SCFTA - Round 4

April 20th, 2013

Photos by Janice Blunt

Article by Jamey Blunt

Entering turn one is where #17r Nick Gil made his move
on #43 (Pro Class Champion) AJ Hateley. Hateley led the first 3/4 of the
twenty lap final, but Gil watched and studied Hateley then pounced and went on
for his first pro victory...




That's all folks! Nick Gil the K&N pilot on his first
pro victory lap....




The Bomber main event, though minus a few players
still had a stacked field. #89 Danny Perkins, #6 Joe Steffen, #82e
Travis Petton Jr., #69 Richard Fox, #26 Steele Friedrich, #50 Dan
Kane and #33 Keith Bradford...




 After a single file re-start, which left three laps remaining
Travis Petton #82e really put his head down to take the lead with two laps
to go. Early leader #89 Danny Perkins has engine trouble at this point and #6
Joe Steffen watches on from third.


 

The start of the Classic Vintage main saw everyone pretty even
off the line #2 Joe Pape, #28d Ron Lessley, #95 Tom Ferguson, #58y Jim Ottele,
#4r Lenny Rodriguez, #14 James Kohls and #97 Jeremy Berger....




#28d Ron Lessley on the Bultaco Bandito emerged the fastest of
the class with help from Mike Gonzales.... Lessley's fastest lap on this brakless
mount was 16.12 seconds!




#3j DeWayne Jones who has spent years campaigning a Cr-500cc
two-stroke switched to the 450cc four-stroke Honda and it all paid off.
Jones won the Super-Senior +60 final.... #22 is David Molitor , #68
is Gary Lane. Jones also turned an impressive 15.83 second lap time.




This is how close Jeff Lessley #12e) stayed to
John Kocinski #47 in the Vintage 250 &360cc Expert Main event.
Lap times were so close as Kocinski just edged Lessley by 2/1000th
of a scond. (15.42 to Lessley's 15.44) Lessley is also only one of two
riders to ever pass Kocinski at Perris....




John Kocinski showed up at Perris without any of his
own motorcycles ready to race. The answer, Mr. Ed put Kocinski
on one of his bikes. In what was the race of the night Kocinski fought
long and hard to keep his undefeated streak alive.




Preston Petty is over seventy years old. Don't ever think
age has made him any less competitive, it hasn't. Petty
hit the deck a few times and was always quick to his feet
and finished fourth in the Premier Senior final. His fastest
lap time was 17.54 seconds. (Note-NO GLOVES!)

#26 Steele Fredrich had a rough start to his night
at Perris. He was one of three on the ground in the Bomber final,
but recovered well to take the victory in the Senior 50+
Novice Main event!!!His fastest lap was 15.94 seconds...
The only rider to break into the fifteens!!!

The start of the Open Amateur main
had (from pole) #58y Nick Ottele, #27 Rich Hanson,
#19v Joel Kath, #88 Bill Britt, #22 Jimmy Gillen, #53 Corey Bauman,
#07 Allison Stacey.

 #22 Jimmy Gillen came out on top in the
Open Amateur final, he also turned in the fastest lap time
at 15.59 seconds..

 The start of the Open Novice final saw # 208 Jeremy Templeman,
#558 Brandon Watters, #17d Danny Manthis, #295 Chad Cooper, #89 Eric Cleveland,
#62 Derric Porter, (2nd Row) #488 John Gronek and #44 Scott Hanson go at it with Cooper
topping the field.

 #295 Chad Cooper not only won the Open
Novice final, he had the single fastest lap as well at
16.06 seconds!

 

Jeff Johnson rode Mr.Ed's #47 framer to win the Senior 50+
expert main. #12e Jeff Lessley on the smaller displaced Bultaco
kept him honest as #58y Jim Ottele lost touch as the race wore on.
Johnson's fastest lap time was 14.97 seconds.

Two time Houston TT winner, former National #98 John Hateley
was in the house helping sort out the ZERO electric motorcycle
for Preston Petty and his own son AJ.

Lucas Oil always has a big presence at Perris.
This was the display inside Gary Lane's pit area
showing the variety of products.

