311 riders converged on Monson, Massachusetts to compete in the 2001 AMA Amateur Motorcycle and ATV Hillclimb Championships. The 320' hill looked smooth and hard from a distance, but on closer inspection, one discovered it would be a sandy, loose and low traction hill. The hill was well prepared and the clubgrounds were beautiful. The club had obviously gone to great lengths in expanding and improving the pit and parking areas especially. My compliments to the Quaboag Riders club, and especially to Francis Kaess and referee Louie Vacon for a job very well done. 
    Todd Cipala, from Ellsworth, Wisconsin was the fastest of the motorcycle competitors, blasting his beautiful Axtell Harley over the top in 7.555 to snare the Open Class win. He had to come from behind as his first day time of 8.436 seconds was beaten by defending national champion Mike Bronk with a 8.014 second time on his 1448cc Yamaha, and then again by Mike Hebert, who nailed a 7.766 second run on Sunday, after crashing on Saturday. Cipala is as good as they get, however, and the multi-time national champ turned his big Harley on to take the class win, and what everyone assumed would be fast time. The shock of the day came when a Quad, ridden by Greg Casdorph, beat Cipala's time to take the win in the Open ATV class with an astounding 7.544 second run - adding the Fast Time award to his trophy collection instead of Cipala's..
Cipala had an very good day overall, adding third place finishes in the 600cc and 750cc classes to his Open Class win.
    Eric Wheelwright, from Hanover, Illinois, had been the 250cc class champion for the past two years, but 'slipped' this year, finishing 'only' third. He was very happy however, to come home a champion anyway, as he took the win in the large and extremely competitive 600cc class. His first day time 0f 8.662 seconds was very disappointing to him, and everyone expected him to do better - which he did big time, knocking over a second off that time on Sunday to take the class win with a 7.635 second run on his CR500. Bruce Gaskell ran second in 7.784 seconds, Cipala took third and Wheelwright's good buddy, Paul Hackbarth, claimed the 4th spot in 7.885 seconds on his Honda. Wheelwright's success in the past few years has paid off big for him, as he now carries sponsorships from AXO, Wiseco Pistons, Carbon Tech Reeds, Sprocket Specialists and Jackson Performance.
    In the 750cc class, defending Champion Jason Northrup came all the way from Tempe, Arizona to ride, and arrived with a broken jaw incurred in a trail riding mishap only a week before. He turned in the fastest of the class on Saturday, an 8.359 second run on his 750cc 'Hondasaki' triple, with Todd Cipala and his Kawasaki Triple sitting in second place with a 8.492 second time. Only five 750's made it over the first day. On the second day, Cipala couldn't improve on his time and Jason's brother Kaleb turned in a good 8.635 second run on his triple to move into third. When mutiple time champion Lloyd Haas delivered a 9.142 time on his 'Kawazuki' triple it appeared that Northrup would retain his title. It wasn't to be however, as local rider Vernon Lloyd III slipped his Kawasaki triple over the deep sand on the top section and over the top in 7.965 seconds to take the lead. Northrup responded with a full throttle attack on the hill, but, just as his brother, Cipala and Haas before, got into big trouble when he hit the deep loose sand at the base of the final stage. The big difference between the Lloyd triple and the next four contenders, was that it had low pipes rather than high. Usually the low pipes might be a hindrance, but on this hill, they almost seem to act as skis, allowing Lloyd to skim over the loose stuff rather than sink in like the others. Whatever the reason, Lloyd claimed the championships and knocked the Northrups, Cipala and Haas all back a spot. 
    Ryan Peterson was also a repeat champion and, like Wheelwright, changed classes. The defending champion in the 125cc class, the Elsworth, Wisconsin native took his win in the 250cc class on his hot Honda, turning in an excellent 7.988 second time on Sunday - the only rider in the class to break into the sevens. He was followed by Joe DeCaro, Eric Wheelwright , Dan Bergeron and Ernie Beckwith.
    In youth Class action, Nate Redmann, from Rochester, Minnesota, topped the hill on his CR80 in 9.724 seconds on Saturday, and did not ride again as no one came really close to him all weekend in the Senior Mini class. John Bunner, riding a Yamaha from Ripley, West Virginia, was his closest competitor with a 10.037 second time on Sunday. Ryan Connelly, from Ludlow, Massachusetts, thrilled the local fans with a 10.141 second winning run on his Kawasaki to take the Junior Mini class win. Zachary Gayan, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was close behind him on his RM80 with a 10.249 second time for second place. Vinny Nuzzolini, from Wilbraham, Massachusetts was also a crowd favorite as he claimed the 50cc class win with a 294 foot climb on his Cobra. He overtook Robert Moore Jr, from Middleburg, Pennsylvania, he had taken the first round lead with a 292 foot run on his Cobra, but couldn't better that on the second day and had to settle for second place.
    Other amateur class winners were John Bunner in the 125cc class, Danny Mears in the 200cc class and Chad Koopsma in the 400cc class. Matt Jones was the winner in the new 600cc 4-stroke class, Randy Frye took the 400cc Stock Wheelbase win and Gary Bauer was the fastest of the Senior (+40) riders. There was no +50 class, and we 'super senile' riders hope it will be offered next year.
The ATV action, as always, was quite entertaining with several spectacular 'early dismounts'. Vernon Lloyd Jr took the win in the 250cc ATV class, and, as noted above, Greg Casdorph took the Open ATV win on his Suzuki with the fastest time of the whole weekend. 

RESULTS: 

50CC: Vinny Nuzzolini (Cob), 2.Robert Moore, Jr (Cob), 3.James Green (KTM), 4.Molly Smith (Cob), 5.Donnie Robbins (Cob), 6.William Brothers III (LEM), 7.Shannon George (Pol), 8.Andy Little (KTM), 9.Kyle Welch (Pol), 10.Dylan Brady (Pol).

