S.C.F.T.A. Round #6

July 14th, 2012

Article and Photos by Jamey Blunt


Ninety seven degree heat greeted the riders as they came through the gate at Perris for round six of the S.C.F.T.A. But as it has been said sometimes it's dry heat; it wasn't, the humidity was at ninety eight percent. Had it not been for a nice breeze it could have been miserable. But given the time of year, it was really very comfortable all things considered, besides any day at the races is a good day. Perhaps Lucas oil (a title sponsor) could develop a product to ward off personal heat. They seem to have a product for just about anything you could imagine. For six rounds thus far in the 2012 season the rider count has yet to drop below a hundred, with one hundred fifteen in attendance on this date. This rider count made up twenty three heat races and eighteen main events.



#12 James Ott finally got on a bigger bike. Ott has always been FAST! But needed to step up in size. At round six he did and what a difference it made. Ott Won the 85cc 2-stk Beg. main over Travis Petton the 4th, with a fastest lap time of 16.73 seconds.....

As has been mentioned on these pages in the past, the youth classes continue to grow, which is a good thing for dirt track with the 85cc 2-stk beginner field being the largest of the classes on this night. The question has been asked many times "what will it take to stop Travis Petton the 4th?" It has also been noticed that James Ott rides the wheels off his too small Honda and needed a bigger machine. It just so happened that Ott came to Perris with a fresh stable of Kawasaki's and clad in green from head to toe. The field of ten could only watch as Ott shot from the line to lead into turn one over Petton followed by Alyssa Flores, Jimmy Gillen, and Noah Bush.  Three laps complete had Ott into lappers with a twenty plus bike length gap over Petton, who in turn had a full straight gap back to third. On a charge through the pack from a less than stellar start was Jace Callison

Who would go on to displace Flores for third by the finish. Ott would win and be the only rider to lap under seventeen seconds at 16.73 as he answered the question "who could stop Petton?"

#53 Allison Stacey was a double winner at Perris taking the overall victoryin the 85cc 2-stk/4-stk Nov. final. She then took flight in the Open Novice "A"main event where she topped a field of sixteen riders, her fastest lap was 10.04 seconds

Allison Stacey and Sean Heeney are the ones to watch in the 85cc 2-stk/4-stk novice class. Stacey led the pack through turns one and two with Heeney in tow. These front runners immediately opened up a gap over the rest of the field with Justin Hanson third, Monica Gil fourth, and Frankie Flores fifth. Lap after lap Stacey would exit turns two and four wide leaving an opportunity for Heeney to make a pass but Heeney was never quite close enough to make it happen. When the checkered flag came out it was Stacey by four bike lengths over Heeney with Hanson holding on barely to third over Gil a full straight back and Flores fifth over Noah Bush.


Former National #37 Jeff Johnson showed he still has what it takes to win. Johnson always with a smile on his face and having a blast on a motorcycle had the second overall fastest lap time of the night at 15.22 seconds. He ran away with the Senior Vet +50 Expert class victory in the process.

Jeff Johnson made an appearance at Perris and decided to race the Senior +50 Expert/Amateur combined class. Johnson launched from pole by virtue of his heat race victory to lead through one and two however entering turn three back in mid pack Jim Ottele for whatever reason failed to shut off or make the turn and slammed into John Perez, knocking Perez hard into the crash wall damaging the wall itself. Repairs had to be made to the wall which gave Perez time to check his bike and body to see if all was good for the complete re-start. Perez would start from the second row this time as Johnson once again led the field into turn one flowed by Travis Petton the 2nd, Jim Wood, Jim Ottele, Larkin Wight, and Perez. By lap two Johnson was getting away at the front as he turned the second overall fastest lap time of the night at 15.22 seconds and Perez had made a move that saw him up to fifth dropping Wight to sixth. By lap four Johnson was eight bike lengths in front of Petton who now had Wood just a couple bike lengths off his back side pressuring. Perez had also caught Ottele who was still in fourth. On a side note Perez didn't need to pass Ottele as the front four were experts and Perez is an amateur and at this point was in first for his class. But this didn't sway Perez as with two laps remaining on the exit from turn two Perez put a wheel under Ottele, got a drive and shot past down the back straight into fourth. At the finish the order remained the same with Johnson winning in convincing style, Petton second hounded by Wood, Perez fourth (1st Am.), Ottele fifth, Wight sixth, Bill Wright seventh and Dan Kane eighth.


