Little Britches Series Round 1      

Holeshot Motocross Park

By: Roy Jenkins

Loranger, La. – June 24, 2006

How do new people get into the sport of Motocross? Generally they purchase a dirt bike, learn to ride it, then find their way to a motocross track and merge into practice. The next step is a race, obviously in the beginner class. These were the biggest classes at Holeshot MX Saturday night. The "Little Britches" Series kicked off with a big crop of beginner riders. The 85, 125 and Open beginner classes were the largest classes of the night. This is good news for the sport. The new faces bring in new enthusiasm.

One rider just returned to our area faster then when he left. Nate Martin tied up early with Klint Angelette in the first moto of the 85 Open. The two gapped the field early and gave the crowd their first dose of drama. Martin came away with the victory.

Martin went down in the 85 (12-15) class allowing Angelette to sail to victory, while Forrest Town lead the 85 (7-11) behind them. Hayden Bordelon raced up to take the win in the younger class.

Martin grabbed the early lead in the second moto of the 85 Open class. Angelette tried to keep him in sight while Jamie Rivet and Dyllon Morgan had leftovers. Martin put his KTM across the finish line first with Angelette’s Suzuki a strong second.

Martin and Angelette rocked the crowd with their 85 (12-15) class second moto performance. Martin led and blocked while Angelette studied and probed. Angelette made his pass late in the race then tried to protect his lines. They tightened up on the back straight and were bar-to-bar into the western corner as Martin re-took the lead. Through the 180 turn in the center of the track Angelette found a better line and re-passed. But Nate immediately struck back at the last turn and held on for victory to the appreciation of the now-standing fans.

We were WELL protected by two good Paramedics, David Murden and Roy Barrios who both had sons racing.

    John Palmer experienced his first race and his first crash when he went off the track in the whoops. He was able to re-mount and finish. But it was Blake Lagarde leading Chandler Abney and Taylor Lee to the checkers in the first moto of the 50 (7-8).

Stephen Wagley got his Kawasaki out first in the 125 Nov/Int class but went down in the off-camber turn, allowing Michael Hairford to take point on his new Honda. Roy Barrios, Jr. trailed on his Honda. By the last lap Wagley confronted Barrios with his speed but could not catch Hairford who finished a few bike lengths in front for the win. When the Baton Rouge rider was asked how he felt Hairford said, "I didn’t get hot, but I got tired. It was my first race in about a year." When asked if he could hear Wagley coming up behind him he said, "about the third to last corner I turned around, I could hear his bike and he was like, right there. So I just had to hold the inside line, I couldn’t jump the finish line but at least I got it done. I had a little extra speed at the end, saved it up. I’d like to thank my Dad, we were goin’ to quit, then he bought me another bike. I’d like to thank God for keeping me safe."

   Hairford repeated the win, edging out Cox in the second moto.

Scott McElroy outran Gage Hutchinson in the first moto of the 65 Open and 65 (6-9) class. Blake Lagarde won both motos of the 50 (7-8) class. Blaze Berry swept the Oil Injector class. Chandler Abney scored the victory in the 50 Open in front of Ashton Castjohn and Kaine Bergeron.

Jay Cox scored the holeshot in the first moto of the Nov/Int Open class, but Hairford was showing him a wheel for the first few turns. Cox opened up the throttle on his KTM and out-jumped his opponent down the back straight.

Wagley got the holeshot in the second moto of the Open class as the lights came on for night racing. Cox and Hairford were equally distanced back in second and third. Cox squeezed every bit of horsepower from his motor and pushed his bike to the ground off the jumps and began to reel in Wagley. But Wagley was up to the challenge and found some extra speed himself and pulled away again to finish with over six seconds to spare.

Cox took two turns to grab the lead in the very next moto, the Schoolboy. Zach Thibodeaux, Stephen Wagley and Roy Barrios gated fourth. Wagley picked off Thibodeaux in the Wild-western corner and was two bike lengths behind Cox as they raced past the grandstand, pulled alongside him, then passed through the whoops to earn the win.

In the second moto Roy Barrios surprised the class with a lead and held it for a lap while Wagley and Cox regained their steam. Wagley had been fastest through the whoops all night and struck there to take the lead. Barrios held his pace keeping Cox in third. Wagley held on to win the second moto in front of Barrios and Cox.

