Rd 1 CCFG March 13 & 14 Story

Okay, I am just gonna say it…We had our butts handed to us and our balls busted to boot! I apologize, I know that is not a proper or politically correct thing to say, but it is exactly what I am thinking! The Entire NEOC Work Crew, Spectators, Riders, Pit Crews & Fairgrounds alike all got dealt the same raw deal (actually the entire northeast). But…..with rain comes flowers and as bad as the weather got and as tired, discouraged and disheartened we became a very funny thing started happening. People started showing up in the rain. The harder the rain fell it seemed like the more people were arriving. People were smiling. People were laughing and people were standing in the rain cheering for their riders out in the worst racing conditions I have ever seen. People were pitching in right along side of the NEOC workers getting muddy, wet and beat up helping riders and keeping the course together. Not just before and during the race but after the event, too. Monday still in the rain and nasty weather a whole crew of people showed up in the mud to tear down the rest of the course. This was by far the hardest event we have ever had to pull off and it was done purely on the inner strength of the NEOC Workers, Riders, Pit Crews & Spectators. Having said all that I guess I can’t be sorry or regret that it was our opener for Season Three because we got to see just how strong a Nor’easter could be…..Having said that also, we have decided to change our slogan from "can you survive a nor’easter" to "welcome to sunny day racing".

Alright, so lets talk about round 1 of season 3 and the racing that came to be. Ha, didn’t know I was a poet did ya!

560+ riders, 1300+ spectators, 3+ inches of rain, 40+ winds gusts and one helluva time! This one definitely goes in the books. We thought for sure this was going to be a washout, no pun intended, but it turned out to be anything but that. Our only cancellation of the weekend was the new tutor time program at 11am. The next event scheduled was for 12 noon. We had 13 Tikes on Bikes waiting anxiously to find out if they were going to be able to be the first ones to run for the season. Rain, wind, mud and nerves were no match for the determination inside these little troopers. They did an outstanding job setting the bar high for the season. We thank and commend all the parents that pushed aside their own nerves and allowed their little ones to take part in this event. You made the sun shine down on us!

1pm both Oil Injected classes rolled to the line and so did the bigger rain clouds. They faced the storm head on like it was something they do every day. Amazing is the only real adjective you can use when you talk about these specific classes. We knew when we separated and broke them down they would excel but had no idea just how much until today. 7-8 OI #841 Zeppy Wright took the win on the second lap and never looked back, #316 Jonathan Miller fought hard and grabbed second on his last lap leaving #86 Devin Macavoy to take third for his own. In the 4-6 OI we had some hot shoes battling it out the whole race with #89 Wayne Cox having his best race ever by taking the win and second overall, he’s a mudder! #237 Tyler Kowalski kept a steady bead on the back tires of the front runners to make sure he secured second and forth overall. #917 Devon Devico was right there to grab third for his best race also. I have to give a shout out to #642 Allen Adkins who ran first and second overall the whole race until he blew ‘er up and gave dad something to tinker with after work.

3pm was time for the Peewees to shine and they couldn’t wait to get to the line. It seemed way to long for them to wait for the first race of the year because they acted like they weren’t even aware of what was laying in wait for them. 7-9 65 winner was the 2009 4-8 50 Champion #38 Brandon Gahm. He ran the water holes like a pro with a familiar name hot on his trail for second place #26 Kyle Tino. The sippy holes tried to get the best of third place but he held strong #64 Neil Enman of Team Caffeine. The Thumper class is carrying its own weight again this year with some fast 4 stroke mudders. A great win for #388 Cody "Rock Star" Reeves. Second place went to #165 Nico Marts but not willingly because he was running strong for the lead until he ate ‘er bad. 4-8 50 was a great race to watch with those little 2 strokers. I can’t believe they made it through the quagmires out there. Tell ya what though, who ever the mechanics are for those bikes (Dad I’m sure) will sure have their work cut out for them. Well, I guess every mechanic for every bike that ran this race will have their hands full making sure they’re in tip top shape in two weeks!! First place #53 Micheal Nirdlinger was a mud skipper the whole time with second #185 Johnny Manera skippin right with ‘em. 10-12 EL was a lot of fun to watch with all those 4 strokes just plowing through everything like tractors. They were parting the muddy seas. First place is a new name on the roster and hope he is here to stay #334 Robert Mcdonel. Second place had his best race ever in the worst conditions ever, we are proud to say #460 Beau Hickman's name. #80 Adam Akers was right there in the battle and any one of these guys could have taken any place in the top three. Awesome battle boys! 4-9 EL Again, I get to talk about a best finish ever with #117 Ryan Gross of GNT Racing for a commanding lead in first place. #705 Hunter Riggins owned second place too. All we can say is that there was no way we were going to hear any adult whine about the rain or racing conditions after what these PWs just had to race in and had no complaints what so ever! They reinforced for us that we made the right decision to go forward with the event. YOU YOUNGINS ROCK!

