REM GLEN HELEN MOTOCROSS RACE REPORT: JUSTIN SOULE AND PRESTON TILFORD WIN THE PRO CLASSES, WHILE THE OVER-50 EXPERT CLASSES SEES ANOTHER NEW WINNER

Vance & Hines rider Preston Tilford had a tough day with crashes and bad starts, but managed to pull the 250 Pro class victory out of a hat by never giving up.

With the 2011 Glen Helen motocross season only three races old, REM took the time to put the final touches on the 2010 racing year with its annual awards. REM handed out embroidered jackets to the top ten racers from last year and gave special award to riders who deserved special merit. With 40 races every year, making the top ten isn’t as easy as winning the occasional race?you have to ride when you are sick, injured and demented.


WORCS and Endurcross rider Justin Soule won both 450 Pro motos without breaking a sweat.

Most notable was the “Racer of the Year” award which was presented to Gary Scott. Scott has actually raced with REM since their very first race at Carlsbad Raceway 25 years ago, but he had a very special story in 2010. Early last year, Gary started to suffered from a medical problem that would cause his vision to go blurry when he exerted himself. He visited doctors and specialists, but no treatment worked. Through it all, Gary continued to race. He would start the race and ride as hard as he could, but midway through every moto his vision would deteriorate to the point of blindness. He would slow to a crawl and pull off the track. Only to return the next week and try again. Imagine the doubt of knowing that sometime in the next lap or two that you might not be able to see the jumps, bumps or ruts. Luckily, in the last month of 2010 Gary discovered, thanks to a friend’s suggestion, a partial solution. He fully plugged his ears before the moto and while his vision wasn’t great late in the motos, he could still see. For his perseverance, not just for 25 years of racing, but he racing under the worst of circumstance, Gary deserves the credit. At this week’s race he finished fourth overall in the Over-50 Novice class with a 2-7.

Glen Helen’s Top Ten riders of 2010 were award trophies and jackets. (Back row) Sponsor of the Year Jay Clark, Jody Weisel, George Kohler, Ron Lawson, Sportsmen of the Year Willy & Billy Musgrave. (Front row) Hall of Famer Feets Minert, Dan Alamangos, Dennis Boulware, Tom White, Randy Skinner, Racer of the Year Gary Scott and Mark Taylor..

Billy Musgrave and his dad Willy had some of the most intense and nail biting races of the year at Glen Helen. Willy didn’t want to get beat by 19-year-old Billy. It took Billy all year to finally beat his dad. REM’s Frank Thomason awarded them the “Sportsmen of the Year Award” for not killing each other on the track.

THE WEEKLY WAR RESULTS

Justin Soule easily won the 450 Pro class. Soule’s 1-1 bested Dylan Schmoke’s 2-2 and Swedish rider Rikard Hansson’s 3-3.

In the 250 Pro class, Vance & Hines rider Preston Tilford came back from a first turn crash that bent up his YZ450F to salvage a second in the first moto. Preston backed that up with a win in the second moto to take the overall victory away from Team Husqvarna of Sweden’s Viktor Bjorklund and Ricky Diaz.


Bob and Casey Casper had a good day. Bob Won the Over-50 Expert class, while son Casey took the 450 Intermediate win. This is Casey.

In the Intermediates: Casey Casper, son of Bob Casper, swept the 450 Intermediate in front of Shane Post and Tallon Taylor. Billy Musgrave continued his two-stroke reign of the 250 Intermediates by pushing his KTM 150SX from the back of the pack to the front (as always in pursuit of his faster starting Over-40 Pro father?who started in the same wave).


Feets Minert (45) just keeps on racing. The AMA Hall of Famer and 1956 Catalina Grand Prix winner raced his first race in 1947 and has never stopped (except for that pesky Korean War). Approaching 80-years-old this year, he has no plans of slowing down.

THE OLD GUYS

Bob Casper became the third different winner of the Over-50 Expert class in the first three races (Fred Nichols and Dave Eropkin won the first two weeks). Dirt Bike Magazine‘s Ron Lawson won the first moto, but finished third in moto two. Fred Nichols was third (3-4), Greg Nelson fourth (6-2), Dennis Boulware fifth (5-5), Tim Murphy sixth (4-7), David Blunk seventh (7-6), Mike Monaghan eighth (8-8), George Kohler ninth (9-9) and Mark Hall tenth (12-11).


Recognizable in this gaggle of Over-50 Novices is Ian Pederson (black & yellow gear), Craig Johnston (yellow and blue) and Dennis Smith (black & white).

Tom White took the Over-60 Expert win in front of a top five that included Lars Larsson (4-2), Ray Pisarski (3-3), Jody Weisel (5-4) and Roger Taylor (7-5).

In the Vet Beginner class, Lance Gilbert used a 2-1 to beat Steve Mitchell (3-2) and Shawn Tufts (4-3), while Rick Richards Jr. won the Vet Novice class in front of Todd Moore (2-2), Gary Taylor (4-3) and Tom Hinz (3-4).

Tim Olson easily won the Vet Intermediate class for the umpteenth time.

Brian Underdahl (606) leads Craig Johnston (145), Brian Martin (65) and Tim Norton in the Over-50 Novice class. They would finish third, second, eighth and sixth respectively.

THE 40 & 50 NOVICES

Two classes that were packed to the gills were the Over-40 and Over-50 Novices (although the Over-50 Expert class is the premier class at REM).

Over-40 Novice: Pasha Afshar went 1-1 in front of a top ten of Daren Briggs, Steve Thetford, Gary Lama, Mark Testa, Mike Hillion, Mike Swyden, James McDonald, Dave Hickerson and Rob Deeds.

Over-50 Novice: Rob Collins was perfect in front of a top ten of Craig Johnston, Brian Underdahl, Gary Scott, Ian Pederson, Tim Norton, Dennis Smith, Brian Martin, Mark Homan and John Tookey.

Mark Taylor (86) sweeps into a right-hand turn with Alex Durkin (99), Greg Labranche (21) and Garret Gauthier (55) in hot pursuit.

THE ADULT TWO-STROKE CLASS

The 125 Adult “A” is a run-what-ya-brung 125cc two-stroke class that has attracted some talent from the the bigger classes to its new weekly wars. Last week Aussie Dan Alamangos won both the 125 Adult A class and the Over-40 Intermediates. This week, the Aussie was crashed back to third in the first moto of the Adult 125 “A” and ended up losing the overall to Ron Lawson?while suffering a bent front rotor in the Over-40 Intermediates. Oh well, he’ll always have last week!

The 125 Adult “A” class top five was Ron Lawson (KX125), Dan Alamangos (YZ125), Pete Vetrano (YZ125), Randy Skinner (RM125) and Brian Pappalardo (RM125).

Rick Richards, Jr. lets it all hang out going into REM’s sand section. Richards took the Vet Novice victory with style points to spare.

REM races virtually every Saturday at Glen Helen. Under a special deal, REM license holders only have to pay half price at Glen Helen’s front gate (and they get $5 off of their race entry fee also). If you have an REM license, you will save $15 a week and pay off the license fee in less than three weeks.

For more info go to www.remsatmx.com

Photos by Dan Alamangos