Shelly, Smith Shine At Race Of Champions
O
ld Bridge Township's Race-
way Park in Englishtown,
NJ, hosted the fall classic Race
of Champions, sponsored by
Kawasaki, for the 47th consecu-
tive season, September 29-Oc-
tober 1. Remnants from Tropical
Storm Ophelia rained out rac-
ing on Friday and hung around
Saturday, turning the three-moto
amateur portion of the race into
a two-moto format. But the sun
shined brightly on Sunday, and
the feature portion of the week
-
end delivered the classic racing
everyone came to see.
Nearly 1000 racers from 13
states competed over the week
-
end. The big winners during the
amateur portion included Dakota
Kessler, Jaden Palmer, Barry
Carsten, Nathan Tucker, Luke
Roche and Tanner Dorman, each
with multiple class overall wins.
Bryce Shelly was the week
-
end's star A-class racer, winning
three out of four motos on his
way to the Open class win and
second overall in the 250 class.
Had it not been for a fall in the
second 250 moto that broke his
clutch lever, Shelly might have
gone four for four.
The overall in the Open A
class was easy to calculate. A
1-1 gave Shelly the number-one
trophy. Second overall was Ricci
Randanella with 3-4 motos, and
Bobby Piazza claimed the final
step on the podium with a 6-2.
In the 250 A class, Shelly
again won but two-stroke-
mounted Jeremy Smith kept him
honest the whole way. Bryton
Carroll came through the pack to
join Shelly and Smith on the first-
moto podium.
In race two, Shelly and Smith
were again battling for the lead
when Shelly went down while
out in front, damaging his clutch
lever. From there, Smith cruised
to the moto win and overall vic
-
tory.
WIND
IN THE
P60
Jeremy Smith (309)
went 2-1 for the
overall win in the
250 A class at the
Race of Champions
sponsored by
Kawasaki.
PHOTOS:
SCOTT LUKAITIS
