REM RACE REPORT: RACERS SCORCH GLEN HELEN
Click on images to enlarge
Husqvarna ofroad racer Jacob Argubright (911) took the 450 Pro victory for the third race in a row. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
Hawaiian Brian Medeiros swept both motos of the 250 Pro class. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
MXA’s Dennis Stapleton has been busy this summer and has spent most weekends on the road, but always comes back to REM. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
When you see a race posters that touts that the temperatures will be over 100-degrees, you would think that no one in their right mind would show up to race. But the warning, which was more of a call of arms, went unheeded. It turns out that 106 degrees is not that much hotter than lst week’s 99 degrees. Thus, everyone who was anyone in the REM hemisphere, was on the line. It was scorching hot, but everyone came prepared with water, awnings, fans and exotic mister systems. REM did their part by speeding up their already super efficient program to help get everyone out before the afternoon sun took command. All in all it was a delightful day…albeit a tad toasty.
Brian Muscutt’s TM 144MX was a little worse for the wear after his two motos at Glen Helen. Note the speed dents in the 144’s expansion chamber. Justin went 2-2 in the 250 Pros. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
The hot setup at Glen Helen this week, or would that be the cool setup, was to link as many EZ-Ups together as possible. MXA also uses mister systems that run off batteries under the awnings. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
Aryton Ward (797) and Max Lee continued their weekly wars in the 250 Intermediate class. Max had the upper hand on this day. Photo: Dan Alamangos
THE BIG WINNER
The big winner of the day was Over-50 Intermediate Danny Pacheco. Actually, Danny went 4-2 to finish third in his class, but at the riders meeting 6D Helmets’ Robert Reisinger, who races REM every weekend, was there to give-away a free 6D helmet to one lucky rider. REM and 6D do this four times a year, but normally only the riders who didn’t miss a single race in that quarter are eligible. This week the drawing was open to every rider who signed up. Surprise! Four-time National Champion Gary Jones won the 6D helmet. Surprise! Gary Jones told the crowd that he felt that REM should draw again and give the helmet to someone else. And that’s where Danny Pacheco came in—thanks to the kindness of a motocross hero.
With Ken Roczen out of action, Honda’s Lars Lindstrom has some free time to do a little racing for himself. Lars was second in the Vet Pro class behind Baja ace Kendall Norman. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
South African Alan Jullien went 1-1 to win the Over-40 Expert class. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
THE OTHER WINNERS
By combining classes and sending them off in multiple gates, aided by a longer track layout and electronic transponder scoring, REM was able to shorten the program to five races (times two motos). The minis went first, the Over-40 and Over-50 Elites, Experts and Intermediates second, the 250, 450 and Vet Pros third, the Over-60 and Over-65 Experts and Intermediates fourth and all the Novices fifth. Here are some selected classes and their top threes:
Donnie Barratt was the 85 Expert winner. He couldn’t do better, even if he had more air in his rear tire. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
David Cincotta (192) had bike issues before the day started. He rode practice on Ernie Beckers’ Honda CRF250, raced the first moto (shown here) on Jody Weisel’s KTM 450SXF and finished the day on a borrowed KTM 250SXF. All those bikes combined got him third in the Over-40 Experts behind Alan Jullien and Ralf Schmidt. Photo: Jody Weisel
85 BEGINNER
1. Trevor Antoniou
2. Brandon Mata
3. David Stricko
OVER-40 EXPERT
1. Alan Julien
2. Ralf Schmidt
3. David Cincotta
OVER-40 INTERMEDIATE
1. Mike Carter
2. Giovanni Spinali
3. Brina Calhoun
6D Helmets’ Robert Reisinger (96) leads Troy Lee Design’s Troy Lee (25) in the Over-50 Expert class. Reisinger went 3-2 for second, while Troy went 4-4 for third overall. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
From left to right: Mike Phillips, Dan Alamangos, Greg Groom (959), Robert Reisinger (96) and Robert Pocius (153). Photo: Jody Weisel
Jon Ortner (10) took four races off to contemplate his navel, only to find out that his navel belongs behind the handlebars of a motocross bike. Jon was second in the Over-50 Elite class. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
OVER-50 EXPERT
1. Ron Shuler
