Big Bird Soars at Elko Motocross

Big Bird Soars at Elko Motocross

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Former factory rider, Larry Ward, paid a visit to Elko Motocross and showed that he still has the form that contributed to his long career in professional motocross. Steamy weather and a revised track layout added some unpredictability to some of the races, but in the end, the strongest riders rose to the occasion. The predicted heat index of 110 was a bit off, but the heat and humidity definitely affected the riders, especially when the dreaded, “can’t start the stalled four-stroke” events occurred. Typically, a rainy season followed by a tropical season is associated with areas near the equator, but Minnesota is giving it a try this year, adding an extra challenge for the District 23 racers. A long ways away from his home in South Carolina, Ward was visiting friends in the area and riding a borrowed, bone-stock, “even the silencer”, YZ450. The class that he chose to
Unexpected guest, Larry Ward, came out to Elko to play Photo courtesy of Col's MotoSports	contest was 30+ A. The result was a rather predictable holeshot and run-away victory in both motos. The lack of close racing action in that class didn’t seem to bother the spectators, as they were entertained by watching his speed and style around the track, particularly through the rhythm section. In the first moto, Chris Zurek stayed kept him in sight for most of the race, but Ward seemed to pick it up a notch in the second moto and was gone from the start. Zurek finished a steady second overall in front of 40+ A winner, Don Bonnicksen.

In the race dropped behind them, 30+ B, the top four stayed tight for nearly the whole race. Brad Cunningham, Derrick Boaz, and Charles Kiland finished a very close 1-2-3, with Anthony Lake not far behind in fourth. In the second moto, Boaz holeshot, but Kiland was by on the first lap and rode to the win. Boaz kept the pressure on early, but Kiland inched away. Fairly close behind, Cunningham and Lake contested third place for the entire race. The finishing order for the moto and the overall was Kiland, Boaz, Cunningham, and Lake. The track had some drastic changes since the last race was run here. The primary change was running the track in the opposite direction. To accomplish this safely, there was also some

Superman's secret identity is rumored to be Scott King
Photo courtesy of Col's MotoSports

rerouting of the track. Although the surface was the same well-prepared soft dirt that it has always been, the changes to the layout lead many riders to comment that it felt like riding a new track.

The C classes were the largest of the day and provided the closest racing action. In the first 125cc C race, Eric Ahrendt battled with Jeremy Hullet for most of the race, but held on for the win. Behind them, Ricky Benson came out on top in a three way battle for third with Kevin Plzak, Shane Tismer. In the second moto, Tismer snared the holeshot and ran away with the win. Behind him, Hullet slotted into second early and held it to the finish. Ahrendt came through from a mid-pack start for third followed by Benson and Patrick Young. The consistent 2-2 of Hullet gave him the overall win, followed by Ahrendt (1-3), Tismer (5-1), Benson (3-4) and first lap crasher, Plzak (4-7).

Multiple class wins were tough to come by. The only riders able to double up were Dan Grieg in 85cc 7-11 and 85cc 9-12, John Heinlien III in Schollboy and 250cc B, and “not your average” Joe Mueller in 250cc A and 16-24 A. Another performance of note was Kristen Oja’s decimation of the Women’s class, winning the second four-lap moto by 50 seconds. Delano Sports Center, Leo's South, Cities Edge, Hitching Post, Excel Motor Sports, Scott, MinnesotaCars.com, and Race Tools all provide support for this series. This was the sixth round of a scheduled nine.

Note - The photos on this web page were re-formatted for fast load times. To see these photos and many more in full quality,check out the Elko, MN Moto X, July 24th link of Col's MotoSports.

Results:
50cc Oil Inj. 4-6:
1.Alex Ingalls (KTM); 2.Cameron Ziegler (KTM); 3.Cody Bali (KTM); 4.Kj Downey (KTM); 5.Colton Weber (Yam);

50cc Oil Inj. 7-8:
1.Joshua Butler (KTM); 2.Hunter Pederson (KTM); 3.Wyatt Messimore (KTM); 4.Kyle Thomas (KTM); 5.Sophia Johnson (KTM);

50cc Chain 4-6:
1.Matt Tupy (COB); 2.Christian Bahl ; 3.John Neumann (COB); 4.Noah Mcpherson (KTM);

50cc Chain 7-8:
1.Thomas Bosek (KTM); 2.Nick Schnagl (KTM); 3.Jessse Solheid (KTM); 4.Tyler Gast (KTM); 5.Jacob Paulson (KTM);

65cc 7-9:
1.Eric Anderson (KTM); 2.Thomas Bosek (Kaw); 3.Max Royalty (Kaw); 4.Nick Schnagl (KTM); 5.Colton Arneson (Yam); 6.Trent Kubes (KTM); 7.Jesse Solheid (COB); 8.William Dorow (KTM);

65cc 10-11:
1.Shane Rhode (KTM); 2.Jeremy Juliot (KTM); 3.Blake Raskovich (KTM); 4.Dylan Wolff (KTM); 5.Jake Burbach ; 6.Taylor Gast (KTM); 7.Slater Peterson (Kaw); 8.Kali Wald (Kaw);

85cc 7-11:
1.Dan Greig (KTM); 2.Shane Rhode (KTM); 3.Tanner Vansomeren (Hon); 4.Jake Burbach (Yam); 5.Erik Jensen (Hon); 6.Blake Raskovich (KTM); 7.Max Royalty (Kaw); 8.Colton Arneson (Yam);

