By Rich Stuelke Photos by MotoPhoto LLC
Other fast riders of the night were Brian Gouger, again winning the 40 beginner class. The amateur 40 class was won by Mike Daversa over Josh Heckman and Marty Highland. Kevin Casper took the novice 40 class over a fast Bryce Heathcoat (Bryce won moto 1) and Mike Swyden.
Ray Poltack, better known on the net as MX
Panther, won the expert 40 class over Mike Cosaert, Carlos Palomo and Mike Young. The expert 50 podium was filled with winner John Bosanko, second place Steve Gerber, and third place Tim Marshall. The big news in this race, however, was that 60 expert Bill Maxium smoked everyone and took the overall win beating all the younger riders!
The slower 70 class was won by Phil Black, going 1-1 in the 70 class over Chuck Ramsey, Sr. and Dick Moseley. John Craft dominated Doug Krause (who could not keep from taking soil samples!) in the novice 60 class, and Bruce Hoover came from behind in both motos to edge out a very fast Greg Preston and a consistent Kenny Fuelner.
All in all, another excellent set of night-racing
motos! Look to S&S Off Road for a report on the fifth and final series race next month, along with the series class
winners! The SoCal Club sends kudos to MTA West, O’neal, Scorpion USA, EKS-Brand Goggles, Maxxis, AC Racing, Shock Therapy Motorsports and Competitive Edge Motocross Park for their continued support for the MTA SoCal Summer Night Series.
A
Frank Derby (27) hammers through the whoops ahead of Gary Doll. Later, Frank would stall his bike in the whoops and Gary could not avoid him— nasty crash (but both were able to get up to finish).
ugust 6th
brought a fantastic evening to Competitive Edge Motocross Park. The night was warm, and the crack
Comp Edge track prep crew did an outstanding job modifying and prepping the night track for another night’s motocross action. A new section was added to the infield, and the long straight with the two step-downs was put back into the layout, but the two step-downs were now step-ups since the track was run in the opposite direction! Braking bumps and acceleration bumps formed throughout the race meet, making the track rougher in the new direction. The order of motos was also changed up, with the OTMX Support Classes running the first moto, the minis running the last moto, and the traditional old timer classes sandwiched in the middle. It was again old-school night racing at its best! The two featured races of the night were races five and three. Race five combined the amateur and novice 50 riders (starting on different gates). The amateur 50 class was dominated by Frank Mierau, a one-day guest club rider who swept both motos over fast club regular Bob Bucy. Mike Greene took third overall in the class over the club’s current #1 rider, Dee Vondracek. Mike’s 4-3 edged out Dee’s 3-4! Ben Paris and Art Dart rounded out the top six. The novice 50 class has been a barn burner all year, with current season points leader Don Meiner running in that class. Don had some medical problems during the week, and he managed to squeak out a fourth overall (enabling him to keep his season points lead over Factory Dave
Eropkin) with 6-4 motos. The two fastest riders tonight were Ronnie Gillespie from the Las Vegas OTMX Club, and SoCal’s resident Brit Tony Parsons. Ronnie’s 2-1 edged out Tony’s 1-2 for the overall. Rounding out the podium was a very consistent Bob Walpert (3-3), who was chased home by Meiner, Jimmy Ray Smith, Owin Wright and Ron Boozell.
Race three brought the master-classes riders to the gate. Factory Dave Eropkin swept both master 50 class motos over Joe Pena and Bob Burns. Dave is in a furious points battle with Don Meiner, only four points out of the season lead. Dave demonstrated his true grit by riding with a cracked rib (suffered at REM the week before), but looked smooth and fast despite his injury. Randy Blevins and Steve Phillips battled in the master 50b class, with Randy taking the overall with 2-1 motos (Phillips went 1- 2). Kevin Worrell, riding master b, continued to kick up his game and took the overall in his class. The master A class (the fastest in the club) brought an interesting scenario to the gate. Big Dan Berg, always fast and smooth on his big Honda 450, was to be challenged by Trainerman Kevin Barda (son of the AMA great official Art Barda). Also running in this class were Kurt Sofka, Jr., Ron Shuler, and Alan Burtt—all smokin’ fast riders!
Berg grabbed the holeshot moto one, but it turned out Barda was riding a KTM 150! Extremely underpowered, he was last going into the first turn. Berg roosted, while Barda had to work his way around Burtt, then
Shuler, before he could approach Berg. Sofka, Jr. was late to the gate, and the starter, not realizing the gate was a rider down, dropped the hammer before Sofka was on the line! Sofka rode hard and was able to reel in and pass Burtt before the end of the race. In the meantime, Berg’s holeshot was too much for Barda to overcome, and Berg took the moto, with Barda second over Schuler.
Barda knew he needed a better start if he was to have a chance to catch Berg in moto two and claim the overall. With his KTM 150 buzzing like an angry bee, Barda was third around the first turn, much closer to Berg. The amazing cornering speed of the 150 drew Barda closer to Berg every lap. Berg was pulling away from everyone but Barda! Finally, around lap 9 (of 12), Barda blitzed past Berg through the whoops, and was able to use his corner speed to pull a slight lead to the checkers.
“Man, if we were at Glen Helen or just about any other track, there is no way I could have caught Dan!” Barda added that if Dan were to work out a little more and get in peak shape, he would be untouchable. “Back in the old days, Berg was so much faster than me I could rarely if ever beat him!” So Barda took the overall with his 2-1 motos over Dan’s 1-2, with Ron Shuler finishing third and Alan Burtt fourth.
Kevin Barda on the 150 KTM
Typical SoCal support rider action. . . these boys are really fast! Over 25 riders took the gates in the support classes.
The amateur 40 class start
www.SS-OffRoadMagazine.com - SEPTEMBER 2011 - S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE 41
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