5pm it was time for the deer herd to start grazing its way to the line. The front line was the new MEGA BUCKS with their modified polished horns. 1^st place went to the biggest mega daddy of all on and off the track #44 Alan Jessat from Racers Edge. 2^nd place is a new set of horns #187 Freddy Brambila with #85 Ryan Klair pulling out third after a fierce battle with Alan and then some bad luck. 12 Pointer Pros are the original pitbikes that let it hang out and that is just what first place did #693 George Harris took home the kitty. The Hansen Brothers gave us all a fun show to watch second #102 Sammy and third #75 Jack kept us laughing and cheering the whole race. Okay, I know that the Young Bucks are third off the line but they sure dominated the course. First place, first overall, strongest and most aggressive in the battle was #27 Cody "I-Beam" Steele. Second place and overall #40 Nicky "Thumper" McCollough and #105 Kelsey "Bruiser" Hartem making her debut in the pitbikes with third place and overall. Now the Ruttin Bucks winner and eigth overall was on his game and we're proud to say his name, #906 Jeremy "Fuzzball" Williams. Second is #56 Megan Horseman and she always keeps the boys in check. Big Slam Daddy winner is a familiar name #402 James Pittman. He always rides with a smile and so does second place #737 Joey Sumpter. Now the Doe class has become a force to be reckoned with for all those bucks out there struttin around. First place was owned by #629 Samantha Hill. Second, place taking her best finish ever, was #785 Ashley Carpenter, I actually babysat her from kindergarten to eight grade, she’s in eleventh grade now. Time flies doesn’t it?! Sheesh. The Spike Bucks top two were names we watched battle it out all last year. Today's race proved that this season is going to be no different. First place, #90 Malcolm "High Flyer" Hill, and second, #122 Dillan Abrams, ran hard together until Dill ran into some bad luck. Great show boys. Button Bucks winner was #185 Johnny Marera followed up by #355 Dylan Devico. We were supposed to debut our Mama doe class after the youth pitbikes were done, but us Mama Does decided, uh maybe not, so we will debut instead at Ormond Farms.

By nightfall everyone was exhausted, wet, muddy and apprehensive about Sundays race but totally relieved that Saturdays races were over and a success. We ended the night with some popcorn and live Supercross but never made it to the main event because we were all but asleep in the chairs. Off to bed we went to dream about a warm dry sunny race day somewhere over the rainbow…speaking of rainbows, I hear everyone just loved our rainbow wrist bands, we got lots of feed back about them, lol!

