Gravity Alley

October 15 Race

Gravity Alley Motocross Track

Story & Photos by Roy Jenkins

Breaux Bridge, LA – October 15, 2006

When a racer takes a few weeks off, he usually comes back better, fresher and faster, with just a little rust to shake off. He enjoys the race, putting his skills to work, the details, everything about the game (except maybe the soreness and the expenses). Track owner Mike Shea just came back from several months away from his track and he got back to work with a sparkle in his eye and spring in his step. He and his crew had the track perfectly toned and trimmed for the race on Sunday, even re-facing some jumps and adding new ones.

The Schoolboy class was the first to dash out into the dirt to play and Stephen Wagley was the leader of the class. Soon two local riders railed their Hondas around the outside to set the pace, Jared Broussard and Shane Yongue. Justin Bridges and Kirby Dodd worked their way up into the top five by the second lap. Yongue worked into the lead, while Broussard held second with Wagley’s Kawasaki still in third by the third lap. Yongue took his Honda of Lafayette mini-bike to victory, followed by Broussard’s Off-Road Toyz Honda, with Wagley, Bridges and Dodd rounding out the top five. The second moto wasn’t so good for Yongue and he ended up settling for fifth overall behind Broussard, Wagley, Bridges and Dodd.

The Manuel brothers carried the torch for Champion Cycles early in the Open Money class, with Corey Romero recovering from a poor start on a borrowed Kawasaki thumper. Corey was able to get between the two Suzuki’s, but could never manage to pass Dustin for the lead as they finished in that order. Brandon Fahey had to cross the finish line carrying his pipe in his lap. The second moto was a virtual repeat of the first with the top three checking out on the rest of the class and finishing in the same order: Dustin Manuel, Corey Romero and Jason Manuel.

Grant Bourgeois was impressive in the 125 Novice class leading Justin Bridges and Steven Wagley. Shane Yongue had to work up through the pack to get behind the leaders. Bridges put pressure on Bourgeois late in the race, but Bourgeois took his Honda to victory in front of Bridges, Wagley and Yongue. Devin Blair edged out Ryan Dugas in a hotly contested Yamaha race behind them. Yongue was able to improve his points in the second moto, enough to take the overall in front of Wagley, Bridges, Gourgeois and Broussard.

Off Road Toyz took the 65 class with rider Sagan Guillory’s first of four victories on the day. Brandon, MS rider Gage Bloodworth finished a close second with Champion Cycle’s Chandler Lebeouf got back up off the ground to take third.

One of the fastest classes of the day was the 125/250 combined Intermediate classes. Bryce Landry got his Off Road Toyz/Full Throttle Honda away quickly before the other local hot shoes could say, "I got a Honda thumper, too!" Matt Chambers had his KTM cooking in second place, though, to keep the fans from seeing all red. Teammates Ryan Breaux, Mike Hebert and Josh Mouton gave chase behind them. Chambers could just keep Landry in site while taking a tear off on the big finish line jump at the white flag. Breaux continued to lead Hebert and Mouton behind them, and by the checkered flag that order went into the books. Chambers took the overall victory in the 125 Intermediate class in front of Domingue and Breaux. Landry swept the 250 Intermediate class, with Mike Hebert and Josh Mouton in second and third.

Adam Cedillo took the lead quickly in the Supermini class with the second place rider going down in turn one and 20 of his competitors elbowing for daylight. Kirby Dodd jumped past Jordan Giambelluca into second

Due to a recorder malfunction I have no more of the race. Here are a few general recollections from the rest of the race.

The Senior +30 & +40 class was a fast race. Shaun Romero led early with Dan Marino keeping him honest. John Giambelluca kept pace in third, with Stephen Perschall riding an impressive race just a little ways back. Johnny Eisler continues to make his comeback from a previous racing career, being the only +40 rider to keep up with the +30’s. Terry Cambre jumped into the younger class and won the 250 Novice as well as fourth in the Vet +30.

Another rider making his Post-Katrina comeback is Sam Landry from Harvey, LA. Although Lee Slaughter got the holeshot in the 85 (12-15) class, Kolby Marchand and Landry pestered Slaughter until they got by and had an exciting race of their own which Landry won. Ty Jones worked his way into second overall.

In the 85 (7-11) class two riders have moved up from "also rans" to "top-runners" showing the 85’s that they are a force to be reckoned with. Adam Cedillo and James Waldrop went one-two, with Jordan Giambelluca, Zachary Airhart and Perri Prevost rounding out the top five.