The start of the Vet 35+ class had 12e Paul Ott
on pole. To his right were, #42o Will Ott, #19r Brad Rudy,
#19v Joel Kath, #295 Chris Cooper, #62 Derrick Porter, and
#89 Eric Cleveland.

#12e Paul Ott had the fastest lap time of the
Vet 35+ class at 15.34 seconds. He easily took the victory,
not that Will Ott didn't try hard to stop him. But Will's
smaller displaced machine could only manage a respectful
15.60 second lap time.

Sometimes it's nice to see the face under the helmet.
This is Clayton Williams, he won the 85-100cc 2-stk
Novice main event and turned a 15.82 second lap in
the process...

Porterville's Grant Holmes 7x, topped the
Youth 65-70cc 2-stk novice final. Holmes
posted his fastest lap at 16.86 seconds!

S.C.F.T.A. Round #4 Perris Raceway

4-20-2013

Photos by Janice Blunt / jamey61@verizon.net

Article by Jamey Blunt

Let's dispense with static's up front. At 2:00 P.M. as one rolled through the front gate it was ninety one degrees. However with an early riders meeting scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and practice to immediately follow, by race time the temperatures were pleasantly in the seventies. Even with races running elsewhere on this Saturday night and the Long Beach Grand Prix taking place, the rider count stood at one hundred and five. This made up twenty two heat races and the nineteen main events for the evening. Some of the notable dignitaries on hand were former national #98 John Hateley, former national #11 Jim McMurren, and a true innovator and legend Preston Petty. Both Petty and Hateley were at Perris working on a Zero all electric motorcycle converted to dirt track set up to be raced both by Petty and John's son AJ. Two times World Champion John Kocinski also made the trip to Perris but without his own stable of pristine machinery.

 The Youth 250cc Open class started the night's main events. Justin Hanson launched to the front off the line over Allison Stacey, Clayton Williams, James Ott, and Monica Gil. Two laps in saw both Hanson and Stacey separating themselves from the rest of the field. Stacey who had a rough start to her Saturday with crashes in practice and the heat race had recovered nicely and was closing on Hanson as she posted the fastest lap of the race at 15.89 seconds. On the next go round Stacey took over at the front as Hanson could not keep her at bay, to his credit though Hanson lowered his best lap time to 16.03 seconds. At the white flag Stacey and Hanson were still close until Hanson made a mistake between turns one and two and gave Stacey a couple bike lengths gap which she held to the checkered flag. Hanson came home second followed by Williams, Ott, and Gil.

James Ott shot from the outside of the front row in the 85-100cc 2-stk Novice class to lead into turn one. Travis Petton the second ran up the inside to take over the lead out of turn two with Clayton Williams and Grant Holmes also in the mix. As they crossed the stripe for the completion of lap one Williams had pulled alongside Ott with Petton out front by less than a bike length. With Williams now up to second Petton twisted the throttle harder and put in a 16.39 second lap time but Williams was not deterred and put his head down turning the fastest lap of the race at 15.82 seconds. On the exit from turn four on lap four Petton went wide and left the door open which Williams went through to take over the lead. Ott in third and Holmes in fourth had dropped from the battle at the front and settled in at their positions. Williams would go on for a well deserved victory over Petton by a couple of bike lengths in the final two laps.

Worth noting was the switch from a Honda CR-500cc 2-stk machine to the Honda 450cc mount of DeWayne Jones in the Senior +60 class. The 4-stk bike must agree with Jones as he led from start to finish over David Molitor to take his first main event victory in the class. Also worth mentioning is Billy Katkov in the Men's 4-stk class. The corner speed this rider carries is equal or better than most riders at Perris regardless of the size of their motorcycle. Katkov took his Honda XR-100 to a blistering 16.26 second lap time that no one in the field could match.

