“Flexibility”
Porterville OHV Park
CMA/Clawson Motorsports Anaheim Express MX: Rd. 3
Story & Photos by Eddie Graveline
www.motopress.net
PORTERVILLE, CA. OCT. 12
Things don’t always go according to plan, but that’s no reason to give up on
something you really want to do, right? Central California motocross riders
obviously feel that way. Less than a week before the third round of the
Anaheim Express series, the promoters found out that the Madera Fairgrounds
venue it was originally scheduled to be held at would be without water.
Think about it. Three hundred or so racers, ninety degrees and no water. Not
a good idea.
A quick solution was found when Central Valley Racing agreed to let the
Anaheim Express riders join their event at the Porterville OHV Park, about
an hour and a half south of Madera. In a normal sport or situation, a lot of
racers would have just given up on the whole thing. But this is motocross
and the Anaheim Express series, where class champions are awarded a trip for
two to one of the Anaheim rounds of the 2004 Supercross series.
There were some logistical difficulties, but that was to be expected given
the circumstances. The rider turnout was understandably very large. The only
problem was that Porterville’s track is very long—over a mile in fact. Five
or six lap motos turned into ten minute-long affairs and the day turned into
night. Luckily, the racers were true to their fun loving nature and made the
best out of the situation.
A large rider turnout made the 50cc 1st Timer class a fun one to watch.
“Sweet Pea” De La Mora came out of the gate well and won the first moto over
Jory Mondragon and Cameron Covert. Tommy Stevens, who had been doing well in
recent races on a trick XR50, ran into some problems and finished fourth. He
made up for it by blasting out of the gate in the final moto and riding to
victory. Unfortunately for Stevens, De La Mora was right behind him. The 1-2
finishes of De La Mora were plenty to defeat Stevens and his 4-1. Jory
Mondragon finished third overall behind Stevens by way of 2-5 finishes.
The schedule change ended up working out really well for 65cc specialist
Landon Sullivan. Living in nearby Tulare, his drive got cut from an hour
down to about fifteen minutes. Maybe that meant he got to sleep in a little
bit more or something. Whatever it was, he was going awfully fast. He had a
good scrap for the overall win in 65cc Novice competition with Kyle
Walgamotte. Sullivan took the win by way of tiebreaker. He went 2-1 while
Walgamotte finished 1-2. Little “Sully” backed his performance up with a
victory in the 65cc X class.
As usual, the 125 Novice class was a spectacularly wild affair. A couple of
guys were just blazingly fast at times and downright scary at others.
Knowing a thing or two about consistency would prove to be helpful. Brandon
Willis started the afternoon off in grand style, running away from everyone
on the way to a moto victory. When the gate dropped for the final moto, all
eyes were on the #100 Yamaha, but Willis had some trouble. He fell all the
way back to ninth by race’s end. Steven Hembree finished second in the first
race, only to end up 8th in the second. Ryan Abler and Taylor Tobias
finished third and fourth respectively in the first moto, but rode their
momentum to podium performances in the final race. With the demise of the
moto one frontrunners, those two ended up claiming the top two overall
places. Tobias was first with his 4-1 performance, while Abler’s 3-2
relegated him to second. Third overall went to Josh Mason, who finished 5-4
in the motos.
Naturally, there were some riders who opted not to make the move to
Porterville, but their inability to adapt may prove to be detrimental. Thos
flexible enough to make the change were rewarded with an advantage in the
series points. The series would return to action the following weekend in
Hanford, where the whole crew was sure to be back together again.
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Once again, Nicolas Baker (300) proved to be the fastest mini rider on the track, cruising to victory in the 85cc Intermediate, X and Supermini class.
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After the first moto, Brandon Willis (100) looked like a solid bet to win the overall, but a 9th the second time out killed his chances.
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Steven Hembree was in a great position after taking second in the opening 125 Novice race, but fell prey to the long Porterville circuit.
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New 85cc Novice class inductee Jackie Ives (76) leads Heath Rowland (9) and Kyle Kessinger (17) into the first turn.
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50cc aces Jack Hamilton (116) and Blain Smothermon (199) set up for the first turn at Porterville.
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125 Youth class racing is usually pretty close and competitive. Kyle Orth (410) and Larry Vasquea (444) demonstrate.
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Nick Mueller (38) rode to solid second and fifth place finishes in the 85 Beginner ranks and was rewarded with a top five overall finish.
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RESULTS:
50 1st Timer: 1. Sweet Pea De La Mora (KTM); 2. Tommy Stevens (Hon); 3. Jory
Mondragon (KTM); 4. Ryan Covert (Hon); 5. Hayden Niederreiter (KTM).
50 0-6: 1. Cody Fendley (Cob); 2. Kaleb Kessinger (KTM); 3. Adam Hulsey; 4.
Callion McHaney (KTM).
50 7-8: 1. Travis Burrough (KTM); 2. Maison Amason (KTM); 3. Nelson Roberts
(Hon); 4. Baylee Parr (KTM); 5. Ryan Covert (Hon).