Ray Mitchell continued to outrun the 50 Oil injectors, even leading the (7-9) class riders for a while - Brendan Barron and Steven Gros.

The fastest non-pro riders were all in the 125/250 Open class. The Domingue/Landry battle never really materialized because Jeremy went to the ground too much. Bryce Landry used his experience to get out front early and stay there. Ryan Breaux nailed down second, with Domingue finishing third and Mike Hebert getting fourth due to some dirt on his jersey, with Josh Mouton rounding out the top five.

Final Results:

50 OIL: 1. Ray Mitchell (Cob); 2. Sara Gros (Hon); 3. Colin Lynch (Yam); 4. Sylar Guillory (Hon); 5. Memphis Bordelon (KTM).

50 (4-6): 1. Caleb Passman (KTM); 2. Ray Mitchell (Cob); 3. Duel Judice (KTM).

50 (7-9): 1. Brendan Barron (KTM); 2. Steven Gros (KTM).

50 OPEN: Brendan Barron (KTM).

65 (6-9): 1. Sagan Guillory (KTM); 2. Chandler Lebeouf (KTM); 3. Gage Bloodworth (KTM); 4. Shelby Knight (KTM); 5. Chase Hinton (Kaw).

65 (10-11): Austin McCarty (Suz).

65 OPEN: 1. Sagan Guillory (KTM); 2. Gage Bloodworth (KTM); 3. Shelby Knight (KTM); 4. Chandler Lebeouf (KTM).

85 (7-11): 1. Adam Cedillo (Hon); 2. James Waldrop (Yam); 3. Jordan Giambelluca (Suz); 4. Zachary Airhart (Hon); 5. Perri Prevost (Hon).

85 (12-16): 1. Sam Landry (Suz); 2. Ty Jones (Hon); 3. Lee Slaughter (Hon); 4. Kolby Marchand (Suz); 5. Jordan Borg (Suz).

SUPERMINI OPEN: 1. Kirby Dodd (KTM); 2. Sam Landry (Suz); 3. Blake Mclaurin (Hon); 4. Jordan Giambelluca (Suz); 5. Kolby Marchand (Suz).

WOMEN OPEN: Devin Knight (Hon).

125 BEG: 1. Jonathan Clark (Kaw); 2. Michael Kelly (Yam); 3. Quincy Schaubert (Hon); 4. Jules Sider (Yam); 5. Johnathan Clark [another] (Hon).

125 NOV: 1. Shane Yongue (Hon); 2. Stephen Wagley (Kaw); 3. Justin Bridges (Hon); 4. Grant Bourgeois (Hon); 5. Jared Broussard (Hon).

125 INT: 1. Matthew Chambers (KTM); 2. Jeremy Domingue (Hon); 3. Ryan Breaux (Hon).

125/250 OPEN: 1. Bryce Landry (Hon); 2. Ryan Breaux (Hon); 3. Jeremy Domingue (Hon); 4. Mike Hebert (Hon); 5. Josh Mouton (Hon).

250 BEG: 1. Kenneth Miller (KTM); 2. Scott Norris (Kaw); 3. Jace Lacoste (KTM); 4. Kaitlyn Hayes (Hon); 5. Chase Pino (Hon).

250 NOV: 1. Terry Cambre (Hon); 2. Johnny Bo (Hon); 3. Garrett Airhart (Hon); 4. Devin Blair (Yam).

250 INT: 1. Bryce Landry (Hon); 2. Ryan Breaux (Hon); 3. Josh Mouton (Hon).

OPEN MON: 1. Dustin Manuel (Suz); 2. Corey Romero (Kaw); 3. Jason Manuel (Suz); 4. Jake Freeman (Kaw); 5. Brandon Fahey (Kaw).

SEN+30: 1. Shaun Romero (Kaw); 2. Dan Marino (Kaw); 3. John Giambelluca (Yam); 4. Terry Cambre (Hon); 5. Stephen Perschall (KTM).

SEN+40: 1. Johnny Eisler (Hon); 2. Monty Salyer (Hon); 3. Tim Alexander (Kaw); 4. Donnie Romas (Kaw).

SCLBY: 1. Jared Broussard (Hon); 2. Stephen Wagley (Kaw); 3. Justin Bridges (Hon); 4. Kirby Dodd (Suz); 5. Shane Yongue (Hon).