Third Times

The charm at Dade City started out by the road waiting in line on Saturday afternoon to get into the track. Saturday night’s Sponsors Cup was a big of deal and brought something new for the third round of Gold Cups. The D.C. crew redesigned the start to please everyone from all angles; the sweeping first turn hooked straight around to the back, where the sandy whoops section acted as a quick separator. Only the top guys could double-triple the first five whoops, and the fans looked forward to watching them do it every lap.

On Sunday, Barney’s hosted Can-Am demo rides down at the old go cart track, and a huge inflatable slide accompanied the ever-popular obstacle course for the kids. Big James Stewart was absent for this round, with James at the Des Nations, (Congrats!) but Sonya showed up with James’ fiancé Brianna! Randy Yoho was out there, too, working the tractor and grooming the track during intermission. His crew even had  to throw some water down as the rain held off this weekend and conditions were dusty. Did anyone else see the trio of extended Hayabusa’s paddling their way through the sandy pits?!

Chris McGlyn was finally able to pull off the undefeated upset in the Open C class. In Moto 1, McGlyn pinched off Chase Klingensmith for the holeshot ahead of Christian Griffith, Sam Baker and Ranch Dortch leading the pack. McGlyn managed a five second lead on the first lap leaving the battle for second between Dortch and Griffith. In Moto 2,
McGlyn took another holeshot to the win ahead of  Baker and Dortch, Klingensmith and Griffith rounded out the top five.

In the first moto of the Schoolboy (14-16) class, Cody Gitzen was off the start like a spaceship on his Spaceport Cycles KTM and scored the early lead over Malcolm Stewart. The top two riders pulled over Dustin Bailey, Eric Goodson and Kory Keylon after the first lap. Stewart kept a few bike lengths behind Gitzen, making no move to charge but already six seconds over Goodson in third. Meanwhile, Keylon and Bailey crashed in the same corner before the halfway point, as Stewart had the four stroke wide open through the whoops and all over Gitzen for the lead. Then, Gitzen tipped over in the next corner and Stewart got out front. Gitzen held onto second, still way ahead of Goodson, and Keylon worked back up to eighth.
In Moto 2, Goodson got the jump over Stewart for the holeshot, but Stewart had first after the first turn and the battle for second was four wide between Goodson, Cody Gitzen, Kory Keylon and Alex Spade. Gitzen started pulling away nearly six seconds behind Stewart and Keylon took third easy. Goodson and Spade battled for fourth while Stewart lengthened his lead to eight seconds and Spade score fourth over Goodson.

In the Plus 45 class, the #412 Yamaha of Richard Powell went undefeated as the most consistent rider of the day. Robert Huss worked into second after the green flag, ahead of Robert Lash and Dan Shawgo.

One of the more exciting motos to watch was 85cc (9-11) as RJ Hampshire took the first moto holeshot over Mason Price and Zach Duchaine. Hampshire checked out while Dalton Myers worked from behind on the first lap. While Hampshire and Price motored away, Duchaine had company and Myers looked fast until he wadded up in the sand. “Well, we’re done in this moto,” Myers’ mechanic said. Duchaine held third over Kevin Steele, the only KTM on the track, and Chandler Jenkins was fifth. Then, Hampshire went down so Price took the lead, but Hampshire was back on the gas in no time, trying to make up for his mistake, and he went down again! Duchaine caught second until Hampshire passed him back over the whoops on the last lap, and Price took the checkered flag by nine seconds.
In Moto 2, Price and Myers pulled an early lead over Hampshire, Duchaine and Winslow was fifth at the checkers.

Dalton Yingling wore a sling after colliding with Kory Keylon on Saturday when he landed shoulder first right into Keylon’s bike. “My rotator’s gone,” Dalton said as he watched Ricky Renner take his #275 KX250 to the line in the Open A class. When the gate dropped for Moto 1, Yingling’s Freedom Racing teammate Derek Hall took the lead over Renner and the top two checked out over the battle for third between Forrest Smith and Taylor McDonald.
The dusty conditions in the second moto were no problem for Hall again, and he took another wide open win over Renner in second.

In Moto 1 of Open B, Nick Myers nailed the holeshot easy over Malcolm Stewart on the outside followed by Shawn Gann after the start, but Stewart found the lead on the first lap after Myers went down over a turn. “At least he was up there,” someone said, and the #271 two stroke had no competition. The battle was tight for second between Ryan Jessip, Jerry Kopoian and Josh Talmadge; Kopoian stuck the pass on Jessip as Stewart hit the double-triple into the whoops and made it look so easy in front of everyone; he just kept it pinned and soaked it up wherever he landed and never missed a beat.
In Moto 2, Kopoian, Talmadge and Stewart took off first after the start, and Kopoian stayed strong over Stewart after the first lap. Talmadge was third and hanging tough, too, as Stewart rode the wheels off his two stroke trying to reel in the leader. He made it look so easy going through the whoops section and kept it pinned hoping to reel in Kopoian who was just getting into lappers. While Stewart worked through traffic, Kopoian gave himself some breathing room and pulled Stewart to the checkered flag. Talmadge finished third with Braden in fourth and Bailey rounded out the top five.

In the first moto of Vince Devane, oops, I mean the Plus 35 class; Vince Devane literally had no competition from start to finish and stayed clean out front of Brad Kadau and Marcus Pedrero. Moto 2 was a bit more exciting as Kadau and Pedrero missed it up, and the competition stayed tighter longer this time, but Devane still had his work cut out for him.