Ron Lessley may have had one of the smallest displaced machines in the Classic Vintage 500-750cc Class in the form of his Bultaco El Bandito with help from Mike Gonzales. But he sure put it to good use as he latched on to early leader Joe Pape and his Triumph from the start. Jim Ottele on a non vintage classic machine (750cc Yamaha twin) was away in third, with Tom Ferguson fourth. On the exit from turn four Ferguson moved his H.D. Sprint past Ottele into third as Lessley was studying Pape waiting for the right time to make his move. This was made all the more difficult by the large amount of smoke emitting from Pape's machine making visibility limited. Lessley did make his move however as they crossed the stripe on lap three to take over the lead. By now Pape appeared to be tiring as he made a mistake the next run through turn four that allowed Ferguson to close in and take over second as they entered turn one. At the front Lessley now with clear sailing turned a 16.12 second lap, but it was Ferguson with the fastest lap of the race at 16.07 seconds. However this was too little too late as time ran out and Lessley cruised home to the earned victory over Ferguson, Pape, James Kohls, and Lenny Rodriguez. (Ottele, it was later stated, was deleted from the results and was in this class just getting seat time.)

The Open Unclassified is a run what you brung field. From smaller displaced bikes to open class bikes, and on this night an all electric bike. Jimmy Gillen nailed the start to lead into turn one over Chad Foster AJ Hateley, Colt Foster and Allison Stacey. Chad Foster quickly displaced Gillen for the lead and started pulling away from the rest of the field. Hateley at this point not wanting Chad to get away was putting Gillen under pressure but was fighting with the Zero all electric bike as its suspension looked to be a little off. At the front Chad Foster turned the fastest lap of the race at 15.16 seconds as Colt Foster now had entered the fight for second with Gillen and Hateley. Then entering turn one on lap three Hateley had had enough and took over the second place position and quickly picked up his pace putting in a 15.32 second lap time as he came to terms with the Zero. As they came to the finish the order was Chad Foster, Hateley, Gillen holding off Colt Foster and Stacey.

The Otts sat side by side on the front row of the Vet 35+ main event. It was Paul Ott on the 450cc machine who led into turn one over Will Ott on his vintage 250cc 2-stk mount followed by Brad Rudy and Joel Kath. From the start Paul Ott looked to be on a mission and stretched his lead with every lap, also posting the fastest lap of the race at 15.34 seconds. It was clear everyone else would be racing for second, well not if will Ott had anything to say about it, as by lap two he started to leave the rest of the field behind as well turning a 15.60 second lap time. In third Rudy was under attack from Kath and picked up his lap time to 16.00 seconds flat. A full straight away behind ran Derrick Porter in fifth with Chris Cooper in sixth, and Eric Cleveland in seventh. When the checkered flag emerged Paul Ott held a four and a half gap for the victory over Will Ott, with Rudy finishing mistake free in third holding Kath at by in fourth.

Joe Steffen had the quickest reaction time in the Bomber main event and left the line first but Danny Perkins slipped underneath to lead the field out of turn two. Steele Fredrich ran in third with Travis Petton Jr. in fourth, Dan Kane in fifth, Keith Bradford sixth, and Richard Fox seventh. Just after the completion of lap two Petton was up into third and pressuring Steffen for second while Perkins had an eighteen bike length gap at the front. On the next trip through turn three Petton shot past Steffen to take over at second while in turn one and two three riders were down, this being Bradford, Fredrich, and Kane bringing out the red flag stopping the race. This would cause a single file restart eliminating Perkins large gap he had built at the front and giving Petton and Steffen a second shot at a victory. Perkins led the re-start and looked like he was going to get away but then seemed to slow, and this combined with Petton's 14.94 second lap time saw Petton take the lead away on the exit from turn four on lap six. Just after the white flag Steffen  went past Perkins as well on the exit from turn two as Perkins appeared to be having problems. The final tally was Petton, Steffen, Perkins, Fox, and Kane, with Bradford and Fredrich not making the re-start.

The Senior 50+ Novice main event had three riders starting from the penalty row after jumping the start; they were Greg Powell, Tim Watters and Fred Berger. Steele Fredrich making up for his bomber race led from the start and appeared to have his mind set on the victory. Paul Claybaugh ran in second with Roy Stafford third. By the completion of the first lap Stafford was up to second and Watters had worked his way from the penalty line into fourth with Powell fifth. Out front Fredrich was the only rider capable of running sub sixteen second lap times with his fastest being 15.94 seconds. Claybaugh went wide against the crash wall in turns one and two on lap three handing over third place to Watters. By lap five Fredrich was long gone at the front as Berger was making his way forward and would ultimately finish in fifth behind Powell as he dropped Claybaugh to sixth. Fredrich would win with over a five second gap over Stafford who barely held off Watters who was a close third.

