Megacross Kicks Off 2007 Season

 Megacross Shootout Series

Mendota, IL – April 14th, 2007

By Nikki Dixon

 The Megacross Shootout Series started off their 2007 season right where they left off in 2006, which was watching the weather forecast and hoping to dodge the rain.  Luckily for the 270 entrants, the rain stayed away, although temperatures dipped into the thirties during the main events.  After a soggy week, the track developed ruts and braking bumps, making for more of an outdoor style stadium track.  The expert classes were loaded with full gates of Midwest’s top riders, who enjoy the competition, contingency, and payouts.  Many first time Megacross racers also came out experience the rider friendly stadium-style track.  As the slogan goes, “Megacross is the place to race.” 

Jason Wehrli was the first Megacross main event winner for the season, taking the victory in the twelve-rider Quad A class.  Wehrli started out front, trailed closely by Stephen Schenk, Ethan Pickard, Zachary Harris, and Shawn McCarthy.  After a bad start, Shane Cochran blitzed the whoops to move into fourth after two laps.  Wehrli kept ahead, while a tight battle for second shaped up between Schenk, Pickard, and Cochran, who all came together entering a bowl turn before the rhythm section.  Schenk and Cochran crashed out, while Pickard got by and secured the second spot.   At the finish, Wehrli, Pickard, Harris, Jeremy Beetz, and Casey Gerke were the top five.

Sixteen riders raced to the first turn in the 125A class, with Derek Whitney and Brad Fabrizius leading the way.  Justin Kelly wasted no time moving into second through the first few turns.  Whitney and Kelly were on the gas and inching away from the pack.  First year A rider Fabrizius had his hands full with Justin Baker as they mixed it up for a few laps, until Baker was left pushing his bike off the track with two laps to go.  Heat race winner Kody Molitor started near last, but caught up to third place Fabrizius by lap five, and turned up the heat on the last two laps.  Fabrizius protected the inside lines and held off Molitor’s hard charge to the checkers.  Whitney carded the win, with Kelly, Fabrizius, Molitor, and Jason Donegan completing the top five.

Kyle Entwistle 223, Shea Knuth 157, airing it out. Logan Skaggs, Dan Marino 85Jr class.

 Kelly, Molitor, and Chad Johnson were three-wide around the first turn in the 17-rider 250A class.  As they made their way to the rhythm section, the running order was Kelly, Kyle White, Johnson, Kevin Markwardt, Baker, and Molitor.  Markwardt ran into problems and pulled off the track after a lap, while Kelly wicked the throttle and started to pull away.  The second spot was up for grabs, as first year A rider White tried to hold off Molitor, Baker, Johnson, and Chad Westbrook.  Molitor eventually moved into second, and tried to close the gap on Kelly, but ran out of laps.  Kelly collected the win, trailed by Molitor, White, Westbrook, and Baker.  Kelly also topped 4-Stroke, with Baker and Westbrook rounding out the podium positions.

 In Quad B, Richard Olson picked up the holeshot, in front of Derick Skaggs, Jacob Conroy, and the rest of the class.  Olson opened up a small lead, while Skaggs, Conroy, and John Biddle mixed it up for the second spot.  Olson secured the win, and Conroy bested Skaggs and Biddle for second.  Another battle shaped up for the fifth spot, with Shawn Long holding off Jory Dalsanto and Zack Sondgeroth to the checkers.

 In 50 Junior, Colton Krska led the opening lap followed by Brody Ivey, Shawn Thompson, Thor Rick, and Zachary Blasing.  Krska and Ivey were running side by side, both going for the win, until lap three when Ivey fell in a turn.  This opened the door for Krska to cruise to victory, with Thompson and Rick completing the podium.

 Kai Devine started out front in 50 Senior, with Jackson Jeffery and Jacob Wehn in right behind.  Devine and Jeffery traded positions back and forth for the lead, while Wehn and Dylan Boyd mixed it up for third.  On the last lap, Jeffery slid out in a bowl turn, handing Devine the win.  Jeffery, Wehn, Boyd, and RJ Mackenzie rounded out the top five.

 Maxx Malatia was unstoppable in Supermini and 85 Senior.  In Supermini, two-stroke mounted Malatia led the class around the first turn, followed by three CRF150 four-stroke riders of Alex Emery, Kyle Kuhn, and Shawn Patrick.  Malatia checked out, while the other two-stroke mounted rider, Rick Nichol, played catch up after a bad start to secure second overall, followed by Emery, Kuhn, and Patrick.  Malatia repeated the performance in 85 Senior, leading start to finish.  Nichol, Trevor Taylor, Cody Jones, and Patrick wrapped up the top five.

