2009 NEOC Harescramble Season Finale

Round 9

October 3rd & 4th

Cumberland County Fairgrounds 2

Millville NJ 

RESULTS

Check out TimD Photo Imaging while you wait for the videos and other pics. He got wicked cool shots of everyone stylin over the jumps and going through the Dead Woods

Rd 9 Season Finale. When I sat down to write my story for this event I drew a blank. What do I say that won’t make me sound like a babbling ninkumpoop? How do I put all my feelings and thoughts into words that others will want to read, lol, or even understand? I decided to just start at the beginning of the weekend and let it flow out on its own and hope for the best, so here goes…..

MEGATRON OFFROAD EXTRAVAGANZA is my first thought. 700+ riders, 2200+ spectators. Never, when we sat down and talked about starting a racing series, did those numbers ever occur to us. Riders came from the state of Maine to North Carolina. We had such a good time and from the looks on all the other faces, I do believe you guys did too. What an incredible year. All we can say is that we will always try to give you the best family racing experience in our power, after all, that is what we wanted for ourselves as well and now it has completely taken on a life force of its own. Who was the guy that said "Build it and they will come"? That thought keeps going through my mind. All of us together, including you, are building it faster, bigger and stronger then any dream you could have. Pinch me please! (but don’t wake me because I love this dream)

Friday night the parking lot started filling up with campers and trailers. Everyone was making their home away from home camps with all their racing buddies. It was really cool too because a lot of them only lived 5 minutes down the road. NEOC crew was doing last minute adjustments and finishing touches to the track. Food vendors were prepping to feed the masses, which I doubt they could have prepped enough for what came knocking on the door. We were nervous about the forecast that was being passed around but low and behold Mother Nature, for the very first time this season, DID NOT give us some sort of storm to go up against. She skirted it around us and gave us blue skies and a breeze as if to say "job well done guys, here’s my blessing and have a great last race!"

Saturday morning came mighty early after a restless night of sleep, strictly from nerves and anxiety over "OMG the last race of the year, I hope it goes good" and "OMG did we remember this, did we remember that" and "OMG what if this happens, what if that happens" but as it turns out "OMG we did remember this & that and OMG this & that never happened either"

Lady T opened sign ups early because of the line that was forming, which by the way, never went away until almost 1pm on Sunday and neither did the line coming and going through the gate. The poor girls (and Mean Gene) working those stations never saw the light of day til it was over. We thank all of them for doing an outstanding job not just this race but every event they worked this year. Lots of times they didn’t get to see their own kid race because they were willing (handcuffed) to stay up there until we closed. We thank you for the sacrifice because without a sign up, lets face it, there would be no race, bottom line.

High Noon 21 Tikes on Bikes bumbled to the start with wide eyes full of the unknown and excitement. They did the same whoop section as Rd 1 but we added the Tire Mountain for their challenge of choice. They were the first ones to tackle the new obstacle and they set the bar super high for the rest of the riders. Total success, piece of cake. I think everyone else did the Tire Mountain because they didn’t want to be showed up by a Tike. The crowd was cheering and clapping and so proud of these little youngins. They just set the world on fire for us. Its always our favorite event of the weekend because it’s 100% real and so wonderful to be part of their very first race. We hope they will always look back and remember it as the best race they ever rode, especially when some of them are signing their autographs for their fans!

1pm 38 Oil Injected youngins lined up clear across the city of Millville again. For the 2010 season we will be splitting this class into 2 championships. I do believe all will agree that it is warranted. 4-6 OI and 7-8 OI.  Geez, did you see them take off for the holeshot and be tapped out already by the time they got to the top of the flat track turn. Helloooo, They’re oil injected bikes! Your first thought when you see these guys are "awe look how cute and geez I hope they will be okay and aren’t to scared with out me with them". Then when you see them do that all on their own, your only thought is HOLY CRAP! Anyway, these guys had an hour to show us what they are made of and they sure did just that. They were the first to go through the "Dead Woods" but it didn’t seem to bother them one bit. Now you may say, "Well their bars are narrow and bikes smaller", this is all true, however, with no real experience at this like the guys with wider bars and bigger bikes, they still had to muster up the courage and choose which path to take through the Dead Woods all by themselves not to mention the Tire Mountain they climbed and conquered. So, with all that said, the first OI youngin to come to the flag was #55 Tyler "Wild Child" Massie and hot on his tail for second was #280  Tom Cat Lloyd. This whole class has had an incredible year of battles and growth in both skills and size. Super excited for next year with this group.