#71m Joh Nunes made his trip from up north in King City a good one as he posted the ninth overall fastest lap time of the evening at 15.53 seconds en-route to a convincing victory in the Vet +35 main event..

A former Perris Pro main event winner opted to enter the Vet +35 class which he was within his rights to do so having put in the right amount of years on the third rock from the sun. Jon Nunes from King City California has been there and done that so to speak, he's no stranger to racing or oval dirt tracks. Nunes shot to the front from the start, had a fastest lap time of 15.53 seconds and basically put on a school for Paul Ott, Paul Herman, Joel Kath and Eric Cleveland. With two laps complete Nunes had a fourteen bike length gap over the battle waging for second between Ott and Herman (both fast in their own right) who had in turn left Kath and Cleveland to fight over fourth. At the finish Nunes took the victory with over a three second gap as Ott picked up his pace to break free from Herman's attack to secure second and Kath won the war with Cleveland for fourth.


#89 Danny Perkins with a new set of Rosa number plates (rumored to not allow dirt to stick to them) continues to impress. Perkins lowered his lap time to 15.39 seconds as he won the Bomber Main event by over a full straightaway.

Of late Danny Perkins seems to own the Bomber class, the epic battles between Perkins and Travis Petton the 2nd just haven't materialized for the last few rounds as Petton seems to have a lot of mechanical gremlins that hold him back. Perkins led off the start with Paul Herman second and Tim McWhorter third while Keith Bradford was left sitting on the starting line giving everyone at least a twenty yard head start before he got going. With three laps complete Perking was racing the track and no one else as he lowered his lap time to a blistering 15.39 seconds on a thirty five year old motorcycle. By lap five Bradford was in his rhythm and had worked his way up to third past McWhorter but Herman was too far gone and time was short, this made the final tally Perkins (by over three seconds out front) Herman, Bradford, and McWhorter.


The Open Novice class was so big it had three heats and two main events. In the faster of the two, the "A" main twelve riders staged two rows deep with young Allison Stacey reading starter Rudy Gil perfectly to nail the start and lead through turns one and two. Purl Pitzonlza ran second with Corey Bauman third, Sean Heeney fourth, Jimmy Gillen Fifth and John Garcia jr. sixth. Lap two saw Stacey put in a 16.04 second lap attempting to get away but the field was evenly matched and though she did have the fastest lap of the race Garcia, Pitzonlza, and Heeney also ran in the sixteen second bracket. Entering turn one for the third time Bauman went past Pitzonlza for second with Garcia also on a forward march from his sixth place start. With all this fighting behind her Stacey smooth and mistake free stretched out an eight bike length gap over Bauman in second by lap five. The biggest battle now was for third between Pitzonlza, Garcia and Heeney as Curtis Pimentel and Roy Stafford were working their way forward while Gillen was slipping backward and would eventually finish in eighth. Coming to the white flag first and second positions were pretty much set but Garcia made a push past Pitzonlza for third dropping Pitzonlza to fourth with Heeney settling for fifth. This gave Stacey a much earned and deserved second victory for the night having already won an 85cc main event earlier.