85CC JR: 1.Ryan Connelly (Kaw), 2.Zachary Gayan (Suz), 3.Justin Newton (Yam), 4.Joe Plume (Kaw), 5.Chris Chartier Jr. (Kaw), 6.Dean Farnsworth (Cob) 7.Colby McCutcheon (Yam), 8.Shantelle Brothers (Hon), 9.Derek Hutching (Kaw), 10.Brianna Hunter (Kaw).

85CC SR: 1.Nate Redman (Hon), 2.John Bunner (Yam), 3.Ryan Thibault (Kaw), 4.John Bayassee (Hon), 5.Ryan Oosterman (Kaw), 6.Luke Parmeter (Hon), 7.Brent Bowman (Suz), 8.Amy Carbon (Kaw), 9.Shane George (Hon), 10.Justin Curtis (Hon).

125CC: 1.John Bunner ('TM), 2.Jeff Piontek (Yam), 3.Mel Piontek (Yam), 4.Ryan Thibault (Hon), 5.Bobbi Cipala (Yam), 6.Mark Evans (Yam), 7.Ryan Peterson (Hon), 8.Jake Garrison (Yam), 9.Danny Mears (Kaw), 10.Dwayne Cox (Kaw).

200CC: 1.Danny Mears (KTM), 2.Mel Piontek (KTM), 3.Dan Prebe (KTM), 4.Kevin Cox (Kaw), 5.Andy Newton (KTM), 6.Randy Joyce (Kaw), 7.William Donofrio (Kaw), 8.Diane Mathieu (Kaw), 9.Jason Northrup (Kaw), 10.Joshua Tucker (Hon).

250CC: 1.Ryan Peterson (Hon), 2.Joe DeCaro (Hon), 3.Eric Wheelwright (Yam), 4.Dan Bergeron (Yam), 5.Ernie Beckwith (Kaw), 6.John Mumper (Yam), 7.Jerry Duford (Kaw), 8.Tim Barden (Yam), 9.Max Sharp (Hon), 10.Bruce Gaskell (Yam). 

400CC: 1.Chad Koopsma (KTM), 2.Viateur Mathie (Yam), 3.Paul Hackbarth (KTM), 4.Randy Frye (Yam), 5.Matt Gagne (Kaw), 6.Tuffy Gibson (KTM), 7.Danny Mears (KTM), 8.William Burkett Jr (Yam), 9.George Newton (Yam), 10.John Mumper (KTM).

600CC: 1.Eric Wheelwright (Hon), 2.Bruce Gaskell (Hon), 3.Todd Cipala (Kaw), 4.Paul Hackbarth (Hon), 5.Gary Bauer Hon), 6.Max Sharp (Hon), 7.Tim Havercroft (Hon), 8.Shawn Midura (Hon), 9.Marc Stamm (Hon), 10.Randy Trosper (Hon).

600-4STRK: 1.Matt Jones (ROT), 2.Lloyd Haas (Yam), 3.Henry Ford (VOR), 4.Lester Kline Jr (Yam), 5.Francis Kaess (Hus), 6.Robert Moore (Yam), 7.Joe Gerow (Tri), 8.Jason Northrup (Hus), 9.Mike Kiablick (Tri), 10.Kevin Barton (Yam). 

750CC: 1.Vernon Lloyd III (Kaw), 2.Jason Northrup (Kaw), 3.Todd Cipala (Kaw), 4.Kaleb Northrup (Kaw), 5.Lloyd Haas (Kaw), 6.Steve Delays (KTM), 7.Pete Krasowsky (Kaw), 8.Joel Lombra (Kaw), 9.Lee Miller (Yam), 10.David Bean (Suz). 

OPEN: 1.Todd Cipala (HD), 2.Mike Hebert (Kaw), 3.Mike Bronk (Yam), 4.Richard Shepard (Kaw), 5.Marcel Mathieu (Hon), 6.Shawn Farnsworth (HD), 7.Kaleb Northrup (Tri), 8.Guy Bacon (Yam), 9.David Price (Tri), 10.Chad Koopsma (Hon).

FAST TIME: Greg Casdorph, Suzuki QUAD

400 STK: 1.Randy Frye (Yam), 2.Gary Baver (Yam), 3.William Rowe (Hon), 4.Dwayne Cox (Kaw), 5.Matt Danchanko (Suz), 6.James Slechta (Hus), 7.Eric Wheelwright (Yam), 8.Robert Moore (Yam), 9.Steve Delays (Yam), 10.Chris Kumpf (Hon).

SENR: 1.Gary Bauer (Hon), 2.Greg Nowak (Hon), 3.Bill Hogan Jr (Hon), 4.Randy Trosper (Hon), 5.Viateur Mathieu (Kaw), 6.Mike Bronk (Yam), 7.Rich O'Connor (Hon), 8.Tim Havercroft (Hon), 9.James Slechta (KTM), 10.Mike Nardone (Suz).

250 ATV: 1.Vernon Lloyd Jr (Hon), 2.Bruce Browning (Suz), 3.Mike Haga (Hon), 4.Doug Schultz (Suz), 5.Mike Borowski (Hon), 6.Mark Hadonley (Hon), 7.Scott Janelle (Hon), 8.Mark Gray (Suz), 9.Matt Novak (Hon), 10.Ed Borowski (Hon).

OPN ATV: 1.Greg Casdorph (Suz), 2.Mike Fogarty (Suz), 3.Mike Haga (Yam), 4.Chris Chartier Sr (Suz), 5.Randy Barry (Suz), 6.David Bouch (Yam), 7.David DiCecco (Yam), 8.James Innan (Yam), 9.Bruce Browning (Suz), 10.Randy Maynard (Suz)