Gravity Alley MX

Ponca Qualifier round 1 Dixie Region

April 20, 2008

 Breaux Bridge, LA - April 20, 2008

Dixie Region began its Ponca Qualifying at Gravity Alley in south Louisiana on a cool, breezy spring day. Track owner Mike Shea had the track in impeccable condition, having mixed up the black, loamy soil with bagasse chafe (a by-product of sugar cane) into a perfect consistency, like a cake ready to bake. The "Whipmasta" Ryan Allen was first to stir it up with his Champion Cycle Center/Roth Racing Suzuki knobbies, along with teammate Kirby Dodd’s little KTM 125 in second. Scott Sardella and Hunter Duhon joined the four-rider breakaway in the 250 Open class. Colby Airhart and Jonathan Clark were on the move through the pack and moved into the elite four. By lap three they had moved into second and third past Sardella, Dodd, who stalled his bike and Duhon. But no one could catch Allen who showed why he has his nickname with a sick tail whip at the checkered flag.

Duhon got out first in the second moto of the 250 Open, with Kirby Dodd and Ryan Allen in tow. Jonathan Clark railed the outside of turn two wide open and almost jumped off the side of the steep tabletop, but was able to capture fourth, followed by Andy Chance. A couple turns later Dodd sped through the inside of a turn to pass Duhon, while Allen made his time on the jumps to pick off Duhon and the chase was on! Allen finally slid around the mechanic’s turn to pass Dodd on the back straight with all the jumps. The two Champion Cycle Center Teammates captured the two top spots.

Performance Cycle Teammates Hunter Hilton and Sagan Guillory took their KTM’s into the lead in the 65 Open until Hilton separated himself for victory showing why he earned LA rider of the year in 2007. Guillory kept Hilton in sight all the way to the finish line, dominating all the 65 riders of the event.

Just like the moto before, two teammates captured the two top spots, but his time it as Performance Cycle riders Hunter Hilton and Sagan Guillory.

Michael Wagner was probably the fastest rider of the day, jumping out early on the 450 Open class. Kyle Simmons, Justin Hall and Chris St. Pierre followed. Wagner pulled out his own Pancake mix for tail-whip at the finish line to punctuate a perfect victory.

Wagner wasted no time getting to the front and started whipping his YZ450F for the crowd with Kyle Simmons and Dawson Delee in chase.

Sardella holeshot the Schoolboy class, with favorites Damon Arceneaux and Kirby Dodd flanking both shoulders. Ty Jones, who was burning out the fastest lap times in practice followed closely in fourth. Soon Arceneaux blasted his thumping D&G/Bardwell Yamaha into the lead. Roy Barrios came roaring up to the top four on his G&C Honda two-stroke, while Dodd took his two-stroke into second past Sardella’s Cycle World of Houma Honda 250f, while Ty Jones followed into third. Arceneaux took his YZF 250 to victory.

The start of the second moto of the Schoolboy class went bad at the tabletop right after turn two as a couple riders collided in the air and went down in the middle of the crowded pack. Miraculously, they all got right back up but Arceneaux had to re-start his bike, taking him out of contention. Dodd and Barrios got their two-strokes out front with Sardella, Forrest Smith and Ty Jones behind them. By the last lap the top three closed up, Dodd, Barrios and Jones, which is how they finished. Arceneaux worked his way back up to finish seventh. But he got his revenge later in the 250 Intermediate class with a victory there.

The Supermini class was just as competitive but with a few different faces. Performance Cycles riders Adam Cedillo and Hunter Hilton got good starts as well as Ty Jones and Jamey Rivet on Kawasaki’s. Mitchell Suire kicked his Suzuki into high gear to move through the pack. At the finish it was Cedillo, Jones and Hilton.

Cedillo and Jones picked up right where they left off in the 85 (12-16) class. But it was Branden Lebleu and Haden Johnson off the gate first. Cedillo and Jones wasted no time taking the lead while Mitchell Suire was recovering from another poor start. Suire and Lebleu put on quite a show banging bars for third, which Suire eventually won, while Jones followed Cedillo to the checkered flag.