Rich Hanson led the Open Amateur class off the line flowed by Paul Ott, Brad Rudy and Paul Herman. Ott showed Hanson a wheel entering turn one the second time but couldn't make the attempt at the lead stick. On the second trip through turn four Rudy made a mistake and went wide allowing Herman past for third. Then exiting turn two for the third time Ott got a drive and shot past Hanson to take over at the front. Once up front Ott put his head down and turned the fastest lap of the race at 15.80 seconds (the only rider to enter the fifteen second bracket) all while Dave Reinhard was finding his rhythm and recovering from a so, so start and was past Joel Kath up to fifth. Back up front Ott was pulling away with an eight bike length gap over Hanson. By the white flag the order was set as Reinhard had worked past Rudy for fourth making the finishing order Ott, Hanson, Herman, Reinhard, Rudy, Kath, and Dylan Morin.



#58 Brandon Bates and #43 A Jay Hateley


Round five's Pro Main event winner #44s Robert Bush actually had a much more impressive ride at round six. Bush was in sixth place entering turn one and had to fight his way through the field to finish a strong third. His fastest lap was 15.36 seconds.

After the introductions (while all was quite) to the spectators of the pro field they were staged for the final race of the evening's program, the twenty lap pro main event. Two thousand eleven pro champion David Bush showed the field how to get a great start as he shot into the lead into turn one from the middle of the front row. Ajay Hateley (a former pro main winner at Perris) quickly dropped in behind David bush with Brandon Rothell left stunned, last to leave the starting lines. With one lap complete and the field settling down Brandon Bates, who has been mostly absent from the dirt track scene for the past few years was running third and applying pressure to Hateley. But on lap two Bates went wide allowing Jim Rosa to go past into third and the question was had Bates lost his edge or at least was just rusty from lack of seat time. Robert Bush (round #5 pro main winner) at this point was up to fifth from a sixth place start with Nick Armstrong in sixth and Brandon Rothell up to seventh. Back at the front Hateley who had his father John (former national #98) doing the wrenching on his bike this night was giving David Bush all he could handle in the fight to take over the lead. Lap four had Bates go back past Rosa into third while Hateley shot under David Bush exiting turn two to take the lead away. On the next run through turn one Bates attacked David Bush as well and moved into second position. Bates who by this point had found his pace had locked his cross hairs on Hateley and wanted a victory on his new Yamaha. On lap seven Robert Bush saw the two leaders getting away and on the exit from turn two made a move on his brother David to take over the third place spot while Rosa was looking tired and had faded to sixth. On lap eight in turn two Bates pounced on Hateley and took over up front, the question now was did Bates have the stamina to hold the lead over a fit Hateley. By the half way point Armstrong had dropped David Bush (whose bike just didn't seem to want to turn) another rung on the ladder to fifth as Nick Gil had finally found his pace and was attacking Rothell and Rosa. Bates at the front put in the fastest lap of the night at 15.00 seconds but Hateley was all over him showing him a wheel in every corner, this one would go all the way to the finish and come down to who might make the slightest mistake. As the laps wound down Bates must not have been able to believe he was in the lead as he kept looking over his shoulder to check behind him, every time he did Hateley was there. Bates made a few mistakes going a little wide a couple of times which got a reaction from the crowd as Hateley would pull alongside but was never able to make a move stick. With five laps remaining Hateley (who has never stepped in gum) was so close to Bates he could reach out and touch him, was trying everything he could to make a pass. This was shaping up to be one of the closest pro mains in Perris history. With three to go Hateley ran it in hard and just tagged Bates rear wheel which cost Hateley a couple of bike lengths. At the white flag the two leaders were separated by less than a bike length and Gil had found his way around Rosa for sixth place. Entering turn three for the final time Bates was smart and protected the inside line which kept Hateley from having any chance at the victory short of knocking Bates off the track (not an option for Hateley as he's a very clean rider). As they came to the checkered flag 1/10th of a second separated first and second making this the closest finish of a pro main event on the Perris oval. Robert Bush took a very impressive third with Armstrong fourth, David Bush fighting to hold onto fifth, Gil in sixth, and Rosa finishing in seventh.

This closed out round six of the S.C.F.T.A. with rounds seven and eight being a double header on Aug. 11th & 12th mark your calendars!



