REM GLEN HELEN MOTOCROSS REPORT: NICK PALUZZI & SEAN BORKENHAGEN TRADE MOTO WINS; PRESTON TILFORD TAKES THE 250 PRO CLASS

Sean Borkenhagen has been coming to Glen Helen’s REM motocross races every week for the last month. Sean has been signing up for the 450 class, but racing a KX250F. On average, the lack of power on the REM motocross tracks bills hasn’t worked out for him. This week, Sean showed up with a KX450F and after the first moto it looked like he had finally brought a gun to a knife fight.

Borkenhagen won the first 450 Pro moto easily. His only serious competition came from Nick Paluzzi. Both riders went down at one point in the first moto, although remounting uninjured. Borkenhagen took the first moto with Paluzzi second. It looked like Sean’s day to shine.

Nick Paluzzi (21) was unbeatable in the second 450 pro moto.

Then, in the second moto Nick Paluzzi was shot out of a cannon. Nick rode like a man possessed, railing REM’s tricky ruts and off cambers with a fervor that he hasn’t shown in a while. Borkenhagen had to settle for second place in the second moto?which meant that Paluzzi’s 2-1 took the win over Borkenhagen’s 1-2.

Vance & Hines rider Preston Tilford was testing exhausts in the 250 Pro class…he must have been testing to see how far he could drag the head pipe.

Back from the Loretta Lynn National Amateur Motocross Championship, Preston Tilford was off of his normal Yamaha YZ450F and pressed into service to test exhaust system for his Vance & Hines sponsors. Tilford took a 2011 KX250F to victory in the 250 Pro class. Brandon Brady and Jacob Capriotti finished second and third.

Justin Jones presses the down button on the REM elevator. And, it is steeper than it looks.

Justin Jones won the 450 Intermediate class. Jones planned to race the REM motocross on Saturday and then return to Glen Helen on Sunday to race the ITP Quadcross event.

James Herz used a 1-2 to take the 250 Intermediates over the 5-1 of Corey Brinkmeyer, 3-3 of Nicolo Zinetti, 2-4 of Max Groom and 4-5 of Christian Campos.

Max Groom won the Open Intermediates and finished third in the 250 Intermediates.

Groom, Zinetti, Brinkmeyer and Campos would face each other again in the Open Intermediate class with a different result. Max Groom went 1-2 to beat Zinetti (2-3), Brinkmeyer (7-1) and John Minert (3-7).

WHAT ABOUT THE BIG PACK OF REM OLD GUYS?

Over-40 Expert: Phil Dowell went 1-1 in front of Gary Renko and Greg Pierce.

Dan Alamangos (91) and Bryan Friday (43) joust for position in a series of sweeping turns. Photo by F. Stop Fitzgerald

Over-40 Intermediate: Bryan Friday used a 1-2 to defeat Scott Williams (3-3), Ron Shuler (8-1), Steve Hermann (4-5), Mike Gee (2-8), Dan Alamangos (7-4), Shaun Hanson (5-6) and Mike Young (6-7).

Not a lot of racers can make a Husaberg FX450 look small, but MXA’s Geroge Kohler is one of them.

Over-50 Expert: Randel Fout took the Over-50 Expert victory in front of last week’s winner Ron Lawson and the winner from two weeks ago Greg Nelson. Dennis Boulware was fourth, Randy Skinner fifth, George Kohler sixth, Mark Hall seventh, Pete Vetrano eighth, Greg Groom ninth and Ken Ehlers tenth.

Over-50 Intermediate: Frank Mierau (3-1), John Alden (1-4), John Caper (4-2), Gary Scott (5-3), Bengt Luotonen (2-8) and Ray Pisarski (6-5) traded paint and places all day long. Luotonen could have been the hero of the day after finishing second in the first moto on a vintage Maico 490, but it was not to be as he had issues in the second moto. In the end, Mierau’s 3-1 defeated Hollywood stuntman John Alden’s 1-4.

Over-50 Novice: Chuck Freeman had an easy time in the Over-50 Novice class. His 1-1 bested the 2-2 of Greg Whitfield, 3-3 of Tim Rohan, 5-4 of Blake Fair, 4-5 of Craig Johnstone, 6-6 of Brian Martin, 8-7 of Harry Miller and 7-8 of John Tookey.

This is the front portion of the REM racetrack (looking down on the pits).

Over-60 Expert: It isn’t often that you see a lot of firepower in the Over-60 class, but motocross at REM has a lot of surprises. With ten riders on the line (all who were born before 1950), there were three World Vet Champions in the field, which included current Over-60 World Vet Champion Bill Maxim, nine-time Over-40, Over-50 and Over-60 Champion Alan Olson, 1990 Over-40 World Champion Tom White, 1984 CMC and 1994 REM number one Jody Weisel, AMA Hall of Famer Feets Minert, Kent Motorsport’s Alan Kent, plus Earl Shuler, Bill Seifert and Tom Holmes. Once the race started there was no doubt that 2007 and 2009 Over-60 World Champion Bill Maxim was the fastest man on the track (it should be noted that he lost the 2008 World Vet title for his age group to Grand Prix legend Thorlief Hanssen). Maxim went 1-1, Tom White went 4-2, while Holmes (3-4), Olson (2-5), Kent (5-3), Weisel (6-6) and Siefert (8-7) rounded out the top seven.

REM races again next Saturday, August 21. Practice doesn’t start until 9:00 am. For more info go to www.remsatmx.com

Photos by Dan Alamangos (except for the photo of Dan Alamangos racing).