85cc 9-12:
1.Dan Greig (KTM); 2.Collin Cassem (Hon); 3.Trent Hinrichs (Hon); 4.Tanner Vansomeren (Hon); 5.Erik Jensen (Hon); 6.Jacob Chmielewski (Hon);

85cc 12-15:
1.Shawn Kline (Kaw); 2.Cody Lackore (Yam); 3.Trent Hinrichs (Hon); 4.Collin Cassem (Hon); 5.Cole Bernloehr (Suz); 6.Dustin Overby (Suz); 7.Zack Berg (Suz); 8.Philip Novacek (Suz);

Schoolboy 12-15:
1.John Heinlein Iii (Hon); 2.Shane Tismer (Yam); 3.Jeremy Hullett (Yam); 4.Eric Johnson (Suz); 5.Kristen Oja (Yam); 6.Justin Schroeder (Yam); 7.Eric Ahrendt (Hon); 8.Brandon Stewart (Suz);

125 A:
1.Jesse Peterson (Hon); 2.Mike Haseltine (Yam);

125 B:
1.John Emmeck (Hon); 2.Garret Rigelman ; 3.John Heinlein Iii (Hon); 4.Brad Perron (Yam); 5.Justin Mckinley (Yam); 6.Andrew Rutledge (Hon); 7.James Carsten (Yam); 8.Blake Jablonski (Yam);

125 C:
1.Jeremy Hullett (Yam); 2.Eric Ahrendt (Hon); 3.Shane Tismer (Yam); 4.Ricky Benson (Suz); 5.Kevin Plzak (KTM); 6.Patrick Young (Yam); 7.William Doane (Yam); 8.Justin Schroeder (Yam);

250/Open A:
1.Joe Mueller (Kaw); 2.Jason Doyle (Hon); 3.Jed Oconnor (Hon); 4.Jesse Peterson (Hon); 5.Trevor Schuster (Hon); 6.Mike Haseltine (Yam);

250/Open B:
1.John Heinlein Iii (Hon); 2.John Emmeck (Hon); 3.Nick Oja (Yam); 4.Matt Foels (Hon); 5.Kiel Bormann (Yam); 6.Evan Bolton (Yam); 7.Troy Buske (Yam); 8.David Ludowese (Yam);

250/Open C:
1.William Doane (Yam); 2.Patrick Young (Yam); 3.Kristofer Madison (Yam); 4.Caleb Bolton (Yam);

16/24 A:
1.Joe Mueller (Kaw); 2.Trevor Schuster (Hon); 3.Jason Doyle (Hon);

16/24 B:
1.Garret Rigelman ; 2.John Emmeck (Hon); 3.Nick Oja (Yam); 4.Troy Buske (Yam); 5.James Carsten (Yam); 6.Blake Lawrence (Suz); 7.Justin Mckinley (Yam); 8.Matt Foels (Hon);

16/24 C:
1.Kevin Plzak (KTM); 2.Joe Belgarde (Yam); 3.Patrick Young (Yam); 4.Shea Lingle (Yam); 5.Patrick Vogt (Hon); 6.Bobby Johnson (Suz); 7.Cameron Griese (Hon); 8.Ricky Benson (Suz);

25+ A:
1.Jed Oconnor (Hon); 2.Chris Zurek (Hon);

25+ B:
1.Kiel Bormann (Yam); 2.Jeremy Tholen (Hon); 3.Brad Cunningham (Hon); 4.Anthony Lake (Hon); 5.Lang Jensen (Yam); 6.Andrew Bauer (Yam);

25+ C:
1.Jeff Simola (Yam); 2.Jeff Ryan (Hon); 3.Jason Schanil (Hon); 4.Michael Janovsky (Yam); 5.William Wells (Hon);

30+ A:
1.Larry Ward (Yam); 2.Chris Zurek (Hon); 3.Donald Bonnickson (Kaw);

30+ B:
1.Charles Kiland (Yam); 2.Derrick Boaz (Hon); 3.Brad Cunningham (Hon); 4.Anthony Lake (Hon);

30+ C:
1.Jeff Ryan (Hon); 2.Chris Aloisio (Yam); 3.John Metz (Yam); 4.Jason Schanil (Hon); 5.Brian Burbach (Yam); 6.Mark Vanderwerf (Yam);

40+ A:
1.Donald Bonnickson (Kaw); 2.Jonathan Hodapp (Hon);

40+ B:
1.Brad Carter (Yam); 2.Jeff Coulson (Yam); 3.Derrick Boaz (Hon); 4.Samuel Stejskal ;

40+ C:
1.James Lichliter (Yam); 2.Michael Janovsky (Yam); 3.Steve Schoenoff (Yam); 4.Dan Karg (Yam); 5.Mike Carpenter (Kaw);

45+ A:
1.Jonathan Hodapp (Hon); 2.Dave Hencir (Hon);

45+:
1.Jeff Coulson (Yam); 2.Duane Gunderson (KTM); 3.Mark Anderson (KTM); 4.John Schaefer (Kaw);

Women:
1.Kristen Oja (Yam); 2.Teagan Knowlton (KTM); 3.Amanda Wald (Kaw); 4.Jessica Hansen (Yam); 5.Jalen Knowlton (Kaw); 6.Kali Wald (Kaw);

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