Cedillo again led the second moto of while Jones and Suire sparred for second. Cedillo went on to victory, but not without a late challenge from Jones.

Michael Wagner made short work of the Big Bike Open class with Kirby Dodd second and Dawson Delee third. The last time Delee raced was pre-Katrina in the mini-class! After a little training with Mac Edmonston at the LA High School Motocross Program, he was able to put that KX 250 almost where he wanted it, at least until his arms locked up on him.

Wagner, Dodd and Delee went out front early in moto two. Delee’s confidence seemed to grow right before our eyes as he kept pace with the front runners.

Interview with Mac Edmonston of the G2G Camp and the Louisiana High School Motocross Program.

Roy: "Mac, with all these new programs you got going on, what’s next?"

Mac: "I don’t know, maybe some cross-country stuff."

Roy: "You got into a little cross-country competition at Diamond Don’s Vintage National. How’d you like that?"

Mac: "It’s fun, I’ll tell you, I like the challenge of something new… I love it."

Roy: "So you put on a cross-country race to raise money for last year’s High School Motocross Program so ya’ll could travel to Ponca. Do you think you’re gonna do one of those this year?"

Mac: "Definitely, we got some more property up toward LSU behind the levee’ and so we have one in the making."

Roy: "So you’re scouting it out and you know your spot right now."

Mac: "Yeah, we’ve got Mr. Mike Burgess aboard on that and he’s just an incredible man and has a lot to offer to the sport. So we’re getting it all together. It’s comin’ about."

Roy: "Yeah, he was with the Penton boys back in the day, one of their dealers in New Orleans, and was my first mentor when I started racing a Penton with the Competition Cycles Motocross Team. I’m glad he’s still helpin’ out the sport. It’s like he’s been reborn in the sport, he’s been comin’ to our events and was even at the vintage night with some old Huskies, huh?"

Mac: "Yeah, man, he was fired up. He was lookin’ over the roster from Diamond Don’s and said, ‘nobody was even in my class!’" (both laughing).

Roy: "You’ve got about six guys out here today with the LA HSMX program?"

Mac: "Yeah, we’ve got six or seven, it’s startin’ to grow. We’re getting excited. I’m just trying to put the program together and get some sponsors together; we’ve got the 501C3 which will help us a lot to go after some sponsors. We just want the opportunity to do everything we can for these kids."

Roy: "I know that’s where your heart is at, having known you for several years and worked closely with you, especially with the G2G Camp. Now your set-up where people can donate to these programs and have a tax deduction."

Mac: "Yes, it’s 100% tax deductable, man. It’s a win-win situation."

Roy: "So folks, if you want to help out teenagers, get them into a good Motocross program, with training and accountability both from school and at home you can help out. He takes them to big races in his tractor/trailer race rig as a reward. Are you guys planning on any particular races this year?"

Mac: "Yeah, we got a few. We’ll definitely go to Ponca City this again. We’ve got Freestone, Branson, and once again it just depends on the sponsors, especially with fuel at four dollars a gallon. We prayin’ them in, man."

Roy: "So there ya go, you got the program rolling, God’s behind it, and we’re waiting on sponsorship. Tell us what you do with the kids, exactly."

Mac: "Well, we do just like if you were going out for baseball where you hit them grounds and rollers, but we work corners and do drills. Like last Saturday and every other Saturday we practice at my track and try to get form built into them. Whenever their speed does come they’ll be fast and they’ll be smooth."

Roy: "Like you. Mac used to be wild man when he first started and has evolved into smooth guy, standing up all the time while making a name for himself in the Vintage National Circuit, where two weeks ago at Diamond Don’s Riverport National you won three out of four races, and one race the tranny went out on that ’75 Honda."

Mac: "I tell ya, it’s incredible to ride around these old National pros, it’s startin’ to be a lot of fun. If you get tired of getting’ on the ground or get tired of crashing, you just need to slow down a little bit. I asked Kevin Windham that before we went to Freestone last year and he was out at our track practicing one day. ‘Kevin, what do you do when you get in a slump?’ He said, ‘you got to go back to the basics.’"

