Horton and Hofmaster Split Wins!

 First Round for Thumper and Vintage classes

 Mendota, IL – May 9

By Nikki Dixon

Over 370 entrants packed the Tri County Fairgrounds for round two of the Megacross Shootout Series. Some track changes were made, including a new timing section with three tabletops in a row. The track rutted up in a few turns, and a couple of soft sections, making for different lines and more passing opportunities. There were lots of full classes and exciting racing through the entire race order, including the Thumper and Vintage classes, which run at selected Megacross rounds. The expert classes were stacked, with Roy Horton and Tommy Hofmaster sharing the wins, and their slice of Honda and Yamaha contingency.

 The Thumper class (adults on 80cc-150cc air cooled thumpers), which runs at selected Megacross events, had a huge turnout with 15 riders. And every position was up for grabs, as no rider finished in the same spot in both the heat race and main event. Heat-race winner Nicholas Broll grabbed the main event holeshot, but John Conley moved into the lead on the first lap, trailed by Nicholas Broll, Dylan Broll, Dean Holmstrom, and Ron Daugherty. Holmstrom passed into third mid-race, as hare scramble specialist Mark Spizzirri was on the move, slicing through the pack. As the checkered flag flew, Conley took the win, with Nicholas Broll, Spizzirri, Holmstrom, and Dylan Broll completing the top five. 

The Vintage class made its Megacross debut, and is also running selected 2009 rounds. Kurt Stuart had a good jump out of the gate in the inaugural main event, but Theodore Horn cut inside in the second turn to take the lead, with Stuart, John Bacher, Brandon Wise, and Mitch Winder in tow. Horn slowly pulled away after a few laps, while Bacher and Stuart mixed it up for second, with Bacher getting the edge. The crowd enjoyed seeing the air cooled and mostly dual-shock equipped machines race around the stadium style track, and were quite impressed by both the bikes and riders.

 First year A class rider Daniel Sanders led the 17-rider 250A main event through the first turns, but Horton and Hofmaster quickly moved into the one-two spots, chased by Sanders, Kyle White, and Jared Schudel. Four-stroke mounted Horton opened up his lead, while 250cc two-stroke mounted Hofmaster held off Sanders. Derek Whitney was on the move, climbing into the fourth spot midway through the seven lap race. Horton sprinted ahead for the win, with Hofmaster, Sanders, Whitney, and White completing the top five.

 Another A class rookie, Vaughn Mays (81), grabbed the holeshot in the 17-rider Open A main, trailed by Hofmaster and Horton. Hofmaster took over the lead on the first lap, followed by Mays, Horton, Justin Kelly, and James Garrett. Horton worked on Mays for three laps, eventually moving into second through the turns before the finish. Hofmaster charged to the checkers for the uncontested win, with Horton securing second, and Kelly rounding out the podium. Whitney moved up to fourth, followed by Schudel. Mays ran into problems late in the race, and dropped outside of the top ten.

Hofmaster also topped the 13-rider +25A class, but Greg Braet made him work for it. Braet picked up the holeshot, trailed by Hofmaster and Jason Kloptowsky. Hofmaster chased Braet for a few laps, with Braet taking Hofmaster a little wide in the new three tabletop section, and Hofmaster going off the track. Hofmaster regrouped, and answered back with an inside line over the step-up to pass Braet for the lead. Hofmaster captured the win, over Braet, Kloptowsky, Burton Lavens, and Everett Dahlberg.

 Lavens led the 12-rider +30A class around the first turn, followed by Kloptowsky, Braet, and a first-turn pile-up. Kloptowsky moved into the lead on the first lap, but gave up the position to Braet a lap later. Braet secured the win, followed by Kloptowsky, Lavens, Dahlberg, and Chad Stanko.

 Troy Quest (18) nailed the +30B holeshot over the 19-rider field, chased by District 17 Enduro Director Ryan Moss, Kevin Williams, Jason Coleman, and Shawn Palade. The front runners mixed it up in the opening lap, with Moss, Peter Witkowski, and Quest as the new top three. Quest moved up to second behind Moss, but Coleman reeled in Quest late in the race. Moss led the way to the checkers, followed by Coleman and Quest. Jeffery Evensen and Scott Holmes passed through the pack to round out the top five.

In Quad A action, Stephen Schenk and Jason Wehrli were side-by-side through the first turn, with Wehrli moving out front around turn two. Heat race winner Zach Harris had a bad start, but sliced through the pack to catch second place Schenk. The top five ran a close race. On the final lap, Harris railed the outside on the berm before the new three tabletop section, and put a clean pass on Schenk through the jumps. Wehrli carded the win, with Harris, Schenk, Jeremy Beetz, and Derick Skaggs wrapping up the top five.

