Sexton and Roper from Loretta’s to Megacross
Megacross Shootout Series
Mendota, IL – Aug 5th, 2006
By Nikki Dixon
|
O |
ver 300 entrants enjoyed another great night at the Megacross Shootout series. A little extra watering made for a few rutted turns, great racing conditions, and kept the track tacky all night long. Chase Sexton and April Roper made a pit stop at the Tri-County Fairgrounds to take a couple of wins, after spending the week racing in Tennessee, at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. This is the top amateur race event in the country, and both Sexton and Roper advanced through the Area and Regional qualifiers to get a spot on the gate for the National event. On another note, Ross Martin continued his Megacross dominance, topping 125A, 250A, and Four-Stroke, and bringing his Megacross main event win streak to an unprecedented fifteen in a row! Will someone stop Martin in 2006, or will his streak roll into 2007? There are only two more rounds in September, make sure to catch the action!
50 Junior rider Chase Sexton sported his Loretta Lynn Amateur National race bib in practice, after finishing an outstanding 11th place at his first National during the week. Sexton was also the top Lem rider at the Nationals, and the only non-Cobra mounted rider in the top 15. Sexton was on the gas at Megacross, and led wire-to-wire in 50 Junior. Jackson Jeffery and Tomas Aubone duked it out for second, with Jeffery getting the upper hand.
Mandelke collected the holeshot in 50 Senior, trailed by Kai Devine, Tyler Scott, and Jordan Cram. In the opening laps, Cram picked off Scott and Devine, to catch up to the leader, Mandelke. The two were running a very fast pace, fighting for the lead, with Mandelke out front across the finish. Cram carded second, with Devine edging out Scott for third.
Fresh from a 25th place finish at the Loretta Lynn Amateur MX Nationals, April Roper carded a soild win in the 11-rider Megacross Women’s class. Roper started out front, with BriAnn Stiles and Nikki Dixon in tow. Hicks put the pressure on Dixon for third, until a few bobbles by Hicks opened up the gap. Roper moved out for the win, while Stiles, Dixon, Hicks, and Theresa Lanute wrapped up the top five.
In 125A, Martin led the class out of the gate, with Kevin Markwardt, Derek Whitney, Matt Mellott, and Brad Modjewski in tow. Whitney quickly moved into second, and tried to shadow Martin for the opening laps. Martin picked it up to try to pull away, and even doubled up the two tabletops in the rhythm section on his 250F on a few laps. Modjewski was on the move, closing in on second place Whitney late in the race. With a few turns to go, Modjewski went inside on Whitney after the small whoop section to gain position. Martin took the win, with Modjweski, Whitney, Markwardt, and Justin Baker rounding out the top five. (Note: Modjewski raced the Millville National the following weekend, and was running third in moto two behind Carmichael and Stewart on lap one in the mud! Modjweski finished 19th overall at Millville in the Motocross class.)
Martin started out front again in 250A, followed by Markwardt, Modjewski, Jason Donegan, and Whitney. On lap two, Modjewski and Markwardt went side-by-side over the big triple, with Modjewski having the inside line into the rhythm section to move past Markwardt. Martin ran away with the win, and Modjewski finished a solid second. Markwardt and Whitney mixed it up for third, with Whitney getting the edge at the finish. Donegan held off Justin Baker to complete the top five.
16-riders filled the gate in 125B, with Jordan VanDeWyngaerde piloting his Kawasaki to the holeshot, followed by Brad Fabrizius, Mike Chrisos, and Kyle Entwistle. Fabrizius quickly took over the lead, and sprinted to the checkers. Chrisos and Entwistle went bar-to-bar for the second spot, with Entwistle trying all different lines to make a clean pass. Josh Provost, VanDeWyngaerde, and Broc Pagni diced for the fourth spot. At the finish, Fabrizius took the win, with Chrisos, Entwistle, Provost, and Pagni rounding out the top five.
