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Motorama Indoor Races and Speed Show Harrisburg Farm Show Complex On lap seven, there was a huge pile-up of lappers in the first turn, which posed a big threat to the leaders, who were just a few turns away - but they all managed to clear the carnage unscathed. Helper closed the gap on Plotts in the remaining laps to just a bikelength, but he simply ran out of time. Plotts took the checkers for the win, with Helper, Wallace, Cook and Carsten trailing. eN (Left) Veteran Suzuki pilot Banry Carsten won the 125cc Pro/Expert main event at the 25th annual Motorama Indoor Races and Speed Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Carsten also won the Over 30 Expert final and finished fifth in the 250cc Pro/Expert final after a not-50-good start. (Right) RRP/Crossroads Powersports' Damien Plotts (46) won the 250cc ProlExpert main event and finished second in the 125cc ProlExpert main, taking home a large chunk of the Pro/Expert purse. STORY AND PHOTOS BY JIM P. SANDERSON HARRISBURG, PA, FEB. 22 • romley Suzuki's Barry Carsten and RRP/Crossroads Powersports-backed Honda thumper pilot Damien Plotts topped the 125cc and 250cc Pro/Expert podiums, respectively, before a packed house at the 25th annual Motorama Indoor Races and Speed Show at the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Carsten also topped the Over 30 Expert podium. Carsten and Plotts battled for the lead for several laps of the 125cc Pro/Expert main event. Plotts actually passed the superfast Carsten on lap six (with some help from lapped traffic) to take the lead, but the veteran Suzuki pilot came back half a lap later and retook the lead and held it to the checkered flag. Plotts did all he could on the last lap to get around Carsten but couldn't get it done. Plotts' ride in the 250cc Pro/Expert main seemed to be a little easier, as he came out of the first turn in second, trailing veteran Kawasaki pilot Gaylon Dickson. By the first corner of lap two, Plotts had the point position, and he held it to the checkers; his only real battle came from hardcharging Suzuki jockey Broc Helper very late in the race. Helper managed to work his way up to second from a fifth-place start and reduced Plotts' lead of 3 1/2 seconds to a bikelength by the last lap, but then he just ran out of time. 66 MARCH 19. 2003' eye I e Michael Bear led the pack out of the first turn in the Over 30 Expert final. In tow were Dickson, Carsten, Jim Mcilvaine and Todd Weindel. The first three laps featured a battle for the top three positions; Bear did a great job of holding off the charges of both Dickson and Carsten. On lap four, Carsten passed Dickson for second and set out after Bear. Carsten made several pass attempts on lap five and finally got around just before the start of lap six. Dickson then passed Bear for second. Carsten pulled away to a small lead by the end of the race. Carsten got the win, with Dickson, Bear, Mcilvaine and Weindel trailing. Carsten, fresh off his Over 30 Expert-class win, nailed the holeshot of the 125cc Pro/Expert main-event start. In tow were Jeremy Cook, Andrew Tsakanikas, and Plotts and his fellow RRP teammate Ty Wallace. By the third lap, Plotts had worked his way to second, relegating Cook to third, and Casey Clark and Helper had moved up to fourth and fifth. Plotts passed Carsten for the lead on lap six with the aid of lapped traffic, but his lead was short-lived, as Carsten came back half a lap later to retake the point. Plotts