 Tyler Collins had the holeshot in the 15-rider 50 Senior class, but Robert Copenharve came inside and rubbed a little plastic with Collins to move into the lead. Copenharve and Collins then ran in the first and second spots, chased by Tyler Evensen, Shawn Thompson, and Jacon Wain. Copenharve stayed out front to the checkered flag, while Thompson reeled in Evensen and Collins for second. Evensen and Shane Reilly rounded out up the top five.

Nolan Dickinson led the 50cc 4-8 class on the first lap, with Travis Wilkinson and Garrett Ward in tow. Wilkinson and Ward had an exciting battle, as four-stroke mounted Ward would close in through the “S” turns before the finish line, but two-stroke mounted Wilkinson would open up the gap on the far side of the track. Dickinson carded the win, with Wilkinson edging out Ward for the runner-up spot, followed by Radko Tomko and Richard Hintzsche

 Logan Skaggs (997) and Robbie Hyson (4) traded wins in Supermini and 85 Senior. In Supermini, Skaggs led the 18-rider class through the first turns, trailed by Hyson and Tanner Porter. Skaggs stayed out front for a couple of laps, but a mid-race mistake opened the door for Hyson move out front, and sprint to the checkers. Skaggs held off Jordan Mackiewicz for second, with Joey Fortune and Tyler Simpkins completing the top five.

 Skaggs had his starts dialed, as he picked up the 85 Senior holeshot over the 19-rider field, chased by heat-race winner Hyson. Skaggs and Hyson diced for the lead, with Skaggs getting the win, followed by Mackiewicz, Simpkins, and Fortune.

 Danielle Grigoletti piloted her RM 85 to the Girls class holeshot, with Kayla Miller, Lanaea Malak, Kelly Christman, and Alexandra Kassal in tow. Grigoletti kept her lead, while Malak pulled side-by-side to Miller on lap two, and passed Miller for second through the section leading into the rutted left-handed turn. But Malak later had bike troubles, resulting in a DNF. Grigoletti crusied to the checkered flag, with Miller and Christman rounding out the podium positons.

Right after winning the Girls class, Grigoletti hopped on her KTM 65 for the 65 Senior main event. Nick Wallace started out front, followed by Chance Trigalet, Grigoletti, and RJ Mackenzie. Grigoletti quickly moved into second behind Wallace, and the two pulled away from the pack to finish one-two. Nicholas Lorenz reeled in Trigalet on the last lap to finish third, trailed by Trigalet and Mackenzie.

 In 65 Junior, Jarred Berggren grabbed the holeshot over the 12-rider field, trailed by Jackson Jeffery and Dylan Boyd. By the second lap, Boyd passed Jeffery for second, and closed in on Berggren. On lap four, Boyd made a move for the lead, by going inside on Berggren in the big bowl turn. But Boyd bobbled, and lost some time, allowing Berggren to stay out front for the win. The top four mixed it up on the final lap, with Berggren taking the win, over Jeffery, Robert Copenharve, Boyd, and Noah Taylor.

 Erik Utech started out front in Open B, chased by Zeno Molteni and Jesse Keith. Leland Bragg moved past Keith for third, but gave up the spot to Dennis Morsch mid-race. Utech sprinted ahead to the checkered flag, as Molteni held off a hard charge from Morsch for the runner-up spot. Bragg and Ryan George wrapped up the top five.

 Reece Miller (446) topped both the 125cc two-stroke class and 14-24.  In 125cc two-stroke, Miller went wire-to-wire for the win, with Matt Mellott and Tyler Knowleton rounding out the podium.  Miller also grabbed the top spot in the 14-rider 14-24 class, trailed by Utech, Collin Licastro, Kyle Entwistle, and Stephen Stocklen across the finish line.

 Andrew Truhlar captured wins in Open C and 250C. In the 18-rider Open C class, Truhlar rounded the first turn out front, trailed by Dylan Broll. As they came through the new three tabletop section, Andrew Truhlar, Broll, William Truhlar, Kyle Somner, and Shane Johnson were running top five. Somner charged up to second, while William Truhlar ran into problems, and dropped outside of the top ten. Andrew Truhlar stayed out front for the win, followed by Somner. Daniel Ortiz charged up to third, with Johnson and Jake Cook completing the top five.

 250C was split into two divisions due to the size of the class. In the first 250C main event, Andrew Truhlar picked up where he left off with another holeshot, in front of Kyle Poska and Shawn Staunton. Truhlar carded another win, while Poska held off Staunton for second, followed by Darrick Dargis and Cole Johns.

 The Truhlar boys had it dialed, as William Thuhlar led the second 250C division around the first turn, followed by Ortiz and Johnson. Alex Bentkowski made a charge to the front of the pack, chasing down the leader Truhlar mid-race, but ran out of laps to challenge for the win. Truhlar finished out front, over Bentkowski, Ortiz, Zach Hochstatter, and John Kenney.