Roy: "So is that what you teach mainly at the track? You have another G2G camp coming up in May."

Mac: "That’s right. What we teach is form. But now when we get some sponsorship money, we want to bring in some pros to work with the kids to get faster. We can only get them to a certain level, then after that we’re gonna try to spend some money on them to get them where they need to be."

Roy: "Right. We’ve already got some former pro racers teaching some at the camp. Gator Lebeouf, Bobby Handy, Jeff Sardella and Mike Burgess out there."

Mac: "Oh yeah, we’re starting to get an incredible group of guys together right now, and everything is starting to come together at just the right time. Because we want to go to as many races as we can, again it takes finances and it’s disappointing whenever you get set up to go somewhere and just can’t go because of the finances. It’s terrible."

Roy: "Right. Everybody knows how we feel with the gas prices going up. So the High School Motocross Program is more training and sport oriented, while the G2G camp is a weekend Christian camp-out for the rider and a parent or guardian. It’s like a Vacation Bible school with an obstacle course, swimming, bonfire, team competitions with Motocross training and lots of track time. We kind of build them up and help them see their value in God’s eyes."

Mac: "That’s right. Everything we do we want a team concept. We kind of tired seeing the individual stuff going, which is good, but we want to get a team concept out there. Get some guys behind them and help push ‘em."

Roy: "We see that on the obstacles at the camp where they have to work as a team to get over or through and put selfishness behind them. They get points and compete as a team. We’ve seen a lot of good relationships formed. A lot of the kids keep coming back to it again and again."

Mac: "Yeah, I was just talking to a guy from Vicksburg who was sayin’, ‘look at the guy out front right there, he’s one of ya’lls students from the G2G camp!’ It’s been seven years now and the kids just come and the Lord just gets to work on them and teaches them what they need to know. It’s a good thing."

Roy: "So Mac Edmonston, also known as ‘Roosterlips’ his old trucker’s handle, thanks for doing the good things with the kids. Stop by his trailer and say hello and get some info or go to his website at www.g2gmotox.com or www.highschoolmx.com. We’re gonna let him get back to the boys he’s coaching over there. He’s taking off racing modern MX this year to concentrate on coaching. Next year he’ll resume the hunt for a National Championship."

Interview with Cody Fruge of Performance Cycles on April 20, 2008.

Cody explained that he has three teams:

Motocross Team: Duel Judice, Jr. in the 50 class, Hunter Hilton and Sagan Guillory in the 65 class, Hilton and Guillory team up with Adam Cedillo in the 85 class. Grant Bourgeois and Dylan Fontenot in the 250 novice class. Josh and Renee’ Mouton run in the big bike and senior class.

Off road team: Thomas Fagan in the B class. Dusty Neuville in the A class. Lucas Comeaux runs the AA class and will won a medal in Chile this year for Team USA’s ISDE team. There are several kids who race Enduro’s as well.

Supermoto Team: Dillon Van Way competed in the X games last week and broke his arm and fractured some bones in his back and is expected to return next year for the Supermoto series.

The only person to beat Wagner this race was Josh Mouton on his Performance Cycles KTM. The two swapped moto finishes and had some close battles in the 450 Intermediate class. At one point they started rubbing in the turns and trading the lead back in forth until a break check sent them both into the dirt. Mouton was first to get up, but not before Roy Barrios took the lead. Mouton tried desperately to get his lead back, while Delee cruised in third, Kyle Simmons fourth. Wagner took too long to restart his bike. Barrios took his Honda CR250 across the finish line with a look-back to Mouton’s KTM450. Round two will be May 18 at Golden Pine MX and round three on May 25 at Wildwood MX in Kentwood. For more info and pictures go to www.2wheelcommunications.com. For videos and more info go to www.motoxstudios.com.

50 OIL: Seth Baye (Yam).

50 (4-6): 1. Duel Judice (KTM); 2. Trey Bercegeay (KTM).

