The rain hit at 3:00 – and hit hard.  It didn’t look like the Central Illinois Motorcycle Club had a chance of running their hill climb on June 11.  But the club members went to work scraping the mud from the starting area.  The club has two hills, an ‘easy’ one for the youth, quads and stock classes, and they let the quads take free rides on it to dry it out.  They then added the 125cc, 200cc and Super Senior classes to run on that hill and started the climb.  The first hill proved very climable, but the biggest problem was getting bikes back down the incredibly slick return trails – but with lots of help from club members and other riders, the show went on.

            The main hill, however, was another story – it is always a tough hill to climb, but now it was formidable.  Many very good riders never saw the top.  The 100 foot hill features a rutted shelf at the 70 foot level, preceded by a shale outcropping about 20 fee tin width.  The riders jumping hard off the starting line jump would land on the slick shale and lose all traction – and control – rider after frustrated rider careened off the side of the hill into the woods.

            But some were able to land squarely and go over the shelf fairly straight.  Brent Bowman, from Danville, Illinois, did it the best of all.  Bowman flew over the shale as if it weren’t there, jumped over the shelf and sailed over the top in 3.385 seconds on his KX500 on his first ride in the 600CC Class – a time that would win the class and also take the Fast Time award.   Josh Denson was one of the few to actually top the hill on both rides, his first ride of 3.742 seconds the closest to Bowman, and took second place on his RevLoc KX540.  Jon Creek crashed  at 92 feet on his first ride, but topped the hill in 4.014 seconds on his second ride to take third place.

            In Youth Class action, ‘Jammin Joe’ McGurer took the Youth Fast Time award on his KX85 as he topped the 90 foot youth hill in 3.593 seconds on his first ride to win the 85cc Junior Mini class, with Schuyler Kalher second.  Cole Garriott won the 50cc class with an 82 foot effort on his Polini with Dakota climbing 71 feet on his Polini for second. Logan Moody topped the hill in 6.526 seconds on his KX65 to win the 65cc class, with points leading Brett Kalaher crashing at 75 feet for second place.  The Senior Mini class win went to Blake Cappello with a 3.860 second time on his KX85 with Kieven Hillard claiming second.

            The Quad riders, of course, thout it was great.  They seemed to enjoy the extra rides a great deal.  Evan Zimmerman won the 2-Stroke class on his Banshee with a 3.715 second time, coming from behind to overtake Jim Mahan who posted a 3.771 second time on his Honda.  Brad Overman was the best of the 4-Stroke quad riders, topping the hill in 4.186 seconds on his Honda, just barely quick enough to edge Mark Crum who topped out in 4.194 seconds on his Honda.

            The rain came back overnight and washed out the Sunday race.  Please check TRACKSIDE for rain date information. 

RESULTS:

50CC Auto: 1.Cole Garriott (Pol), 2.Dakota Watson (Pol), 3.Logan Moody (Pol), 4.Nathaniel Blevins (Cob), 5.Levi Peters (Yam).

65CC: 1.Logan Moody (Kaw), 2.Brett Kalaher (Kaw).

85CC Jr:  1.Joe McGurer (Kaw), 2.Schuyler Kalaher (Kaw), 3.Austin Creek (Hon), 4.Chris Peters (Yam), 5.Jessica Coon).

85CC Sr: 1.Blake Cappello (Kaw), 2.Kieven Hillard (Kaw), 3.Cody Swarner (Yam), 4.Justin James (Kaw), 5.John Rice (Suz).

125CC: 1.R.D. Miller III (Kaw), 2.Bubba Bond (Hon), 3.Josh Mingee (Hon), 4.Chris Huinzenga (Hon), 5.Shane Green (Yam).

200CC: 1.Bubba Bond (Kaw),  2.Jake Tackitt (Kaw), 3.Chris Peters (Kaw), 4.Keith Klett (Kaw).

250CC: 1.Jon Creek (Suz), 2.Matt Peters (Hon), 3.R.D. Miller III (Kaw), 4.Shane Green (Yam), 5.Chris Huizenga (Hon).

450CC: 1.Cody Jenner (Yam), 2.Robbie Ellis (Hon), 3.Matt Peters (KTM), 4.Mike Bacon (Yam), 5.Paul Hillard (Yam).

600CC: 1.Brent Bowman (Kaw), 2.Josh Denson (Kaw), 3.John Creek (Hon), 4.Mike Peters (KTM), 5.Mike Raugh Jr (Kaw).

600CC 4-St: 1. Mike Peters (Yam).

750CC: 1.Paul Hillard (Kaw).

OPEN: 1.Steve Shafer (HD).

PROD: 1.Steve Shafer (HD).

SENR: 1.Mark Peters (KTM), 2.Scott Petty (Hon), 3.Kevin Bond (Hon), 4.Robbie Ellis (Hon), 5.Steve Shafer (HD).

SSNR: 1.Steve Horath (Hon), 2.Keith Klett (Kaw), 3.Bud Northrup (Hon).

400 STK: 1.Alan Petty (Hon), 2.Rod Kalaher (Kaw).

OPN STK: 1.Josh Denson (KTM), 2.Jared McKay (Hon).

QUAD 2-St: 1.Evan Zimmerman (Yam), 2.Jim Mahan (Hon), 3.Paul Hillard (Yam), 4.Wade Garriott (Hon), 5.Mark Crum (Yam).

QUAD 4-St: 1.Brad Overman (Hon), 2.Mark Crum (Hon), 3.Jim Mahan (Hon), 4.Troy Piatt (Hon), 5.Jeff Ramey (Yam).

YOUTH FAST TIME:  ‘JAMMIN JOE’ MCGURER, 3.593, KAW

AMATEUR FAST TIME: BRENT BOWMAN, 3.385, KAW

Jammin' Joe McGurer

Chris Peters

Jon Creek