Competition Intensifies at Megacross Shootout Series

 Mendota, IL – July 7th, 2007 round 5/11 By Nikki Dixon 

The competition was intense at round five of the Megacross Shootout Series, as many new faces mixed it up with the Megacross regulars at the popular stadium-style night program.  With over 360 entrants, it was another solid turnout, with full gates and great racing in every class. 

 Among the new faces, James Povolny, national number 98 from Minnesota, dropped by to race three classes.  ProSource owner Rusty Ott came out, and had a great ride in the big +40 class.  The Damm brothers made their first trip of the year to Megacross, taking home a couple of wins.  Roy Horton entered his first race, after suffering a tough crash in January during the Arenacross series.  Joey Olson, from Colorado, collected a win, as he had the track dialed for his first trip to Megacross.  Promoter Gerhard Ward’s youngest son, 6 year old Garrett, raced his first Megacross ever.  And several regulars also had a great night, including Ryan Poulter, Maxx Malatia, Bailey Stefka, and Colton Krska, who carded two class wins each.

 Ryan Poulter nailed the start in 125A, as Derek Whitney and Kevin Markwardt followed around the first turn.  Roy Horton passed Markwardt for third before the rhythm section, and the top four ran a close race for the opening laps.  Justin Baker, Greg Hochmuth, and Justin Kelly diced for fifth.  Poulter slowly pulled away, as Horton closed the gap on second place Whitney, but couldn’t make a pass.  Poulter carded the victory, over Whitney, Horton, Markwardt, and Hochmuth. 

Poulter and Povolny went head to head in the 16-rider 250A class, with Poulter taking the heat race win over Povolny and Whitney.  In the main, Poulter started out front, with Markwardt, Kelly, Jason Donegan, and Baker in tow.  Povolny was buried around tenth, and had a lot of work to do to catch Poulter.  Kelly briefly passed Markwardt for second on the opening lap, but Markwardt closed the door, and focused on running Poulter’s pace.  Povolny worked through the pack, moving into the top five after a few laps, behind Poulter, Markwardt, Kelly, and Baker.  Eventually Poulter opened up a good lead on the way to the checkers, and Markwardt secured a solid second place.  Povolny worked into third, but couldn’t catch the top two.  Whitney and Kelly wrapped up the top five, as Whitney bumped past Kelly over the finish line jump.

 The vet classes were stacked and very competitive.  In the 14-rider 25+A class, James Povolny had the early lead, but Greg Hochmuch (911) was out front as they completed the first lap, with Povolny, Michigan’s Adam Marten, Greg Braet, and James Abbott in the hunt.  Povolny regained the lead from Hochmuth, and pulled a small gap on the way to the checkers.  Hochmuth, Braet, and Marten had a tight race for second, with Hochmuth getting the edge, over Braet and Martin.  Abbott held off Burton Lavens to finish fifth. 

Povolny started out front in the 13-rider 30+A class, but heat-race winner Braet moved out front as they went through the first few turns.  Polvolny took it back on the first lap, and stayed ahead to the finish.  Braet held on to second, while Marten edged out Abbott and Lavens for third.

 In the 13-rider 40+ class, Rusty Ott had his word cut out for him, after finishing second to Tim Filippi (10) in an intense heat race.  Filippi and Ott went side-by-side around the first turn, with Ott pulling ahead, over Filippi, Larry Bank, David Degelau, and Keith Hicks.  Ott and Filippi stayed right with each other, going bar-to-bar through the rhythm section and over the jumps for several laps.  Filippi moved into the lead a few times, but Ott would quickly close the door.  The two even made a little contact on the last lap, as they went through lapped traffic.  Filippi made a final charge through the small whoops section, but couldn’t make it stick, as Ott captured the hard earned win over Filippi.  Hicks worked the inside lines to finish third, followed by Degelau and Bank.

 Maxx Malatia picked up the holeshot in the 16-rider 85 Senior class, followed by Chris West, Nick Neys, Cory Catalani, and Cody Slamans.  Catalani crashed as they wrapped up the first lap.  Malatia ran away with the win, while Neys reeled in West for second.  Slamans and Kyle Poska completed the top five. 

Malatia also went wire-to-wire in the Supermini class, checking out for the victory.  Mason Flatness, Slamans, and Dalton Abbott trailed Malatia in the start.  Mid-race, second place Flatness went off the track, allowing Abbott and Neys to advance into second and third.  Abbott, Neys, and Flatness battled to the finish, with Neys going inside through a set of turns to stick a pass for second.  At the finish, Malatia was out front, followed by Neys, Abbott, Flatness, and Shawn Patrick.