3pm 80 PeeWees came to the front lines ready, willing and able to take on the Fairgrounds for the last time this season. 7-9 65 had a new face come to town and take the lead #232 Ricky Randanella was his name and winning was his game. #312 Sal Cusimano in hot pursuit kept second the whole time while #20 Ryan Hall secured third. Our 4 Stroke Thumper Class for the first time this year had a new name at the top #140 Brock Lore, great ride kiddo. 2^nd place having his best finish this season was #154 Brandon Algarin and after a nasty spill on the tire mountain that scared the bageebies outta everyone #90 Malcolm "High Flyer" Hill took 3^rd place.  4-8 50 top 3 finishers are in the same order as the final Championship order, first place #38 Brandon Gahm, second place #136 Colby Davis and third #185 John Manera. Great racing boys. 10-12 EL Finishing the year with his third 1^st place #197 Nick Layton, #244 Sam Pettit ended the year on his best finish ever with second and third place securing his place at the banquet #68 Austin Hentges. 4-9 EL top 3 finishers also ending the same as the year end championship  First #618 Cortney Abrams, second #125 Chris Blackburn and third #92 Tyler Riggins and I have to give a shout out to fourth place for ending the year with his best finish ever #117 Ryan Gross. That was an awesome year of racing for all you guys! Thanks for always giving it every thing you have and showing us that there are no limits when you dare to dream!

5pm 72 Adult Pitsters came to the line barkin and yankin at their chains ready to take on the Dead Woods and the Tire Mountain but I think the coolest thing they did was the flat track. Man, did they have it all hangin out on the ragged edge or what?! To see these guys out there during this race you would swear it wasn’t the same person when you see them in their regular races. They go nuts out there on the pit bikes. I don’t know if it is because they are havin too much fun out there dicing it up with their buddies or they really are just plain nuts in the head and we only see it when they are relaxed and there is no pressure. What ever the reason is, I don’t care because I love every bit of it! They were stylin over the jumps, sweeping the grass track and just completely tapped out on the flat track. Sick in the head I tell ya! Top 5 overall Sick Dogs are #44 Alan Jessat, #196 Sean Gaughan, #72 Carmen Simonetti, #518 Scott Kalnas and #234 Nick Curiale. As for the 36 Youth Pitsters that came to the line, well, they are always giving us a show. All they want to do is ride, ride and ride some more. The more they ride the better they get, the better they get, the better the show for us! Knock our socks off kids. Top 5 Sick Pups are #90 Malcolm "High flyer" Hill, #388 Cody "Rockstar" Reeves, #189 John Lawton, #125 Chris Blackburn and #138 Maverick Reiner. What a cool year it has been with the pit bikes. We expect to have even bigger turn outs for the pits because everyone just wants to go out and have fun and that is exactly what you do when you’re out there during this event. OH YEAH, I almost forgot to mention a special class that came to line for this event. NEOC Moms! We had decided that just for fun, and a show, a bunch of us moms that help with the races would go out behind the Fawns and do a lap or two. Well boy o boy did it turn into something special. SOOOOOOOO many moms were excited about us being out there and wanting to do it also. We heard your voice and after putting all the men in a headlock with a few noogies thrown in the there for good measure, we convinced them to make a MAMA DOE class! More details about that later. I, myself, did go out there and ride and had an absolute blast! Well, once I had someone else get my bike started for me I did. Man, I was flyin out there, I had ‘er pinned, tapped out, passin people left and right…….and then all the kids started lapping me like I was standing still and I realized that it was just all in my head, I actually never made it out of second gear and I the people I passed were other moms that fell over. Yes, you can laugh, it was a funny sight. BUT I did 3 laps, only stalled twice, did the tire mountain and the dead woods with no injuries to myself or others. It was a real good time. Thanks to all that cheered us on and helped pick our bikes up.

We always look forward to Saturday night for 2 reasons. First reason is just out of relief that the first day of racing is completed and the second reason is because we get to let our hair down a little and have some fun and fun is what we had. Pitbike Barrel Racing made its debut at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds with a full harvest moon high above. 38 Barrel racers lined up to strut their stuff. Top 3 in the Youth division were Malcolm Hill 20.93, Maverick Reiner 21.43 and William Sigler 21.81, top 3 in Adults were Carmen Simonetti 18.88, Ryan Klair 18.97 and Vern Wood 19.00. What a neat and fun display. I guarantee we will be doing it again.  While the guys were playing cowboys and Indians the band fired up and filled the City of Millville with some rockin tunes. By 11 o’clock the band was done and we were all heading to bed to get some rest for the next days events, except for Greg, who stayed out til after midnight watering the track and howling at the moon...We love ya man!

