ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY RODNEY RUTHERFORD
June 25, 2011,
Glen Helen Raceway Devore CA
Honda/Yamaha of Redlands 12 Hour Endurance Race
Open up that throttle, 251-Open Sportsman winners Joey Madden, Jesse Mobley, Chris Podergois , and Jason Beard
len Helen Raceway’s Tenth Annual Honda/ Yamaha of Redlands 12 Hour Endurance race was held under pretty June skies. The second round of the prestigious three round HYR Endurance series is held traditionally close to the longest day of the year, Summer Solstice, maximizing the amount of daylight for contestants. Gary Jones and Ron Lawson once again put their extensive knowledge of off-road racing and the Glen Helen terrain to task designing a ten mile course that included the longest sections of single track ever incorporated in the series. The 251-Open Expert class was witness to a change on top of the podium in the HYR-6 Hour as the Precision Concepts team led by Robby Bell took the win. A scheduling conflict arose and the Precision Concepts team was not in for the HYR-12 Hour, but will be back for the HYR-24. Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda with Colton Udall and the late Jeff "OX" Kargola, were busy winning the 2011 Score San Felipe 250, thus breaking JCR’s string of five straight HYR Endurance event wins.
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The JCR Honda/Dunlop/Lucas Oil/Truth MX racers Udall (JCR-1), with Mark Samuels and David Kamo were back in the fray. With Udall at the reins and a cycling mix of support racers JCR-1 appears nearly unbeatable in the HYR series. JCR-1's bike was the second place finisher from the 2011 Baja 500 with some maintenance and a number change from 0X to 1, they were ready to win. Udall steered the JCR-1 out of the start and into first on lap one with the Matt Gosnell GOS-77 led squad of Zach Gosnell, Tallon Taylor, and Nick Pierce in second. GOS-77 was ninety seconds behind JCR-1 and that would be the closest any team would come to JCR-1 all day. John Burr Cycles (JBC-4) has had nothing go their way in awhile in a quest for a HYR win. Their team leader Gordon Ward was out with injuries and Ryan Reina was selected to replace him. Reina was not able to make it and Jason Parsons took over command with Robbie Goolsby, Brandon Brady, and Jeff Loop filling in at the last moment. The finely tuned JCR-1 team was nothing but workman-like as they made smooth rider changes, utilizing their Baja experience and crafting it to a fine form. They finished with thirty-six laps and a near thirty minute advantage over JBC-4. JBC-4's Brady battled with JCR-1's Udall on lap one, but made a wrong turn and were third until lap eight. Overtaking second place GOS-77 on lap eight they locked up second and thirty five laps. GOS-77 rode a strong race for third finishing on the same lap as JBC-4.
A joyous JCR-1 team at the finish, "Our bike was perfect, can't thank the bike enough, that is the reason why we win, we put together different riders every time. We win because we got the greatest bike, these guys actually did a phenomenal job today, our lap times were all within 15 seconds, switching up back and forth all day", Udall said. The 251-Open Sportsman Temecula Motorsports (TMS-236) team with Joey Madden, Jesse Mobley, and Jason Beard put on a show once again. The fourth member of the team is Chris Podergois bringing his Supermoto and Flat Track skills to the mix. TMS-236 won the HYR-6 Hour over Tucker Hopkins (HOP-154), Corey Brown, Alex Butze, and Chris Gibeault. Juan Sanchotena Jr. (JS-
195) was accompanied by David Gonzalez, and Carlos Casas in an effort to unseat TMS-236. There were three lead changes between HOP- 154 and TMS-236, HOP-154 had the lead for a total of four laps as TMS-236 secured it for a total of twenty- seven of thirty-one loops, assuming final control on lap fourteen after HOP-154 had a slow lap. JS-195 and HOP-154 jousted back and forth for second, swapping spots four times after lap fourteen with JS-195 hammering the position for good on lap twenty-seven. All three finished on the same lap with TMS-236, JS- 195, and HOP-154 third. Going into the HYR-24 HOP- 154 will be eight points behind TMS-236.
TMS-236 instituted a very regimented schedule but also a white knuckle moment on the first lap as Beard went down, after that they went two laps each for four hours shelving their first bike after four hours. Bringing out a Kawasaki KX450F they had wheel and steering issues but got those resolved rapidly and went to their second 2011 HYR win in a row, thanking O'Neal, Dunlop, Temecula Motorsports, and all their parents.
present Volkswagen driving instructor Joey Webb, flew in from Atlanta, Georgia, arriving in town very early Saturday morning. A member of the illustrious Webb family, he had not ridden three months prior to the race, instead putting in daily runs and rigorous rowing machine training to bring his fitness up to par. Trading the lead with Graham Gustin four times he finally wore him out finishing three laps ahead for the win, Gustin second.
Former Dirt Rider Magazine test rider and
Idaho's Shayla Fulfer (FUL-21) came on out and compiled a team of Tricia Lane, and Sarah Kirtch. They had their gloves full with a highly savvy AS Racing (AS-27) team led by veterans Ana Cody, Bonnie Warch, and Holly Breck. FUL-21 assumed the point on lap one as AS-27 with Warch on board were mired in a bottle neck on a slippery vertical climb and left behind. With a seasoned racer like Baja soloist Cody on board the race is never over and they grabbed the lead on lap sixteen and seemingly had it in hand, but not to be. Heartbeak in the Women's Sportsman class as Cody had a problem on the last lap and found herself stuck in a remote part of the course, FUL-21 zooms by for the lead and win, AS-27 takes second.
John Burr Cycle's (JBC-886) Kris Goolsby,
Bob Wershey, and Dan Spring shot out to the lead in the +50 Sportsman and maybe were a little too comfortable. Nailing down the point for the first sixteen laps they seemed a bit shell shocked when informed
they were not in the lead. Dirt Rider Magazine’s (DIRT-24) team of Gilbert Gallardo, Cesar Parra, Jorge Lizarrga, and Jaime Delatorre had ambushed them on lap seventeen and were burning dirt to keep the lead. JBC-886 surged and regained first on lap twenty but DIRT-24 counter attacked and went back into the front on the next lap sticking it to the finish as JBC-886 finished a minute and forty behind in second. Glen Helen Raceway hopes to see you out for exciting HYR-24 race action on October 8-9. Please go to
www.glenhelen.com for more information and complete results on the series.
Shayla Fulfer, Tricia Lane, and Sarah Kirtch winning the Women's Sportsman
Ironman winner, Jason Webb
www.SS-OffRoadMagazine.com - AUGUST 2011 - S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE 47 251-Open Expert winners Colton Udall, Mark Samuels and David Kamo
ABOVE Business class team of Gary Jones, Justin Jones, Bob Rutten, and John Woolsey
RIGHT Family class Gary Sewell,Dillon Sewell, Mitch Jensen, and Matt Jensen
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