50 Open: 1. Joseph Reynolds (KTM); 2. Travis Burrough (KTM); 3. Maison
Amason (KTM); 4. Josh Camarena (Hon); 5. Cody Fendley (Cob).
50 Adult: 1. Jonathan Camarena (Hon); 2. Kenny Stroub (Hon); 3. X Turtle
(Hon); 4. Todd Johnson (Hon); 5. Tyler Maitinho (Hon).
OSB: 1. Tyler Smallwood (Yam); 2. Brennan Altsman; 3. Jeremaiha Munoz (Hon).
65 0-8: 1. Daniel De La Mora (Kaw); 2. Austin Burmeister (Kaw); 3. Charles
Sheets (Suz); 4. William McHaney (Suz); 5. Trent Nicholson (KTM).
65 9-11: 1. Weston Roberts (Kaw); 2. Christian Marmolejo (Suz); 3. Joshua
Diercks (Kaw); 4. Mike Waybright (Suz); 5. Greyson Muain (KTM).
65 Nov: 1. Landon Sullivan (KTM); 2. Kyle Walgamotte (KTM); 3. Tyler
Nicholson (KTM); 4. Travis Burrough (KTM); 5. Joseph Reynolds (KTM).
65 X: 1. Landon Sullivan (KTM); 2. Joseph Reynolds (KTM); 3. Tyler Nicholson
(KTM); 4. Terry Cheatham (Kaw); 5. Mike Waybright (Suz).
85 Beg: 1. Bryce Rock (Yam); 2. Tyler Cabral (Yam); 3. Nicholas Marmolejo
(Hon); 4. Nick Mueller (Hon); 5. Brent Fletcher (Yam).
85 Nov: 1. Kyle Kessinger (Yam); 2. Heath Rowland (Yam); 3. Justin Davis
(Yam); 4. Jackie Ives (Yam); 5. Christian Kinney (Yam).
85 Int: 1. Nicolas Baker (Yam).
85 X: 1. Nicolas Baker (Yam); 2. Kyle Kessinger (Yam); 3. Heath Rowland
(Yam); 4. Jackie Ives (Yam); 5. Blake Gimbarti (Hon).
Supermini: 1. Nicolas Baker (Yam); 2. Heath Rowland (Yam).
125 Youth: 1. Larry Vasquez (Yam); 2. Seth Hickman (Suz); 3. Macc Rigdon (Kaw);
4. Sean Kranyak (Yam).
125 Beg: 1. Matthew Bolt (Yam); 2. Jason Smith (Yam); 3. Macc Rigdon (Kaw);
4. Ryan Lebelt (Yam); 5. Mike Wilson (Yam).
125 Nov: 1. Taylor Tobias (Suz); 2. Ryan Abler (Hon); 3. Josh Mason; 4.
Garrett Ball (Yam); 5. Steven Hembree (Yam).
125 Int: 1. Sean Kranyak (Yam); 2. Joel Roberts (Yam).
250 Beg: 1. Chris Ingles (Yam); 2. Kent Kniffen (Yam); 3. Zito Filippo
(Hon); 4. Brad Jolley (Hon); 5. Jimmy Bennett (Kaw).
250 Nov: 1. Jay Leduc (Hon); 2. Garrett Ball (Yam); 3. Josh Jackson (Yam);
4. Ryan Abler (Hon); 5. Brent Bowser (Hon).
250 Int: 1. Jonathan Camarena (Suz); 2. Justin Reese (Yam); 3. Luke Leduc
(Hon); 4. Travis Ellis (Suz); 5. Joel Roberts (Yam).
250 Pro: 1. Paul Temmerman (KTM); 2. Simon Temmerman (Yam); 3. Jeff Merrill
(Hon); 4. Dieter Temmerman (Suz).
25-29 Nov: 1. Eddie Graveline (Suz); 2. Virgil Jenzen (Hon); 3. William
Bryant (Hon).
Vet Beg: 1. Jeff Theisen (Kaw); 2. Cary Henry (Yam); 3. Ray Lowe (Yam); 4.
Dell Posey (Yam); 5. Thomas Thompson (Yam).
Vet Nov: 1. Jimmy McNeil (Yam); 2. Roy Bowe (Yam); 3. Kevin Tait (Kaw); 4.
Nick Hahasq (Yam); 5. Jeff Dowell (Hon).
OT Nov: 1. Stanley Franks (Suz); 2. Mike Wilson (Yam); 3. Mich Gugmon (Yam);
4. John Theisen (Hon); 5. Randy Bornand (Yam).
OT Int: 1. Mark Steinwand (KTM); 2. Dennis Stubblefield (Hon); 3. Randy
Piepkorn (Hon); 4. Robert Casey (Yam); 5. Scott Ball (Hon).
Sportsman X: 1. Jonathan Camarena (Hon); 2. Taylor Tobias (Suz); 3. Wesley
Flippin (Yam); 4. Ryan Day (Suz); 5. Kyle Orth (Yam).
Quad Beg: 1. Aaron Fagan (Yam); 2. Chris Parazoo (Hon).
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