Just when you think two or three riders on a race track is about as exciting as watching paint dry along comes John Kocinski, Jeff Lessley, and Will Ott to prove this notion wrong. In what was the best race of the night, the 250cc-360cc 2-stk Expert class, anticipation was high as Jeff Lessley who is only one of two riders to have ever passed Kocinski at Perris had the crowd on their feet screaming during their heat race. The field may have been small but everyone stood as these three left the line for the start of their main event. Lessley reacted quickest but Kocinski was on pole and shot up the inside moving Lessley and Ott slightly to the outside as he took the lead. Kocinski looked to be fighting the handling of the Mr. Ed's Yamaha as he hugged the pole keeping Lessley glued to his back wheel. Ott was a few bike lengths back trying different lines waiting for something to happen in front of him that might give him an opening. Lessley at 15.44 seconds was a match to Kocinski's 15.42 second lap time and appeared the smoother of the two as he waited for a mistake that might give him an opportunity to take the lead. Remember Kocinski is a world and national champion and mistakes don't come very often, unfamiliar bike or not. This race would go the distance with Kocinski keeping his undefeated streak in tact in front of Lessley and Ott. On a side not Jeff Lessley was admitted to the hospital on Sunday for surgery and we are happy to report all went well and he will be home soon. This had nothing to do with his race!

Brandon Watters led the Open Novice final with Chad Cooper in second, Derrick Porter in third and Jeremy Templeman in fourth. At the front Watters had opened an eight bike length gap over Cooper who in turn held a sixteen bike length gap over Porter in third. Just as things were getting strung out Porter went down in turn three stopping the race and closing everything back up with a single file re-start. Watters led the re-start with Scott Hanson shooting from sixth to fourth by turn two. The next run through turn one and Watters almost threw it away and looked to be having bike problems as Cooper took over the lead. Cooper would finish the lap for the victory over Watters with Templeman moving up to third and Hanson staying at fourth with Porter climbing back up to fifth from last place on the re-start.

From the start the twenty lap Pro final was class champion AJ Hateley's to lose. Hateley led off the line with Nick Gil second, Paul Ott third, Colt Foster fourth, and Chad Foster fifth. Three laps in saw Hateley, Gil, and Ott shake the rest of the field as Hateley turned his fastest lap of the race at 14.96 seconds. By lap five Ott had slipped back a couple of bike lengths while Gil was matching Hateley's pace watching, studying and waiting. A couple of times Gil even tapped the back wheel of Hateley testing the water so to speak. Lap after lap Gil appeared faster through turns one and two while Hateley was faster through turns three and four. Around lap seven Hateley took a long look over his shoulder, which isn't a good sign and you could almost feel the smile from Gil looking back at him. By the half way point this war was between Hateley and Gil as Ott had faded and Hateley held only a three bike length gap at best. On lap eleven Hateley had a big bobble in turn two and Gil closed the gap and even had to check up. As the laps wound down Chad Foster had caught Ott and was pressuring for third only to go down between turns one and two. Around lap fifteen Hateley went real wide on the exit from turn four and Gil pulled alongside as they crossed the stripe. Entering turn one Gil took over the lead by virtue of his inside position and Hateley twisted the throttle a little too hard loosing traction on the exit from turn two giving Gil a few bike lengths breathing room. Gil at the front could be getting his first ever pro main event victory as he stayed smooth and mistake free in front of Hateley. Hateley in turn matched Gil's pace but couldn't gain any ground with Gil going on to taste victory in the Pro ranks for the first time. It's been a couple years in the making since Gil moved to the 450cc machines, but this night made all the hard work worthwhile. Gil's father Rudy had an ear to ear grin as Nick took his victory lap.

Round five of the S.C.F.T.A. is scheduled for May 18^th, another Saturday night race.

Results 4/20/2013