In Moto 1 of the Supermini class, Donald Diperna, Jeremy Winslow and Cody Chisholm were three-wide for the holeshot and it was Diperna with the lead on the first lap. Chisholm and Winslow were right on Diperna’s rear, Chisholm was second and chasing after the leader. He must have saved it for the last lap because Chisholm and Diperna went side-by-side through the whoops and Diperna held him off, but Chisholm had the drive flying down the stretch of singles for the lead and the win!
In Moto 2, Chisholm bagged another win ahead of David Macfarlan and “The Jet” Johnson in third with Winslow in fourth over Clifford Sanders and Diperna finished sixth.

The 250 A class dwindled to just three riders for the first moto gate drop, and the #31 KWWD Kawasaki of Tyler Livesay had the holeshot over Ricky Renner on the #532 bike and Derek Almy. Renner passed Livesay for the lead after the first corner; then Livesay crashed and injured his shoulder, which handed second to Almy, and Renner checked out. That is until his friend flagged him down as he hammered through the whoops. His engine plug had fallen out and his bike was spewing oil so then Renner was off the gas and riding over to check on Livesay, or just to see if he could borrow his bike. In a flash, Renner jumped on Livesays’s bike and took off – there’s nothing about it in the rule book – just another day of musical bikes for Ricky Renner. By then, Almy had the lead and the results still counted him first, though Renner passed him back for the lead on the last lap.
In Moto 2, Almy took one of the weirdest starts over Renner in second on his girl’s bike this time. Ahead of the B glass, the two A riders started goofing off and pulled off the track to talk while the 250 B class raced by. They started goon riding and Almy was declared the biggest goon for the moto win and first overall with a 1-1.

In 250 B, there was one rider who could not catch a break and in Moto 1, Nick Myers pulled the holeshot over Malcolm Stewart and held the lead around the first corner and into the whoops. Stewart had the inside with Myers on the outside holding it into the next section until Myers dumped the front end in a turn and Stewart got away. Traffic stacked up behind the leaders with Josh Talmadge, Robby Renner, Paul Farnsworth and Kory Keylon after the green flag. Stewart ripped a 5-second lead and became the overall race leader when he passed Derek Almy out of the A class. Keylon had fourth over Farnsworth and got inside Renner for third, but Renner returned the favor in the last corner before the checkers. 
In Moto 2, Myers ripped another holeshot over Stewart and the battle for third was three wide going into the whoop section. Another mistake from Myers gave Stewart the green flag and another 5-second lead over Renner and Keylon after the start. A tight battle for top five between Brandon Westberry, Paul Farnsworth, Alex Spade and Josh Talmadge, while Stewart pulled nine seconds ahead of Keylon who stuck the pass on Renner this time. Coming into the front section on the last lap, the goon A riders brake checked Stewart in the last turn, and the crowd gasped! Keylon wasn’t that far behind, and Stewart looked like he didn’t know what to do. “I’m going to laugh when Stewart takes them both out!” someone said. Come on!

The 65 Open class counted two winners on two different brands and Josh Guffey took the first moto holeshot over Tyler Pantley and Kevin Steele before Steele found the inside over Guffey with Pantley still third over Kade Walker. “Let me put this race into perspective for you,” one of the dad’s said, pointing to Steele, 11-years-old, Walker, 10-years old and both Pantley and Guffey 9-years-old.
Pantley soaked up some dirt when he fell over a hill and Walker was third behind Guffey, with Bradford Young in fourth and Pantley finished fifth.
In Moto 2, Guffey got another holeshot over Pantley with Walker ahead of Steele after the start. By the green flag, Pantley had the lead with Steele close behind, and the top two stayed out front of Walker and Guffey. Pantley dropped back to third and Steele had the lead, so Walker applied the pressure and Steele tipped over in a corner. Walker rocked the win on his Canadian Kawasaki, but rumors have him on another brand in the coming weeks!

Quinton Bigalow continued to dominate the 16-24 class and took the overall with a 2-1 for the day. In the first moto, Ryan Jessip beat Bigalow for the holeshot and the top two riders held their own heading into the back section. Bigalow was the only one with the double-triple through the whoop skills, though Jessip held the fast line all the whole way around. Bigalow kept charging behind the leader, but it would not be enough and Jessip went on to win.
In Moto 2, Barrett Smith took the holeshot over Jessip and Bigalow was third this time and the top three checked out over Russell Clay and Dustin Jensen after the start. Bigalow put the Kissimmee Motorsports power to the ground and did his double-triple-thang over the whoops section, passing Smith for the lead and taking it all the way to the finish. Smith maintained a solid second as Clay battled for third Jessip all the way until the last turn.

Derek Hall finally found some results he’s been looking for at Dade City! (He took the Sponsors Cup win on Saturday night, too.) In the Open Pro class, Hall went unchallenged for the overall and took the holeshot to the win in both motos. After the first moto start, Livesay went through the first turn and straight off the track – he was hurting and would be seen wearing a sling later on that day. The #275 of Ricky Renner kept it on two wheels for second over Forrest Smith and Taylor McDonalad in the fourth spot. In the second moto, it looked like Renner might have something for Hall as he pulled out his bag of tricks towards the end of the moto, but Hall was able to maintain his win streak.

The Adventure Cycles-backed ride of JB Ballard blitzed the holeshot in the first moto of the Four Stroke class, ahead of the guy with two AA’s on his bike, Elliot Cook, a local harescramble who knows how to hold it open. After the first lap Bigalow and Renner were top three, ahead of Jesse Braden and Cook inside the top five. Bigalow found his spot once again, going side by side over the whoops with Ballard, and he took the lead over the singles to the checkered flag.
In Moto 2, Ballard and Bigalow went at it again after the start with Bigalow driving through the whoops on the inside, while Ballard secured his line around the outside and walked away with the win. The battle for third was between Renner and Braden, who both would end up passing Bigalow before the checkers flew.