#95 Tom Ferguson seems to be getting used to Jim McMurren's H.D. Sprint. At round six Ferguson lowered his lap times out of the seventeen second brackett to 16.90 seconds in the Classic Vintage 750cc-500cc-250cc final..


Race Results   July 14th 2012

50cc 4 stk Beginner

1.    Aiden Walters

2.    Ethan Walters

50cc 2 stk Beginner

1.    Colin Petton

85cc 2 stk  Beginner

1.    James Ott

2.    Travis Petton

3.    Jace Callison

4.    Alysa Flores

5.    Jimmy Gillen

6.    Frank Flores

7.    Noah Bush

8.    Grant Holmes

9.    Reece Watowa

10.    Aolani Francis

85cc 2 stk Novice

1.    Allison Stacey

85cc 4 stk Novice

1.    Sean Heeney

2.    Justin Hanson

3.    Moncia Gil

85cc 4 stk Beginner

1.    Frank Flores

2.    Noah Bush

3.    Evan Harich

70cc 4stk Beginner

1.    Ava Bush

0cc  4stk Novice

1.    Evan Harich

2.    James Ott

65cc 2 stk Novice

1.    Travis Petton

2.    Grant Holmes

3.    Jace Callison

Premier Seniors 70yrs +

1.    Gary Lane

2.    Mel Stoner

3.    Allan Girdler

Speciality Bikes

1.    James Rust

2.    Jake Bussey

Senior +50 Novice

1.    Corey Bauman

2.    Curtis Pimentel

3.    Fred Berger

4.    Greg Powell

5.    Paul Claybaugh

6.    Danny Manthis

Super Senior + 60

1.    Vince Graves

2.    DeWayne Jones

3.    David Molitor

Senior +50 Experts

1.    Jeff Johnson

2.    Travis Petton

3.    Jim Wood

4.    Jim Ottele

5.    Dan Kane

Senior + 50 Amateur

1.    John Perez

2.    Larkin Wight

3.    Bill Wright

Vets + 35

1.    Jon Nunes

2.    Paul Ott

3.    Paul Herman

4.    Joel Kath

5.    Eric Cleveland

Vintage 250-360 2stk Novice and Experts

250cc Novice

1.    Michael Fritz

250 cc Expert

      1. Will Ott

360cc Novice

1.    Rick Logan

2.    Gary Lane

Open Unclassified Non Paying.

1.    Nick Armstrong

2.    Branden Rothell

3.    Dyan Morin

4.    Sean Heeney

Vintage 750cc

1.    James Ottele

2.    Shannon Adams

3.    Dylan Morin

Classic Vintage 500-750cc

1.    Tom Ferguson

2.    Lenny Rodriguez

3.    Joe Pape

Classic Vintage 20cc

1.    Fred Berger

Bomber

1.    Danny Perkins

2.    Paul Herman

3.    Keith Bradford

4.    Tim McWhorter

Open Novice A Main

1.    Allison Stacey

2.    Corey Bauman

3.    John Garcia Jr

4.    Purl Pitzonlza

5.    Sean Heeney

6.    Curits Pimentel

7.    Roy Stafford

8.    Jimmy Gillen

9.    Tom Brown

10.    Brian Bell

11.    Moncia Gil

12.    Paul Claybaugh

Open Novice B Main

1.    Andrew Harding

2.    Monty Watowa

3.    Eric Cleveland

4.    Jaycee Jones

Open Amatuer

1.    Paul Ott

2.    Rich Hanson

3.    Paul Herman

4.    Dave Reinhard

5.    Brad Rudy

6.    Joel Kath

7.    Dylan Morin

8.    Harly Legowski

Pro

1.    Brandon Bates

2.    Ajay Hateley

3.    Robert Bush

4.    Nick Armstrong

5.    David Bush

6.    Nick Gil

7.    Jim Rosa

8.    Brandon Rothell

9.    Ian Folds