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Spring Break Challenge Monster Mountain Motocross Park o e~ac MassachuseUs'PaulVeracka spent the winter honing his skills in southem Georgia's piney woods, and the results were obvious at the Monster Mountain's Spring Break Challenge: The Team Green rider dominated the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes. STORV AND PHOTOS BV STEVE AND PEGGV CORLEE TALLASSEE,AL,~R.23 -r-eam Green's Paul Veracka was l,. the man to beat at Monster Mountain. Veracka, who hails from New England, wintered in South Georgia and is really making waves in the Southeast. The Kawasaki speedster topped both the 125cc A and 250cc A classes in style, leading nearly every lap. Also in attendance were a pair of the country's fastest lady racers, Stefy Bau and Jessica Patterson. Both put in impressive rides, with Bau taking a podium spot in the Over 25 class, and Patterson, after recovering from a terrible first-moto crash, finished strong in the 16-24 class. The first weekend of spring brought beautiful weather to the Mountain, and once again the racing program was top-notch. Greg Cole's crew again worked their magic on the course, and promoter Gary Blackwell had another surprise in store for tbe riders: Everyone who signed up was entered in a drawing, and riders in the Youth classes had a chance at five BMX bikes, while riders in the larger-bike classes were given a chance at five $100 gift certificates from Wal-Mart. The first 250cc AlB combined race was up early in the day's program. Veracka made his intentions known early, grabbing the holeshot ahead of Alabama's Dash Lyle and Florida's Jason Baker. Veracka started to pull a lead immediately. By lap two, he was gone, leaving Lyle and Baker to engage in a terrific battle that went on the entire race. When 52 APRIL '23, 2003' II: U II: • e the checkers fell, Veracka was far out ahead, and he took an easy win. Lyle got Baker for second, and Hondamounted Jay Thomas held off New Jersey's Tom Burton to take fourth. Florida's Justin Link topped the B class, ahead of brothers Brett and Brandon Lee. Baker held the advantage off the line in moto two, but Veracka once again got in front before the first lap ended. Just as in the first race, Veracka checked out, leaving Baker and Lyle to battle again. Their duel didn't last long, as Lyle ran into problems and dropped out of the moto. Thomas then moved into third. At race's end, it was Veracka by a mile, followed by Baker, Thomas and Burton. Link again topped the B class, followed by Brett Lee and Florida's Brad Bernier. The 125cc AlB race was a Veracka benefit. Jason Baker grabbed the start in race one, ahead of Lyle and Veracka. Veracka stumbled and went down but got up immediately and by lap two was in the lead. Baker came under attack from Alabama's Jon Masters early on, and their battle let Veracka get away. Masters got by Baker on lap three and pulled out a lead that he would maintain. Moto one ended with Veracka again out front, ahead of Masters and Baker. Meanwhile, Link was quietly wasting the B class, and he easily took the win. In race two, Lyle took the lead, ahead of Veracka and Baker. Veracka got by, only to be run off the track by Lyle. The two then swapped the lead back and forth, and Veracka finally n EO _ S took over for good on lap three. The top tl;lree were separated by quite a gap by race's end. Veracka took the win and the overall, followed by Lyle, Baker and Masters. Link easily took the B-c1ass win, adding it to his wins in the 250cc B and Schoolboy classes. Link was the only rider to win three classes on the day. The racing in the 125cc C class was hot and heavy, as is usually the case at the Mountain. VZ-mounted Adam Echols grabbed the lead off the start and appeared to be checking out. However, when he reached the top of the Stairway To Heaven, he forgot to shut off and went into the fence. Almost simultaneously, Alabama's Blane Mason had troubles and dropped from third to last, leaving YZ-mounted Clint Stagner to take over the lead. Stagner pulled out ahead of the field, finishing ahead of Georgian Zack Thurston and Dylan Daniel. Mason rode hard and came back to eighth place, while Echols never managed to recover from his mistake. Echols got the holeshot again in race two but was quickly passed by Mason. However, Mason's lead did not last long, as Thurston put a beautiful block-pass on him, taking his front wheel out and dropping him back to an eventual fifth-place finish. Thurston stayed out front for a lap or so, and then Stagner once again took over and never looked back. Thurston held on to second, ahead of Daniel. Echols took fourth, ahead of Mason. eN Keenan Bittner (Kaw); 5. Auburn Stinson (Suz). 