Sunday morning we woke up to what we went to sleep with, Rain and Mud. The weather didn’t matter, it seemed, because the lines coming through the gate and sign ups kept growing. By 7am all the boys were out doing maintenance to the track so we could start the races off with the best under the worst conditions. Lady T and her registration girls were ready and waiting to do business; Derkinderen was opening up Tech Inspection; and then the call for Youth to the Lines was made. 8:30am Chuckie waved the blue flag to shut ‘em down so Brian and Todds Ten Second count could be heard above the wind and rain. GAME ON FOR SEASON THREE. AA Youth started out with a bang between first place #3 Robbie Civiletti and second #2 Jeff Hall. Until Jeff went over the bars you didn’t know who was gonna take the checkered. Its looks like this is gonna be another goose bump year. 12-15 100 winner is a pleasure to announce #216 Zachary Olsen with the Golden Boy #921 Adam Toth hot on his knobby and then #34 Levi Catlett right in the mix for the top spot. 14-15 85 had a great battle with the top three finishers but this is how the mud fell #695 Jacob Hemmis, #83 Kenny James and #666 Jared "J-Rod" Rodriguez. 12-13 85 was taken lock, stock and barrel by #911 John Dwyer. Way to run the mud boy! 10-11 85 has two hot shoes from the PWs this year. They proved they are more then ready to take on the youth division. First place went to #312 Sal Cusimano and second to #90 Malcolm Hill, in third was #158 Earl Miller, ready to pounce if they made a mistake. The 13-15 150 class was dominated by #311 Rian Lamanteer. 10-11 65 took his first win with the NEOC #499 Stosh Wojcik, and I hope he comes back for more. The 10-12 125 top two both just moved up from the PWs and they both had their best races to date. First also from GNT Racing #292 Tyler Tayvinsky dominated the class and second #70 Brandon Ritchie dug deep and fought hard. Now I get to talk about some girl power which, of course, is one of my favorite things to do. First place and best finish ever #314 Emily Zadroga dominated in this mud run. Second went to #818 Angie Shaw with #712 Kiersten McDonal parked on her back fender. Our youth have become Thee Youth to beat if you are an offroad racer. No question about it, they are Da Bomb-dittys!

11am the course was band-aided back together and there was still no sign of the sun. They were promising only more dark clouds with some foreboding rumbles and flashes, however by the end of the this event she would shine her pretty little rays down upon us. The C Riders had their work cut out for them for this event but they also were the first ones to enter the 3 miles of Skip Massie's Crossing. Thank goodness we had that new piece or the fairgrounds would not have held up to this event at all. The top overall winners had a little bit of everyone in it. Starting with first overall we had C Light #153 Ethan Jaudas, C 4 Stroke #403 Ricky Pauley, C Light #759 Christian Crum. Some wisdom from C Vet next #75 Robert Robbins, followed up by some tractors in the C 4 Stroke, #236 Mitch Powers and #526 Mark Traenkner. These C riders are some tough dudes! I do have to confess that my favorite class in this division is the C Senior strictly because 99.9% of them are the dads that threw their leg back over the saddle after many years of not racing. I love it! DADS ROCK!

1:30pm blue skies started shining through a bit and so did our spirits. All the top dogs lined up well aware of what lay ahead of them. They leaned into it like the pros that they are. We were very happy and honored to have National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty on the line with us. We all know he loves a good mud run. This was one of our biggest main event turn outs. We're super excited to think about what it will be like when we get good weather to race in. So okay, here’s how the quagmire chips fell for the Main Event. Top three mud fleas were: AA power houses #1 Jerod Stoner; #12 Jason Klammer; #24 Brian Lawson; and up until he had some bike trouble, Lafferty was leading the way. Forth overall was #326 Too Tall Kenny Tenner. Sixth overall and first time in the A Heavys was #104 David Worden with B Light winner #137 Deiter Willenbrock hot on his treads. I have to give a shout out to 14^th overall B Heavy Darren Huff, who was C Heavy Champion last year. For some reason, he was nervous about moving up….Still nervous kid? You did great! I've gotta give two more special shout outs to some of our home boys; first place B Senior #597 POOH and first place A Senior #73 Vern Wood. They busted their humps all weekend and still mustered some energy to go out and win. Must be a senior thing! The Main Event's competition level has been kicked up few notches this year, to say the least! There are a lot of wicked fast kids that have taken flight and joined the flock in the front. Can’t wait to see how it plays out…..Stay tuned with us, will ya?

We know this was a tough race on everyone, but there was no turning back. We had to go forward with the event. It was time to race and I am so glad that we did. What a stellar way to break in the season. We thank everyone for being a part of Round 1~Season 3

See you at Ormond Farms March 27^th & 28^th