6am Sunday morning the coffee pot was already tapped into with another one started. Everyone went to their stations early because we knew what was coming just from the looks of the parking lot and the line at the gate that was forming. By 8am the fairgrounds was filling up and Chuckie was givin the call for all the youth to get to the line. 8:30 Brian echoed the 10 second count, Todd dropped the flag and it was on…. AA Youth is always first to blast the barn doors open and man did blow em off the hinges this day. With an intense battle that you couldn’t believe #8 Ryan "Noodle" Klair came to the flags ahead of #95 Chase Rusden by a knobby. They traded places all 10 laps. A total goose bump battle! Thanks for a great year and an awesome show boys. I want to give a shout out to fourth place #981 Dylan Frey for his first race back since his femur break over the summer. You did good kiddo. 12-15 100 winner was a familiar name #564 Robbie Civiletti with second #30 Trevor Stevens hot on his trail and third #103 Jack Hansen not far behind. 14-15 85 was taken by #91 Michael Ward but the battle was on between second and third place #666 Jared "J-Rod" Rodriguez followed by #56 Megan Horseman is how the chips fell. We are very excited about telling you who won the 12-13 85 class because we have seen him grow as a rider since he was on a 50cc and knee high to a grasshopper. #36 Chris "Flash" Gordon was the man today but not without a hard fought battle from #901 Danny "Trucker" Gandy. 10-11 85 winner makes the toughest courses look like a cake walk #109 Thorn "Slappy" Devlin also happened to get 7^th overall, whew boy you can ride! Taking his second win in the 13-15 150 was #694 Julian Harris and right behind for the charge was #71 Kyle Smith with class Champ coming in for a third place finish #777 Andrew Alcorn. 10-11 65 Class Champ took the final win for the season with a commanding lead #122 Dillan Abrams. 10-12 125 Class Champ who had a perfect season is #289 Kevin "Army" Adams. The ELW class had a new name on the winners list after only 2 races with us #615 Shawn Davidson and we hope she will be on line for the start of 2010. She was dicing it out with seasoned riders #629 Samantha Hill and #544 Briana Barnhardt like a pro. This was a super fast track with some pretty cool obstacles and jumps thrown in the mix. All of these youth riders did an exceptional job navigating through everything; even the beginner kids did a great job. We know a lot of these youth will be moving up to the adults and most will be going straight to the Main Event. 2010 is going to be a huge year for everyone because the level of competition that has developed and the size of the classes have just massed tremendously. Bring it on, were ready….are you?

By 11 o’clock the food lines were steady and it was shoulder to shoulder people everywhere you looked but nothing would prepare us for the shock of steady influx of the 200 C riders that came through the gate to the starting line. 69 riders were on the C Light class alone. That is Crazy! In all the years we have been doing the racing scene; never have we seen that happen, let alone be smack dab in the middle of it. The rumble off the bikes when they were all still out front together in the beginning was almost breath taking. You could feel the power straight through your whole body and could hear nothing but the bikes. It consumed your whole being. It was thee coolest thing I ever felt, lol, and saw for that matter. How about when they all went through the Dead Woods for the first time? I don’t know how that didn’t turn into a pile tooth picks. So the top dogs for this event had their grips full and they earned their places. C Heavy #910 Darren Huff, C 4Stroke #126 Jason Dowgiallo, C 4Stroke #861 Mark Glassford, C4 Stroke #92 Lou Bianchino, C Heavy #301 Ryan Nardy and C Light #202 Johnathan Davis. These fellas will be moving to the Main Event next year and they will do just fine this I am positive about!

1:30 and its time for the main event to go off. The sky is baby blue with big soft clouds all over. The pits are full of gas cans, the fences are lined with people and the bleachers are filling up. Everyone is waiting for Todd to give the 10 second count and Chuckie to drop the flag. They do and for two hours we get to watch the fastest guys on two wheels do their magic over the jumps, through the dead woods, around the flat track and go from the woods to the grass track like spreading soft butter, smooth and easy. The top A riders were the Rodgers brothers #5 Eric and #356 Ryan for first and second, A Vet #196 Sean Gaughan, A Heavy #311 Joey Ford and fifth overall AA #1 Kevin Bennett. Top 5 B riders were just as amazing as the A riders and I am sure those guys were lookin over their shoulders at them the whole time. 8^th Overall B Heavy winner #240 Kyle Bylsma and just straight out of the youth 10^th overall and B Light winner #504 Tanner "Wildman" Thomas. 15^th overall and Schoolboy winner #130 Russ "the Dog" Sheppard. It’s amazing to see some of these names in the top 15 overall for the main event because we have been watching them race and grow up since they were on 50’s and now they are just blowing the knobbys off of everything they race. We are truly honored to be able to say that we have watched and been a part of their racing lives. The scary thing is that the older and faster they get the older and slower we get! One day I will put together all of my pictures and videos that I have accumulated over the years and share them with all of you. You too will truly be amazed at what you see and you will have a new found respect for these kids and what they have accomplished with their dreams. I want to share them with the new beginner kids too that might not have the confidence or self assurance in their riding ability, they will see that all these wicked fast older kids (adults now) started out exactly like them but they never quit, never said can’t and FUN was always the reason they raced. LOL, I also have all the parents in the pictures and videos too, but I will use them for black mail….hee hee hee!

THANK YOU FOR AN INCREDIBLE SECOND YEAR OF RACING WITH THE NEOC FAMILY. WE THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN US AND TAKING PART IN MAKING THIS MOST COMPETITVE AND FUN FAMILY SERIES AROUND.

A Special thanks to EVERYONE that gave up their time, muscle and sweat to help make each and every race the absolute best it could be. You took pride and care in what you did for the series and it showed. We are humbled and grateful and the luckiest people on earth!

See everyone at the banquet December 5^th. Info will be posted shortly.

HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEN AND THANKSGIVING!