Rick Nichol checked out in 65 Senior, en route to the win. Nichol started out front, with Jacob Wever, Conner Robinson, and Kyle Nelson behind. Nichol stayed on the gas and pulled away, even jumping the big triple tabletop. Wever, Nelson, and Robinson had a close race for the runner-up position, until Nelson went down in the back section of the track. Nichol carded a big win, followed by Wever and Robinson.
In 65 Junior, Zack Sawko had a good start, trailed by Logan Skaggs, Dillon Schacht, Bryce Ivey, and Sam Shanie. Sawko was out front, while Ivey moved into second, followed by Skaggs and Schacht. Skaggs passed Ivey back, and Schacht ran into problems in the turn after the whoops, dropping him back a few positions. On the last lap, Skaggs closed in on Sawko through lappers, but Sawko held him off for the win, with Skaggs and Ivey completing the top three.
Maxx Malatia started out front in the 16-rider 85 Senior class, with Tyler Baylis, Robbie Hyson, Blake Couch, and Zack Scott in tow. Baylis went down on the first lap, taking the pressure off of Malatia. Hyson and Scott traded positions back and forth in the opening laps, with Scott eventually pulling ahead. Hyson and Couch raced for the final podium spot to the finish, with Couch getting the edge. At the checkers, the top five were Malatia, Scott, Couch, Hyson, and Anthony Finnell, who came through the pack.
In 250C, Justin Gauer picked up the holeshot, but Scott Holmes took over the lead after a few turns. After a lap, Holmes was the leader, with Gauer, Randy Harper, Brett Miller, Mark Carcia, Brian Goodin, Tyler Tornow, and Sam Esposito in a bunch, all hungry for a podium position. Holmes stayed out front to the checkers, while the seven riders mixed it up for position, with Gauer, Miller, Goodin, and Carcia following Holmes across the finish line.
Wyatt Hall started out front in 250B, followed by Mike Chrisos, Josh Prvost, and Jesse Keith. Kyle Bracken and Dennis Morsch moved into the top five on the opening lap. Hall, Chrisos, and Provost had a tight race for the lead the whole main event, with Chrisos taking the lead on the last lap, by using the inside line through the off-camber turns. Hall tried to take it back, by taking the inside through the rhythm section, but couldn’t close the door on Chrisos in the big berm at the end. Chrisos carded the win, with Hall, Provost, Morsch, and Bracken completing the top five.
The +25A action was hot, with Burton Lavens taking the holeshot in front of Bob Gardner and Josh Pistole. The top three were all hungry for the win, bumping in the turns, and fighting for position. Gardner took the lead from Lavens on lap two, then Pistole moved past Lavens on the beginning of lap three, only for Lavens to take it back. As they came through the rutted off-camber turn, all three riders came together, with Pistole and Gardner stalling out, and Lavens making it through. David Hayes took advantage of the mishap to advance into second. Pistole and Gardner tried to catch back up to the leaders, but ran out of laps. Lavens took the win, followed by Hayes and Pistole.
Jeremy Beetz was the early leader in Quad A, trailed by Jeff Juran, Mark Brennan, and Stephen Schenk. Juran put the pressure on Beetz, and passed into the lead by lap three. Beetz stayed close, but couldn’t take it back. The battle for third was tight, with Schenk holding off Travis Jones. At the finish, Juran took the checkered flag, followed by Beetz and Schenk.
Daniel Olson picked up the holeshot in the Quad C class, with Jory Dalsanto and Jaden Landwehr in tow. After a lap, Olson, Landwehr, and Dalsanto were running top three, with a close battle for fourth between SJ Seghi, Kyle White, Derick Skaggs, and Todd Adamson. Landwehr stayed right with the leader, Olson, and after getting the white flag, the two were side-by-side in the whoops. Landwehr gave it his all, but couldn’t make a pass. Olson collected the win, and the two riders shook hands after the finish on the great race. Despite a bad start, Skaggs kept on the gas to the finish for third overall.