dropped back to second. Cook was still third. Helper moved up a spot to fourth, which relegated Clark to fifth. By lap 10 of the 12-lap final, the top two were unchanged, but Helper had passed Cook for third, and Clark n e _ s Harrisburg Fann Show Complex Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Results: February 22, 2003 P/W (4-6): \. Jarek Balkovic; Logan Ehrets; 3. Trevor Shaffer; Brennen Weindel; 5. Daniel Dillin. P/W (7-8): 1. Kyle Dillin; Donald Gurreri Jr.; 3. Dale Lenz II: Cavin Clyde; 5. Michael McDonald. 50 (4·6): 1. Jarek Balkovic; was still holding down fifth. Plotts tried in vain to pass Carsten for the lead on the white-flag lap but just couldn't get it to happen. Carsten held on for the win, followed by Plotts, Helper, Cook and Wallace. In the 250cc Pro/Expert main, Dickson, the veteran Kawasaki pilot from Weatherly, Pennsylvania, got off the gate ahead of the pack and shot through the first turn with a bikelength-and-a-half lead. Trailing him were Plotts, Clint Johnson, Wallace and Helper. Plotts quickly closed the gap on Dickson and made the pass for the lead by the first turn of lap two, dropping Dickson to second. Cook was now third, with Wallace and Helper fourth and fifth, respectively. On the next lap, Helper got around Wallace's booming thumper to take fourth. Plotts pulled away to a three-second advantage by lap four, while the battle for second heated up behind him between Cook and Helper. Dickson faded back to fourth. Wallace held fifth - but not for long, as he managed to get around Dickson on lap five to take fourth. When the leaders received the halfway signal, Plotts' lead was only about 2 1/2 seconds. Helper finally managed to get by Cook to take the runner-up position. Shortly after Helper passed Cook, Wallace did the same and displaced Cook to fourth, while Carsten moved into fifth place after a bad start. 2. 4. 2. 4. 2. Dustin Lepley: 3. Eric Heilman; 4. Daniel Dillin; 5. Sam Sheckells. 50 (7-S): 1. Joseph Peters; 2. Kameron Page: 3. Bailey Spence; 4. Tllnner Blair; 5. Bobby Upyanek. 65 (7-9): 1. Joseph Peters; 2. Kameron Page; 3. Kyle Bitterman; 4. Jacob Diana; 5. Chaz Clingerman. 65 (10-11): 1. Broc Schmelyun; 2. Chaz Ught; 3. Frank Lettieri; 4. Andrew Benson: 5. Jonathan Daniels. 65 (7-11): I. Broc Schmelyun; 2. Garret Toth: 3. Marcus Hodge; 4. Frank Lettieri: 5. Andrew Benson. 65 (12-13): 1. Adam Blessing; 2. Joshua Wilt; 3. Travis Rudd; 4. Wilt Hecksteden; 5. Matthew Berrier. 85 (14-15): 1. Willy Toth Jr.; 2. Kyle Hutson; 3. Alex Sharkey: 4. Taylor Beltz; 5. Timothy Brammer. 125 NOV: 1. Joseph Kimmel; 2. Dylan Kautz; 3. Curtis Baker; 4. Kyle Whritenour; 5. Dan Wall. 125 AM: 1. Jay Weller; 2. Andrew Weigand; 3. Larry Missimer; 4. Travis Harnish; 5. Bob Lapusnak. 125 PRO/EX: J. Barry Carsten (SUl); 2. Damien Plotts (Hon); 3. Broc Helper (Suz); 4. Jeremy Cook (Yam); 5. Ty Wallace (Yl:lm). 250 NOV: 1. Tyler McCreight: 2. Dan Wall: 3. Eric Leiby; 4. John Schafft; 5. Josh Tate. 250 AM: 1. Jay Weller; 2. Toby Baldauf; 3. Jason Lachl:lt; 4. umy Missimer: 5. John Spotts. 250 PRO/EX: 1. Damien Plotts (Hon); 2. Broc Helper (Suz); 3. Ty Wallace (Hon); 4. Jeremy Cook (Yam); 5. Barry Carsten (SUl). SCHBY: I. Jay Weller; 2. Kyle Hutson; 3. Joseph Kimmel: 4. Zachary Harrington; 5. Willy Toth Jr. 25+ AM.: 1. Michael De Rosa; 2. Louis Hocker; 3. Matt Marks; 4. Bob l..zIpusnak; 5. Ron Malehom. 30+ EX: 1. Barry Carsten (Suz); 2. Gllylon Dickson (Kaw); 3. Michael Bear (Suz); 4. James Mcilvaine (Suz); 5. Todd Weindel (Suz). I