2. Robert Reisinger
3. Troy Lee
OVER-50 INTERMEDIATE
1. Randy Skinner
2. Robert Pocius
3. Danny Pacheco
From left to right: Dan Alamangos (24), Pasha Afshar (L7), Bill Reimer (71), Mark Hall (orange helmet), Ron Shuler (33), Robert Pocius (153), Randy Skinner (383), Greg Groom (596), Ron Lawson (32) Ernie Becker (85). Photo: Debbie Tamietti
Joe Sutter (111) had a 9-3 day for sixth in the Over-50 Expert class. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
450 PRO
1. Jacob Argubright
2. Shaun Hillion
3. Dalton Shirey
250 PRO
1. Brian Medeiros
2. Justin Muscutt
3. Rob Deeds
Mark Hall (38) is moving to Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday of this week. He is leaving Pro Circuit to work at Western Power Sports. This was his last REM race. He went 5-5 in the Over-50 Expert class. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
Pete Vetrano (37) turned 60 years old last week. Was he sad about it? Nope, he was happy because it means he got to move to the Over-60 Expert class. Here, he chases Carl Gazafy (176) and Val Tamietti. Pete went 2-2 for second overall. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
450 INTERMEDIATE
1. Dustin McCarthy
2. Robby Schott
3. Michael Witcher
250 INTERMEDIATE
1. Max Lee
2. Aryton Ward
3. Matt Bynum
Val Tamietti is superstitious. When he came back from shoulder surgery earlier this year, he started riding his Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke instead of his KTM 350SXF because he thought it would easier on his shoulder. He’s been winning every week in the Over-60 Expert class on the YZ250 and now doesn’t want to switch back. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
Gary Jones won the drawing for the brand-new 6D helmet, but gave it back to give another rider a chance. Good guy. Gary won the first moto of the Over-65 Expert class, but missed his second moto when he went down to Glen Helen’s Scrambles track to do a little sliding. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
For some unexplained reason, MXA’s Jody Weisel (192) showed up wearing four-year-old Thor gear. That may seem odd for a guy who can wear any gear he wants, but his boots are even older Alpinestars Super Victorys. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
OVER-60 EXPERT
1. Val Tamietti
2. Pete Vetrano
3. Mike Marion
OVER-60 INTERMEDIATE
1. Duane Joice
2. John Huegel
3. Steve Chandler
Zach Randolph (214) and Dillon Ziegler (121) lead the chase over hill and dale. Photo: Debbie Tamietti
THE BRAND BREAKDOWN
The last REM race showed the least Kawasaki’s ever seen, or not seen (around 1% of all the bikes at the track). This week they rebounded with 14% of the bikes at Glen Helen being green (however 72% of Kawasaki’s bike count came from the 65cc and 85cc classes). Kawasaki’s percent of the big bikes was only 3%. The most represented brand was Yamaha at 28% (dethoning KTM for the first time in six months). KTM was at 24%, Honda had 14%, Husqvarna 9% and TM 5%.
Younger riders, as in those under the age of 40 years old, finally outnumbered the old guys at REM. Young Novices, Intermediates and Pro represented 29% of REM’s turnout. Riders over 50 years old were the second largest group at 25%, third was the Over-60 year old riders who represented 18%, while minicycles made up 10%. The three biggest single classes were the Over-50 Experts first, Over-50 Intermediates second and Over-60 Intermediates third.
It’s not Glen Helen unless you are whistling down a steep hill with the rear wheel locked up. Photo: Rich Stuelke
REM has tapped into the large market of returning riders from the 1970s, ’80 and ’90s, helped in no small part by the fact that SoCal’s large motorcycle industry, which many of REM’s older riders work in, enables them to keep racing. Also, REM isn’t a jump track—it is built on the spot where the original Arroyo Cycle Park was located in the 1970s. It maintains its traditional layout of lots of elevation changes, big hills and tricky off-camber. It has jumps, just not one every 100 feet like many SoCal racetracks.
JON ORTNER’S PHOTO BONUS
Lars Lindstrom had a good day. (Right) 250 Intermediate winner Max Lee and girlfriend Brook.
Justin Muscutt, Brian Medeiros & Dennis Stapleton. (Right) Mark Hall says he’ll be at the World Vet.
Dillon Ziegler rode great, but crashed. (Right) Looking cool. Randy Skinner.
Pasha Afshar and Brian Bolding. (Right) Troy and Max Lee headed home.
REM races again next Saturday, July 15, and on Saturday, July 22. While they can’t promise that it will be over 100 degrees next week—they are pretty sure that it will be over 90 degrees. For more info go to wwww.remsatmx.com
Comments are closed.