 Kyle Entwistle was on fire in 23-rider 125B class, leading both the heat and main from wire-to-wire.  In the main, Entwistle rounded the first turn out front, trailed by Josh Provost, Dallas Devinney, Broc Pagni, and Jakub Baker.  Pagni picked off Devinney and Provost to move into second mid-race.  Devinney and Kyle Salmans battled for fourth, with Salmans getting the edge.  Entwistle sprinted to the checkers, followed by Pagni, Provost, Salmans, and Devinney.

 In 250B, Provost started out front, trailed by Nick Manning, Kyle Bracken, Kevin Kline, and Wyatt Hall.  Bracken passed Manning for second after a few laps.  Dennis Morsch worked his way up to Manning mid-race, and the two mixed it up, with Morsch getting the edge at the finish.  Provost collected the win, with Bracken, Morsch, Manning, and Hall wrapping up the top five. 

Whitney Miller grabbed the holeshot in the 13-rider Women’s class, followed by Kendall Miller and Nikki Dixon.  Lauren Hicks moved past Dixon on the first lap.  Shelby Miller worked through the pack after a bad start, eventually passing Hicksn for third late in the race.  At the finish, the Miller sisters filled the podium, as Whitney Miller, Kendal Miller, Shelby Miller, Hicks, and Dixon completed the top five.

 In the 17-rider 85 Junior class, Logan Skaggs picked up the holeshot, with Dan Marino and Malachi Messenger in pursuit.  Marino took over the lead on the first lap, and stayed out front to take the win.  Skaggs collected second, while Messenger edged out Conner Robinson for third after trading positions during the race.

In 65 Senior, Skaggs led from start to finish.  Sam Shamie, Jacob Wever, and Bryce Ivey diced all race for the second spot, with Wever getting the nod.  At the finish, Skaggs, Wever, Shamie, Ivey, and Travis Ward rounded out the top five.

 65 Junior dropped second in the gate after 65 Senior in a split start.  After two laps, there was a three-way battle for the lead between Nick Wallace, Chad Saultz, and Jacob Wehn.  As they caught up to some of the 65 Senior riders, Wallace and Saultz stayed close all the way to the checkers, with Wallace taking the win, followed by Saultz, Wehn, Taylor McLaughlin, and Kai Devine.

 Justin Carr lead the 65 Beginner class around the first turn, followed by Kyle Mesarchik and Jimmy Lanute.  Carr and Mesarchik had a great race for first, running most of the track side-by-side each lap.  Mesarchik would pull ahead down the long straight, but Carr would close the door in the small set of whoops.  Carr held off Mesarchik to pick up the win, with Lanute, Austin Lipe, and Nickolas Christman wrapping up the top five.

In +25A, Bob Gardner grabbed the holeshot, followed by David Hayes and Burton Lavens.  After a few turns, Lavens worked his way into the lead, and never looked back.  Lavens carded the win, trailed by Gardner, Hayes, John Conley, and Steve Perkins.  Lavens also topped the +30A class, followed by Hayes, Conley, Bank, and David Degelau.

 Matt Entwistle and Joe Kopecky were the +25B front-runners in the combined +25A/B start.  After a lap, Kopecky was the leader, followed by Entwistle, Troy Quest, Jesse Keith, and Todd Schmollinger.  Quest and Keith reeled in Entwistle mid-race, but Entwistle regained the third position late in the race.  At the finish, the top five were Kopecky, Quest, Entwistle, Keith, and Schmollinger. 

John Gardner started out front in +30B, with Doug Harms, Schmollinger, Quest, and Scott Holmes in tow.  The top four ran a close race for the first four laps, with Keith Hicks and Holmes fighting for the fifth spot.  On the last lap, Gardner opened his lead on the way to the win, while Harms went down, advancing Schmollinger, Quest, Hicks, and Holmes to complete the top five. 

Larry “Rev“ Banks topped the +40 class.  David Degelau held off Hicks to finish second, with Hicks carding third.  Scott Seibert finished fourth after close racing with Peter Witkowski and Michael Goodin.

Witkowski had the early lead in 250C, trailed by Spencer Neurohr, Tyler Tornow, and Nathan Tornow.  Nathan Tornow quickly moved into the lead, and Tyler Tornow stayed right with him the whole race.  Witkowski, Theresa Lanute, Nicholas Unold, and Chris Daugherty mixed it up for the third position, until Lanute and Daugherty tangled in the small set of whoops on the last lap.  Nathan Tornow collected the win, followed by Tyler Tornow, Unold, Witkowski, and Neurohr.

 Tanner Robinson collected the final holeshot of the night in the 18-rider 125C class, with Neil Johnson, Matt Bristol, Doug Smith, and Steve Nester in tow.  Bristol moved into the lead, until Johnson went inside of Bristol after the whoops, and took the lead over the next tabletop.  Smith used the same move a lap later to advance into second.  Jody Walker worked through the pack after a bad start, eventually securing third after Bristol went down mid-race.  Johnson carded the win, followed by Smith, Walker, Colton Sabo, and Robinson.

Results