Due to the large turnout, 125B was split into two separate races.  In the first division, heat-race winner Joey Olson started out front, with Steven Page and Dallas Devinney in tow.  Cody Lackore moved into the top three as they reached the rhythm section, and set his sights on Page.  Lackore moved into second by lap two.  Olson captured the win, over Lackore, Page, Devinney, and Mike Chrisos.

 In the second 125B division, Daniel Sanders picked up the holeshot, trailed by heat-race winner Chris Damm and Jakub Baker.  Damm passed Sanders for the lead as they completed the first lap.  Sanders stayed with Damm to the finish, but Damm held off his pressure for the victory.  Denny Morsch, Gordin Kaskin, and Baker mixed it up to complete the top five.

 Sanders grabbed the 16-rider 250B holeshot, with Joey Olson and Josh Provost in tow.  Olson bobbled early in the race, advancing Provost and Josiah Damm into second and third.  Sanders held the lead, while Provost, Damm, and Olson diced for second.  Damm passed into second mid-race, while Olson tried to close the gap by doubling the two tabletops in the rhythm section.  Olson passed Provost by launching the step-up at the end of the rhythm section, and tried the same move on Damm on the last lap, but went off the track and lost a position to Provost.  But in the last turn before the finish, Olson set up Provost to take it back.  Sanders carded the win, followed by Damm, Olson, Provost, and Denny Morsch.

Josiah Damm also put in a good ride in the 14-24, taking the top honors in the 21-rider class.  Justin Nalenzy, Steven Page, Brandon Pinnow, and Gordon Kaskin completed the top five.

 Colton Krska started out front in 50 Junior, followed closely by Mason Halsey.  Krska held off Halsey’s charge the whole race for the win.  Halsey, Nick Harris, Shawn Thompson, and CJ Kuhter wrapped up the top five. 

 Krska was also victorious in the 50cc 4-8 Injected class, over Thompson, Kuther, Corey Eilers, and Myron Lesley.

 Chad Saultz started out front in 65 Junior, trailed by Nick Wallace, and Colton Slamans.  The top three held their positions to the finish, with Saultz checking out for the win.  Stuart Schwagerman, Anthony Wallace, and Jordan Cram diced for fourth, with Wallace making a pass through the rhythm section mid-race. 

Bailey Stefka had a good night, taking wins in 65 Senior and 85 Senior.  In 65 Senior, Stefka led from wire-to-wire.  Logan Skaggs and Jacob Wever followed Stefka around the first turn, and held second and third to the checkers.  After a bad start, Sam Shamie reeled in several riders to finish fourth, followed by Trent Poska. 

 Stefka also topped the 17-rider 85 Junior class, over Malachi Messenger(330), Skaggs, Brandon Pagni, and Chad West.

 In 25+B, Zeno Molteni was the early leader, with Joe Kopecky and Jesse Keith (69) in the hunt.  Molteni, Kopecky, Keith, and Todd Schmollinger ran a close race, with Kopecky bobbling late in the race, handing positions to Keith and Schmollinger.  Molteni held the lead until the last lap, when Keith dug deep to pass into the lead for the win.  Molteni carded second, followed by Schmollinger, Kopecky, and Tom Hayunga.

 Troy Quest led 30+B around the first turn, followed by Hayunga and James Wehrman.  Hayunga moved out front early in the race, but had his hands full with Schmollinger, who would eventually pass into the lead, and keep it to the finish.  Hayunga, Wehrman, Quest, and Donny McCauley completed the top five.

In Quad A, Zachary Harris started out front, trailed by Randy Shilling, Jason Wehrli, and Stephen Schenk.  Harris held off Schilling’s hard charge to the checkers for the win, while Shenk picked off Wehrli for third.  Wehrli ran into problems with a lap to go, opening the door for Cody Harbach to finish fourth, and Wehrli fifth.

 Jory Dalsanto was the Quad B leader as they made it through the first turns, followed by Charlie Snow, Derick Skaggs, and Zack Sondgeroth.  All eight of the riders stayed very close the whole race, going three wide in the whoops and bumping over jumps.  But Dalsanto kept out front, taking the win.  Skaggs passed Snow for second mid-race, and tried to get Dalsanto, but had to settle for second.  Richard Olson moved into third at the halfway point, but couldn’t hold on, as Snow, Jacob Conroy, and Sondgeroth rounded out the top five. 

Don't forget the added rain dates in October! 10-6 and 10-20 will the dates to make up the rain outs earlier in the year.