Reichert, Mullen, and Scott Double at the Timonium Fairgrounds
Ryan Henderson
www.RHDesigns95s.smugmug.com
It’s that time of year again, District 6 and 7 dirttrack racing enters Timonium Fairgrounds for the annual Kevin McNicholas/Gary Nixon Memorial Series. We made our return on Friday night for the second race of the series. The Baltimore County Trail Riders Association and Optimist Club have put together an awesome program in order to put on an action packed event, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
After a year off, Nathan Reichert #16 returned to the track to see how he sizes up against some of the other local youngsters. In the 65cc final Reichert pulled the holeshot, inching away from Robert Wheatley #111, Jake Gast #3, Nicholas Crone #37, Karl Wheeler #17, and the rest of the pack. Reichert pulled away for the win with Wheatley in a safe second. Matthew Scibek #7 and Ethan Stroh #28 made hard charges for the front, making passes on the outside. With two laps to go Scibek slid out coming out of two, giving Stroh the third spot. In the 85cc (7-11) class, Wheeler got the early lead before a red flag caused by a crash in turn one. On the restart it was Wheatley out front followed by Wheeler and Reichert. Reichert moved his way to the lead within the first two laps and went on to take home the win. Brennan Beach #13 rode his way to a victory in the 85cc (12-15) class.
The 50cc Shaft (4-8) class looked like a family competition, with the Cunningham twins and three of the Batts boys in a nine rider field. Making the women proud, lil’ Britney Thomas #94 was the first rider to make it to turn one. Before the pack exited turn two, Tyler Scott #70 jumped out front and ran away with the win followed by Evan Batts #1, Thomas, and David Batts #50. Scott returned for the 50cc Chain class for another win ahead of Ethan Stroh and the #11 of Ethan Lewter.
Colton Smith #41 jumped out front of Donnie Mullen #71, Nick Henderson #29s, Mike Poe #83s, and Joey Parks #38s in the premiere Open A class. Mullen worked the inside to take the lead away on lap two. Henderson began to challenge Smith for the second spot, but Smith pulled away. With three laps to go, Poe made an inside pass on Henderson in turn one to take over the third spot and then got into the side of Smith going into turn three. With Smith and Poe down, Mullen pulled away with the win followed by Henderson, Parks, Joey Alexander #14, and Matt Swartz #16s. The same riders returned for the Sportsman final where Mullen secured the lead from the start of the race. The Poe/Smith rivalry continued in the second and third spots, with Parks hanging on the outside of them and making it three wide. Smith held off Poe’s charges and they went second and third.
The veterans lined up for the 45+ class. Brett Friedel #3 took the lead into turn one ahead of Bill Kraft #57 and Lowell Wherley #28. The three split from the rest of the group. The battle for fourth consisted of David Smith #61, James Blair #32x, and Mark Stambaugh #52a. Stambaugh made a move on Smith and then Blair to conquer the spot. Roy Miller #56 jumped out front of the 30+ class and ran away with the win. Sean Simmons #29 and Steve Lerch #27 battled for the second spot until Simmons began slipping back. Damion Kocovinos #26 challenged Simmons for the third spot, making the pass.
Brandon Price #92 battled past Anthony Crabbe #38 on the first lap of the 250 B class. Jeremy Duggan #30 and Cameron Smith #15 challenged each other for the third spot. Crabbe went down on lap four and Duggan slid out on lap eight to give Smith second place. Jeff Standiford #56 capitalized on the crashes to take over third followed by Chase Smith #41 and Marcus Lyons #91s. The veteran Roy Miller #56 jumped out front early in the 250 Sportsman class over Colton Smith #41, Price, and Cameron Smith. Colton Smith tried inside and outside, but just couldn’t get the momentum to get past Miller. With less than a lap to go Colton drove in under Miller in turn one, taking over the lead. Colton held on to take the win followed by Miller, Price, and Cameron Smith.
Cody Bauer #78 took home the victory in the 500 (2-valve) class. Mike Poe #83s and Chris Klinefelter #56a battled back and forth in the Open Twins class. Poe held the leading spot crossing the checkers with Klinefelter close in second. David, Joshua, and Jake Batts finished up third, fourth, and fifth keeping the family together.
In the Women’s class, it was the #38 of Melanie Siegel with the early lead followed by Delaney Cadden #72 and Courtney Blevins #27. Blevins snuck by Cadden for the second spot while Siegel checked out. On the white flag lap, Siegel’s bike locked up going into turn one causing her to go down. Blevins went on to take the win. Jake Gast #6 jumped out front early in the 150 Air Cooled class followed by Blevins, Brennan Beach #24, and Kyle Fitzmaurice 37x. The field spread out and they finished how they started, giving Gast the win.
The two largest classes of the night were the 125cc and Adult 150 classes. Nick Henderson #3 put his Riding Solutions Honda out front of national #71 Donnie Mullen on the Triple J Racing Honda and the #65 Cory Texter on his RLT Racing/DAO Suzuki. Henderson began to check out while Mullen and Texter battled. Texter eventually made a pass stick to secure second and began gaining ground on Henderson. Henderson took home the win followed by Texter, Mullen, Chris Klinefelter, Colton Smith, Joey Alexander, and Ryan Dragunas. The 125cc class was full of all kinds of chaos. Going into turn one, Ryan Dragunas crashed and took Jason Cole down with him. The restart included some banging that led to another restart. On the third start, Joshua Owens #26 got the holeshot followed by Chase Smith #14 and Cole. Smith took over the lead on lap two and ran away with the win. With one lap to go Cole got underneath Owens to take the second spot. Owens went down on the pass and got back up to finish eighth.