Track owner Ricky Andre jumped on his green stallion and showed the Senior class where the best lines were, with Jeremy Aitken and Stuart McAvoy in tow all the way to the finish. In the second moto McAvoy latched onto Andre and the two fired down the back straight, clearing the long tabletop. McAvoy matched Andre’s speed, but could never make the pass and Andre swept the class.

Other notes:

Nate Martin just got a rod out of his leg and made his return to racing. They just moved back to Independence, La. from Billings, Mt. He competed in national races on his Hi/Tech Motorsports factory KTM.

Carey Austin is the flagger of the night. He faithfully manned his flag position all afternoon and night and did a fine job. Carey is the brother of racer Cody and they are from Ponchatoula, La.

Results:

50 (TRNWHL): 1. Dakota Hebert (Hon); 2. Holland Lee (Hon).

50 OIL: 1. Blaze Berry (Cob); 2. Darran Grace (Hon); 3. Reese Cristodoro (Hon); 4. Brenon Bergeron (Yam); 5. Holland Lee (Hon).

50 (4-6): 1. Ashton Castjohn (KTM); 2. Blaze Berry (KTM); 3. Scott Quigley (KTM); 4. Reese Cristodoro (Hon).

50 (7-8): 1. Blake Lagarde (KTM); 2. Chandler Abney (Cob); 3. Justin Mercier (KTM); 4. Taylor Lee (KTM); 5. Kaine Bergeron (Yam).

50 OPEN: 1. Chandler Abney (Cob); 2. Ashton Castjohn (KTM); 3. Kaine Bergeron (Yam); 4. Ashen Watts (KTM); 5. Hayden Wright (Hon).

65 BEG: 1. Donny Saucier (KTM); 2. Trevor Bickford (KTM); 3. Ryan Boudreaux (Kaw); 4. Dylan Hebert (Kaw); 5. Zachary Pisciotta (Kaw).

65 (6-9): 1. Scott McElroy (KTM); 2. Gage Hutchinson (KTM); 3. Jay Michon (KTM); 4. Blake Lagarde (KTM); 5. Payton Morgan (KTM).

85 BEG: 1. Kip Guidry (Hon); 2. Dustin Brown (Hon); 3. Dyllon Morgan (Hon); 4. Jamey Rivet (Kaw); 5. Chuck Layezele (KTM).

85 (7-11): 1. Hayden Bordelon (Kaw); 2. Forrest Town (KTM); 3. Steven Baye (Yam); 4. D.J. Murden (KTM).

85 (12-15): 1. Nate Martin (KTM); 2. Klint Angelette (Suz).

85 OPEN: 1. Nate Martin (KTM); 2. Klint Angelette (Suz); 3. Jamey Rivet (Kaw); 4. Cody Austin (Hon); 5. Forrest Town (KTM).

SCLBY: 1. Stephen Wagley (Kaw); 2. Jay Cox (KTM); 3. Zack Thibodeaux (Yam); 4. Roy Barrios (Hon); 5. Johnathan Clark (Kaw).

HOB: Jon Dean (Yam).

BEG OPEN: 1. Scott Marks (Suz); 2. Joey Gagliano (Yam); 3. Donald Vincent (KTM); 4. Judd Honea (Yam); 5. Johnathan Sumrall (Yam).

125 BEG: 1. Scott Marks (Suz); 2. Johnathan Clark (Kaw); 3. Joshua Fooshee (Hon); 4. Judd Honea (Yam); 5. Jake Bickford (Hon).

125 NOV: 1. Stephen Wagley (Kaw); 2. Michael Hairford (Hon); 3. Joseph Brasseaux (Hon); 4. Roy Barrios (Hon); 5. Jay Cox (KTM).

NOV/INT OPEN: 1. Michael Hairford (Hon); 2. Jay Cox (KTM); 3. Joseph Brasseaux (Hon); 4. Richard Lawson (Yam); 5. Eric Huckabee (Yam).

SEN+30: 1. Joey Gagliano (Yam); 2. Jeremy Aitken (Hon); 3. Ryan Whitfield (Kaw); 4. Donald Vincent (KTM); 5. Gabe Aitken (Hon).

SEN+40: 1. Stuart McAvoy (Hon); 2. Bruce Bordelon (KTM).