65-85 YTH: 1. Arthur Cofield (Vam); 2. Kendall Mason (Suz); 3. Gage Hartman (SUI); 4. Hunter Unk (Vam); 5. Jacob Hayes (KTM). 80 (12-13): 1. Keenan Bittner (Kaw); 2. Kyle Thomas (Yam); 3. Will Maddox (SUI); 4. Jacob Hulsey (KllW); 5. Auburn Stinson (Suz). 80·110 S/MINI: 1. Benjamin Hamilton (Suz); 2. Lefry Partin Jr. (Suz); 3. Dylan Daniel (Yam); 4, Tommy Brinkman (Suz). 80·125 SCHBV (12-15): 1. Justin Unk (Vam); 2. Billy Harper (Yam); 3. Chip Weatherup (Yam); 4. Stephen Rawls (Kaw); 5. Chase Borders (Suz). NOV: 1. Jody Martin (Yam); 2. Beau Pierce (Hon); 3. Kevin Pergantis (KTM); 4. Kirby Jones (Su,); 5. Joe Wilson (Hon). 125 A: 1. Paul Veracka (Kaw); 2. Dash Lyle (Yern); 3, Jason Baker (Yam); 4. Jon Masters (Yam~; 5. Tom Burton (Yam). 125 B: I. Justin Link (Yam): 2. Chip Weatherup (Yam); 3. Billy Harper (Yam): 4. Stephen Rawls (Kaw); 5. Brad Richard (Suz). 125 C: 1. Clint Stagner (Yam); 2. Zach Thurston (Kaw): 3. Dylan Daniel (Yam); 4. Colton Davie (Yam); 5. Jacob Robinson (Yam). 125 D: I. Jeremy Strother (Yam); 2. A.J. Schoonover (Kaw): 3. Kevin Pergantis (KTM); 4. Philip Jewah (Suz); 5. Mason Cole (Hon). 250 A: 1. Paul Veracka (Kaw); 2. Jason Baker (Vam); 3. Jay Thomas (Hon); 4. Dash Lyle (Vam); 5. Tom Burton (Yam). 250 B: 1. Justin Link (Yam); 2. Brett Lee (Hon); 3. Bred Bernier (Yam); 4. Chris Gibson (Hon); 5. Buck Hartzog (Yam). 250 C: 1. lach Thurston (Kaw); 2. Bill Sima (Hon); 3. Anthony Duncan (Kaw); 4. Kenny Wilson (Vam). 250 D: 1. Shane Taylor (Vam); 2. Chad Henle (Hon); 3. Kevin Browning (Kaw); 4. Clay Beck (Vam); 5. Kip Vann (Vam). 4-STRK: 1. Tom Burton (Yam); 2. Brett Lee (Hon); 3. Kip Vann (Vam). OPEN 4-STRK: 1. Rich Buckley (Hon); 2. Brian Giles (Hon); 3. Billy Salter (Hon); 4. Glenn Turner (Hon); 5. Jason Saltes (Hon). WMN: 1. Kim Matthew (Hon); 2. Jordan Bittner (Kaw); 3. Kelly Brinkman (Kaw); 4. Darilyn Daniel (Yam); 5. Heather Morgan (Yam). 16-24: 1. Derek Fore (YZlm); 2. BrZlndon Lee (Hon); 3. BrZld Bernier (Yam); 4. Clint Stagner (Yam); 5. Brad Richard (Suz). 25.: I. Jason Baker (Vam); 2. Rich Daly (Vam); 3. Stefy Bau (Hon). 30.: 1. Rod Stuckey (Hon); 2. James Morrison (Hon): 3. Rusty Angle (Vam); 4. Shane Taylor (Vam); 5. John Shields (Yam). 35+: 1. James Morrison (Hon); 2. Scott Fredericksen (Hon); 3. Derrell Sims (Suz): 4. Mark Thomas (Vam): 5. Bill Matthews (Vam). 40.: 1. Johnny Borders (KTM); 2. Darrell Sims (Suz); 3. Devid Daniel (Yam); 4. Steve Rayborn (Yam); 5. Mark Thomas (Yem). 48.: 1. Shorty Goode (Suz); 2. Bengt Fourkes (GG); 3. Les I'mohr (Hon). Monster Mountain Motocross Park Tallassee, Alabama Results: March 23, 2003 50 OIL-INJ: 1. Aaron Kimberly (Cob); 2. Hayden Olive (Yam); 3. Austin Chandler (Su,). 0-50 4-STRK: 1. Adam Bonner (Hon); 2. Brady Edmondson (Hon). 50 (7-9): I. D.J. Oakes (KTM); 2. Kyle Gibson (KTM); 3. Ricardo Rios (KTM); 4. Parker Blair (Pol). 51-125 4·STRK: I. Treana Callahan (Hon); 2. Morgan Callahan (Yam); 3. Brandon Weaver (Suz). 65 (7-9): 1. Jacob Hayes (KTM); 2. Price Martin (KTM); 3. Trenton McMichen (Hon); 4. Cory Williams (Yam); 5. D.J. Oakes (Su,). 65 (10-11): 1. Hunter Link (Yam); 2. Justin Woodfin (Suz); 3. Brett Bittner (Kaw); 4. Jonathan Woodfin (Suz): 5. Jordan Williams (Suz). 80 JR MINI (7-11): I. Arthur Cofield (Vam); 2. Kendall Mason (Suz); 3. Derrick Miller (Han); 4. Gage Hartman (Suz); 5. Justin Woodfin (Suz). SR MINI (12-15): 1. Benjamin Hamilton (Suz); 2. Chase Borders (Suz); 3. Larry Partin Jr. (Suz); 4. Recently relocated to Tallahassee, Florida, ltaly's Stefy Bau (2111 eamed a spot on the podium in the very competitive Over 25 class in Tallassee, Alabama.