter's show going on behind him. By lap three Petton was into lappers and easily cruised home to the victory.
Justin Hanson led the 85cc-100cc field into turn one, this class being the largest of the youth classes. Monica Gil ran in second with Alyssa Flores in third. Sean Heeney who left the line in fifth was on the move by the completion of lap one. One the second trip down the back straight Heeney shot up to the third place position and Gil had taken over at the front on the exit of turn two. With two laps remaining Heeney passed Hanson in turn one for second while Gil had a five bike length gap at the front. On the last trip down the back straight Heeney pulled close to Gil but Gil was unshaken and rode mistake free holding her line like a pro to the checkered flag. Heeney had to settle for second but can have a little comfort knowing he had the fastest lap of the race at 16.79 seconds.
All Frank Flores wanted for his birthday was to race Perris. (This was his ninth birthday) But leave it to Sister Alyssa to spoil his party. She took the victory over Frank and Travis Petton in the 65cc class but Frank put in a great ride anyway and wouldn't have wanted the win handed to him unearned. The smallest bike in the field in the Classic Vintage 250,
500, & 750 class was Bruce Reynolds's Bultaco 250. At the start Reynolds
shot to the front with Jeff Apple (Triumph) in second, Jim Ottele (Triumph)
third, James Kohls (Triumph) fourth, and Joe Pape (H.D.) in fifth. Entering
turn three for the second time Ottele put a wheel under Apple to take away
second and locked his cross hairs (gun reference) on Reynolds. But Apple wasn't
giving up and attempted to run it under Ottele on the next run through turn one
where he tucked the front end and tipped over. This in turn gave Ottele a love
tap and Ottele was down in turn two. At this point Reynolds with a big gap saw
the red flag come out stopping the race. A single file re-start was in order
but now Reynolds would lose the entire gap at the front he had worked for. On
the re-start Reynolds nailed it and stretched his throttle cable an inch longer
wanting to get away. Pape quickly moved past Kohls into second with Ottele
quickly moving past Lenny Rodriguez and Kohls up to third. Apple was left
sitting and took a little longer to get his fire lit but within a lap was up to
fourth. A lap later Reynolds had a full straight cushion as Ottele moved past
Pape for second and Apple followed suit for third. Reynolds also posted the
fastest lap of the race at 16.33 seconds taking the overall win with ease.
Ottele would finish second (1st 500-750) with Apple third and
Rodriguez making a push on the run to the stripe past Pape for fourth.
It has been said that Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa and the like
are aliens, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, able to
bend steel handle bars in their bare hands. But America has a few aliens among
us as well John Kocinski may well be from another planet as his ability to race
a motorcycle is other worldly. Kocinski showed up a Perris with yet another
configuration of his Knight Framed Honda with a goal of breaking the overall
track record on a thirty plus year old vintage motorcycle. Launching from pole
Kocinski entered a time warp that Joe Steffen, Nick Armstrong, and Jim Wood
could only hope to see a blurry image in. In the main the tower had Kocinski
clocked at a 14.42 second lap, one that had questions raised as Kocinski's own
crew had him clocked at a 14.27 second lap in his heat race which would indeed
have given him the overall track record. Whichever time one goes by there is
room for error as the times are clocked by hand with a stop watch and all this
will soon be erased and started a new when the track's transponder is in place,
hopefully by the next round. One thing is certain Kocinski was the fastest
rider of the night and did better his own track record!
Vince Graves sat on pole in the Super Senior +60 main event.
But it was Dennis Kanegae who read starter Rudy Gil and led the pack into turn
one with
One of the largest fields is the Bomber class with over half of the entrants within a half second of each other in lap times. Riding back to back races John Lundgren (who had just won the Vet 35+ main) hoped for a double victory on this night. But Danny Perkins had something to say about it and led the pack into turn one. Heat race winner Travis Petton (the 2nd) dropped in behind Perkins down the back straight with David McNeeley third, Scott Sivaldue fourth, Brad Rudy fifth, and Lundgren back in sixth. On the second run between turns three and four Petton made a miraculous save of a high side which dropped him to third behind McNeeley. At the front Perkins was inching away and turned the fastest lap of the class at 15.29 seconds on lap three. The next time through turns three and four Petton pulled out of the race and Keith Bradford off of everyone's radar somehow was up to third. By lap four Perkins had a three second gap and Bradford, Sivaldue and Lundgren were all in contention for third. It came down to a run to the stripe out of turn four, for the final podium position with the finishing order Perkins long gone, McNeeley, Bradford, Sivaldue, and Lundgren.
Wes Powell and Jim Wood hit turn one side by side in the Senior Vet +50 main event. Exiting turn two Wood took the lead while Joe Steffen slotted in at third. At the completion of lap one Powell and Steffen were tied for second at the stripe with Larry Earhart back in fourth and Jim Ottele in fifth. By lap two the running order was Wood clear at the front, Powell securely in second with Earhart running it up under Steffen for third on the exit from turn two but couldn't make the pass stick. Lap three was Woods fastest at 15.36 seconds as Earhart made his pass work on this lap to take third from Steffen. On the next exit from turn two Ottele shot past Steffen for fourth and set off after Earhart. On the next lap in the same turn Ottele used the same maneuver and secured third from Earhart. With a lap and a half left Powell was within three bike lengths of Wood but just couldn't close the gap enough to make any kind of attempt at passing Wood. At the checkered flag Wood went wire to wire with Powell second, Ottele third, Earhart fourth, Steffen fifth, and Danny Stinson sixth. Bill Wright has the starts figured out as he usually leads the pack into the first turn in the Open Amateur class. But it was a short lived time at the front as Nick Gil took over the position on the exit from turn two to lead down the back straight with David McNeeley following Gil past Wright as well. The front three gapped fourth place Harly Legowski as Gil posted his fastest lap time of 15.52 seconds on lap three. McNeeley dropped off of Gil's pace as the field strung out with the finishing order set at Gil, McNeeley, Wright, and Legowski. The highlight came on Gil's victory lap where he missed the checkered flag handoff from starter/father Rudy Gil. Sometimes it's better to slow down. The twenty lap Pro main event had but five riders that
braved the money race, with newcomer Jon Nunes making the trip from
At
the white flag (one lap remaining) #45 Ian Foulds actually led at the
stripe. But thinking ahead #71m Jon Nunes took it right back in turn
one and went on for the victory in the twenty lap Pro Main Event.
#17r
Nick Gil may have won the Open Amateur main event and had the fastest
lap of the class at 15.52/100 seconds. But when it comes to his victory
lap he missed the flag grab from his dad, starter Rudy Gil.
#45
John Lundgren of the Simi Valley Kawasaki racing team topped the Vet
35+ / Knobby combined field with a fastest lap time of 15.57/100
seconds on his 350cc Honda.
#151
Billy Katkov finished second in his heat race but regrouped, changed
back to his original wheel set and earned the victory over Mark
Cernicky in the Men's 4-stroke final.
#37r
Ron Moore and #51 Dennis Kanagae waged war in the Super Senior +60
main. Which let class winner Vince Graves get away at the front.
Kanagae eventually decided "This is just for fun" and settled for third
with a fastest lap of 15.51/100 seconds. Moore's fastest lap was
15.87/100 seconds while Graves put in the fastest lap of the race at
15.22/100 seconds.
Round five of S.C.F.T.A. at Perris will be June 11th with rumors of a double header beginning to circulate. May 14th Results |