50 (7-8): 1. Ethan Sparks (KTM); 2. Wilbert Winans (KTM); 3. Austin Schexnayder (KTM); 4. Heath Barstow (KTM).

50 OPEN: 1. Ethan Sparks (KTM); 2. Wilbert Winans (KTM); 3. Austin Schexnayder (KTM); 4. Alex Doss (KTM); 5. Duel Judice (KTM).

65 (6-8): 1. Taylor Doss (KTM); 2. Garrett Giglio (Suz).

65 (9-11): 1. Hunter Hilton (KTM); 2. Sagan Guillory (KTM); 3. Barron Bellard (KTM); 4. Taylor May (KTM); 5. Andre Adams (KTM).

65 OPEN: 1. Hunter Hilton (KTM); 2. Sagan Guillory (KTM); 3. Barron Bellard (KTM); 4. Taylor May (KTM); 5. Andre Adams (KTM).

85 (7-11): 1. Hunter Hilton (KTM); 2. Sagan Guillory (KTM); 3. Gordon Waguespack (Hon); 4. Taylor May (KTM); 5. Dillon Suire (Hon).

85 (12-15): 1. Adam Cedillo (KTM); 2. Ty Jones (KTM); 3. Mitchell Suire (Suz); 4. Brandon Lebleu (Yam); 5. Hayden Johnson (Yam).

85 OPEN: 1. Adam Cedillo (KTM); 2. Hunter Hilton (KTM); 3. Ty Jones (KTM); 4. Mitchell Suire (Suz); 5. Brandon Lebleu (Yam).

125 SCHLBY: 1. Kirby Dodd (KTM); 2. Roy Barrios (Hon); 3. Ty Jones (Hon); 4. Damon Arceneaux (Yam); 5. Forrest Smith (Yam).

250 BEG: 1. Josh Sopko (Hon); 2. Chris Bourgeois (Yam); 3. Stan Lebleu (Yam); 4. Cody Johnson (Kaw); 5. Joe Naquin (Kaw).

250 NOV: 1. Ty Jones (Hon); 2. Joshua Slaughter (Hon); 3. Hunter Duhon (Kaw); 4. Matt Minyard (Hon); 5. Bryce Simon (Hon).

250 OPEN: 1. Ryan Allen (Suz); 2. Hunter Duhon (Kaw); 3. Jonathan Clark (Kaw); 4. Kirby Dodd (KTM); 5. Scott Sardella (Hon).

250 INT: 1. Damon Arceneaux (Yam); 2. Roy Barrios (Hon); 3. Eliot Johnson (Hon); 4. Ryan Allen (Yam); 5. Scott Sardella (Hon).

450 BEG: Adam Gauthier (Hon).

450 NOV: 1. Joshua Slaughter (Hon); 2. Andy Chance (Hon); 3. Jared Harvey (KTM); 4. Garrett Airhart (Yam); 5. Justin Hall (Yam).

450 INT: 1. Josh Mouton (KTM); 2. Roy Barrios (Hon); 3. Michael Wagner (Kaw); 4. Kyle Simmons (Hon); 5. Dawson Delee (Kaw).

BIG BK OPEN: 1. Michael Wagner (Kaw); 2. Kirby Dodd (KTM); 3. Dawson Delee (Kaw); 4. Justin Hall (Yam); 5. Ryan Allen (Yam).

HOBBY: 1. Nary Cannon (Hon); 2. Bobby Carter (KTM); 3. Bob Calhoun (Hon); 4. Tracy Barstow (KTM); 5. Michael Baiamonte (KTM).

WOM OPEN: 1. Krystal Florida (Yam); 2. Mary Dupuy (Yam); 3. Chelsea Davis (Yam); 4. Kylee Bercegeay (Kaw).

SEN +30: 1. Marion Phillips (Hon); 2. Duel Judice (Hon); 3. Rene Mouton (KTM); 4. Cody Fruge (KTM); 5. Tag Doss (Yam).